I was away from the garden for less than a week to visit the Chelsea flower show and in that time the weather changed from a cool spring to sudden summer. I knew it would happen but it still always shocks me.
It was a cold, dry winter followed by a cool (pleasant) dry spring, now it is summer and next week our temperatures are forecast to be into the 30’s °C; what does this mean for the garden? Well, I can tell you it means that many plants are already stressed; I don’t remember seeing the garden (or the countryside) looking so parched and stressed this early in all the years I’ve been gardening here in Lazio (since 2007).
The major players in the garden have come and gone; the tulips were fabulous and I had them to pick from the end of January until April; the Irises were outstanding this year, they were slightly early but because there are a lot of different varieties they were flowering until I went away on 20th May. The garden is still providing flowers, more the supporting flowers than the stars but the heat is already shortening the time I want to be outside working or even walking around with a camera.
Jasmine attracts many insects and butterflies, here I think a variety of Hawk Moth
Here is the Upper Slope Path now (30th May)
Upper Slope Path 30th May
and a reminder of how it looked earlier in the month.
Upper Slope Path with Irises 5th May
Upper Slope Path with Irises 14th May
Stipa gigantia is doing its wonderful thing in the lower island
The Vertical spikes of Sisyrinchium striatum took over from the verticals of the Irises
Looking across the garden with Cistus and the Alliums with the pergola above the terrace now thickly covered with Wisteria foliage.
Wild Alliums
When this area was part of the Formal beds I tried to establish wild Alliums to grow by sprinkling seed whenever I found any ripe heads around the garden or in the countryside; very few ever made an appearance – I think they needed more time to build up their bulbs because this year the gravel is full of them!
These wild alliums have been making a statement all month
The cut flower beds
The cut flower beds are all planted now the Larkspur is the most prolific plant at the moment! All self seeded from plants in the same place last year.
Trachelospernum jasminoides is now forming the ‘walls’ of the secret garden
I’m pleased with how quickly the Trachelospernum is covering the wires that will enclose the secret garden; I’ll trim it quite closely once the flowers have finished so that it is kept a narrow wall.
The cut flower beds
Trachelospernum jasminoides is now forming the ‘walls’ of the secret garden
Trachelospernum jasminoides flowered much earlier than usual and is now beginning to climb onto the arch over the entrance to the Secret Garden
Caesalpinia gilliesii
LHS border with Madonna Lilies
In the bright light, photography is difficult. With strong shadows making for a Chiaro Scuro effect.
Under the Melia Hemerocallis and the Salvia that was everywhere at Chelsea
There are many more yellow flowers in the garden now but perhaps this is enough for today.
Enjoy the weekend.
Creating my own garden of the Hesperides 
Even with the stress on the garden, everything looks gorgeous. Here we have had one of the wettest springs and very cool. The temps I like but the rain has kept me from gardening and weeds and mosquitoes are outnumbering flowers….also the hot weather veg beds cannot be planted still so I am weeks behind. They are forecasting above normal temps for summer. I hope to get some normal temps and rain for the this garden and gardener.
I think it will be a very hot summer here too. A cold winter is often followed by a hot summer. I had a similar problem with planting out the summer vegetables. First it was too cold with frosts predicted and then so hot I needed to plant in the evening so the plants had time to acclimatize.
Christina despite the heat the whole garden looks lovely. The Stipa gigantia with its long, steamy spikes I love. The Sisyrinchium striatum will be all summer with its beautiful cream flowers. What a good idea the wild Alliums! The Secret Garden is getting beautiful with the Trachelospernum Jasminoides and its beautiful white flowers. I’m glad you liked my garden: thank you very much. As far as my father is on discharge, the surgeon will go there. Here in Madrid they also forecast temperatures above 30º C from Tuesday. Good weekend. Greetings from Margarita.
It is lovely to see the garden filling up. Amelia
I always forget what this early summer period is like. It is certainty prolific.
Beautifull!!!
Thank you
I love the wild Alliums, Christina! The larkspur is wonderful too – I haven’t tried growing that here as I was sure it would perish in the heat but perhaps I’ll give it a try. I need to find a place for Caesalpinia too. I hope your garden doesn’t get too stressed by the heat before the plants can adapt to the weather change. You may remember that my garden was severely impacted last year by a horrific start-of-summer heatwave (106F) – it didn’t fully recover until the miraculous rains arrived in winter.
