Tuesday 27 August 2013

My Garden :: August

Hello Lovelies, 
it was lovely to return home at the weekend and see so many flowers still going strong in our late August garden.
The days are getting much shorter now and there were even a few fallen Silver Birch leaves on the lawn. The dominant colours are yellow and orange with a few pops of pink and red.
My baskets and pots are looking well past their best but things in the ground are still mostly O.K. I  still have a few sweet peas as these were sewn in the vegetable bed ....as were my Sunflowers , which are so very tall.

Here is my fifth monthly mosaic of things that are looking lovely in our garden at the moment......

Top to bottom L-R
1. Peacock butterfly on white Buddlia 2. Golden Rod 3. Zinnia
4. Japanese anenome 5. A second flowering of my gorgeous orange rose 6. Helianthus tuberosus
7. Crocosmia 8. Hydrangea 9.Small tortoiseshell butterfly on white buddlia

Here is my favourite border as it looked yesterday.......


You can see the size of my white buddlia , it's pretty huge and always attracts a mass of butterflies. This year , as well as the types in my mosaic we have also seen loads of Cabbage White and some Red Admiral.

You might just be able to see the sunflowers growing up the side of the shed in the distance...they are about 10 feet tall.

This year the garden has been a huge pleasure to me. It always is now the boys are a bit older and I have time to spend out there. For the first time I have had a little greenhouse ( it's plastic but you can stand inside it ) and I've grown some new flowers and veg. The Zinnias were a big success once the hot weather came , but the peas were not so great.

In the very hot July weather we spent many hours sitting in the shade or in the paddling pool trying to keep cool.
This drawing was inspired by those hot days. I completed it the day before we went to Cornwall but didn't have chance to share it with you lovelies .



I wanted to capture Summer 2013 in our garden so the Zinnias had to feature as well as my lovely foxgloves and the bees who made a nest under our patio, remember them ?
You can just see our paddling pool and youngest's red crocs on the lawn.
Sparkle is enjoying some time exploring while I sit in the shade, watching the butterflies on my purple buddlia.

If it looks a bit familiar that's because Mum also painted this view. It's at the bottom of THIS post

I like the way this drawing captures so many happy hours spent in the garden , in a year we really did get a proper summer.....wasn't it great.

Oh and I remembered to include my little friend Tom Tit :0)

Jacquie x

22 comments:

  1. I am quite envious of the lovely colour in your garden. It's quite lacking in mine this month. Maybe because we are usually away I haven't noticed so much in the past. Or perhaps I just forget?! I think I will try the zinnias - they look like a good colour pop. :)
    I missed your bee post - we were in Spain. Lucky you - although I hope they haven't caused any problems. We've just noticed that some hornets have nested under the eaves. Goodness they are huge!
    Have a good week. Back to reality as school returns on Thursday. I really must sort those name labels. x

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Jacquie,So glad you remembered little Tom Tit!!!He's also been there all summer!!!A really lovely picture to remember summer by!!!Have a great day!!!
    Love
    AMarie

    ReplyDelete
  3. Loving the white buddlia, think I might plant one myself. Great summer, just what was needed.

    ReplyDelete
  4. your garden is stunning, thanks for the photos xx

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lovely pics Jacqui. Like you I have grown zinnias this year, from a 25p packet of seed from Lidls which has given loads of blooms. Continue to enjoy the garden, I too feel touches of autumn, the first leaves are falling from the pair of silver birches we planted for our silver wedding anniversary a few years ago, I am trying not too feel sad autumn is coming and my holiday in about three weeks! Elaine x

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your garden looks lovely, sometimes in late August is goes over but yours is still blooming. We are into allotment harvest at the moment so lots of beetroot, beans and potatoes. Jo x

    ReplyDelete
  7. Jacquie your photographs are just stunning, how lovely to look at all the colours and shades. Breathtaking, I wish I could draw Jacquie, I do love your artwork. What a lovely post, thank you so much
    Lots of love
    Dorothy
    :-)xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ah! Gardens! How fortunate you are to have one! I love your drawing too, full of my favourite flowers: Buddleia, Zinnia and Foxgloves!

    ReplyDelete
  9. You have inherited your Mom's artistic talent and are an inspiration to me.
    Sue

    ReplyDelete
  10. Lovely photos. I love this time of year and saw a truly magical garden at the weekend at Pensthorpe in North Norfolk. Lots of lovely late flowering perennials and grasses. I'm looking forward to enjoying my own garden a little more when my girls are a bit older.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Your garden looks wonderful and love this garden mosaic! Your drawings are so lovely and you are so talented, you should sell your work! xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  12. Your garden looks lovely, Jacquie. And your drawing captures it all. I love the foxgloves, one of my favourite.

    Sapna

    ReplyDelete
  13. Love your garden. I have a lot of non flowering stuff in my 'garden' and just love flowery shrubs. So much more cheery.
    I love that you have your bunny free-ranging in your drawing. Enjoy what is left of your warm weather. We are moving out of winter here in Australia. In my part, it was temperatures under 10 last week, and today it was 20! Almost shorts, t-shirts and sunscreen!
    Take care and thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Such lovely flowers and plants :-) Thanks for sharing your pics and your wonderful drawing.
    Blessings :-)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Such lovely flowers, in Australia we are moving in Spring and have had a very warm winter so everything is starting to get into full bloom. I am a mum of 2 and just starting out at teaching myself how to crochet! I love your work you are one very talented lady, but just a quick question, what is a good starting off project??? I have bought some cotton mix wool which is lovely and bright colours and a size 4.5mm needle? I have attempted your owl, but my round body turns out so small!!! Would love some suggestions?
    Regards
    Clair

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Clair, thanks for commenting. I wonder if you have realised I used American terns in my pattern....so a double crochet is an Australian/English treble crochet. There is a conversion table at the top of the tutorial. I really need to try and use English terms but I've folowed so many U.S. patterns that my brain finds them easier to understand.
      Hope this helps. Otherwise you could try a granny square ....they are so versatile and there's no counting :0)
      Jacquie x

      Delete
    2. Jacquie

      Oh maybe that is were I am making my mistake as I was following your granny square pattern the other day and I found the instructions and photos great to follow but the end product was sooooo small!! I will give it another go. Thank you for you reply, I am very excited to get stuck into many projects in between mum and work duties :-)

      Clair x

      Delete
  16. What a lovely blog you have,beautiful
    homemade things,wow. :))
    Hugs from Mette.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Yes the days are getting shorter. I was sitting in the garden yesterday editing photos for this week's blog and at 8 I had to put the outside lights on, candles and have a nice hot cup of tea (the temperature dipped as much as the sun!). I've noticed the conker trees are ready to shed their pods too. Your art work still has the summer time feel and the colours in your garden are still about. My garden has 'grown over' now so we are starting to prune and dig up ready for the winter and spring planting. Love this time of year! xx

    ReplyDelete
  18. Every time I read one of your post, I get inspired by you. Your drawings are wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Jacquie I love your blog. Such a pretty garden with all the beautiful cottage plants. We are about to head into Spring and I can't wait for everything to come to life.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Your blog is so beautiful Jacquie and I love this picture. It is so cheerful and peaceful at the same time. Thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete

I always love to hear from you , thank you for taking the time to leave a message.