Friday 19 August 2016

August Garden

We've been lucky this summer to enjoy so much sunshine and it's been a real pleasure to be able to spend so many days and evenings purely enjoying the garden. 

The lavenders have been in full bloom, full of bees and butterflies and their perfume strong in the balmy heat. Hebes have looked gorgeous in their calming pastel shades of pink, blue and purple. I always love the hydrangeas at this time of year, persistantly giving us a show of large colourful flowerheads in dazzling pinks, blues, purples and softer whites and knowing they will bloom through until autumn. 

The gentle pinks of daphne and the vibrant purple of the tall verbenas wafting in the summer breeze are also a delight that carry us on through those early autumn months. The roses are enjoying continuously flowering, many of them giving a second late summer flush. 

My absolute favourite has to be the crocosia with its bright flame orange flowers. It always brings the garden back to life in late summer, lighting it with dazzling colour, refecting the subtle change of the seasons as high summer seemlessly runs to late summer and then the months of early autumn. The vivid orange of the flowers is like a beacon signalling the intense heat of August, but also preparing us for the russets, golds and red shades of autumn. 

There's something quite special about picking your own flowers for inside the house at this time of year too ...