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?

I’ve often thought about planting something in this gap. Mind-your-own-business, chamomile, succulents or sweet woodruff. As a first step I cleared out the gravel in the narrow section to a depth of 100cm or so when it was dry, cleaned it and topped it up with fresh golden gravel. The drainage is probably still not brilliant.

These continue to do very well. It’s quite hard to determine peak flower time, but it must be close. Each flower of the pink one hardly smells at all, but there are so many of them there is definitly a hint of something slightly sweet and toffeeish in the air. Marshmallow?

The white one at the back had originally found its way almost to the eaves, but the top wire broke in the high winds. It’s now been replaced with something thicker.

Both plants will need to be cut back, probably with shears, or the hedge trimmer, when they’ve finished flowering.

The solanum was heavily cut back after being blown down last year and in the NE corner fence clearout, but is still obviously in a rude state of health, and will benefit from further treatment later this year.

The bleeding heart (now called Lamprocapnos spectabilis) has a moment of glory now before being swamped by the acanthus.

The foliage in the SE corner is now so good that I can’t see the fence at all. Unfortunately it’s all deciduous so I’ve got to do something when the fence is replaced next winter. The rosa rubrifolia always looks dead at this time of year.

These were very good last year, but this year the flowers are weak and the leaves seem dead at the tips. Did I let them dry out too much?

There’s rather too much greater spearwort so I ought to get some out. It would be nice to let it flower, but I can’t remember when that is. I presume the white arum-like flower is the lysichiton, but everything gets so jumbled up it’s hard to tell.

White mophead in F4:

Remove all dead flowers and dead stems. Remove congested stems. Cut back from path and door a bit.

Bluebird in F4:

Cut back to required outline. Tidy up.

Reddish in B2:

Cut back, but not too much so fence remains hidden.