Monday was a bank holiday here (Whit Monday) and I paid my old garden a visit. So strictly speaking this is a Monday View on a Tuesday!
Anyway, for long-term readers of my blog you may recognize the Tuesday Views I used to show over the past few years….
First the south side of The Rockery…
The Centranthus is perhaps the main highlight, and as always is attracting the Hummingbird Hawk-Moths…
If you can grow it, do! The pollinators adore it and if it pops up in the wrong place it can easily be pulled up – provided you don’t wait too long and it gets established. One year I pulled out so much I was worried it wouldn’t come back. But within two years it was as rampant as ever!
The yellow Lysimachia seems to be taking over again on the south-west side of the rockery, but rough treatment seems to keep it in check. Note: if you want to plant Lysimachia it can be grown in a very hot dry spot without spreading too much. Otherwise, my advice is to avoid it!
The poppies are fabulous. And I now have three pink ones after fearing I had lost them all. (Most of them are orangey red). I must mark which ones are pink and leave the seed heads to ripen so I can collect seed to sow in the late summer. The pink aquilegia in the photo below is my favourite ever – when I bought it it was helpfully labelled ‘Aquilegia’. 😉
The peonies have suffered for the second year in a row from a hot and dry spring and have produced plenty of buds, but many are dried up and will not open. Still, there are more than enough to add white and pink highlights here and there.
Looking up the south-west slope you can see the Acer (which caught a late frost mid-May and sent out new leaves!) and the gorgeous lime green Euphorbia seguieriana.
I have planted some rather small ones in the new garden and it was good to see how this plant has grown so big in just a few years.
I was a few days too late to see my long-awaited yellow ‘Shining Light’ Itoh Peony flower… plans to visit last week were foiled by car trouble! Never mind. It will be carefully removed in autumn and given a prime position in the new garden. 🙂
The Shade Bed on the north side of the house has filled out beautifully – a lot of Geraniums have self-seeded and the Hakonechloa loves it there. In June and July part of the bed gets midday sun for a couple of hours and late evening sun too, but for the rest of the year it is humid and shady here.
The Hosta leaves are still intact! Sadly the slugs will soon start to discover them and the flowers usually get blackfly too due to the humidity. (The woods are just a few metres away).
Well, I have just realized it is now past midnight so it was a Tuesday View post, photographed on Monday and published on Wednesday! Still, hope you enjoyed it whatever day it was!
Have a lovely week!
Words and Herbs 
what a bummer about the peonies! I do not grow them at all, no because of the warmth, but because of the lack of chill in winter.
There are still plenty though, and I’m sure they will bounce back next year. 🙂
Yes; I know how that goes too, like when a late rain knocks off most of the apricots for the year. They will be back.
Always love to see your garden views, Cathy. The rockery is looking great! Sorry you missed the Itoh peony, but as we know, there is always next year. 🙂
Hopefully it won’t mind being uprooted and moved to the new place!
A beautiful garden with lots of growth. Since I’m a new follower, why is this your old garden? Did you move? And do you plant to transplant these flowers in your new garden? They seem to be doing very well on their own.
Hi Cindy. Yes, last summer we moved further into the Bavarian countryside to a property with loads of land but no garden, thinking we might make this our weekend home. But a hot summer meant staying to tend new trees and shrubs and we love it here so much, so we stayed! I made my first beds last autumn and started the sunshine bed this spring. The old house needs work on it but we are in no rush, and then… who knows! I will keep up the old garden as long as I can… so far it has not been a problem and a few treasures will be moved here as I make new beds.
I have the same questions as Cindy. Your gardens have filled in nicely.
Yes, the new house is where I am now creating new beds as there was no garden here. We moved last June and hope to keep the old house and garden for the time being. We’ll see how it goes!
Got it.
Gorgeous garden! I love how the colors are blend beautifully for a magical display. ♥ This looks like such a wonderful place to sit & unwind from the cares of life. Beautifully done!
Thanks Holly! 🙂
You are most certainly welcome 😉 Have a beautiful & blessed day!
Wonderful to skip through time with you in your gardens. Everything looks grand.
