Friday 19 August 2016

Wild August Garden


Thanks to the head gardener's efforts and to a summer sprinkled with rainy days we now have our own piece of jungle! And this year it's as lush as never before. My own under gardener contribution is not that big: mainly watering (lots) and listening to the head gardener's plans and ideas (lots too). And well, ok, taking photographs and admiring it all!


"Project Overgrowth" from mid July to mid August! A cloth woven by blue Morning Glories and Nasturtium.




The green curtain leads to an amazing atmosphere inside and gives good shade too. Here's the view through the bedroom windows … well what is left from the view that is!



The head gardener loves to introduce unusual and exotic plant species. Here are this year's new inhabitants:



Pepper Leaf, or Hoya Santa, a native plant of Mexico. Our black Dikkertje is a normal sized cat … it's just that these leaves are enormous!

And below there's Dwarf Tamarillo, from South America, with little orange fruits that taste very sweet but with a hint of bitter, a bit like Physalis.



Our little Elderflower Tree is in it's third year already and growing fast. This is the first summer that it has got fruits.



The Hyssop plants have established themselves very well. They are a favourite of the bees, so there's often a humming cloud of insects around them.


Brown Sunflowers just because (they are so beautiful!) and Salvia Officinalis, another fave plant for the bees.



As all our plants grow in pots on the rooftop, there's a lot of watering to do on hot summer days. The garden hoses are everywhere! Tripping over a garden hose is one of the most likely accidents over here …


Dikkertje loves to lounge near to the Cat Thyme.


Below is another traveller from far away: Tree Spinach is a native plant of Nepal and South-East Asia. It can be cooked and tastes similar to leaf spinach. The young leafs are fab for salads too.


With sunflower greetings :-) I hope you enjoyed this little garden tour!