Welcome

Well, no hoses for the gardens in Norfolk and the temperature is still high.

The grass is suffering but will come back – albeit with weeds who managed to survive the conditions and find the bare patches which couldn’t.

Shrubs planted a while ago will hopefully have their roots deep enough and should survive. Some even flourish.

For the Vegetables it is different. They are annuals, without deep roots and relying on water to flourish and grow. Months of seed sowing and planting will come to nothing if the heat continues and they are not watered.

The Greenhouse is full of tomatoes- Marmande, which will be watered by hand using watering cans.

The Buddleja lining the Moat banks are in flower. Sometimes called butterfly-bush because of their attraction for butterflies, these easy to grow plants enjoy their position on a sunny well drained bank. All are grown from cuttings.

The Catalpa is in full flower in the Daffodil Shrubbery but its white flowers are best seen from across the Moat in the West lawn. Sometimes called the Indian Bean Tree, because of the bean-like seed pods it will later produce. This is the best we have seen it and clearly happy with the heat.

The Water Garden is shaded by the large Holme Oak and White Hornbeam, and the Hosta grow there quite happily. We will try to dead head promptly so they do not waste energy and will then direct their resources to their roots.

The red Persicaria lining the banks in the Water Garden provide much needed ground cover to this bank beneath the Buddleja Globosa.

When on the stone bridge you might look down to see that some  lily pads have small pieces cut out? You might be lucky and see one of the large carp taking a bite? This also might explain how the Water Lillies got distributed around the Moat- fish propelled?

We are not cutting the grass in the heat but are cutting flowers, such as the geraniums and Delphiniums, to give them a second chance to flower.  Rose dead heading continues but not on the Ramblers which will now wait for their November prune as flowering for this year is over.

The black Hebridean Sheep have all been sheared and moved back to the Fishponds. Without their woolly coats they are sometimes mistaken for goats. Without a market for their black wool, we use it as a mulch around trees to supress the weeds.

We have spotted two Hedgehogs – well camouflaged -so tread carefully and we are enjoying the many Dragon Flies and Butterflies in the garden. Wonderful smells in the garden when the sun warms the flowers so do pause, sniff and listen to the birdsong.

Stay healthy and good gardening

Lynda Tucker