Strawberries and cream?

Many of us are proud of our gardens in June.  Fresh and fecund with roses, early clematis, lupins and foxgloves - they're a sight to behold.  Pinks, blues, purples and whites they create a picture that could sit comfortably in any of the glossy gardening magazines.  All that mulching, winter reading, pouring through catalogues, and the turning of compost heaps has paid off.  We are good gardeners.  No!  We are great gardeners!  Let’s have a summer party and open the garden for all to admire. 

And then comes July.  The early summer performers are over, their foliage starts to look scruffy and their flower stems collapse onto neighbouring plants.  Cancel the Pimms.  Cancel the strawberries and cream.  We’re not good gardeners after all.