Tidying up the garden continues, we’ve had a very mixed bag of weather with gloriously warm days and days like today when it rained heavily for a lot of the day, this means everything is growing fast, weeds included!

Over an arch by the back gate is a clematis montana, otherwise known as a mile-a-minute! It’s not that long since I planted it, probably about 3 years, but it’s making a bid for freedom, or it’s reaching for the stars, either way it has set off up the ash tree behind, the arch is decidedly wonky too so that needs a bit of sorting sometime…

The azalea at the front is covered in pretty pink flowers, I think it’s the best I’ve seen since I planted it. Next to it the tall stems with creamy droplet flowers are Solomon’s Seal, I could really do with reducing it but it’s not that easy to dig up. The blue brunnera at the front has been lovely, they’re like intense blue forget-me not flowers.

On the far side of the pond the hostas have shot up and unfurled their huge leaves, I love the big one on the left, it’s probably getting on for 2′ tall and the slugs seem to leave it alone.

Down near the conservatory the beds have been looking very pretty. This is the area under the standard rose, which is looking huge already, I only bought it two years ago! The plants you can see are white broom, which smells lovely, purple flowered erysimum, purple sage and perovskia are in the foreground, waiting for their moment to shine.

At the back in the pots the two acers are looking gorgeous, especially the purple one. The shrub covered in blossom is choisya, looks very pretty but smells of cat pee! The huge purple shrub at the back is a black sambuscus, it’s a bit of a bully so I get pretty ruthless with pruning it every so often.

Further round the patio the first two iris have flowered, they’re a lovely buttery yellow. I have a soft spot for aquilegia, this pink one is particularly pretty. A month or so ago I posted a picture of the Pasque flower, well the seed heads on the middle plant are the pasque flower, I love the seedheads, they turn quite silver eventually and stay on the plant for a lot of the summer.

It’s a lovely time of year in the garden, everything is growing so fast and looks so fresh and verdant. Every time I go out in the garden there is something new to see.