Summer Pots and Baskets

I'm a great collector of pots and baskets.

Diasca flowering again from last summer after our mild winter

In fact I know I have far too many, but they're the things that can give that finishing touch to the garden. I'm not a tidy gardener, I like pots strewn around everywhere, brimming with colourful plants and flowers. 

Hot red perlargiums in terracotta pots conjures up happy holidays on the Mediterranean

A mismatch of alpines and cuttings, brightening a dull corner

In the summer months, it's those annual plants that continue flowering from May until the frosts of Autumn that sustain interest as other perennial plants come and go. 

Baskets hang off the pergola and pink roses ramble up to meet them

Fuscia, perlargiums in pots, but mingling with the hebe in the border

A little place for birds to feed amongst the cosmos, as well as a present from a friend

I like them surrounding my front door with pots, making a small pathway to the house, a warm and happy welcome to visitors and a welcoming, cheerful sight when we arrive back home each time. 

Another basket - beautiful wrought iron in the shape of a heart - packed with summer colour. Another special gift from a friend 

When it's suddenly a hot summers day, it's the assortment of pots and colourful bright flowers that surround the sitting and eating areas which are such a delight -  they help to create a small refuge to relax in. And then there's nothing more calming than to potter with a watering can after a baking day, listening to the sounds of the evening. 

When it's cooler or wet, the pots and baskets are beautiful to look out on, especially from the conservatory, which feels halfway to being in the garden anyway despite the weather. I place them in deliberate places so I can glimpse them through windows and doors. 

I love perlargiums in pinks and reds and a mix of begonias in a variety of colours - I find these give strong colour all summer long and stay in good shape through to the first frosts. They seem to thrive easily either in the full sun or the dappled shade. Some other favourites are petunias and cosmos. 

I've had many pots and baskets given as presents and brought every pot I've ever owned with me from every house we've lived in. They are reminders of special people and special friends. They spill with plants from all our old gardens. 

Blue campanula spilling and rambling aside the bronze of a yucca - I brought the campanula from one of my mum's gardens and it's thrived in every garden I've owned since! 

I think it's all these reasons why I'm an avid collector and love to surround myself with colourful, vibrant pots. Of course, summer always ends, but then it's a great opportunity to prepare the pots and baskets full of hardy winter plants, revamp and change the whole look and bring them even more closer to the house so they can be enjoyed for the winter. 

A trail of pots by the door

Beautiful Dorset

During June, we recently visited Christchurch in Dorset and enjoyed exploring the nearby surroundings. We discovered the stunning nature reserve at Hengistbury Head just by chance. We had crossed the river Stour via the ferry from the main green in the town, not really knowing what was beyond there. 

We followed the pathways across meadows and marshland by the river and they were teeming with wildlife - bees, butterflies, wildflowers and beautiful scenery and birdsong. The hedgerows were full of wildflowers: wild honeysuckle, wild roses, cow parsely, buttercups, clover, campian and even a few bluebells scattered here and there. The paths seemed to stretch for miles and headed in all directions. We chose to head over the heathland towards the beach and then the foliage changed to sandy grasses, swathes of bright pink sea thrift and vivid yellow birdsfoot and gorse. 

Back towards Christchurch there's a pretty tea garden, in June it's teaming with cottage garden flowers - including rambling roses, lupins and  foxgloves with beautiful views down the river. 

Another day we took the ferry across from Mudeford Quay to the spit below the headland that separates the sea from the harbour there and this time seeing the famous beach huts. Again, there were many stunning coastal views, scenery and much wildlife with sea kale on the beach and the cries of gulls, ferns and more tumbling hedgerows. 

Then it was time to head home, but stopping en route in the heart of the New Forest for a ramble amongst the wild ponies, busy streams and glorious countryside. It's a natural garden to behold with acres and acres of woodlands, heathlands, peace and tranquility - it's only the countryside you can hear. A buzz of a bee, hum of an insect, the birdsong and the trickle of a stream above the silence. Rhodedendrens with their huge pink flower heads were in full flower too. 

We had a lunch stop before home at the White Buck Inn at Burley, where there's a decent menu, good service and a pretty beer garden. We had our cocker spaniel, Ted with us and dogs were allowed in the garden and bar areas, so he was happy, especially when he was brought treats and a bowl of water! 

Hengistbury Head

Mudeford Spit

Tuckton Tearooms

The New Forest

Lunch stopover at the White Buck Inn, Burley

The Poppy Fields

The fields around our beautiful Hertfordshire countryside have been very beautiful and colourful over the last few months. Firstly it was the bright yellows of the rapeseed then as it faded back, the poppies started flowering. 

The poppies have been particulary stunning this year and have been in flower for nearly a month or so now. It's poignant that they should be so beautiful this year, as it's this year that we commemorate a hundred years since the Battle of the Somme. The battle was one of the bloodiest of the first world war, with over a million killed or wounded and a total of 19,240 British troops dying. 

My grandad fought in this war and this battle on the Western front and all through it he wore a small silver cross with a soldier's doxology engraved on it. Luckily, he managed somehow to survive the battle, but died in his early sixties due to gas poisoning damage on his lungs from the gas that was used by the German forces to assault our troops. My dad gave me his silver cross when I was waiting for my transplant call and once more that tiny silver cross and prayer served as a good luck talisman for our family and I survived an incurable disease, receiving a heart and double lung transplant and a gift of new life. I treasure this little silver cross and prayer now and keep it safe and sound, alongside my new chance at life. 

Here are some pictures of the beautiful poppies flowering nearby at this most significant time for our country. 

The Battle of the Somme started on the 1st July 1916 and ended on 18th November 1916. Let us never forget the freedom our soldiers fought for.