My little garden got a corner revamp this month. I wanted a shaded space to sit and relax and found an area where I could extend the paving by adding gravel. Shabby black chairs got a lick of paint but the table was now so rusty it is destined for the dump. However, as I only wanted a table for coffee cups, and only really needing two chairs, I cut the back and arms off the worst rusty chair and voila, a matching table. I used paint left over from the she-shed french doors too. I am so pleased with the colour as now the chairs really stand out.

Whilst placing the chairs, I couldn’t resist using the table for a display of grey succulents in terracotta pots. I also have a big pot nicotina that filled gap. Lavender and a pot of the annual Didiscus ‘blue lace’ completed the colour scheme, almost as if I had planned it.

My big ‘annual’ success is Cosmos ‘Cupcakes’. They have a unique flower shape with petals all fused together, forming a bowl. But one rouge plant produced extra petals in the center and so saving the seed of this plant is a must.
I also went on a two-week holiday and actually left my garden properly prepared (for once) by extensively dead-heading practically everything. I was so pleased when I came back to see lots of lovely blooms welcoming me back. The deadheading worked a treat and meant that didn’t really need to do much except admire the view.

I’m also especially proud of the front garden were the combination of crocosmia and sedum buds looking fantastic.

In my green house my cucumber has been roaming around the tomatoes and peppers, using the other plants as support. I finally caught it hanging with the chilli peppers. How cool is that?

At the allotment there was plenty to pick including my first head of broccoli. But more problems: this time with a neighbouring gardener putting up a football goal six foot from my plot. It has meant that kids are playing ball games and this doesn’t mix with vegetable growing at all. I also suspect that it’s the kids that have vandalized previously. Very difficult to prove and trying to convince over-protective parents that it might have been their little darlings as resulted in strained relations.

The drawback with privately run allotments is that the rules are often all done on good-will and very casual. Despite reporting the incident to the caretaker, unfortunately the goal is still up a week later.
We will have to see what happens, as I may have to explain more specific detail to the parents what happens when a football destroys a bed of treasured leeks, and how much it will cost them in compensation. Maybe that will help.

Will keep you updated.