Yay itās sunny today! I think the garden was glad of all that rain but I didnāt enjoy it much. The plus side is that everything is looking lush which is a nice place to be in mid June.
The slugs and snails have been having a whale of a time. I planted out my tomatoes last week and all but one have been demolished. Luckily I grew far too many so I have replacements.
Each week The Propagator invites us to share six things from our garden and this year more than ever I have found it a great way to document the passing of time.
1. Campanula āPink Octopusā
You can see how this unusual pink bellflower got its name with long tentacle like petals š
2. Asiatic Lily
This was a garden centre purchase on a whim last year. It is bright and jolly but the slugs have been enjoying it too. I got to this flower before they did!
3. Echinops
This is the first Echinops I have grown and I am excited to see what the flower looks like when it comes out. For now I am enjoying its thistly green head.
4. Salvia macrophylla āPink Blushā
My mum bought me this salvia years ago. It looked rather dead after the wet winter but I cut it right back (it is growing in a pot) and it has come back with a vengeance.
5. Cranesbill
This pink geranium grows everywhere in our garden but Iām quite fond of it – every garden needs a filler.
6. Nepeta and Salvia āCaradonnaā
I like this combination of the paler blue Nepeta which has been here since we moved to the garden, and the purple spires of the salvia – a new purchase.
Which reminds me we have now had this garden for exactly four years. I have added quite a lot but there still remains much to be done. I am learning all the time and I think it will take another four years at least before Iāve achieved the garden of my dreams!
Carrots and Calendula 
What a vibrant colour of this Asiatic red lily!
I can’t wait to see your flowering Eryngium too ; I understand your excitement!
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As I said last week, my nepeta was smothering several plants nearby.and needed drastic cutting back. I do like it but it doesn’t bush out when cut back. At the moment, what’s left of it is mingling with a penstemon and looking very pretty. šŗ (No penstemon emojis.)
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I’ve never seen that octopus campanula — fascinating! I’m a fan of the vibrant salvia. Do you think it’s ‘Amante’?
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Itās Salvia macrophylla āPink Blushā
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Oops — now I see you had noted that! It’s still early in the Western U.S. is my excuse…
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Love the red/pink Salvia and the very cool Campanula. Slugs, snails, rodents and deer are the bane of my garden. So frustrating to see their damage!
Your thistle looks like Globe Thistle (Echinops ritro). Eryginum usually has a spiny ‘collar’ around the bud.
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Yes you are quite right it is Echinops – I only planted it a couple of months ago – I should remember!
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Four years is a lovely time in which you are putting your stamp…on the snails…and also the garden. I think a garden is truely yours when the seedlings coming up are from plants you introduced. Is a garden truly ever finished?
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I thought the Salvia was a Snapdragon..so pretty and the Campanula is new to me, Octopus and all. Happy Saturday, good luck with the slugs.
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At least no slug worries with the Echinops!
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Echinops is rad! I worked with it as a cut flower crop for the summer of 1986. It was a weird cut flower, and unpleasant to handle, but it was the 80s. I could grow it in the garden, just to see if it is like I remember it to be. However, I do not know the cultivar that we grew back then. There may not have been many to choose from at the time.
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i was briefly traumatised on your behalf on hearing your tomato news, but phew, you had spares. i grew a few echinops from seed a year or two ago, they are bulky plants now, i am expecting lots of flowers to result.
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