Firstly, many, many apologies for not posting for GBFD in May. I was at the Chelsea Flower Show and didn’t have my laptop with me. Thank you to those of you who posted anyway, I read your posts with great pleasure.
I know it isn’t actually high summer yet, we have only just arrived at the summer solstice, but the temperatures have been high for a month now and there has been no rain at all in that month so My Hesperides Garden looks more like mid-July or August.
There are only a few flowers in the garden – Perovskia and a few Hemerocallis but even these look stunted this year. The evergreen shrubs whether pruned into tight shapes of left to their own form are the strongest features in the garden this month; together with grasses to add some movement.
From the terrace looking west; I find this view very pleasing
With the boundaries so hidden, the garden feels larger.
Looking toward the left hand border from the path between the Large Island what was the circular rose bed but which is now the smaller island
Looking towards the drive and greenhouse from the upper slope path
Stipa tenuissima, Alliums and Euphorbia foliage
Stipa gigantea, I know these are really flowering spikes but I think of all grasses as foliage
The photographs were taken late in the evening about 8.30 -9 pm The Alliums pick up the camera flash
In the evening light silver foliage takes on an ethereal quality. Stipa tenuissima is catching the last rays of the sun before it sinks down on the horizon.
This year the garden feels pleasantly enclosed
A glimpse of the countryside outside the garden, beyond the evergreen shrub border (from the terrace facing south)
Many shrubs have grown significantly in the last couple of years, changing the views within the garden and the vistas from it.
The garden would be very uninteresting without the various grasses
What foliage is giving you pleasure this month? It would be lovely to see how you use foliage in your garden in summer (winter for the southern hemisphere). Join GBFD by leaving a link to and from this post.
I love the last picture- of the grasses – such a variety of textures, and the drumstick alliums providing a contrast.
It is a complete riot of grasses and dead stems at the moment and it’s too hot to do very much each day.
I love the contrast of your grasses with your clipped shapes, I can imagine the movement when the breeze blows through. Your photos show some beautiful shapes and textures too, so important in a garden.
My link is http://leadupthegardenpath.com
I’m hoping that when the shrubs are larger there will be even more contrast. Thanks for joining in this month Pauline.
Lovely pictures. The grasses are definitely the winners. They bring such movement to the garden. I particularly love Stipa gigantea with the sun on it. I am also very keen on Stipa barbata which is a bit eccentric because it is curly, but it shimmers in the sun.
I haven’t found a barbata I would like to find one, I think it would do well here.
I grew mine from seed.
Did you! Well I must try too.
Lovely pictures. Foliage and grasses certainly help compensate for a lack of flowers. xx
I always think that it is foliage that gives firm and structure to a garden and flowers are just the dressing or icing.
Hi Christina, I really have never thought of grasses as foliage accents, but I think you are right and have recently planted some Muhly Grass for that exact reason! Your garden looks divine despite the heat. Here is my Floridian foliage http://theshrubqueen.com/2017/06/22/garden-bloggers-foliage-day-succulents
I have tried Muhly grass here, I love hoe it looks but I didn’t have any luck with it even though I think it should like the conditions here. Thanks for contributing this month.
I think the key is no irrigation, no fertilizer and nuetral pH in soil
Hi Christina, You have so many lovely views. I think I love your gardens for being so different than mine. You have wonderful texture and color. The grasses are amazing…..I remember, as a child, I would have to stop and examine the wild grasses that grew along the roads….
Take a look at what’s happening in my neck of the woods!
http://mynewenglandflowerbeds.blogspot.com
Hi Sally, good to hear from you and thanks for joining GBFD this month. You were way ahead of your time if had such a strong interest in grasses when you were a child!!
Gorgeous textures and subtle colours- it’s looking divine.
Thank you.
Christina the trimmed shrubs shape and background to the garden. I love the couple Stipa gigantea and Alliums. The photos are beautiful. Trees have also grown. It is very hot and it is true that your garden is seen in midsummer. I hope you change the weather and refresh and rain in your garden. Greetings from Margarita.
A very enjoyable post, thank you Christina. Your view of the fields beyond the garden is beautiful. I love the way you use your grasses.
