Jo's News and Views June 2021

Hello Everyone

I'm not sure what to say about the weather apart from that this is England and it is summer so why would we not expect rain? On the days the sun did shine I made sure I visited the garden so have lots of pretty photos to share with you.

The Honesty Bed provides a lovely welcome to the garden, photo 1. So does the planting in front of the house. This Crambe cordifolia, Flowering Sea Kale, looked amazing, photo 2. Around to the side of the house is the Old Conservatory which Mr Bowles could access from the house and potter about in when the weather was not suitable for gardening outside. Some remedial works have been carried out to the structure where severe rusting had occurred and the roof leaks have been repaired too. So it has now been spring-cleaned and rearranged so ready for visitors soon, photos 3 and 4.

The area near the Alpine Bridge is full of new growth. The Liriodendron tulipifera is preparing to flower, photo 5. The two hawthorn trees here are Crataegus laevigata 'Rosea Flore Pleno' on the left and Crataegus laevigata 'Paul's Scarlet' on the right. Both have been covered in blossom, photo 6 and the Rosa pimpinellifolia alongside the bridge has been flowering all Spring too, photo 7.

Down in the Rock Garden the Hosta Bank has been tidied and the hostas look beautiful, photo 8. I do not know how Gary does it but there was not any slug or snail damage to the plants! Mine have been chewed to bits again this year with all the wet weather so I think I need to consult him. Walking back along the path I stopped to admire the poppies on the bank, photo 9. It reminded me that I have to apologise for making a mistake last month over poppy identification. So these delightful small red poppies that you see everywhere are Papaver rhoeas or Corn poppies. The poppies with the pale green leaves and the flowers in a range of colours are Papaver somniferum or Opium poppies, photo 10. Not to be confused with the Papaver orientale or Oriental poppy, photo 11, as I did last month!

In the Kitchen Garden the runner bean support has been moved and two different beans have been planted this year. On the left is Lady Di and on the right is Moonlight, photo 12. The Lathyrus odorata or old fashioned sweet peas to you and me are busy climbing up their supports and flowering already, seen here surrounded by corn poppies, photo 13. This photo was taken three weeks after the previous one and you can see the runner beans are already halfway up their support. Also in the Kitchen Garden the Irises have continued to flower well, photo 14. The Annual Flower bed has been planted up, photo 15. Then at the bottom of the Cut Flower bed the Dianthus barbatus, Sweet Williams, are adding a wonderful splash of colour to the garden, photo 16.

Leaving the Kitchen Garden I walked out onto the Tulip Terrace where I stopped to admire the Wisteria, photo 17. The old one has died but this young one is certainly doing well however it is only covering the front of the yew tree at the moment, photo 18. Maybe it will cover it completely one day like the old one did. On towards Bowling Green Lawn where the display at the end of Tom Tiddlers Ground caught my eye. It looked so pretty in the dappled sunlight, photo 19.

Then I walked through the upper garden back to the Tulip Terrace where this lovely view greeted me, photo 20. I am not sure if you can see it but I noticed there is a corn poppy growing in the agave container on top of the trellis in the Kitchen Garden! The succulents have been moved from the glasshouses to their summer residence along the wall and on the grass is a lilac pool of petals which are the flowers from the Paulownia tomentosa, the Foxglove tree. Then just beside me was this lovely rose, Rosa glauca 'Rubrifolia', photo 21.

Moving on to the Pond I thought I would include the magnificent Taxodium distichum, the Swamp cypress, photo 22. I usually only mention it in Autumn when it turns a deep bronze colour but I thought it looked beautiful here, in its summer dress of green, in the sunshine. The good news is that the restoration of the Pond has been completed and here are Richard and Bryan checking that the depth is correct, photo 23. The Gunnera manicata have survived well in their temporary homes of dumpy bags, photo 24, but will no doubt be pleased now that the Pond is being refilled and the replanting has commenced around the edge, photo 25. Lovely to see the reflection in the water too. The contractors, Aquamaintain, have done a fantastic job. The contouring and tidying up afterwards has made sure that the pond looks completely natural and it is already coming back to life. I would now like to thank the Grounds Maintenance Team at Tottenham Hotspur Training ground, which is next door to the garden, because they stepped forward and have helped fill the pond by allowing the garden to use their water. Fantastic news, well done to everyone involved, photo 26.

So that just leaves me with my fauna collection for this month. I was delighted to capture these two young Jays calling to their parents for food early one morning at the beginning of June, photo 27. This was a sight I had not seen before. Then down in the Wildlife Pond these Large Red damselflies were having fun, photos 28 and 29. Well, it was Spring! Then finally this beautiful Red Admiral butterfly, photo 30. I am reliably informed that as they get older the bright red on the wings turns to a shade of orange which confused me for a moment.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed this wander through the garden with me.

Best Wishes

Jo