This gardening season has had its ups and downs, as usual, and I want to capture my ideas before they melt into the mist.
Spring brought some lovely blooms. The irises, which I sometimes despair of because this bed is so weedy, were lovely (if a bit floppy). I especially like the blue ones. Wish I still had the white ones I inherited from my mother, who got them from Bob Taylor decades ago. This was in mid-May.
Zepherine Drouhin is always lovely, but after she blooms, she’s a mess. Maybe add a clematis next year so there’s something else blooming there?
Despite my vow to sow annual poppies early, I failed. Luckily, this one self-sowed. I love the delicate shading on the petals.
Sarah Bernhardt was in bloom just in time to take her to Duck for the week.
Allium globemaster looked appropriately modern in a 60s sort of way. Plus, it lasted a long time. This was at the end of May.
The drumstick alliums were not quite what I expected, too tall. We’ll see if they come up next year. I was aiming for something like this
but they were very long-stemmed and flopped over. We’ll see if they come back next year.
By the end of June (after the wedding, and English garden pictures to come), long, spiky blooms appeared on the bottlebrush buckeye. The butterflies love them.
(And note the new fence, raw as can be but it should weather to gray eventually). Here’s one of the day lilies, though they seemed a bit meager this year. I love the dramatic dark reds:
And here’s the gallant calla zantedeschia that came as a bonus bulb from McClure and Zimmerman several years ago. If I’d realized its scale, I wouldn’t have planted it so close to one of the lush hostas, but so it goes. It comes up faithfully every year.
And look what’s popped up! A couple years ago I dug up a couple of plants that were just too big for their britches. This is a helianthus that just couldn’t be killed!
There are also signs that the amsonia is resurrecting itself, too. I may bite the bullet and pull it out, replacing it with a variety that has better fall color. We’ll see!
And this was the flowerpot on the steps this year. The pots worked well, but the railing planters were a mess: very dry, and I didn’t have any good fillers or spillers. I’ll add Soil Moist next year and go for something easy like calibrachoa to add color.
The houseplants enjoyed their spa vacation, as always. Note to self: you can never mass too many pots together.
Since this area is part sun at best, it’s all about the foliage here. Still, it could use a little more color but on the whole I was pleased.
Finally, the hyacinth beans I got on sale from C&T did pretty well, though what is apparently a stinkbug larva liked them, too. Never mind, the colors were delicious.
The other nice thing is that the shades of purple went well with the clematis and the Autumn Joy sedum, almost as though I had planned it (ha!).
Leaving Oxford on a bright, clear day, we picked up a little white Golf to carry us to Stow. Our first goal was Blenheim Palace, but Alison got an email from them saying that because of an “incident” they would not be opening until lunchtime. Since the park was still open, off we set.
we came to yet another Harry Potter tree, a cedar which has been propped up to keep it alive by the skin of its teeth. (This is the one that Severus Snape hung from in Order of the Phoenix, when he was being bullied by Harry’s father.) 
You can see that it is carefully preserved from any rabid fans who might be tempted to try the same.
From here I continued around the Queen’s Lake while Alison went back to the shops. Gorgeous views, magnificent trees, thank you, Capability Brown!
See?? We parked in the next street just beyond, and thanks to friendly neighbors who encouraged us to find our house, we had the strength to pick up our groceries and bags and go back along the narrow alley in search of Carter’s Cottage. 
It’s just two up, two down (mostly) but with a really good bathroom and a washer/dryer (mysterious like all British appliances, but we made it work). Here’s a look at the cottage, which suited us down to the ground. 
and then had a delicious dead chicken from Tesco, along with a salad and shortbread for dessert, which we seemed to need. Looking forward to a real shower, that does not require standing up in a tub or kneeling!
Plus: you might see Monarchs eventually!
Though I only got a few blossoms, I was in love. But sadly, I had an infestation of voles (I’ve since learned that the vole population waxes and wanes. It’s on the wane now, for which I’m grateful.) The voles ate the roots and it was adieu to Zepherine.
but remember! This had been in the ground less than a month when it bloomed, so I give it props. (It would also help if I could figure out how to capture pale pinks, yellows and creams without washing out all the color.) I’m feeling quite hopeful.
Caroline's Garden and Travel Record 