GPE #6 : Jon Wasn't Allowed to Get His Hose Out...

The absolute “Star of the Year” - Hemerocallis “Crimson Pirate” flowered constantly from May to July!

Marooned Crimsoned on

J O N' S   &   M A D A M   A R C A T I' S

 

Botanical Treasure Island

 

[I can think of far worse places to be marooned - I mean, 'crimsoned',

than Jon's & Madam A's city oasis - IDV]

 

2022 turned out to be a remarkable year for many reasons, but the unprecedented heatwave and drought we had was a real test for any kind of garden - London hit more than 40C/104F over a couple of days in July, and we had weeks and weeks with no rain whatsoever, culminating in a hosepipe ban (which is a bind when your garden consists mainly of pots, as ours does - 200 of 'em!).

Some plants merely shrugged it off - salvias and pelargoniums love to bake a bit, as do lilies and hemerocallis (as above) - and our houseplants, all outside for the summer, have never looked so good (the aspidistra threw up more than a dozen new leaves, and the orchid sprouted its flower spike earlier than ever, so we may have flowers by Xmas). Others suffered quite a bit - the fuchsias dropped loads of leaves (but still flowered well), the dahlias and phlox were covered in mildew and just looked sickly, and the ipomoea and thunbergia vines were a bit pathetic.

However, this is a garden photos event, not Beechgrove, so lets look at some, shall we..? These are my choices from each month to date in the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers...

January, Hippeastrum 'Cape Horn'  -  and February, Iris reticulata 'J.S. Dijt'

March, daffs & crocus  -  and April, Geranium phaeum 'Samobor'

May, Rosa 'Veilchenblau'  -  and June, Rosa 'Gertrude Jekyll'

July, Lilium speciosum  -  and August, Agapanthus 'Charlotte'

September, Fuchsia 'Caroline'  -  and October, Salvia 'Amistad'

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I always love to give my readers a nice look at my back passage, and why should this occasion be any different? Here it is in March:

...and here it is again, six months later!

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This deep sea monstrosity is actually the rather lovely Lilium speciosum

 [as seen above, in July]

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And what of the “history bit”? Mr DeVice asked for a snapshot of a former, long-abandoned and perhaps forgotten garden of yore - here is a shot from back in summer 2011 of the pocket-handkerchief-sized one at Dolores Delargo Towers #2 (complete with baby Beaucarnea recurvata, which is about four feet tall now):

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 For the curious - because I know you're all a bunch of noseybonks - you can see the Beaucarnea recurvata (aka 'elephants foot' or 'ponytail palm') on the kitchen windowsill of Delores Delargo Towers back in January & February here and here.

 Oh, and next to the fag butts - a delightful addition to any garden, btw - a Covent Garden mug!  Very apt.  (Although, there's barely any garden in Convent Garden these days - it's been mostly brick and stone for centuries!)

 Anyway, thank you Jon and Madam Arcati for opening your back passage to the gathered throngs once again.  As always, it was a wonderful experience!

 Our next stop will be back across the pond to the gardens of Ms ProximaBlue, Melanie!  See you there in a couple of days or so.