Flowers Before Rain

Four days ago, before their petals dropped in wind and rain, poppies shone for the bees under a bright June sun.

Inside this coral red poppy, four honey bees buzzed and fed.

Clematis Henrii climbed white among roses.

More bees homed in on the Ballerina rose.

Ox Eye Daisies arrived from nowhere in the patch of wild meadow......

Geranium Shepherds Warning, burned in sharp magenta, next to delphinium blues.

Foxglove and Teasel.......

Apricot floribunda rose......

Paul`s Himalayan Musk......

.....and roses backed by layered greens of philadelphus, dogwood, willow tree and distant lime.

The wild white Forest rose , sown by a travelling bird.....

...and foxgloves, self seeded, up against the hedge.

Peony......

.....and a tumbling, soft scented mass of pink Paul`s Himalayan Musk.

Sweet, deep scented Indian Summer.....

....and Rosa Seagull, climbing up through conifers, reaching for the sky.

In this parched, dry month, Hostas have survived without being laced by hungry , night time snails.

Brave survivor in wild corners, Ground Elder has unofficially flowered . Graceful and lace-like flowers of cream among pink Common Fumitory........

....pink cranesbill geranium and tall, wild Woundwort.

Snapshots of a summer garden. Four days later, after wind and rain, poppies and roses may have lost their blooms, but the lovely wild weeds flourish and remain.

Heath Spotted Orchids in a New Forest Glade

The Heath Spotted Orchids are back again. A few days ago I walked up to the secret glade where they flower every year. There are fewer this summer, maybe due to the dry spring.

This colony grows among grasses and young bracken fronds on the acidic, sandy New Forest heathland. It is sheltered by gorse bushes and is far enough from the path to avoid being trampled by people, ponies or dogs.

Old Dog - Still Out Walking

Old Dog is still with us. Older and slower now, relying on an anti inflammatory pill and joint supplements every day. He was thirteen at Christmas, so he is doing well for a Border Collie. Sometimes his blanket is wet in the morning, but that is manageable for now.

The highlight of every day is The Walk. We have a garden good enough to stretch an old dog`s legs, but there is something special and exciting about the world beyond the hedge!

Old Dog waits at the gate.........

.....we walk along pony tracks in the heath and come to the green by the woods on Stonechat Hill.

Leaving his mark.......

....and sniffing to see which friends have passed by today.

Through the gorse........

......catching sight of a rabbit, hopping away into the bracken.

We climb the gentle slope and it is time for a rest.

We don`t go far these days. Twenty minutes, slowly wandering the heathland tracks, is enough. I miss the exercise of walking a younger dog, but Old Dog is happy to have inspected his local patch.

Sniffing is a job that needs time and concentration......

....again....and again.......

We take a circular route along the woodland edge. Foxgloves tower beside the track and the wild bees are visiting.

Home on the grass, Old Dog flops to the ground. It is time for a drink and a long sleep on a dry blanket. His walk on the heath keeps him contented all day long. In his sleep, he twitches and dreams of longer runs and chasing rabbits through the undergrowth. In his younger days, Old Dog would walk for miles. Now, a wander along the Forest tracks is enough to keep him happy.

In the Garden at Hinton Ampner

The gardens at Hinton Ampner were designed and planted over many years by Ralph Dutton, 8th Baron of Sherborne, who was the last private owner of the house and land. They are a mixture of the formal and the informal. Garden "rooms" of clipped yew hedges and topiary stand alongside woodland glades where wild flowers and grasses grow. It is a garden of surprises and wonderful plantings.

As we left the church through an old wrought iron gate, we crossed a lawn and entered the shadows of a woodland path. A heady scent lead us on, into the Philadelphus Garden, where several varieties of these tall, bushy shrubs were spangled with perfumed white and cream flowers.

Through a yew pathway, the back of Hinton Ampner House could be seen, across a formal, paved garden.

To the east, a gap in the hedges showed landscaped pastureland, reaching away towards wooded hills.

Underplantings of aquilegia....

...more clipped yew....

....and plantings of small trees and shrubs in many shades of green.

Scudding white clouds blew in from the south .

Foxgloves and Dicentra Alba were visited by bees in a sunlit glade....

....and an iron gate lead out into pastures where sheep and cattle grazed.

A Ha Ha separated lawn from farmland.......

...and steps lead up to the main rear doors of the house.

Along pathways through herbaceous borders......

....we climbed up to the level of the house and then looked down, across fields and the great old trees in the park.

An ancient chestnut had been saved by careful pruning.

In the rose borders....

.......that lead us to the house once more.

Topiary - is it a mushroom or a staddle stone?

From the east drawing room, windows looked out across a formal , rectangular pool where a water fountain played......

......and where great carp swam. Water lilies were in bud and smaller fish and tadpoles found shelter at the green water`s edge.