So here we are in mid-Novem...I mean June, where I would usually be in the garden from first to last thing in little shorts and a loose shirt, but instead, I find myself nipping into the garden in layers of clothing and having to do chores whilst dodging rain showers, or pushing on through and gardening in the rain. I have usually worked throughout the year so that the summer months can be spent reading, thinking about new ideas inspired by a flowering garden and plenty of pottering. I have spent most of June dead-heading flowers I haven't even seen bloom as there hasn't been more than a few hours warm enough to sit out.
As the summer is depressingly rubbish, I am doing my diary differently for June. The visual highlights of the month are:
Flower bed colour studies
Perfect sweet pea
Reading nest
Flower bed colour studies
Above is my yellow and blue flower bed, here is a photo taken on one of the few true-blue, sunny days of the month, enriching the colours to perfection.
Below is my white, silver, lime and blue flower bed. It's interesting to note that the two photos have the same colours, but one is planted bold and strong whilst the other has a lacy effect.
Below is our homemade picket fence with hot colours on one side and an abundance of various purple and blue on the other, with a few dashes of each crossing over the fence, blending the two sides!
Perfect Sweet Peas
Each year I mix different coloured sweet peas, to try and create fabulous bunches for the house, which are then dried along with rose petals. Last year they were all pastel shades, but this year I wanted a bohemian, Venetian colour palette of deep maroons, cerise and purples. Not only are the colours fabulous, but they are huge, with flower stems over 12 inches long! All the rain has been good for something!
The dark purple dried sweet peas look so rich when mixed with deep red rose petals, and the smell is wonderful. It is so easy to dry petals, I have some hanging in organza bags and others in large bowls, out of direct sunlight, all of which I fluff up several times a day. This dries them in just a few days.
I have never had such strong and long sweet peas. I had sewn the seeds in November, straight into pots with canes ready for the peas to climb up!
I'll admit I am a bit of a sweet pea snob and have a vase specifically for sweet peas, but over the years I have collected various glasses and jars perfect for peas. The photo below shows two days' worth of peas, with plenty still left in the garden!
I am also over the moon with my nasturtium bed which has self-sown from last year's companion plants I had grown amidst tomatoes. It is also brimming with pot marigolds for drying and a white Californian poppy I wanted to cultivate for its seed.
Reading nest
As I get older I find the best way to read books is with natural light and I wish we had a window to make a cosy window seat to snuggle up on with a book. By chance I have lots of spare duvets, pillows, a handmade patchwork quilt with not a lot of spare space!
I had a brilliant idea to make a nest under an upstairs window, where I can now sit and read, killing two birds with one stone. It is soooo cosy and comfortable, with a great view out of the window!
I made this handmade quilt for my degree and although it's 16 years old and a little shabby, it is still very pretty and totally cottagey, matching the decor of the upstairs craft room. I am so pleased I have found a great home for it and I now have a cosy nest far better than a window seat and it cost me nothing!
And finally here is Stella enjoying a garden salad of lavender, oregano, mint, grass, raspberry leaves and rose petals! The buns love their herbs, but Stella is obsessed. She'll sit in the seed tray of goodies and slowly munch her way through it all, leaving me with a tray full of bunny gifts perfect for the garden!
You have just read A Gardeners Crafting Diary June 2024.
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