2025/34 - The Dog Days of 2025

 This part of Dutch Delta Summer is supposed to be the hottest of the season. Typically, we are having a slump in the Summer weather...It is mostly dry over here (not so much in the Eastern part of the Netherlands), but cool and windy.

Keeping myself amused

   I always plan some non-gardening projects for the Summer holidays, as most people I hang out with go on holiday and I am left to my own devices.

   But being a floweraholic, I couldn't help myself! The Nasturtiums in Hunky Dory have shrivelled up during those super hot weeks, but I noticed they are reviving now, the ones in the shade of bushes that is. I decided to paint them on a stool, as a sort of magic spell to help them grow on.

  

  Meanwhile I mowed my grass pathways yesterday. I say grass, but dust is more accurate. The soil is bone dry.

Still, I have confidence that grass will revive. I ended up with dried bits of plant everywhere, at home I even found them in my underclothes.

Wasps

I suspect there is a wasp nest near my plot, as my Fennel was buzzing with wasps. To be honest I am wary of them, but these were so busy feeding they did not take a blind bit of notice of me. There is supposed to be an invasion of Asian 'hoornaars' (hornets) in my country, but as far as I could tell there were none on my Fennel. They are exotics and not welcome. But how can you stop a flying insect from crossing borders?

The bumble bees kept their distance from the wasps and concentrated on the Echinaecea, Scabiosa and Artichokes.

I know they use the Artichoke flowers as hammocks in the night, clever things.

When I had finished mowing, I sat in my chair for a while, just looking at the plants and clouds sailing by. How you can live your entire life without being interested in plant life is beyond me. However stressed I am, the moment I enter the allotments I feel the anxiety levels drop. And by the time I go home, I am completely calm. Sweaty and dirty, but calm.

My chair is hidden behind the Hedera, Solidago and water butt. I can pretend I am in my private jungle there.

To my right is my pitiful frog pond. It resembles more of a meadow at the moment, there is even a wild Carrot growing in the middle. Mind you, I did meet a tiny frog whilst mowing, so perhaps there are frogs in there after all. And the Papyrus seems happy enough.

The yellow Crocosmia is swamped by the Bergamot. It is later than the red Crocosmia, who are spent by now.

The Zinias are doing their best. These ones (in partial shade) look a lot better than the ones in full sun, who are not even in bloom yet.

Sooooo happy with my perennial Lathyrus. After a slow start it is now really climbing up that obelisk, and has almost reached the top.

The other one, white with a pink blush, is out competed by the grapevine. And being in the shade of the Artichokes does not help either. But I'll leave it there, perhaps it will do better next year.

My pink bed looking pink. See that 'grass'? Golly!

How something so tiny can smell so sweet! The Elaeagnus Ebbingei is in bloom, and I swear it is like being in the perfume department of a store. I have said it before, if you are looking for an easy going shrub, pick this one! It even thrives in my conditions.

The bottle is prevention against me poking my eye out.

My Puck is getting old. She has not been able to jump on the bed (90cm high) since last summer. Can you imagine my surprise when she jumped up yesterday? She lay there for hours enjoying herself, and then couldn't get down... I had to lift all 27 kilos of her, and I received her ESP message loud and clear: "for fuck's sake don't drop me!"

I did not.

Okay, this is it for this week. Do follow this blog if you like it, and you can always look me up on my website Renée Grashoff Schrijft

Renée Grashoff