Volunteers, Casualties, Survivors

Our Head Gardener this morning toured the garden making

a pictorial record of its current condition now the full force of the heatwave seems to have subsided somewhat. Some may consider that the task which fell to me – loading the pictures into the computer, making the tiled gallery and titling the individual images with some additional information – was rather easier.

This evening we dined on succulent roast chicken; crisp Yorkshire pudding and roast potatoes; crunchy carrots; firm cauliflower and broccoli; tender runner beans, and flavoursome gravy, with which Jackie drank Hoegaarden, I drank more of the Bordeaux, and Flo and Dillon drank Ribena.

81 comments

  1. Overall the garden looks pretty good considering the heat and the drought. I’m sure the head gardener, your volunteer water carriers, and even your deadheading all helped it look this good. You poor lad to have to deal with all of those pictures, plus providing info. 😉

  2. I am amazed by your garden, wow! Everywhere you look you see beautiful colors with so many different flowers. I looked up Yorkshire pudding, it sounds delicious! ❤️🇬🇧 I’m glad that your heatwave is slowing down.

  3. Whoever obtains such flowers and such vegetables is a true artist. He knows how to make produce a small area of land, well exposed and watered. Is it you, Derrick?
    In friendship
    Michel

  4. I love the strange patterns on “Volunteer morning glory”. I’m sure i used to have a shirt with a pattern like that in the 1970s. To inciorporate its TV jingle it was a “A Rael Brook poplin, the shir-irts for men” They don’t write jingles like that anymore. Perhaps just as well.

  5. Great photos, Jackie!
    You all know I always love to see the owls on duty watching over the garden! 🙂
    Love the honesty seeds, the watering cans “convention”, the planted Ali Baba pot, and the busy buzzy bee!
    Hope legs are healing and better today.
    (((HUGS))) ❤️

  6. Until I saw the picture with the watering cans I never thought about the enormous amount of water you guys must need for you garden. I hope the drought in the UK this year was extra ordinary and it will not repeat itself next year. Great pictures.

  7. I see there is an increase in the number of watering cans. Droughts do have a habit of increasing the need of more. One has to catch every drop of rain that’s available. We were down to an odds and evens house numbering system during our last drought. The past few months we have had more rain than we have watering cans, trugs and buckets.

    I haven’t had Yorkshire pudding since before my very English mother-in-law passed away 20 years ago.

      1. Home from hospital late yesterday. Stitches out tomorrow afternoon at surgeons room the a further 4-5 weeks non-weight-bearing, That’s the hard part. most boring too.

  8. I was thinking while viewing your garden paths how children must love all those secret little hiding places. Your garden is looking fabulous regardless of the heatwave. Well done to the green fingered gardeners.

  9. There were one or two that were showing signs of recent very hot days, but in general it is a magnificent display. My favourite this time was the coleus.

  10. Today’s gallery clarifies what I love about your garden: amazing diversity, the natural arrangements of large and small blossoms, winding pathways, and harmonious sculptures.

  11. On one of the dinners at the place I found unavoidably got trapped in – it was roast beef, I’d just got ready to eat it and there was knock on door, I opened it and the housekeeper handed me a napkin wrapped something, stating it was a Yorkshire pudding – and it was lovely….

  12. Well done Jackie both for producing and maintaining such a fine array of plants under very trying conditions and for giving us a gardener’s eye view of it all. Of course, thank you Derrick for placing the photographs where we can enjoy them too.

  13. The flowers look very good, especially considering the terrible heat they’ve had to deal with. A testament to the dedication of the head gardener and her helpers.

  14. Oh, my goodness what a massive supply of watering cans. I asked Joss to pick up an extra watering can for me. I should have been specific; he came back with an £20 cream metal one!
    I said I would bring it inside at night and Joss asked why, I replied that I didn’t want it to get rusty, my reply wasn’t questioned!

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