Only the neighbours really get to see the hydrangea, but it’s well worth going round to look.

For 11 months of the year I wonder why I keep the dianthus (carnation, pink?) in its pot. This is why.

Salvia ‘Caradonna’ is the only one I’ve tried that succeeds left in the ground.

There’s a neighbourhood cat that will destroy the nepeta if it gets the chance, but not when it’s this big, I think.

The acanthus may completely take over the NE corner, but I don’t mind.

It’s incredible how weedy the E fence fuchsia looked only a few months ago. See E fence in winter. But today I was cutting off great branches so I could get round the pond.

This is the second year of flowering having been left in their pots over winter. Very tall, but easily supported by wigwam of bamboos. Lily beetle irritating but not serious. Adults and larvae are quite easy to see on the very open foliage of thin leaves of regale. I go round once or twice a day squashing the adults, which I see very rarely and are extremely tough. I also squash the larvae, trying to forget what the red-brown goo they cover themselves in is.

See also earlier post.

One water soldier flower, like last year, but none the less welcome for that.

I really must clear out some bogbean and greater spearwort. You’re supposed to have 30% clear water.

.c 10 larvae found on Lilium regale in pot 89 at the front, and one adult. Pot 90 at the back was completely clear.

One larva found in pot 93 of lilies from Homebase at the back. Third year of flowering. Nothing on similar pot 94 at the front.

I think this is the first time I’ve seen lily beetle in this garden.

These pots of (mainly) bulbs come again and again

They’re not really in the way, and I’ve got enough pots for other things, so I suppose I might as well continue in this way.

Lifted some bulbs from pots and put them in plastic troughs for the foliage to die off completely

These plants, good in pots last year, are showing no new growth at all, so I put them on the compost heap:

I suddenly realised that about 5 days ago none of the flowers on these two Hypericum x hidcoteense ‘Hidcote’ were out, but all were in bud. Then about 3 days ago they were all out.

The plants came from the same nursery at the same time, and if they’re what they said they were they’re clones, and are genetically identical. But still, how did the plants behave identically when they’re a few meters apart?

It’s surprising enough when all the flowers on a single plant come out at the same time, but at least one can suspect chemical signals flowing through the stems.

It can’t all be down to temperature, day length etc., which are obviously the same for the two plants, can it?

Or is it chemicals in the air, which could trigger flowering on one plant or several close together.

Someone must know the answer.

The other question, of course is – Why? If you want to be fertilised by another plant why open all your flowers together? I suppose if you’ve got male and female bits on the same plant then you arrrange for all your flowers to come out at the same time, and for the female bits to be receptive at a different time from the male bits. But then you need different plants to fower at different times.

Can anyone tell me what’s going on?