It is properly hot here today, predicted to reach 30C by the middle of the afternoon, although nowhere near the temperatures just across the Channel in France. With extreme weather on the rise, our gardens become more important than ever as an oasis of greenery and shade in a heatwave.
Our garden is looking rather overgrown at the moment. I have been so busy that I have not kept up with weeding and pruning, but now the warm weather is here, it is quite nice to have our own personal patch of jungle.
As ever, I am joining in with The Propagator who generously hosts this meme and invites us to show six things from our garden each Saturday.
- Shady spots
I ventured down to the end of the garden to find that our fig tree is swallowing up our ancient Ikea table and chairs, while crocosmia and geraniums are sprouting merrily from the cracks in the paving. It is not a tidy look, but it is rather lush and cool.
The swing and behind it our pirate ship play area is a nice spot for the kids to keep cool, although I need to tidy it up to make it a bit more appealing to them and maybe add some pirate bunting and outdoor bean bags. The grapevine also needs pruning back to two or three spurs.
2. Rambling rose
I pruned back this pink rambling rose over an arch really hard earlier in the year and have been rewarded by lots of sprays of rosebuds about to burst into flower.
3. Campanula lactiflora ‘Dixter Presence’
I am rather please with this pretty blue campanula which was one of Christopher Lloyd’s own selections, which I bought in the autumn from Marchants Hardy Plants near us in East Sussex.
4. Jasmine
Jasminum officinale is a complete thug in our garden and I am constantly having to cut it back. It has even climbed right to the top of our tall fig tree. But the payback comes at this time of year when the summer heat releases its gently exotic fragrance. The smell of summer indeed.
5. Scabious
I bought a couple of purple scabious plants from the local garden centre a few weeks ago and they have been flowering their little socks off ever since.
6. Lavender, Campanula and Erigeron karvinskianus
At this time of year just getting to the front door can feel like hacking through the foliage, but it is worth it for this lovely summer display of lavender, purple campanula that grows like a weed in our garden and the pretty pink and white flowers of the Mexican fleabane.
Carrots and Calendula 
Nice to see your lovely, sunny garden. One of our dogs used to appear to self-medicate on the creeping campanula. It does spread but it spreads beautifully.
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There’s something wonderful about an enthusiastically lush summer garden! Especially when the plants smell as good as lavender and jasmine when you brush by them. Enjoy it in the heat today! 😀
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That campanula is lovely. Does the swing take the weight of a grown up?! I went on a very late slug and snail hunt last night and noticed that the jasmine had started flowering. It’s scent is lovely, though as you say it is a thug.
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Yes it will take a grown up’s weight but a bit small for the bum – it’s from Sitting Spiritually and they do adult ones too!
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The shady areas are great…..I love to gravitate to those, but with a book and a cold drink when it is this hot.
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The warm air must have reached your side of the Channel … luckily you have some shade … and from tomorrow here it’s over then a cooler weather will arrive.
Your garden doesn’t seem to suffer according to the pictures : it’s beautiful !
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Thanks – it was too hot even in the shade yesterday – 33C – but cooler today.
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All the same ! 😅…
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I think it is the time of year when you just have to accept that the plants are winning and they are in charge of us! I feel the same about jasmine – a complete thug but just about gets away with it because of the summer evening scent.
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I’ve got my beady eye on that campanula too! What a lovely thing. Your garden looks very serene and welcoming, who cares about a few weeds and a little ancharchy? Not me!
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I much prefer a more relaxed garden where things are allowed to spread and seed and sprawl – all looks lovely to me! (Especially the Campanula, but I will resist. Next purchase will be bulbs in the autumn…)
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Oh you shady area looks fantastic and 😎
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I must agree with all the above, especially the campanula. ( By the way, we haven’t seen any carrots or calendula this year, have we?! )
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Calendula are nearly in flower. My carrots got eaten by slugs and I never got round to resowing!
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Yes, as everyone else says, you’ve created a lush & healthy area to live in. The play area for your kids just gets better & better – who doesn’t love a pirate or 2 in the back garden? All you need is a parrot & a treasure chest. You’ve given me jasmine envy, even tho it’s a thug. I bought my first summer jasmine this year & they’ve spent their time getting rooted in. Maybe next year . . . oh, & I read your comment on Fred’s blog about electric shears. Honey, if I can use them (& I have w/a veneance) anyone can. Just keep the cord over your shoulder & tucked under an arm to know where it is, then go for it!
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Totally agree re jasmine and thugishness, she is utterly relentless. Roots whenever it touches the ground, I do annual battle with it. I dont even like the flowers much!
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I did not expect fleabane there. It is not comparable to the other flowers in your garden. It is native here. I happen to like ti because it grow wild . . . like a native should.
There are three jasmines here. One is the common Jasminum polyanthum, but I do not know what the other two are. One is a shrubby thing with yellow flowers. The other is both shrubby and vining with white flowers, but not as pretty as yours. The foliage actually looks rather unkempt. I will grow them on, and hope to identify them later.
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Fleabane is popular in gardens here – particularly for growing in the cracks between paving and around steps. On our street it has self sown in many of the brick and flint walls.
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It does that in stone walls at work, but there are not many old stone walls around here. I think it looks pretty in pictures of it doing that inn other older gardens.
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