That’s what worries me Kris. The winter and spring have been the driest since we bought this house and I think the summer will be very hot. I will water the stressed plants while there is water in the well. I need to put in water storage tanks like you.
Brilliant to see the cutting beds and secret garden coming on so well. Hard to believe they are so recently planted!
Yes, I’m pleased with the progress of the Trachelospermum, especially as after the winter some if it had really suffered and not grown st all during the winter.
The weather is odd everywhere it seems. All in extremes. Your gardens look fine despite the weather!
Not if you look closely
No close up shots then!
I will show close ups too but it is too early to allow myself to get depressed by it and showing it here would do that!
A most enjoyable post and lovely pictures. I’d be stressed if it was that hot.
Plants here have been, and are, suffering albeit on a lesser scale mostly through lack of water. It all makes gardening even more of a challenge. xx
It will get much hotter here; but it is the fact that there has been no rain for so long that is really worrying.
It’s always a bit sad to see the end of Spring, but your early Summer garden looks lovely! Your bearded iris were so beautiful and the growth of your Trachelospermum is very impressive! What a lovely concept, using this beautifully-scented climber as a living wall for your secret garden!
Thank you, I hope the supports I’ve used for the Trachelospermum will be strong enough.
Oh it sounds and looks rather hot in your neck of the woods Christina. Is the long range forecast predicting a hot summer? Those alliums are making a great show and I love the stipa gigantea towering over the sisyrinchium striatum. I have the stipa at the allotment and it’s looking its best ever this year.
The Stipa are looking quite amazing here this year. But it is a shame they are so early.
The overall impression is wonderful Christina, and I think only a critical eye would notice any plants looking stressed. Still, I hooe you get some summer showers before the heat really sets in. We have had some very light rain here at last, but barely enough to dampen the soil surface and my rockery is parched!
The whole garden is parched but I doubt we’ll have any significant rain anytime soon.
I love the verticals of those wild alliums, and the Madonna lily in the shade is straight out of a Fra Angelico. After some very hot weather, we have cold and damp, and slugs!!
Sorry about the cold , we have very hot; at 10.40 it is already much too hot to be in the sun. Yesterday the greenhouse temperature went up to 38 C
What wonderful shots there are of parts of the garden we don’t get to see very often – as others have said, it doesn’t look stressed to those of us us observing digitally. How easy would it be to install water tanks, and where would you collect the water from? I am amazed at how quickly the trachelospermum is growing – is that because it is warmer in Italy? Isn’t it exciting to be picking from the cutting beds? Only the cosmos and sweet peas here, but seed sown dahlias are just about starting
I could water more but I choose not because in a world that is short of water I feel it to be wrong. However that may change when the farmers start spraying and wasting water all over the roads etc. we have a well for all our water and when it goes wrong or there is no electricity I am made even more aware of just how precious water is. So for now I continue to irrigate the vegetables and cut flowers and hand water stressed plants.
Likewise here with the water, although I did use tap water for the borders during May’s dry spell this year, the first time in many many years, because of the forthcoming openings. We have 9 water butts but there are times when they are all empty and I only top up the stream with rainwater so that takes priority when it’s hot. Does Italy ever have hosepipe bans, or similar?
Actually you are NEVER supposed to use piped water to irrigate flower beds so you have to have a well if you want a garden.
Was your well there when you came? How deep does it have to go down to reach water?
Yes the well was already here, there is no piped water from the town. It is 75 metres deep so has a huge pump that costs a lot to operate. It fills a talk for inside the house with a second pump working to move water around the house at the right pressure.
Yes, I forgot you relied on the well for domestic water too
I see that light daily and know what it means, except we go to 40c for several days. Ugh! Your plants still look good and full, and I like the tour to some areas I’ve missed before.
I realise that temperatures are relative. It is unusual for temperatures to rise above 40°C, but it is even more unusual that it is as hot as it is, this early in summer. It is now too hot for me even in the shade. I imagine that our humidity is higher than your desert is too and I know from experience that makes it feel much worse.