Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog July 2025

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This June and July have been a bit of a test of endurance for the gardeners….and for the plants. Some have flourished in the glorious sunshine… and some have wilted a little in the heat!

Nicola, who tends the herb beds, says that most of the plants there have enjoyed the sunny days and are looking pretty good; the parsley, thanks to diligent watering, looks green and strong, and the blue flowers of the Chicory are particularly lovely next to the white Achillea. St John’s Wort, an ‘accidental’ addition to the middle herb bed, is very happy (much to Ruth’s delight, for dye experiments!)

Of course, in the Purple Border, the Bronze Fennel has flourished, too. And we knew the Med border would cope with the drought. No watering here, and the Agapanthus is looking glorious as usual.

This year we’d decided to ring the changes with the dahlia bed up by the shed. We kept some of the old Dahlia tubers and put them into pots; and we risked the slugs and snails and put one of our very tall old red dahlias straight into the bonkers border. Our Old Red loves it there! Here it is, mingling with Crocosmia in a splash of colour! We admit the new, sun scorched Honka dahlia in the original dahlia bed doesn’t quite have the same impact....but, give it time!

Elsewhere, spot-watering with watering cans has continued for any newer plants such as the Gaura in the white border, and anything in a pot. It’s seen us through the days at 33 degrees centigrade, and our Garden Guides have helped, too.

The sunshine has brought many benefits. We’ve seen so many bees on the lavender (a wonderful photo above from gardener Philippa). And there have been butterflies, some varieties we’ve not seen for a few years. We’ve had dragonflies and mayflies at the dipping pond; Philippa also captured this Cricket in another excellent photo:

In the veg plot, despite watering, the produce has bolted to a certain extent…strawberries and other soft fruits are already over; we must sow new lettuces to replace those which have finished. But our first real crop of apricots was a treat! (And we see the trees laden apples, pears and plums to come).

Finally, the Pelargoniums – what a show in the Auricula Theatre!