School holidays, snapdragon sulks and plenty of dahlias
August always has a slightly different rhythm once the school holidays arrive. The house is busier, the living room is never tidy for long and the gardening has to fit around everything else.
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Coming home from holiday to a garden in full bloom
I think every gardener gets that slight sense of dread when coming home from a holiday in summer. You imagine disaster, drought, things flopping everywhere or the best flowers opening and finishing while you are away.
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Cold spring or not, mid-June is making up for it
For so much of this spring I have felt as if I was waiting for the garden to catch up, but mid-June is finally making up for it.
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June is starting to feel like my kind of month
June has such a pull for me every year, and even after a cold grey spring I can feel the garden beginning to find its stride now.
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First sweet peas and that mid-May feeling
Mid-May is such a lovely point in the gardening year because all the firsts start happening at once. The first sweet peas, the first cornflowers, the first proper armfuls that make you think yes, here we go.
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The first spring bunch makes everything feel better
I do not think there is much that lifts my mood more at this time of year than picking the first proper spring bunch from the garden. It always feels like the reward for all the months of waiting, protecting and planning.
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Trying not to panic about all the rain
I think most of this fortnight has been spent looking out at the rain and wondering what on earth it is doing to the garden. Everything feels soggy, slightly battered and a bit behind, and I am trying very hard not to catastrophise.
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