In my English garden

Our new Pergola is working well, the decking stays in shade until after 5pm, whilst it's open, giving us loads of shady space. After that the sun is at the wrong angle and we don't have any benefits, but we think we may have a simple solution. 

The garden is looking good, just a couple of things to be sorted, mainly the small raised bed next to the back door, it's in shade most of the day, so it's behind the rest of the garden, the tulips are just going over. 

I love begonias, the 1st brown pot is a new plant this year, the middle blue pot I have just placed outside of the greenhouse, with promise of loads of flowers again this summer,  and I have them in different chimney pots around the garden, they are just coming into leaf, I never remove these, they survive the winter well. 

I love these Salvias, I have 4 in this pot, should fill with loads of red flowers, in the middle is a blue Lobelia, I am mighty pleased with this new pot, made of soft rubber, with handles for carrying, got it for £2.25 from a local cheap shop, it's a small laundry/ washing up bowl, works perfectly as a pot. 

My pots inside the gates are doing well, I have fiddled and changed these around so many times, the Acers are doing well, my new one, I have re-potted and it's growing well. 

I have loads of plants to go into these 2 long tubs which sit in front of the raspberries, but the pansies are still looking good, I will swap them over later this week, I had planned French Marigolds in these tubs, but the seeds did not set. 

These pansies are still good, I will transplant them elsewhere in the garden and pop these Geraniums here, it's a sunny spot and the colours will look good. 

I read an article on how easy it is to grow Hellebores from seed, I have a plant with dark red almost black flowers, on checking I could see seed heads, so I am having a go at growing them myself, I got 18 seeds, I have them in a seed tray on my desk, I'm keeping everything crossed some will grow. 

I still have the tail end of a cold, I dislike summer colds so much, so it's been a time to stay at home, garden always calling me, I do something outside most days, but we also find time to sit and chat and enjoy our space. 

I am desperate to grow things, I have a cucumber and 2 tomato plants on the go, last month I soaked some Pinto beans, the shells broke and I got a few shoots, so I have potted them up, again I have no idea if I'm doing them right, but it's fun trying. 

I am hoping I get new Hellebore plants from the seeds, I do love the dark flowers. I have potted on a climbing rose cutting, I am hoping it will grow into a strong plant, not that we need another climbing rose. 

Tuesday the coffee ladies came over in the morning and tested the shade in the garden, we sat and chatted for a couple of hours, it was lovely to all be together again, plenty of room for 9 people. The rest of the day was inside, where it's much cooler, our weather has gone from poor wet and cold days, now it's over heating hot sunny days.

Today we have George, whilst Will goes swimming, George is still full of cold, so another topup of germs.