I have a weak spot for lilies & have several pots full of the scented oriental varieties. Despite a lack of TLC they flower well for several years, the perfume filling the air on the deck area & in the back room when the doors are open. Lily beetle is rapidly dispatched with a firm squish! This year a pot at the back of the garden has not been dealt with quite so avidly (difficult to get to over all the pots of bits the tend to accumulate there) resulting in faeces covered grubs. Uuuuugh! Interestingly these do NOT get squished. At Chelsea I once again succumbed to buying some new lily bulbs. Did they get planted? Ha! From experience however I know that a late planting will mean flowers in late summer which is great so eventually looked at the bulbs yesterday with a view to relieving them of their current living conditions. Damn, the little bags they were in did not have the usual multi-perforations to allow air in: 1 lot are fine & shooting beautifully, the others not so good. Hmmmm. Does this mean I have to buy some more at Hampton Court on Tuesday!
My once fashionable Cirsium rivulare 'Atropurpureum' has finished flowering & yesterday I cut the foliage right down. Cirsium Mount Etna however has just begun. It doesn't have the same impact but I love that gentle 2 tone effect. The bees really love it too.
A delightful morning was spent at Wisley where there is always much to look at & admire. The herbaceous borders are beginning to burgeon! We took 2 friends who had never been & it made us look at everything with new eyes. Other than essentials only 1 plant was bought: Verbena Edith Eddleman, a glorious scarlet.
Books, another favourite pastime. Have just finished the excellent Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. A good read which keeps you guessing to the end. I chose this as a direct result of reading The Suspicions of Mr Whicher based on an actual murder mystery which influenced both Collins & Charles Dickens in their writings.
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