The garden project's fifth week

Wonders this Week at 2 Coombe Cottages:

The big blousy poppies (papaver) are out - saucer sized pink and black faces in the garage and side beds. They were planted last year by seed and are meant to be the variety 'patty plum' Thought they would be purple, but only pink ones have come up.

The wonderfully vibrant blue of the cranesbill geranium (probably Johnson's Blue), in the side bed - we inherited this bed so I don't know the species but we've added contrasting colours and heights of geranium species as they seem to tolerate clay and slugs and shade (not the greatest gardening milieux). This blue one, along with a tiny salmon pink one are generally the first to flower. 

The shrubs we planted around the shed in February are surviving, so have been given a summer boost of fertiliser and a soak. They are a mixture of saved plants, gifts and November-sales at 'Sandra's' world, a nearby garden centre. 

The sugar snap peas (mange tout, oregon), planted out early May, are flowering - sewn inside in April.
Dahlias are growing...

No major casualties or disasters:
Just the forget me nots (myositis scorpeoides) going over to make way for our pot bound Cosmos (sewn, early March: Cosmos sensation mixed) and more squashes and pumpkins. The high powered spraying water on the broad beans has worked really well to reduce the aphids and slug patrol seems to be controlling things along with the toad families. 

S and R's orchard:

The owners are away so we had a sneaky peak and found some treasures: 

Little forests of carrots in those black bins - amazing technique!

Beautiful blushed nectarines firming up. We noted the deer-badger-rabbit proofing techniques and hope they work. 

Calendula (calendia officianalis, historically used for medicinal and culinary purposes) brightly proclaiming the early summer sun.

And the Summer Palace waiting for long sun-filled evenings...

We noticed how much colder the orchard was in comparison to the garden last night - it's literally only a few feet higher and quarter of a mile away from Coombe cottages but we can see it's making a difference.

Interesting Fact:

The story of the forget-me-not. In 15th century Germany wearing them was meant that you wouldn't be forgotten by your lover. Legend had it it that a knight was walking with his lover by a river and bent to pick some flowers, but fell in, the weight of his armour drawing him under. As he drowned, he threw the posy back, crying: vergissmeinnicht! (Forget-me-not!)