Thank you Laurie. It was a real trip down memory lane doing a bit of gardening at the old place. 🙂
You bet I enjoyed it. I can’t imagine having to leave such a lovely garden. It is nice that you can go back and visit it. Too bad you missed the yellow peony. Next year…
Well, I haven’t left the old garden completely. After all, I created that from nothing and love every inch of it! But the new place has so much potential for us to try out lots of fun projects over the next few years! 🙂
Cathy the Centranthus is divine with its strong pink color. The pink poppies are divine. Peonies I love: how good that you take them to your new garden, there you can enjoy them. The Euphorbia is beautiful. I really like Hostas, they are beautiful. Your rockery is wonderful, I love it like the rest of your garden. Cathy if you want to see my little vase the address is https://margaritaexam141.wordpress.com/2019/06/12/un-pequeno-jarron/ You have a lovely week too. Greetings and memories of Margarita.
Thank you Margarita. It is still so dry here – all the storms passed us by and a hot weekend is forecast! Hope you can keep cool in Madrid.
I’m afraid not Cathy. Last week, two days of 24ºC, fresh. But we are already at 30ºC and at night at 18ºC, and temperatures are expected to rise this week every day. On Tuesday we will be at 35ºC and so on. Unbearable heat and sun: I do not like the heat. I sincerely hope that you have a very pleasant climate. Take care. Greetings and memories of Margarita. 🙂
Your garden is so rich and lovely. Are you keeping both properties?
Hi Susie. Yes, we have decided to stay at the country house and tend our trees and make a garden here but keep the old place for now. I want to keep up the old garden as long as possible, but I realize it will get wilder as time goes by!
Nature reclaims. Happy you can enjoy both places for now.
Thank you. 🙂
Wow, the place looks wonderful, Cathy! Do you still look after it or do you let the house? Centranthus grows all over the place here and I especially love it in the crevices of the walls. Never had a problem with paeonias and drought. They did so well in our Walliser Alpengarten. Hope your new garden is coming on nicely and the greenhouse project is progressing. Ours is up and ‘running’, we’re very happy with it. Best xx
We are still unsure whether to let it or not as it needs some work doing. But we don’t want to give it away! I haven’t done much in the old garden at all this year, and hope it will continue ticking over without too much work. Good to hear your greenhouse is up and running. Our greenhouse plans are on hold for now. The new garden is facing another drought year so growth is slow, but nonetheless noticeable! 🙂
oh, it’s been so dry here too, Cathy, it’s scary – I’ve been planting bits and was shocked to see how dry the soil is and it’s only end of spring…well, we shall see. I know it’s difficult to let go if you’re fond of place, been there too but it may be too much to look after both places. Having said that the ‘old’ garden is looking fab! Here’s hoping for some rain! Thought they had a lot of rain in Bavaria recently?
We only had a few drops Annette – it all missed us by just a few miles!
oh dear 😦 the soil is starting to get cracks here too…
I’ll try my rain dance again later! 😉 Looks like the heatwave is coming your way too. 😦
40°C for days, no end in sight and no rain either…no energy for dancing 😦
I feel for you Annette. Mid 30s here, and no rain either. We are just setting up our watering tank on the trailer to save our young trees….
All the colors are so vibrant and I would imagine you’ve had all sorts of pollinators visiting on a regular basis. I am very attracted to the Centranthus, Cathy. I really do need to locate a supplier. I just love the color!
I bet hummingbirds would like Centranthus. Hope you find some as it is such a great plant!
I hadn’t realised you had moved. I have successfully moved large peonies . I look forward to seeing how your new garden develops.
Thanks Brian. I have moved peonies before too, but am hesitant this time simply because I have waited so long for it to flower! I’m sure it will be happy at the new garden though. 🙂
I’ve been advised against planting Centranthus ruber – it doesn’t like our winters. It certainly looks happy where you are!
Yes, a very hard late frost can finish it off as it does send out new shoots in winter. You only need one plant to survive though and it soon spreads again!
I just saw a fair amount of it during a garden tour in Denver, where it does get pretty cold.
It was nice to see the rockery again, still looking splendid. Amelia
Thanks Amelia. 🙂
WOW truly the fruits of your labor.
Thanks Eunice, 🙂