Deluge

My thoughts go out to the many people across the UK who have suffered from flooding in the recent downpours. I don't know what happened to summer during June but count myself lucky that despite living in Cumbria, a county not noted for its dryness (well something has to fill all those lakes) we have so far got off lucky.

I cannot imagine what it must be like to lose all your possessions and the considerable damage to your home and of course the garden. An event like that must completely devastate your life.

We have been lucky to have a few dry and sunny days when we have been able to get in the garden. I have ended up with a very patriotic trellis archway this summer and quite by accident I might add. The vivid blue of the Prince Charles Clematis against the white rambler (sport of Little White Pet) and the deep red of rose Dublin Bay has made a magnificent show these last two weeks.

We are now preparing for our trip to the wonderful Hampton Court and I am getting quite excited. It really is a fantastic show and there is so much room to walk around and enjoy the dramatic backdrop of Hampton Court Palace. Whoever thought up that venue for the flower show at the RHS, all those years ago, deserves our heartfelt thanks, because it couldn't be better.

In the meantime, there is plenty of summer planning to do for the remaining shows of the season including Tatton and Southport. Harrogate will be coming around again in the Autumn as will Malvern so there is still plenty to do in the season before we finally hang up our wellingtons, forks and trowels for the winter.

Gardener's world

I have to apologise for the lack of blogs over the last few weeks but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy. We were very lucky with the weather for our trip to BBC Gardener's World, which we really enjoyed. I'm not sure I agreed with the best in show choice, which was the Highways Agency garden, but on a purely personal rather than technical basis, I really did love David Domoney's The Croft Spot Tranquillity Garden. This designer is really growing on me and the more I see his gardens the more I like them.

I felt there was something of the colonial 30s about this garden which I really love and this is not the first time I have had that impression about his planting. It was really lovely and I don't think the picture I attach does the garden justice but if you didn't get to the show then it might give you a flavour.

My own garden has been taking up my time and growing apace but the recent spell of heavy rain has been a blessing as things were starting to get very dry - apologies if you are on holiday - so I attach a pic of my own garden for a change! The roses have been wonderful but the good old blackspot is now starting to show its ugly head so I can expect a lot of dropping leaves any time now.

What I like about visiting shows is seeing all the ideas that people come up with for different and zany focus points in the garden. At Birmingham on the Time Well Spent Garden they used a kitchen colander for hanging baskets, really effective and natty.

This year the show comprised three shows in one so visitors really have a chance to enjoy not only gardening but also food and home/lifestyle. I am not too sure you would get round it all in one day though because the three shows are rather large but we did a good deal in the several hours we spent there.

Now its preparation time for Hampton Court - one of my absolute favourite shows - and I only hope that we have the fantastic weather that we had last year.