Since the end of last month, it has felt like summer has left us here in central Scotland. There have even been a couple of chilly nights when it’s felt like Autumn is on the way. Whilst there has been some warm sunshine, the blue sky days have been peppered with heavy rain showers, and the poor plants, flowers and shrubs have been taking a battering.
This baby pink-coloured Astilbe reminds me of candy-floss. The tiny, soft flowers bunch together to give a fluffy-looking display which seems to bounce back even after the heaviest of showers. Just as pink and delicate-looking (and able to withstand the rain!) are the Japanese anemones which grow in a cluster at the base of one of the trees in the back garden. I also have a white variety but this year, the pinks are well ahead of the whites.
On the opposite flowerbed to the anemones is where the wispy Scabious grow. I tie the wiry floral stems in loose bunches, supported with canes, to keep them from falling over and splaying all over the place. The blooms form small white globes, tinged with pale blue-lilac petals; they are so pretty, and the bees love them!
There are lots of flamboyant red and mauve poppies growing alongside the fruit bushes at the moment, but sadly, each one is only surviving no longer than a single day. These beauties are just too fragile to withstand the heavy rain drops. I managed to enjoy this one for a few hours this week, but sadly the next morning, all the petals had fallen.
I’m glad of some longer lasting colour in the garden from my ever-faithful Hydrangeas. All the bushes are in flower now and they will continue to bloom for several weeks, subtly changing colour as time goes on. At the moment, the colours are soft and muted, but as Autumn draws nearer, the petals will deepen in colour and become more intense.
To finish my garden round-up for this month, the greenhouse is pretty colourful at the moment as well. I’ve been picking cucumbers and tomatoes for a few days now, and it looks like I am going to have plenty of produce for the weeks to come. So, until next month, I bid you: happy gardening!
My Virtually Free-from Kitchen 
Your close-up photos make our stroll in your garden really enjoyable. I am not sure I would notice all the pretty details in each flower. Thank you, Kathryn!
Just a note on something else: I wanted to cook rhubarb and knew you had some nice recipes on your blog. It took me a while to find the post (you don’t seem to have a list of recipes, do you?) but when I did I followed your directions to cook the stems correctly. I then used them in combination with raspberries (thank you for the suggestion!) and made a “charlotte” cake. It still needs some work, but it was really good. I had strained the cooked rhubarb before using it. Not wanting to waste, I stirred chia seeds in the remaining juice. We’ll see how this turns out tomorrow at breakfast time!
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Good evening Joelle. Thank you for your lovely comments about my garden, I am glad you enjoyed the pictures. You’re quite right about my recipes, I do need to look into sorting out my listings – where to find the time? Thank you for the reminder. Glad you enjoyed the rhubarb combination with raspberries, and a Charlotte cake sounds most intriguing, as does your Sunday breakfast! After my lovely spring rhubarb, the summer plants have grown very little this yea so I only have the frozen stalks from earlier in the year to cook. I have baking day planned for tomorrow – more rain in the forecast – and coincidently, I am experimenting with lots of different seeds, Chia being one of them. I will post the results some time soon. All the best for now 🙂
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Thank you Kathryn, your comment invites me to freeze stalks for future recipes. An update on the chia rhubarb slurry: I added chunks of banana to give it more consistency this morning. I like my breakfasts to fill me up!
Have a nice Sunday in your beautiful garden!
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Love the name you have given your breakfast! Banana and rhubarb sounds delicious. Rhubarb freezes really well, just trim it into short lengths and it’s ready to freeze. Enjoy your day 🙂
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It all looks so wonderfully colourful. We’ve had those purple flowers in our garden for a long time and it’s just now I’m learning what they’re called. Thanks for that.
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Good to hear from you, and thanks for your kind words. I hope the weather is being kind to you and all your lovely garden produce 🙂
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It’s been a bit rough, but thankfully it’s stayed fairly warm.
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