In the pink...

...in the garden and out on the dunes...

Pink Mallow or Lavetera - an annual, in my garden.
Seed planted by Leah.

Hot sizzling summer pink is the colour of the week....the colour of the beginning of JULY

Wild Mallow on the Dunes

Hello JULY...how nice to see you.  Especially as you brought the shorts-and-T-shirt weather.

What should we be thinking about this month...what I mean is ...what little jobs should we consider doing this sunny month when the bees and butterflies visit us?   It is tempting to not do anything much except water  when it is needed, eat what is ready and enjoy the sounds, scents and sensations of summer in the garden.

One of the worst mistakes you can make as a gardener is to think you're in charge. ~Janet Gillespie

It is important to dead-head blooms that are spent.   Mostly this is a pleasant job that can be done at any odd moment.   It encourages more flowers and fruit too.   I'm enjoying sugar-snap peas , I'll plant them again next year they really do well and add that extra sweet snap to my lunchtime salad.  Strawberries are another bonus in the garden now too.

So more about JULY in the PINK.

I spent all afternoon, pulling and planting and hacking.   There are now about 10 bags of pulled, pruned, hacked bits of plants to take to the tip tomorrow.

Many things grow in the garden that were never sown there. ~Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia, 1732

And many things that were sown there need a bit of taming at this time of year.   Yes, even in a wild-garden such as mine.

When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant. ~Author Unknown

That quote is absolutely the truth.   Nevertheless....

....It is definitely a wonderful time of year, everything is just romping away.   The rain overnight encouraged things to look fresh this morning...and encouraged me to make the most of it while the ground is a bit softer than of late.

Very pink hydrangea brighten a shady corner.

It really did make the garden look fresh.   Also it smells beautiful too.

A delicate salmon pink begonia

It was then that I realised how many pink blossoms are making their début appearance this month.

Perennial Mallow from Judith - needs a little prop I think.

There was pink everywhere I looked from the hanging baskets

Verbena

And the pots

Pink Fuchsia with white Petunia.

And this pink theme was not just limited to the garden because now is when the Rose Bay Willow is looking splendid too.

Rose Bay Willow Herb in the Bracken on the Dunes.

So that's why I say that July is a month in the PINK!

Hot PINK petunias in a basket have to be the pinkest of them all.

But just as you might be thinking that PINK is the only colour in my garden let me show you that is is not so.

Hot sizzling ORANGE Day Lily

If there is any colour combination that shouts summer it has to be the clash of PINK and ORANGE.

Bridge of Sighs Rose

This rose is growing up one side of the arch and on the other side is a Passionflower which will be white and purple.   It is not quite in bloom yet, I am hoping it will bloom before the yellow roses are over.

Another little débutante blossom this year is the yellow jasmine.   Yellow Jasmine is much much sweeter smelling than the white.

Yellow Jasmine.

  I'm very happy to see this one in bloom.   The yellow honeysuckle is also in bloom on the opposite wall.

Yellow Honeysuckle

Probably the most yellow of all the yellows is the first little sunflower that opened it's face to the sun today

Sunflower shouts of sunshine and of summer

So by now you should be feeling very summery and cheerful.  There is only one problem...I haven't done any housework all week.   Not any other than the absolute essential, make bed and wash up!

God made rainy days so gardeners could get the housework done. ~Author Unknown

We really have had hardly any rain for a few weeks now.  Certainly last night was the first real rain in a long time but it had gone by this morning...so the housework didn't get done ....

Let me leave you there...I am sure there will be more colour and more garden news in a few days.   But right now....

I need to shower and get a bit of this wonderful garden dirt off me!

In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt. ~Margaret Atwood

I do, I really do!