What I’m Doing This Week: Has anyone elses garden just gone bonkers this week?? Everything seems to have just doubled in size like something out of a sci-fi film! And the lawn seems like it needs mowing already and it’s only mid-week! I’m certainly not complaining but its just come out of nowhere. The borders are well and truly filling up and there’s lots to report back this week so here goes….
The trouble with the aforementioned madness that we’ve experienced this week is that the weeds aren’t exempt from this added growth too. Out the front, a huge thistle has appeared out of nowhere and I actually rather love it…its attractive in a thuggish sort of a way and the birds will love the seeds.
One huge benefit to this growth spurt is that there are more flowers than I’d normally anticipate which means….more for the house! We’ve got cosmos all over the place in the back garden and I’ve been cutting the blooms like mad, which only further encourages more flowers too. The Apricot Lemonade variety have been doing so well and look great in a little glass jar or vase. Along with a few wildflowers, it makes for a pleasing little posy for the house.
The cosmos has really done well so far this year and its been a bit of an experiment growing them mainly in pots but its been well worth it and I’ll do more like this next year. They don’t create a massive root system so do really well so long as they don’t dry out too much. They’ll love a weekly feed too if you’ve got the time!
In the very back border, which I’m affectionately calling The Salvia Border, I’ve added some Helenium ‘Short and Sassy’ to intermingle with the purples and whites of the salvias and lavender which I think works really well.
A definite trend of this year seems to be purple and orange and I’m attempting a little slice of that with this combination. The orange of the helenium just pops out between the salvias and lavender and that contrast just makes it pop even more. These will only get bigger too so it’s going to be fantastic as the years go on and on.
In other news…? The next episode of the podcast is now live and it’s a BIG one!
This episode features the innovator of No Dig – Charles Dowding. We discuss the many many benefits to this method of growing and how Charles’ passion continues with trying to educate as many people as possible about the ways of no dig. This is a fascinating conversation with a true green fingered legend.
That’s it from me, have a great week and I’ll be back next week with more.
View From The Potting Bench 