Posted on by wherethejourneytakesme

beaching :: lovely moments in the garden

It feels like we are settling into summer now – clear blue skies, warm sunny days – not too hot and no rain, no winds.

As soon as we arrive at the cottage, daylight permitting, the first thing I do is grab my camera and go for a walk around. It is 6 weeks since our last visit – far too long for this garden; I am sure it would turn completely wild in only twelve weeks! There is always so much to see and so many lovely surprises. The first thing that met me this time was the vivid pink of the rhododendron and the beautiful sky blue of the delphiniums.

Come with me on a stroll around my Scottish garden – of course off camera there is a mound of work to do but for the moment I will just ignore this and just capture the delights that I have found.

This is what we call the the back garden although it is really at the front of the cottage and leads into the woodland – we are quite secluded down here with the canopy of trees. The rhododendron has been magnificent this year and the ground beneath is littered with petals like giant confetti.

Around the pond in the lower wood the primulas I planted two years ago are beginning to spread now and light up a dark corner.

The wild fuschia that is beside the edge of the pond has become so tall and leggy that a branch had broken and fallen across the path, we cut it off but the rest of it will need some maintenance pruning on our next visit.

We took the pond cover off today – a bit late this year but we have been so short of time on previous visits. The pond needs a good clean out too – I really look forward to this, heaving out buckets of mud!

And my little seat by the pond is only just visible – peeping out from under this wild geranium that has seeded itself.

The woodland walk is one of my favourite spots I tried to introduce plenty of leaf shapes and keep everything very natural looking choosing plants very carefully. The ferns just set themselves – they seem happy in dry or wet ground.

Below is the border that runs down the lane side of the house and has a lovely low dry stone wall at the back beyond which runs the daisy path. This is very much a work in progress – the escallonia in the centre on top of the wall is all that is left of the hedge that died in the severe frosts a few years ago. I have yet to decide what to plant to each side of it. I am going to introduce some tumbling rockery plants to the top of the wall for a bit of colour.

And of course the seaside garden – the valerian has formed quite a mass now and is looking good and blends quite well into the wild landscape beyond whilst adding a touch of colour.

Tomorrow we head home again, in the short time we have been here we have managed to cut the grass and the hedges and weed some but not all of the borders – my bad knee allowing. At this time of year I am very selective with my weeding and let some of the seedlings grow on so that I can transplant the ones I want to keep like foxglove and aquilegia, alchemilla mollis and geranium and the annual pink poppies and biennial forget me not.

There is still a lot to do but it will all have to wait now for another day, another visit. For now I am going to sink into bed with my Miss Read book and cup of cocoa and no doubt I will be sound asleep in no time.

13 Replies to “beaching :: lovely moments in the garden”

  2. What a lovely post.
    I hope that you’ve had time to sit a while and reflect as well as enjoy being in the garden working.
    With being further north I assume that you get two sets of spring, summer etc.
    The photos are gorgeous. I love your leaf shapes area. It’s so effective and longer lasting than the flowering plants. My roses are old fashioned cottage ones, a glorious splash of colour with wonderful perfume but gone very quickly.
    How are the plans to sort out your house there coming along?
    I’m sure your van is fine in the summer but that the Scottish winters can seem bleak in it.
    Have a safe journey home.
    Sue

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    1. Yes we had the odd five minutes over a cup of tea. This time of year there is so much to do it is hard to sit down. I do have the cottage update waiting to post that I promised – sometimes life just gets busy. My favourite rose – David Austen Gentle Hermione is a more recent old english rose that flowers all summmer and well into the autumn – it is just outside the kitchen door in our hideaway seating area where the perfume is just heavenly. I will post some pictures. The van is snug in winter – central heating and flannelette duvet covers! We are moving on with our plans for the cottage – can’t divulge yet but at last we are looking at our options.

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  3. Gorgeous. I love rhododendrons and all your beautiful flowers. Many don’t do well here because of our heat. We are going to have be in England (and Scotland) in June.

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  5. Thanks for the garden wander. So many lovely flowers and plants. You’ve done a wonderful job of mixing plant life in your garden. Hard work, I know, but lovely results.

    It doesn’t take long for mother nature to take back civilization. In our neck of the woods, the kudzu vine can swarm over an open area in no time at all and completely cover not only the ground but very tall trees as well. Wikipedia has some images.

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  6. Thanks for my ‘sunny day in the garden with flowers’ fix – it’s cheered me up no end. Today has been particularly chilly and there’s more to come so I’ve enjoyed every single word and picture in your post😊 You’ve given so much love and attention to your plot of land it is giving you back a thousand times.

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  7. Wow! Just – wow! And Miss Read would have loved your garden – both of them, in fact.
    xx

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  8. Your Scottish garden is absolutely beautiful! I only have a small garden, but love it when plants have self seeded, or the wind/birds have donated some seeds.

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