Garden in mid July

 

The star of the show, tucked away in the border at the front of the side patio. The Hydrangea macrophylla is apparently susceptible to all kinds of problems, from poor soil to too much sun in the afternoon and not enough moisture. The list goes on. But ours seems to like it where it is. It's not one of those huge hydrangeas, but so much the better for its position. If I remember correctly, it was given to Alison for helping out at an event.    

In the photo below, the Weigelia Red Prince is flowering again. I was just about to give it a major prune after the first flowering was over, but just in time, no pruning is required until next February. 

These flowers next to the wall of the conservatory are stocks dwarf mixed from Chiltern View Garden Centre. I have never grown stocks before, and I'm thinking they might do well in the bedding border next year. 

On the subject of bedding plants, I made a mistake buying these antirrhinums. They grew far too tall, and I had to give them all a chop before they flowered. The one below is the first to come into flower, and, as you can see, the ones next to it are a while off flowering. In the main border at the back of this photo, the pink flower is a bank of marjoram, normally grown as a herb. It is usually covered in butterflies and bees. 

The acanthus below has had a severe pruning as some of the spikes had fallen over. It looks fine from this angle, but not at the back.

At the end of the side patio are the hostas 'Fire and Ice'. All three pots have flowered when only one did last year.

I have already included photos of the echinacea on my previous post. But this one shows how the flowers change shape.

I think I also mentioned previously the repeat flowering of the Weigelia Red Robin. Here it is again.

Two plants were struggling in their large pots: the Salvia nemerosa Cardonna and a geranium. When I tried to repot them, I had great difficulty digging them out of the containers. They were completely root-bound. So everything was cleared away, new compost added and small parts of the plants repotted.