Annual leaves

After the excitement of spring and the fecundity of early June we have started to fill areas in the garden with annual flowers.  Some have already been sown in-situ and now several months later, when we’ve almost forgotten them, they rear up through the perennial thicket and surprise us with their tenacity and beauty.  A group of ‘Victoria Cross’ opium poppies have done just that in the walled border to the south of the cottage and at their feet Californian poppies are about to do the same.

In the greenhouse dozens of cosmos have been grown from seed, pricked out, potted on, and have now  been planted out in any gaps we may have.  Flowering is still some way off but then, if deadheaded regularly, they’ll  continue to flower up until the first frosts.  They’re undoubtedly a great border filler and next year we’re going to add to the mix with some equally impressive cleome varieties and some tall feathery Ammi majus.