Midsummer

"Green was the silence, wet was the light, the month of June trembled like a butterfly..." - Pablo Neruda

Mulberry tree (Morus nigra) in fruit

Light, butterflies, wet - we're having lots of all three apparently.  But I'm glad to say the earlier rain is now paying off in terms of fruit... prolific mulberries, small but succulent, their generous branching trees shading the waterside at our local port; raspberries are ready, apricots abound and cherries are almost over.

Wild plum

Christina has a passion for wild plums which we occasionally come across on our walks.  They're not much bigger than cherries and in a good year the poor trees are weighed down with them. We've been known to pick several kilos and religiously de-stone them before freezing them in bags for use in pies - cooked with star anise, they do taste quite like cherries with a pleasantly acid tang.

Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa violacea)
 on Salvia turkestanica

Our wet Spring has also led to an anticipated rise in the insect population.  We always have a few of these distinctive carpenter bees bumbling about but they are gentle giants of the insect world, far more interested in flowers than in humans. 

This year a couple of them have decided to nest in a length of bamboo used as a support for our tomatoes and you can hear them loudly munching their way through the inside of the hollow stick, prior to depositing their larvae within.  It looks like we've inadvertently supplied them with a 'des res' ...

Dragonfly or 'libellule'

On a warm evening recently we were invaded by a host of golden dragonflies which must have just hatched.  They darted around like so many fairies with jewelled wings, delicately alighting on plants and sticks where they could admire one another and soak up the last rays of sunshine.  We'd just watered the beds with sprinklers, so maybe they were enjoying the moisture too.

Although we have a number of waterways and ditches around here, it's unusual to come across dragonflies or damselflies unless they're simply passing through. This brood of about 20 have stuck around for a few days now, entertaining us with their lively display.

Geum chiloense 'Mrs Bradshaw'
with pink Salvia and Californian poppies

In planting our borders we've tended to avoid using red flowers in case they clash with the various pinks and mauves already established. But we wanted to grow some Geum and couldn't find any with orange blooms, so I picked this RHS-approved strain which has bright scarlet flowers and really glows alongside its neighbours.

Now we've come to appreciate these vivid pinpoints of colour dotted around the garden like poppies in a meadow. Their erect stems provide a succession of flowers and I'm happy to report that they seem to be snail resistant too!

Hoverfly visiting Mrs Bradshaw

Scarlet is a much rarer colour in the butterfly world, but I snapped a Red Admiral looking distinctly dapper against the pure white blossoms of Escallonia macrantha.

 

Shrub of the Month

From being an unremarkable evergreen hedging plant, our Escallonia has put on a fair bit of new growth this spring and suddenly burst into flower about a week ago.  We also have a pink-flowering version but this one is much more striking and provides a thick hedge for the front of our rental cottage or gite.

Escallonia macrantha 'Alba' in bloom
with mulberry tree behind

We chose it to replace an ugly conifer hedge which had fallen prey to dieback and was clearly unhappy at being buffeted by salt-laden breezes.  It grows quite quickly and has attractive glossy leaves which stand up well to moist salty air and strong winds.  So far, it hasn't fallen victim to any of the other 'maladies' that beset hedges here and have their owners reaching for the Bordeaux mix!

Delphinium tatsiensis

One of the plants I grew from seed a couple of years ago was this delicate delphinium from Western China that almost got lost amongst our annual larkspurs which are distinctly more robust.  It has beautiful spurred flowers that last well and I'm hopeful that more stems will be produced as the plant matures.  

Perennials often demand patience but give them a couple of years to develop a good root system and you'll be amply rewarded.

Papaver somniferum and its seedhead

Annuals, on the other hand, are the floozies of the flower world - none more so than poppies which scatter their tiny seeds all over the place! 

Like so many people starting a new garden in a warm climate, I was looking for bold and exotic colour when we first came here. Poppies provide that hit of instant gratification, but their seeds linger a lot longer and still come to life whenever we turn the soil. Mostly I weed them out because the foliage can get big and untidy, but sometimes it's tempting to let one come to flower and just enjoy!  

The ex-potager has now become a herb bed, filled with colourful salvias and hyssops which are all flowering their socks off. Threaded amongst these are a few geraniums such as 'Ann Folkard' with bright magenta flowers which look good against the rough, purplish leaves of culinary sage.

Ann's finely-cut foliage is quite a pale green and also adds contrast to the surrounding herbs, so it's easy to see why she's one of the most popular geraniums for sun or shade. With stems of up to 60cm, she can hold her own at the front of the border without taking over.

Weed of the Week

Oxalis corniculata

This is another of those creeping things which look innocuous at first... you may well find it tucked into the corner of a flower pot or flashing its little yellow flowers at you from a crack in the paving. 

You might think it's a sweet little sorrel with bronze leaves, but don't be fooled - it's a Wicked Weed!! Those yellow flowers will produce capsules which ping out their seeds with great efficiency and the plants themselves can soon become entangled in the roots of your choicer specimens. 

Perhaps I sound a shade neurotic but I dislike anything which competes for the scarce moisture and nutrients in our soil. (Plus, of course, it just doesn't have a lot going for it aesthetically...)

An Aesthete keeping his eye on the herb border!