watchingthedaisies

The Garden in July 2018

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Day Lily happily quenched

The Heatwave

The heatwave that lasted for seven wondrous weeks departed in mid July and we have had LOTS of rain glorious rain!

I felt greatly relieved and so did my plants…

The intense heat suited some plants but not others. The Roses loved it but Rose James Galway (seen below between Rose Paul’s Scarlet) looked incredibly pleased when the drought ended.

 

I enjoyed taking photographs of my flowers adorned in raindrops:

 

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Sadly, my new Lily Manitoba Morning did not flower for too long in the heat.

20180703_091932.jpgHopefully, she will thrive a little better next summer.

Wild Flowers

I scattered a wild flower mix among the gaps in my borders for a bit of zing. Unfortunately, lack of rain stopped them from germinating but they are now galloping ahead.

20180717_141652-2.jpgDierama

My Dierama also known as Angel’s Fishing Rods are growing HUGE. I think they will need a bit of division in the autumn.

 

Apples

Two years ago, I had a terrific crop of apples. However, last year, my trees produced much less. I am happy to report a bumper crop again this year.

In a few weeks time I shall be able to pick them, and stock my freezer with homemade apple pie.

Yum!

20180716_130832.jpgJobs for August

Saving Seeds

Seeds can be saved throughout the summer season – to pass on to friends or grow on for planting out next year.

These Aquilegia produced thousands of seeds in June, which have now been dried, saved in envelopes, and stored in a cool dark cupboard.

I will pass them on to my gardening friends.

 

Watering and Feeding

Watering and feeding continues as needed. Please honour any hosepipe bans which have been enforced.

Deadheading

Deadheading throughout summer will ensure a profusion of healthy blooms on Roses, Calendula…

Planning

August is a good time to plan any changes to your planting schemes. Look around your garden and see what is working well, and what needs a tweak.

In my garden:

  • Lychnis coronaria tells me it would be happier next to Heuchera,
  • Lysimachia needs removal where it has overgrown,
  • Echinops is hidden at the moment and will move to a better spot…

Autumn is an ideal time to move perennials to new homes, but you can enjoy creating a new planting scheme right now.

Brigid P. Gallagher is a retired natural medicines therapist, passionate organic gardener and author of “Watching the Daisies- Life lessons on the Importance of Slow,” a holistic memoir dedicated to the art of mindfulness and healing from debilitating illness.

 

 

103 comments

  4. I’m glad you had some rain. Your flowers really showed they got some good drink. We need rain also, but we only get rain in winter. I just came back from Portland to see my daughter and her baby. When I arrived in southern California tonight, it was 99 degrees F.

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  18. glad for the rain, those poor things looked like they loved the raindrops so much. your pictures are very pretty Brigid, you capture them in little portraits. much to do in August to prepare for the next season, the joys of being a gardener is knowing you can continue to make life bloom.

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  24. We also had a little rain here that the flowers were grateful for, the grass too, though the grass could do with a lot more by the looks of it! Starting to look like desert land out there… Beautiful photos! =]

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  27. So nice to meet you! I’m sorry you have struggled with fibromyalgia. I too love natural, holistic healing and use flower essence by Bach. I was drawn to your blog because of your tagline. Having TBI has made me stop and SLOW DOWN, which I can say, God has used for my good. Also, I have a close friend from Newtownabby, so Ireland is a place I dream of going to! 😄 God bless you richly! 🤗

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  28. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we had lovely hot dry sunny days and it rained all night …. your garden must have been so relieved when the drought finally broke and I am glad it has survived so beautifully 😊 ☀️

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  30. So beautiful. New England has had similar weather, with heat and humidity for days on end, but now, it’s rainy buckets. 🙂 Happy gardening. Our yellow day lilies were out in late June to mid July, but our peach and coral lilies are keeping us smiling now.

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  31. You just know so much about gardening Brigid!! And it shows. Glad for your rain to freshen everything up!! You know I love love your garden posts! thanks! Enjoy all that beauty right in your own backyard! xoxo

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  32. Your garden is beautiful Brigid! I love the raindrops on the flowers and my goodness mine could do with some too. It’s not often we miss out on the rain here in Manchester and I shouldn’t tempt fate but my roses have expired because of the heat and lack of water!

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  33. Hey Brigid, your garden has become a familiar haven for me too through your blogs. 😃. Flowers are one of my most favourite things in this world and I am happy to meet new ones. Thanks for posting so that people in this corner of the world can enjoy them too

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  34. I love gardening too Brigid especially when the weather is warm. Warm weather and rain are perfect for the garden. I love the pink rose after having a shower of rain. Just beautiful!

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  35. Gardens are a lot of work, but they give so much pleasure… Yours is lovey, Brigid! We’ve had a very dry year here in Maine and our apples won’t be ready for another two months. We peel, slice and coat them with brown sugar and cinnamon, then microwave for about 6 minutes. Once they cool, I pop them into freezer containers to use for pies and other delectable apple goodies all winter long. Right now, we’re picking berries, freezing and making jams. HAPPY GARDENING! 🙂 xo

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  36. What fun reading about this. I met a woman in Gas City Indiana with the most amazing garden. She spent several hours a day weeding, replanting, tweaking. What a joy it is to walk through a well-loved garden.

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  37. Lovely gardens! I enjoy taking photos of all my flowers too. They are here so fleetingly that I like to keep a memory of them in my photos. Each year they look different too. Happy gardening! 💐 🌸 🌺 🌱 Hope you get some rain. We had a few thunderstorms recently that have helped keep the grass green and the flowers blooming.

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  38. I don’t know how I missed this Brigid. I always look forward to your garden updates, and when I realized I hadn’t seen one for this month I started searching…. I’m glad you got some much-needed rain. As always, your flowers are gorgeous!

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  39. I recently read that to prevent Apple trees from biannual fruiting you should thin out the apples on the heavy cropping year, this will increase the crop the next year. They said to remove the king Apple , that is the largest one in groups of three. I don’t know if it works, I just pass on the info😀

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