Apparently it’s high summer….

The grey, drizzly weather has been rather depressing but, thankfully, I’ve woken to bright sunshine coming through the windows. Garden wise, the constant wet has suited some plants, others less so. The thalictrums, geraniums and nepetas are thriving and twice their usual height (possibly a slight exaggeration). On the other hand, all the roses, even the usually resistant ones, are covered in blackspot. Well, actually they aren’t covered in it now because I’ve had to almost completely defoliate them to try get it under control. The slugs have also been unmanageable, to say the least. They’re massive, doubled in number (no exaggeration) and they are everywhere. I hate killing anything so I try relocation. Apparently they have a homing instinct but it’s only functional within 20m. I find, that by placing the slug on the tip of a trowel and using a sort of trebuchet effect, they can fly even further than 20m. Despite frequent patrols, this method has not made a dent in the numbers, as far as I can tell. Enough has survived though and when I remember to stop and just look at the whole picture, it’s pretty good. Long way to go but I’m feeling pretty lucky right now.