Garden Diary – Goodbye to the hottest, driest July!

As the hottest, driest July I can remember drew to an end, the temperatures dropped into the much more pleasant mid-twenties. 

Finally on the last evening of the month we must have had rain as we awoke on 1st August to damp paths.

Unfortunately, before we all got too excited about the second few drops of the month, it wasn’t much and had dried up before we’d finished breakfast, with no noticeable benefit.

Who would have ever thought that we’d be craving rain in a British summer!

We did have a few more surprise drops on the Sunday afternoon, that sent us scurrying outside to collect up the power tools we’d been using. No, the renovations aren’t finished yet…

Sadly, this also came to nothing, and I was back out there on Monday morning watering.

Despite trying to reduce my pots over the last few years, I couldn’t resist rescuing a dahlia from our local diy store. I honestly don’t understand why these shops stock plants when they have no intentions of looking after them, it’s just a complete waste of energy growing them!

Anyway I now have a beautiful, revived plant to add to my watering regimen.

So far I’ve managed to keep everything alive in the garden, even if most things aren’t doing as well as usual. 

The tomatoes have so far produced a lot of fruits, but the plants are seriously stunted, so I can’t think we will get our usual harvest from them.

Incredibly, the tumbling tomatoes in the ‘Aldi special’, hanging basket are surviving, thanks to me having to water them twice a day! All those little golden fruits are worth it though.

I’m harvesting carrots and beetroots, but more than usual have bolted. Surprisingly my herbs also keep bolting, including basil and oregano. I don’t know what the tricks are in the Mediterranean to stop this!

The food that’s doing well are cucumbers, they are loving the heat and the ‘gardeners mate’ is loving all his cucumber cake.

And of course, chillies and peppers, they think they’re back in Mexico. It’s looking likely to be a bumper harvest.

My ‘Karl Foerster’ grass also looks just like always, as the dry golden seed heads once they’ve turned, last all winter. It’s mesmerising to watch it blow in the breeze. Very relaxing.

There’re still flowers blooming, as I have lots of successional plants, they just don’t last as long on the whole. It’s amazing how the rose bushes keep producing new blooms but they’re significantly smaller.

The biggest joy continues to be the wildlife buzzing, hopping and fluttering around. The only nocturnal habitant that makes me tut every morning is the hedgehog that now seems to leave his calling card all down the path. Maybe I should treat it as free fertiliser as the price goes through the roof and throw it on the garden!

Monday 27th July 2026

How healthy does this £2 rescue dahlia look? 🌿🩷🌿🩷🌿

I was tempted to buy the whole shelf of them & put a stand outside my home. So sad to see good plants in shops that don’t look after them! What a waste of energy! 

#magentamonday #dahlialove #dahlia #PinkFlowers

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Even the foliage on this purple carrot is beautiful 💜🥕💜

Think of all that vitamin C, I’ll definitely be seeing in the dark 👀🥕🥕🥕 #kitchengarden #homegrown #growyourown #carrots 

Tuesday 28th July 2026

They’ve mentioned heatwave again this week, but I think we might be lucky here. It’s a bit cloudy & breezy with evidence of a little rain, & our weekly forecast is for low to mid twenties🤞

I could watch this ‘Karl Foerster’ grass all day, but work is calling! 🌾💙 #tuesdayblue

Wednesday 29th July 2026

‘Gabriel oak’ still going 🌿🩷🌿

Started blooming on the 27th May. Two months of non-stop flowering since #rosewednesday #roses @DAustinRoses 

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Would you like a look at my chillies & peppers? 🌶️🫑💛💜

Sweet peppers 🫑 Biquinho Red, Ramiro pepper.

Hot chillies 🌶️ Naga yellow blaze, Naga smooky rainbow, Buena Mulata. #chilli #chillies #chillipepper #homegrown #greenhouse #kitchengarden

Thursday 30th July 2026

How to make the ‘gardeners mate’ very happy. Grow him cucumbers & make them into cucumber cake 🥒🍰🧑‍🌾

Recipe on the blog if anyone else has too many 🥒🥒

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Some visitors to the garden 🐝🦋🐞

‘Common carder bee’ resting.

A ‘Gatekeeper’ I had to rescue from the greenhouse.

Tiny ‘Mint moth’ on the Basil.

‘Ladybird’ on the coreopsis 🌼

‘Silver Y’ moth, well camouflaged.

Bumblebee on dahlia ‘Honda pink’ 🌸

#InsectThursday #mygarden 

Friday 31st July 2026

Pink gladioli bending down to say hello to pink rose ‘Gabriel oak’ & the yellow coreopsis 🌿🩷💛🩷🌿

Bit nippy out watering this morning 🥶😄

#flowersonfriday #pinkfriday #pinkflowers #SummerBlooms 

Saturday 1st August 2026

We’re in the pink! 🌿🩷🌸🩷🌿

There’re not as many flowers as usual, as they are all going over so quickly. 

Hopefully the cooler temperatures will help the late comers bloom for longer. Splash of rain last night too 💦😁

#sixonsaturday #bloomscrolling #summerblooms 

Sunday 2nd August 2026

🎵“Look at the stars, Look how they shine for you, And everything you do, Yeah, they were all yellow 💛💛💛

Rudbeckia ‘Herbstsonne’

Coreopsis  ‘Early Sunrise’

Courgette ‘yellow golden’

Courgette ‘black beauty’

Chilli ‘yellow blaze’

Rudbeckia ‘goldsturm’

#yellowsunday #sevenonsunday

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Well, it’s not been the best year to grow anything in a hanging basket! But so far I’ve managed to keep ‘Tumbling Tom Yellow’ alive & producing the sweetest little cherry sized fruits 💛

#SundayYellow #tomato #tomatoes

Happy gardening.