The first picking this year of “Tom Thumb” peas. Dating from the 1850s, the plants grow to a height of only about 30cm (one foot), so they don’t require tedious staking or netting (which are liable to be blown over in the kind of weather we often get here in May). Young pods, cooked whole … tonight will be had with a tin of salmon and a potato/sweetcorn/mayo salad. The second sowing of Tom Thumb is coming on nicely, and I’ll do a third sowing this afternoon.
The acanthus mollis (bear’s breeches) is now pretty much in full bloom. At about 5 foot / 150cm it’s not quite as tall as sometimes, but I think that this year’s four flower-spikes is the most I’ve had, an this year’s spikes may grow another few inches yet. A rather impractical plant, really – the enormous leaves try hard to take over my tiny patio, and act as shelter for every possible variety of slug and snail. However, I wouldn’t feel that the garden was complete without it!
I’ve just planted a couple of pots of flowering rush for the pond – the one I had a couple of years ago seem to have succumbed, with the pots over-run by couch grass. The white iris are surviving better, though I’ll need to do a re-pot in couch-free soil at the end of the summer. The first one opened earlier this week … they don’t last long, so this is the second to open. Sadly, I don’t seem to have any record of what they are – even a trawl through the last decade of emails doesn’t provide an answer. At a guess, they might be iris louisiana.
In the pond, the first water-lily has opened in the afternoon sun. The valerian is looking good – unusual, as by this time of the year it’s usually been reduced to a skeleton by sawfly larvae. The first couple of flowers on the Black Russian tomato, earlier than expected (the orange tomato is well behind).
Clutching the first morning mug of of coffee, as yet untasted, I opened the curtains this morning. Eeek! Coffee abandoned as I went for the camera … a heron on the fence, eyeing my tiny (and butyl-lined) pond. A few shots through the French windows, then up to the bathroom where the top window was open.
A most unexpected visitor – the nearest sensible body of water is the canal, some 400 metres away and about 100 feet lower in elevation. It stayed for about five minutes before flapping off. Beautiful to see, but slightly worrying, in that I’ve had previous experience of herons stabbing holes in plastic pond-liners (eventually solved by changing to fibreglass – not something I really want to have to do here!).
Despite two sowings of my favourite snapdragon “Canary Bird”, I had no success with them so was forced to buy plug plants of whatever snapdragon I could find, which turned out to be “Brighton Rock”. They’re now in flower, and not quite what I was expecting, but they’re OK and the bumble bees love them. Also loved are the “love-in-a-mist”, which are now in full glory – mine start white before gently becoming the palest of blues.
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Two pairs of mating damselflies around my pond this afternoon, and at least one unattached one. The glare of the sun on the water makes them really hard to photograph, but I thought this attempt was interesting, with the insects themselves largely in shade but the shadows of the tracery of their wings showing up delightfully.
Massive thunderstorms around 3am today! Fortunately, the rain wasn’t heavy enough to flatten the flowers, and there are a couple that have just opened. The Oriental poppy is always a welcome and cheerful sight at the far end of the lawn, marking the transition from “fruit and flower” garden to “veg” garden. The first couple of spikes of pink foxglove have opened (which will attract any bumble bees not already focussed on the ceanothus).
In the pond, the monkeyflower has opened (was mimulus, now something unmemorable and unpronounceable), and a couple of recently-emerged damselflies are zooming about.
The broad beans have started flowering, so the badger-detering pop-up netting has been removed. The variety is “The Sutton” (extremely dwarf, so not needing supports), which I think now qualifies as a heritage variety, having been introduced in 1925. Much later flowering than most people’s – bitter experience has taught me that sowing in autumn or early spring just results in the seeds rotting, as even in raised beds the ground is effectively “soil soup” for the winter months.
The first stem of the alstroemeria “Summer Breeze” opened this afternoon. Fitting colours for the weather we’re currently having, though we don’t currently have a breeze, and one would be welcome in the afternoon high of 30C. I’ve spent most of the afternoon in my bedroom, where the aircon bought last year kept things at a steady 22 degrees.
