I haven’t posted a garden update here for a while. After the gorgeous early spring weather with plenty of sunshine, little rain and very warm temperatures things took a turn weather-wise. Very strong winds, rain and cold temperatures saw the garden suffering a little. As usual the plants coped OK for the first few days of the onslaught, but the incessant winds took their toll in the end.

Our garden this morning

Many plants, with their young spring growth have been burnt by the wind, some have been completely striped of their leaves. The birch tree doesn’t look too happy and the pampas grass and bamboo’s seem to be struggling. The spring flowers have all faded but we leave them until the leaves go brown rather than chopping them back too early. Hopefully this allows them to return vigour to the bulbs and also makes for a more ‘natural’ garden. But, what with the wind damage and the daffodils, crocuses and marsh marigolds all dying back the garden was looking a little worse for wear.

Flowers

It’s still looking nice though with plenty of new flowers coming out. The Poached Egg plants are still flowering away and the bees love them. The Lupins are putting on a good show and despite a few spires going to seed there are plenty more new spires of flowers on the way. The Ceanothus that suffered terribly due to the cold winter is in bloom and although nowhere near as impressive as previous years it is making a comeback. The purple Irises have finished flowering but the Yellow Flags are out in their place. Also looking good are the Heuchera and the Lamium. The Heuchera may not have the most spectacular flowers but their foliage is gorgeous and I actually really like the little mist of white flowers that they produce. Even the honeysuckle on the pergola seems happier this year and has survived the wind.

There are a few new additions to the garden as well. A small Campanula from Anna’s Mum that is flowering well and some Agastache seedlings that are pretty small at the moment but hopefully on their way to producing some nice tall spires of purple flowers in the main bed.

Fruit

The soft fruit is coming along nicely as well. The strawberries are turning red and in turn being eaten by something as per usual. The blackcurrants and red currants are ripening too and the raspberries are on their way – There looks to be a good crop of these. There is still no sign of any Goji Berries though.

Vegetables and Herbs

I’m trying to leave the vegetables to Anna, and without much room for a huge vegetable garden it’s always a bit of a struggle fitting everything in. The raised bed is home to lettuces, onions, beetroot and spinach, whilst the conservatory is home to some healthy looking tomatoes, peppers and chilli’s. We also have some badly weather-beaten potatoes in bags by the shed and some beans, peas, courgettes, pumpkins and squashes in a new little border I’ve constructed. Most of these have been beaten back a little by the recent winds though.

The herbs are coming on nicely though. The feverfew is, as always, trying to take over the world, the sage and thyme are happy and smelling gorgeous, the Lovage is huge and I’ve even found a Dill plant that I’d forgotten about. I may have rescued the Bay Tree as well and the Marjoram is fending well for itself and even beginning to self-seed. The chives have finished flowering but are still doing well. I’m going to divide these soon as we want more of them for decorative purposes rather than culinary ones. Talking of decorative herbs, the lavender out the front is beginning to flower as well.

The weather looks set to improve over the next few days and temperatures are on the up so I’m hoping to spend a bit more time pottering out there and hopefully the plants can all breathe a sigh of relief and get on with putting on a show.

Tags: GardeningHerbsVegetablesWeather