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Mid Summer Moments

© Graham Leatherbarrow

My garden has rarely looked so good as it does this year. I know it's easy to say, when June is bringing out all the roses and clematis, but even back in January and February my garden plants were making me smile with delight.

With equal amounts of sun and rain so far this summer, the weather has been very kind. This has made my earlier Herculean efforts preparing for the season well worthwhile. Considering the size of my very small plot, the hours I put in on average per week don't bear thinking about. I don't really know how many hours it actually comes to, but my garden is not labour saving in the least. It demands attention at almost every turn, or at least that's how it seems.

Close planting has its disadvantages as pruning is always on the agenda, but has the bonus of excluding the weeds, because there just isn't the room. Yes, I do need to weed occasionally, but what there is takes no more than a few minutes. The real joy of this sort of planting is the almost seamless display of colour and textures throughout the year.

Now in high summer, my garden has filled out even more. Roses and clematis often share the same support, which makes for long displays. Plants like the cranesbills or hardy geraniums are perfect ground cover plants for sun or part shade and complement their lofty neighbours. Shrubs of differing height and texture punctuated by herbaceous flower spikes of delphiniums, acanthus and lilies all contribute to this vibrant scene.

Having now time to catch my breath a little, the long evenings enable me to appreciate the garden and its mid summer highlights. What better way to relax than within the sight and sound of water, a pond however small is a precious part of any garden. On warm nights a large frog clambers over the stones beside the water's edge in search of tasty morsels, whilst the golden orfe dart about just beneath the pond's surface. Both the frog and the fish fascinate my cat Sophie, who will often stand crouched over the pond edge looking into the water, keenly watching the manoeuvres beneath. A loud 'plop' is the sound of the frog keeping one step ahead of my curious cat by jumping into the pond for safety.

The evening air is heavy with the scent of the philadelphus, which is now in full flower. My own plant is 'Belle Etoile' a smaller form with a lovely purple blotch at the base of each flower, which smells of pineapple. As with all philadelphus, after flowering they should be cut back by around a third of their growth, or more if you wish to reduce its size. This ensures new growth before the end of the season, which will flower next summer.

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