Summer was odd weatherwise. We had cool, we had hot and very hot. Bone dry but torrential rain once in a while but my garden is looking tatty. A few flowers are still standing but a lot has been scorched by the sun. Today is the last day of Summer weather, as of tomorrow it will gradually cool down and for the next 2 weeks we’ll get lots of rain.
SEDUM SPECTABILE, ALWAYS RELIABLE AND FUN FOR THE BEE’S AND THE BUTTERFLIESMY FAVORITE SEDUM, SEDUM SPECTABILE ICEBERGALWAYS PRETTY, FUCHSIA MAGELLANICAAUTUMN ASTERS WILL BLOOM TILL FIRST FROSTSAS YOU CAN SEE, NOT EVERYTHING IS PRETTY IN MY GARDEN, MY CANNA’S WERE BURNED TO A CRISP BUT AS YOU CAN SEE THEY ARE GETTING NEW FRESH LEAFS.MY FERNS NEAR THE PONDVERONICA VIRGINICA, ALWAYS THIRSTYAMELANCHIER (SNOWY MISPELUS) LOOSING A LOT OF LEAFSGERANIUM MACRORRHIZUM, WAS TOTALLY BROWN A WHILE AGO BUT GOT NEW LEAFS LATELY
The groundwater here is historically low, rainy weather is not fun but we need it, every single drop. Our local flora is dying cos they can’t stand the drought.
I have a big grapevine in the greenhouse and it looked very promising for a long time, I never had so many big bunches of grapes as this year. But ofcourse they need time to ripen. Now that they all finally ripe and ready to eat they are attacted by hundreds of wasps eating away all my lovely grapes !! It is just dangerous entering the greenhouse at the moment. The also eat away the bell peppers and the tomatoes, not as bad as the grapes, but they are damaged too. The only veg they didn’t attack are the hot chilli peppers.
It is a problem many fruit growers have at the moment over here in Europe, they are everywhere where there is lovely sweet juicy fruit. A disaster for the professional fruit growers, more than for me ofcourse. But there is not much you can do apparently. I looked it up on the net.
THIS IS HOW THE GRAPES LOOK AT THE MOMENT, YOU CAN SEE THE WASPS SITTING ON THEM. THEY JUST SUCKED ALL THE JUICE OUT. (the picture is bad but I had to get out fast !!)
Well I suppose there are worse things in life, but it is such a waste of good fruit.
I think these little violets are super cute. Now that most of the succulents are no longer in bloom, the violets came up to give my pots a bit of color. The violets disseminated all over the garden, but mostly in my pots with succulents.
Have a great weekend and enjoy your garden if you can.
MAY I INTRODUCE YOU TO PIPA, MALTESE AND MY NEW GARDEN HELPER? when asleep she is a little angel:DHERE SHE IS PLAYING WITH MY OTHER GARDEN HELPEROZZY (9 YEARS OLD)when awake she is a little terror !!!
Normally I adopt my dogs but I needed a small breed, because of my bad back , Ozzy is way too heavy for me to handle. In March I lost my other Maltese and I was heartbroken. I wanted another Maltese as they are lightweight and gentle, easy dogs who don’t need long walks. Little did I know….what a little monster we brought home !! In my wildest dreams I could not have imagined it. I have had many dogs in my life but this one is nothing like all the others. She weighed 600 grams (= 21 ounces) when we bought her at 9 weeks old, so she was tiny and supercute. She is now almost 4 months old and she brings my whole garden inside, every leaf, flowers, branches , fruit….but if there aren’t any loose on the soil she pulls them off the plants. She can’t leave Ozzy alone, she jumps on him, bites his ears and paws and he is not man enough to handle her so he begs to go to the bathroom to have a bit of time alone in peace and quite. We love her to bits but we hope she’ll calm down in time.
At the moment we are in the middle of a heathwave, the garden looks awefull and so do I.
In September 2017 we went to the south of France for a holiday and when we visited a gardencenter there I found a cactus that I really wanted to have and as it was small it was easy to take it home in the car without damaging it.
THIS IS HOW IT LOOKED WHEN WE BOUGHT IT . OPUNTIA INDICA BURBANK.
Much to my surprise it grew a new disk in the Summer of 2018.
And in 2019 it got another disk.
TINY AT THE BEGINNING BUT GROWING VERY FAST.
This year, no new disk, I don’t know why, it is healty and growing good, those brown spots are normal. I was hoping for a new disk and maybe a flower or 2.
The following pictures were taken only a few days ago.
But this plant with only 3 disks is soooo very heavy I can’t lift it anymore, luckily I have a husband and a son. In Winter it stays in an unheated greenhouse cos it doesn’t like wet weather but in Spring it comes out again and gets the sunniest spot in the garden. Each time I look at it it reminds me of France.
Why I wanted this cactus ? There are lots of these cacti in the south of France, some turned into really big “bushes” with bright yellow flowers and edible fruits. It can take frost as long as the soil is dry. And last but not least it is almost spineless. There are other opuntia’s that are more beautifull but they all have a lot of spines, I have grandkids and dogs so that would be too dangerous.
At the moment we have a heathwave and the end is not in sight. So I have a lot of watering to do in the garden and especially the plants in pots need a good watering every day. But my French opuntia loves it.
GWENNIESGARDENWORLD 
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