Mornings in our garden in June and July are wonderful.
At the back you can see that the runner beans grew a meter tall and started to flower.
Runner bean blossoms:
A few wild flowers blossomed in the ‘meadow’ section of our flower bed:
A detail from our staircase garden:
Another wild flower, Borage:
Hosta flower:
Star Jasmine:
And our friendly visitor, the neighbours’ cat Stanley, who comes round every morning
My second update on gardening progress this summer.
I finally found the best suited space for an ivy plant I had for the last four years – it is now on the terrace, facing North-East and finally doing very well:
I love spring and summer in London
In June it was time to come up with some new decoration outside the front door:
And see the runner beans grow taller
My friend C. has a lovely garden in Holloway. Well by now I should say she had this garden, as she’s moved out to a new house. In any case, I wanted to share a few pictures of her Holloway garden with you. I believe one can see the Scandinavian influence in the fabrics used. C, if you read this, where can we buy the cushions? For now dear friends, enjoy the view 
Luscious white climbing roses
Pear tree
Ivy climbing on the house and London’s mild summer evenings
If you know of a nice garden you’d like to share, send me some pictures and they may feature on this blog very soon!
A delicious and easy Elderflower Cordial recipe
Ingredients:
Method:
Place the sugar into a large sauce pan, add the water and heat up until the sugar dissolves, without bringing it to the boil.
Once the sugar has dissolved, bring the liquid to the boil, then switch off the heat.
Add the grated lemon zest, elderflower blossoms, lemon rounds and citric acid.
Cover with a clean cloth and leave to infuse for 48 hours.
Place a fresh, finely woven tea towel over a colander and pour the syrup through it into a pan.
With a funnel, fill the sterilized bottles, seal and store in a cool dry place.
The cordial is great with both still or sparkling water. Once opened, store it in the fridge.
Yes, this is what the council has planned, and it is right here were I live!
The area that has been dug up is extensive. Chances are it will look lovely. Apparently the fence should come down in July – I am surprised how quickly this meadow is expected to grow.
Will keep you posted!
Hi everyone!
I have five hours of solid gardening work behind me. Yesterday my determination to clear up the garden for the summer suddenly took over! Once I got started, I could not stop. Now below are photos of my efforts.
As it turned out over recent weeks, some of the pots on the staircase had too many plants in them and the leaves were getting into each other’s way and sunshine. To address this, I bought two new pots and bamboo sticks to redistribute the plants. In half an hour I built two pyramid-shaped climbing structures. At the top I tied the bamboo sticks together with garden wire and covered this with cord for a nicer look. I then attached fishing wire to the bamboo to create a climbing grid for the sweet pea seedlings.
At the moment the seedlings look a bit miserable due to the re-potting.
The idea is that they should grow up the trellis in a triangular shape.
Next, I decided to make use of what plants we have in our garden, be it climbers growing through the fence from our neighbours’ garden or plants left by tenants that recently moved out from our house. To that effect, I attached a plastic grid to the wooden garden wall and started to guide a climber that grows through the fence, up this trellis.
I also provided a bamboo stick as support for a wild climber that has started to grow out of the soil.
It was also time to remove the faded tulips from their pot and to place them into a box so they dry and can be re-planted in November. For more information on what to do with tulips throughout the year, here is a link to my blog post on tulips.
As only very few of the Freesia bulbs I received for free from the Guardian Gardening Centre have sprouted, I added a plant from the staircase into the middle of this year’s low cost plant arrangement.
I checked on the tomato seedlings and my staircase project (part of separate blog posts), and to finish things off, I re-potted the lemon cypress, re-positioned the torch-light from last year and cleared up the floor. Job done, I was pretty tired, but hopefully you like the result : )
Red Darter 