garden withoutdoors

hoverfly on a "pink dandelion" (Crepis rubra)

I am trying to water my pots sparingly, especially those with flowers for pollinators so the "pink dandelions" (Crepis rubra) are still blooming. I'm loving these this summer - fast flowers from seed.

and some of the spent flowers

I love chicory. I grew these from seed but it's been challenging. They're biennial so it's been a long time waiting for flowers and trying to keep the slugs off them. I only have 1 plant left from about half a dozen.

some new chicory buds

my lone water lily this year, it lives in a trug after the barrel it was in collapsed; that got very low on water with the drought and heatwave and I think I topped up the water only just in time

aster in bloom, seems early, I imagine it's the heat that's brought on early blooms

Victor (and all the cats) struggling to find shade to avoid the heat

borage buds

I'm not sure what this seedling is. I think I've seen it before but can't remember.

this amaranthus has self-seeded in one of my pots, will keep an eye on it as it develops to see if I can identify it to species

the flower reminds me of some plantain species

Review of some of the wildflowers that bloomed from the wildflower seed mix I bought at Sainsbury's

I never thought of rocket as a wildflower but the mix included it

canary grass, I had seen this in a seed catalogue or somewhere and was thinking of getting some, so I was pleased to see it

annual mallow (Malva trimestris)

there was dill but it was difficult to get an in-focus photo, the resulting seedheads were easier to capture

also in the mix: poached egg plant (see earlier blog entry)

hollyhocks with a bee

hollyhocks with bee

Crepis rubra with hoverfly

mallow

evening primrose

my friendly fox, within a couple minutes that bowl was licked clean 

Rocky with the catnip (Nepeta cataria) I grew from seed

purple loosestrife with bee

heleniums with a bee

the bees are loving the globe thistles, they've been great as they survived the drought and heatwave with no watering

the heleniums are looking good and the bees are visiting but they're in pots so I have to water them

I had a few evening primrose that had self-seeded so put them all together in a pot (some were larger than others) and the next day one bloomed

hollyhocks blooming but they're all white and pink, I have been watering them a bit as they're newly planted out but they shouldn't need watering once they're established

bowl of water out for birds and insects but haven't seen either visiting it

Scarecrow on the right, this is in my neighbour's garden, he often goes with me if I go over to water or photograph

globe thistles in bloom this week (mid-July) with bees

The artichokes are in bloom - in my garden, next door's garden and the next one up - makes a fabulous sight - people stop and look walking past. There are bees visiting them but the plants are too tall for me to take a decent photo.

Sometimes when I go to Sainsbury's I can't resist making an impulse purchase of seeds or bulbs - even though I've already ordered plenty of seeds and bulbs! I bought some wildflower seeds there earlier this year, and of course, had very little room in the garden for them so they were very badly eaten by slugs as I had no room to keep them off the ground, so the fact that a few things survived is a miracle. These poached egg plants are one of the miracles. I've not grown them before and for a long time before they bloomed I didn't know what they were. Also survived: Phacelia tanacetifolia, Malva neglecta and another mallow which I'm not sure of and rocket.

poached egg plant (Limnanthes douglasii)

Malva neglecta

Hen and Chicks poppy with a bee and hoverfly. When I took the photo, it was of the hoverfly. It was only when I was processing the photo, I saw the bee as well on the right.

hoverfly and I think there's a bee behind below

Hen and Chicks poppy with a bee

purple loosestrife with bees

Lauren's Grape poppies

Amazing Grey poppies

lupins (left) and echium Blue Bedder (right)

white dwarf mallow (Malva neglecta)

pillbug in the middle of moulting, as I watched it, that white bit on the right came off

Amazing Grey poppies - variable shades of colour

possibly Hen and Chicks poppy

the bees have discovered the purple loosestrife, there were 3 bees on them but I only captured 2 in the photo

the bees have discovered the veronica, there were 3 bees on it but I only captured 1 in the photo

greater knapweed

Little Dorrit sunflower

garden catnip (Nepeta faassenii) on the left with purple flowers, catnip (Nepeta cataria) on the right with white flowers

mallow, I think, from wildflower seeds

mallow, I think, from wildflower seeds

Centaurea dealbata with a dandelion self-seeded on it / in it, doesn't look like it will be able to bloom, certainly no sign of a flower stem

bee on heleniums

the heleniums have survived the slugs and snails last year

bee on lupin

marsh mallow

pink dandelion (Crepis rubra)

bread-seed poppy

the slugs and snails ate this flower stem on the hosta and it has collapsed

my fox and Rocky

Victor using a piece of stone edging as a pillow

Scarecrow

greater knapweed, one of my favourite wildflowers, I'm lucky enough to have it in my garden

monarda Cambridge Scarlet

marsh mallow, blooming

purple loosestrife

hosta flower

bud on the self-seeded shoo-fly

Amazing Grey poppy

14 hollyhocks planted out, 5 more to somehow get into rock-hard ground

that plant with the red flower was already in the garden, the lone survivor or the hollyhock weevil, ox-eye daisy and drought

while I was planting out the hollyhocks, I noticed these leaves and didn't recognise them, also, sadly, damaged them by accident but the slugs and snails have also had a go, finally realised a few days later - melancholy thistle, which I have in the back garden, how it self-seeded int he front, I don't know

I planted out the small morning glory Heavenly Blue plants into larger pots, 4 in a pot