Sunday, July 07, 2013
Mark and Gaz
The summer sun, finally it has descended upon us as we just had the first weekend here that actually felt...well summery! It is July after all and it is supposed to feel summery but as most of you know that's not always the case in the UK (remember the washout that was July last year?). Fortunately it's looking like July is set to be a sunny and warm one, just for a change, and this weekend was a wonderful taster of things to come.
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| Eremurus and Yucca rostrata basking under the warm July sun |
T-shirt, shorts, BBQ's, ice cream, washing drying in no time under the sun, bliss! And of course, lots and lots of gardening.
This weekend was a mix bag of gardening (and home) related activities for us, so mixed that I couldn't even pin down one activity to claim as the highlight of the two days. Because of the really good weather suddenly the possibilities of things to do seemed endless, spoilt for choice so that's what we did, did as much as we possibly could as long as it still felt 'pleasurable'.
And you lose sense of time, with the long sunny summery days that seemed to go on forever. And for the first time this year, we were out in the garden till midnight.
A weekend of mixed activities, and of course mixed pictures of a summery weekend in our garden....
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| Flower spike parade, which one will turn out to be the prettiest? We'll find out in just a few days. (L-R Beschoneria septentrionalis, Eremurus, Kniphofia thomsonii, Yucca recurvifolia) |
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| Beautiful variegation isn't it? Ginkgo biloba 'Beijing Gold' |
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| Like stars, reaching out for the stars - Cotula hispida |
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| The plants are definitely loving the sunny weather too! |
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| Knickers and Twinkles were extra lively today! |
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| Agaves, Palms, Nolinas, and Yuccas - definitely at home with the sunny weather |
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| And yes, we built a pond this weekend. Just for a change... |
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| All the fish were extra lively this weekend too. |
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| Magnolia tripetala looking better each year. Possibly the easiest and most rewarding of the big leafed Magnolias |
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| We do love our small wildlife pond. And for the first time this year we finally have newts in it! |
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| The jungle! |
Weekends never seem long enough! Hope your weekend was as fun, fabulous and productive as ours!
Mark :-)
This gardening blog follows our journey as we create our Tropical and Exotic themed garden. We hope you'll enjoy the journey as much as we do. We started our Exotic Garden in 2005 and this site will show its development, as well as our travels, both abroad and within the UK to gardens, nurseries and friends.
The second photo with all those spikes -- if that's not summer, I don't know what is. Still waiting for the first blooms on my beschorneria. Kniphofia thomsonii is a good bloomer here too, but I can only dream of eremurus. Glad it's warming up there. The English bloggers at the recent fling in SF seemed really taken aback at the intense heat on Saturday.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to have got hot here now! Hopefully will have a nice summer :)
DeleteLove your parade of blooms! I just bought a blooming Kniphofia thompsonii, so it gets my vote as most beautiful. So glad you're getting summery weather there.
ReplyDeleteThanks Alison its a stunning plant we were kindly given this one by a gardening friend
DeleteOut in the garden until midnight! That sounds fantastic. It probably doesn't get dark until well after 10pm. We're much further south (latitude of Morocco) so it gets dark at 9pm, even in mid-summer.
ReplyDeleteCotula hispida is new to me. I want one! Or three!!! I've got to see if they can take our heat. They look like superb front-of-the-border plants.
It was such a warm and pleasant evening, we did come in to eat the. Back out to water and enjoy the garden in the evening
DeleteMidnight! Proof you guys really never sleep...
ReplyDeleteGlad you're enjoying a real summer, me too! It's grand...
No sleep when there's gardening to do lol :)
DeleteLove the shots. The Gingko especially is lovely. Now the coolest shot every is the adorable cats enjoying the day!
ReplyDeleteCher Sunray Gardens
They do seem to enjoy hanging out with us no matter what we are doing
ReplyDeleteYour garden looks wonderful all togged out in its summer party dress.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ricki :) we're enjoying the fine weathe while its here.
DeleteOh wow you guys, what a treat! Out till midnight! How fun. Do you have a lot of lights in your garden? I know it's hard but you might want to do a post with pics of the lights at night. I bet the shapes and shadows is really cool. Have a super summer!
ReplyDeleteThanks Candice :) yes we do have several lights in the garden. Will try to take some pics in the evening soon.
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