Midsummer garden...

Funny, I don't really think of June as mid-summer, but we are racing towards the longest day and we're not far off summer solstice which I think is meant to be in midsummer, so I suppose it is. The garden is a bit ahead of itself, I think, maybe because of the early warm weather we had in April so a lot of the early colour has gone but we have had some lovely bright evenings when the shadows are long and the air is heavily perfumed with honeysuckle.

So...this month's photo...

I have to confess to cheating a bit and shifting the angle as the hazel tree on the left (with the bird-feeders) has grown so much that if I stand in my original spot I can see nothing else!

Looking at these photos, it feels a bit like the garden is just full of greens and makes me want to go and plant sploshes of colour all around! Up close there is some colour...

The fences are clothed in honeysuckle, the delphiniums are a gorgeous blue-purple and there are odd patches of pink and purple geranium and bright red nasturtiums but, if I'm honest, I'm a teeny bit disappointed with the flower beds this year. My hopes are pinned on the hollyhocks that are budding up - always a surprise as they have seeded themselves around the place so I never know exactly what colour to expect!

I seem to have a lot of plants that have appeared largely by themselves! Some I might have just encouraged through the fence (its ok, I know they go the other way too!) and some I think have just arrived with the wind or the birds. I'm quite happy its this way; if I really think a plant has chosen the wrong home I try to move it, but often I quite like where they have turned up.

I'm sure I only planted one honeysuckle; a white and yellow, later flowering, semi-evergreen variety...

But I have another two versions as well - I'm not sure if they are really the same variety but they are slightly different colours and the flowers have been a bit staggered. 

This is the earliest to flower and the opening buds are deep deep red initially - this one definitely is a shared plant with the neighbours! The other has a much paler, more orangy bud and I'm pretty sure migrated from my Mum's as a little rooted stem in the pot of another plant...

The fragrance from these is quite intoxicating and they are buzzing with pollen dusted bees at the moment. Not so good for hayfever sufferers, as we discovered when my friend was here at the weekend! But lovely for me!

I have a big patch of architectural thistles at the end of the garden..

They are almost perfect globes of spikes which, as yet, have just a tinge of blue but will soon open out.

In the pond, I am enjoying these tiny blue water forget-me-nots...

The paperbark maple glows in the evening sunlight...

It really is this colour - it kind of 'sheds its skin' with a think top layer of bark peeling off to reveal a smooth shiny surface underneath. 

In the greenhouse, dainty yellow flowers ...

...are turning into these...!

Yum! Looking forward to picking these once they ripen!

Looking back through this post, there is colour out there; you just have to get up close and personal to appreciate it!

Whereas this splash of brightness...

...is difficult to miss! This is 'my' little corner where I am making slow progress on what I hope will be a Big blanket eventually! Am just mulling over another little project to have on the go...I'm hopeless with just one thing, need a bit of variety now and again!

Hope you're enjoying a bit of colour in your life too!

Til next time

Sx