It rained every day this week which made weeding a lot easier in my claggy clay soil and I whizzed through my ever increasing ‘to do’ list. Darcey Bussell’s skirts got wet but she didn’t seem to mind!
The last Penstemon flowers of the season are hanging on to give the bees a treat on sunny days. They have put on a wonderful display since May and seem to be unaffected by the changing climate. If anything, they enjoyed the drought this year and didn’t need a drop of water. They are having a lot now though!
I struggle to understand why some plants from hot countries, like Peru and Chile, seem to do better in the UK when it’s getting cooler and wetter! These Alstroemerias are revelling in the current conditions and flowering their heads off. I am picking armfuls for the house every week.
Salvia uliginosa still growing strongly and flowering in her rather haphazard way. The tall stems are a bit lax for my liking and gradually become horizontal after days of wind and rain but nothing stops it from flowering and it soon picks itself up again. A number of passers-by have stopped to ask what it is and are very surprised when I tell them it is a Salvia. I don’t tell them its common name is Bog Sage!
I think I may have overdone the Viola pot a bit! The Cyclamen in the middle are getting smothered and as for the scraggy bit of Ophiopogon…! Cheery, happy little faces though, I love them.
And finally……a bit of an oddity. This Rose ‘Let’s Celebrate’ has produced some very odd flowers with petals that don’t fully open making it look a bit like Eaton Mess! Could be the cooler nights or maybe the rain; I just hope it is not a permanent affliction!
Have a great weekend
David
Davids Garden Diary 
Your observation on the Alstroemerias got me wondering so I looked them up. In their two main wild centres of population, one lot, in Chile, are winter growing, the other lot, in Brazil, are summer growing. The plants we grow are hybrids between the two groups. It’s little wonder they’re confused. I have the same two varieties as you, both fantastic plants.
Lovely roses, funny about the common name for the salvia.
You came up with a good descriptive name for your rose, it made me smile.
I would love to be able to grow Alstroemerias but they don’t seem to like it here. I’m jealous of your armfuls of flowers.
It’s nice to see you’ve still got so many lovely flowers in bloom, especially those alstroemerias.
My penstemons are coming into flower and yours are still going….a long flowering period no matter where they are in the world. I have planted a couple of alstroemerias recently and I do hope I get lots of flowers from them.