The grasses, especially the Stipa gigantea are looking particularly good this year.
They’re both looking fab so must be perfectly suited to your garden, eh?
I love the light in your garden in the evening. It highlights the naturalistic planting beautifully. Feels very romantic. I’m enjoying the foliage of Sanguisorba hakusanensis lilac squirrel at the moment. It’s just starting to flower, but I brought it as much for the foliage as the flowers.
Thank you for commenting Julieanne. I don’t really think of my garden being romantic but that’s one of the great things about comments it opens up new ideas.
How wonderful your garden looks with all the glorious grasses. It certainly gives texture and movement. I’m trying to grow quaking grass here. It grew wild in the meadows on the farm where I grew up. I used to pick armfuls to fill the kitchen table vases. It’s a little bit cooler today. Mercifully! Have a good weekend Christina. I’m taking my lovely Mum to Cathy’s rambling in the garden open day on Sunday. Can’t wait. x
Hope you’ll write about your visit to Cathy’s. Have a lovely time with your mum.
Your grasses are really carrying the garden right now, they look great. Your evergreen trees and shrubs are making a contribution as well.
Oh, and I’ll add my GBFD post. https://gardeninacity.wordpress.com/2017/06/23/june-berries/
Thanks for the contribution Jason.
Your garden is a real showcase of how foliage (and grasses) can work so well together and create just as much pleasure as flowers do.
I’m sorry to have missed another GBFD. I’m finding blogging a real struggle at the moment but hopefully it will resolve itself over the next few weeks.
Thank you Jessica. I know how it is with blogging, if I didn’t do a vase every Monday sometimes I would go weeks without posting. I may stop the foliage meme as fewer people have joined in recently. Foliage will always be a very important part of my garden because with the high temperatures and drought conditions very little flowers in summer.
I’ve just read your comment on Pauline’s post (a rainy Saturday morning has given me a chance to catch up with everyone). It would be a shame to give up the meme, many of us appreciate it even if we don’t always get a chance to participate. I even took some photos for it this month too and then didn’t get a chance to write the blog.
That’s very kind of you to say Jessica. Some of my negativity is the result of it being just too hot to think let alone actually do anything!
You may be hot and tired
but your revamped garden is coming together most beautifully.
Especially the ethereal soft colours in the second picture!
Thank you Diana, yes, I feel the garden is becoming what I want it to be but this year is a real test for it with a very cold winter, no rain to speak of since last autumn and a very hot June that doesn’t look as if it will cool down any time soon.
Gorgeous! I love your use of grasses for texture and movement along with evergreens. You have proven how foliage used in the right combination can make a landscape! It is always a pleasure visiting your blog.. Here is my foliage post for Juneat http://landscapedesignbylee.blogspot.com/2017/06/garden-bloggers-bloom-day-foliage.html#.WU7qYusrKUk
Thank’s for your contribution this month Lee.
Don’t things look different in the early evening light? It’s a good exercise to look round the garden at different times of day although you will be governed by the heat of course – do you get biting insects in the evening? Sorry but no foliage post from me as I have other things to think about!
There are mosquitoes sometimes but if we’re care not to have any standing water around usually it is OK.
No midges, or the Italian equivalent?
Lots of biting flies and mosquitoes!
I love silver foliage! One reason I have always admired your garden. Your garden is so successful because of its many layers and textures of foliage. I can imagine how gorgeous it is when the light shines through.
Dry heat certainly doesn’t encourage many flowers in summer so foliage is essential.
I’ve been away too long, I think I missed most of spring and now you are well into your dry summer and the grays and tans have taken over again. It’s such a difference compared to the wet summer we’ve been having. Cooler weather and steady rains are something I haven’t seen in several years and it’s a nice change.
I hope your weather cools down a little. I’m not the biggest fan of relentless high temperatures and it really plays a bit part in bringing my mood down. Maybe next month I’ll get back in for another Foliage day, I’ve been consumed by the garden this year and although it doesn’t look any better than other years I feel like I must be making progress!
Realistically it won’t cool down until September although I’m hoping for rain in mid August.
How wonderful your garden looks in the evening light. Beautiful!
Thank you Doris but it doesn’t feel that beautiful to me at the moment.