I am Not a Gardener!

…. but I have been blessed with a very full country garden!

It needs constant care; not only to remove the persistant weeds, the perpetual thistles, the secreted nettles, the colourful dandelions and other unmentionable unwanteds, but it also needs some radical trimming!

This morning I rescued the birdbath from behind ferns, fargesia bamboo and a rhododendron bush; I knew it was there, it had just become so overgrown due to the high rainfall over the last few months of 'drought' that no-one even noticed that its bowl had been blown off in one of the summer winds and was buried under another unknown 'ground cover' (euphemism for Weed!).  The bird bath has now been re-sited so we can enjoy seeing the birds splash & bathe! (So exciting to see the Coal Tit and Mistle Thrush enjoying it just a few hours later.)

At this time of year (summer) Corn Poppies are all over the place and look beautiful growing wild with their delicate red petals nodding violently in the slightest breeze.  But our garden has also sprouted some very tall Oriental Poppies in what was once a vege patch! According to the guide its common name is Oriental Poppy, and its Cultivar is ‘Patty’s Plum’ and although the guide says it grows to 70cm, this one is closer to 170cm in height!

 Also growing among the brilliant white Feverfew flowers are some Opium Poppies. An interesting combination - Opium & Feverfew. Feverfew is a medicinal herb known to relieve migraines, and Opium - well.....?!

Add in a few pretty lilacy-blue Harebells, and some Lady’s Mantle which nearly took over the fish pond, and it all makes quite a pleasant little patch.

Just to confirm – I didn’t know any of these flower's names (except the Poppy) while I was pulling up, cutting down and dragging things around this morning. I’ve spent the afternoon trawling through internet flower identification sites, bringing sprigs of flowers and leaves inside - and squashing little black bugs on my desk - to come up with these names!  Now where did I see a picture of that yellow plant with the red bits?!