High stakes

Another lovely week in the Genus garden and once again we're talking staking.  Dahlias in particular have reached a point where they could quickly become a mess if high winds or torrential rain should hit; all quite possible at the moment.

Several canes were pushed in around the plants, the tops low enough to be out of sight, but high enough to support rain soaked the blooms.  String was then wound around the canes to create a supportive ring.  Our lovely Delphiniums, already staked a month or so ago, have got so tall that each individual flower stem has been strengthened with a cane.

We found time  for other jobs  in the garden too.  A lot of the roses reached their peak about a week ago and the dead blooms are now looking brown and messy.  A relaxing hour was spent removing these, avoiding new buds, and tying in errant shoots.  The roses on the obelisks in particular were starting to become unruly and the long new stems were wound around and tied in and looked much better for it.

In the vegetable garden it seems the dwarf french beans had been muddled up with the climbing beans and so a rapid evacuation from one bed to another was performed.  A quick water and they barely noticed the move.  On leaving we remembered to shut the gate; our friendly hare had been watching us from the shrub border all day.  We’re sure she'd love to have an hour or two at the vegetable buffet.

Clothes in action today: Women's Summer Gardening Shorts