New Heights

Before lunch Jackie and I swung gently into our matutinal garden

tasks – planting in her case; weeding and dead-heading in mine.

The yellow Welsh poppies are in regular need of decapitation.

When I ventured out with my camera this afternoon I made sure to neglect neither the

clematis Montana cascading over the front wall nor the established pink climbing rose festooning the trellis.

One of the owls I righted a couple of days ago was returned to its perch alongside the Shady Path while another peeps round a clump of campanula alongside the daisy-like Erigeron.

Some peonies remain at their best while others bear sculptural seed heads.

Other clematises include the close-up Doctor Ruppel and the one I cannot name sharing its arch with a blue solanum. Magenta valerian is a focus of the Cryptomeria Bed; Leather leaf viburnum stands in shade beneath the copper beech; irises thrive in the West Bed; and these aquilegias are found in the Rose Garden, of which

these are further views, the last of which contains

both Gloriana and For Your Eyes Only.

Meanwhile Arthur Bell has reached new heights this year.

This evening we all dined on tender roast lamb; crisp Yorkshire pudding; boiled new potatoes; carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli al dente, and meaty gravy, with which Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I finished the Moerbei.

60 comments

  1. I marvel at the way you and Jackie maintain such a dense, beautiful garden. The plants and flowers respond so well under your attentive and loving care 🙂

  2. You both create such a beautiful garden, Derrick! I love the first photo with the home as the backdrop, lovely. Dinner sounds delicious! ❤️????????

  3. Looks hard work but fun. I have a peony for the first time, and it’s flowering. Any tips on maintenance? Should I deadhead?

    1. I have never dead-headed them. They don’t like being moved – and will sulk for a year or two afterwards. Thanks very much, Denzil

  4. I especially love that yellow rose, Arthur Bell. I have a yellow rose I was given by a friend one year. It has moved several times trying to find a good location. I finally moved what survived into a planter this year. The deer were rough on it.

  5. Arthur Bell is climbing to new heights! Way to go, Arthur!
    Gorgeous photos of your so-loved, well-cared-for, so beautiful garden!
    Yay for morning garden tasks! Thank you for helping the owls!
    (((HUGS)))
    PS…“Morning is the best of all times in the garden. The sun is not yet hot. Sweet vapors rise from the earth. Night dew clings to the soil and makes plants glisten. Birds call to one another. Bees are already at work.” – William Longgood

  6. Your garden will always look awesome while the wise and wistful owls are watching over your wonderfully winsome ward …

  7. Arthur Bell certainly is! And he is so sweet, we can’t mind him showing off.
    The rose names always amuse me. Your garden is beautiful.

  8. Respect, Derrick. The older I get , the smaller my garden is – you two keep on going, and adding on!!

    1. Thanks very much, GP. I have to say I now wish it was a bit smaller 🙂

  9. When we lived in just a slightly warmer place we had such a glorious rose over a trellis gate to our back yard. Thanks for letting me enjoy yours today.

  10. Wow, your Arthur Bell certainly has reached new heights this year – and your garden is looking beautiful! Good job … lots of work. Congratulations to you, Jackie & Martin!

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