Aching joints!

Work in the garden progresses but by 'eck, my poor joints ache ~ I must be getting old 😄  The "scorched earth" scenario in the centre of the lawn is where Adrian has taken his weed wand to the pesky weeds that had made it their home!  Eventually we will sow grass seed there to make the lawn whole again.

I've been working my way round from the hedge border ~ as you can see, the humungous thistles have now gone!  I expect they will make a return visit, though, judging by the amount of seed-heads on the bloody things!

I've only got about halfway along this path border as the rest is filled with dwarf elder.  My friend is taking at least some of it for her garden and as she's a fair bit younger and fitter than me, she's going to dig it out when she has some spare time LOL

In case you were wondering, that pile of sleepers on the path is for a new project in the back garden ~ more to be revealed on that in due course 😉

I mentioned in my new hedge post that I have creeping jenny along the back of each section of the border; this is one of the plants that has been in situ for two or three years now.  They are all growing really well and are adding a lovely splash of colour at the moment.

The rose (A Shropshire Lad) I moved from the arch over the front gate is sending out new shoots despite being cut back so drastically!

I have no idea what this lily is called, nor why I only have one plant ~ it may have been a free gift with a plant order, I suppose.  It's very pretty but alas does not have a scent, which is a shame.

I have a number of these achillea in the borders, and I've been very pleased to see that they are flowering even though they have all been moved this year.  I'm not sure what variety this is as I haven't found any of the plant labels, but it may be Summerwine.

This is one of the new low-growing plants I recently bought from Shire Plants, one of my favourite online nurseries.  It's erodium pelargoniflorum and it really does look very similar to a pelargonium.  Now that I've cleared the borders around the ornamental garden I shall soon be placing another order with Shire for some plants to fill the gaps, as I don't have enough that are suitable to move from elsewhere in the garden.  The bare soil is too tempting to both weeds and the local cat population!

The dianthus deltoides Alba are starting to live up to their name, with pretty little white flowers now opening.  They seem very happy in the pot with the argyranthemums.  Of course, had I got my ducks all in a row, I would have taken a photo after I'd done the deadheading!

I'm happy to let my herbs flower as the bees love to visit.  The lemon thyme has been in full bloom for a while now.  Beside it is thyme Faustini which I'm hoping will start to flower soon.  The Greek oregano in the next planter is looking rather straggly now but I shall cut it back to the new shoots coming through at the base when it's finished flowering.

The osteospermums are now starting to flower; they should make a lovely display once they are in full swing.

I managed to take some photos of the sparrows who visit our garden daily ~ often many times a day ~ through the dining room window.  I don't find it easy to get half-decent photos of them, though, as they move so quickly and of course their brown plumage doesn't exactly make them stand out!

They love to dust-bathe in the borders, leaving bowl-shaped dips, and just generally lounge about.  They spend a fair bit of time relaxing on the wooden border edges and the stone chipping paths ~ I guess they like the warmth that both soak up.  We don't put out bird food but they poke about in the soil, paths and grass and seem to find plenty of tasty morsels.

The tiny bird bath is very popular with both the sparrows and the starlings who also visit the garden regularly.

 

And to finish off, a photo of a magpie moth.  I was sitting on the concrete bench in front of the sun porch contemplating what to do next in the garden ~ I seem to do as much "thinking" as "doing" out there! ~ when I spotted the moth on this spiraea Anthony Waterer.  It very obligingly just sat there whilst I took some photos ~ much easier than photographing those sparrows!