The rain that we so desired arrived with unseasonably windy weather, which had categorically not been invited to the party. Whilst most of the garden suffered no ill effect, including sunflowers and dahlias which are wedged so tightly into place they can barely move, the outdoor tomatoes came crashing to the ground like a delicious row of dominos. I dashed out into the tempest, did my best to rearrange and balance, placing bricks on top of each individual pot to weigh them down. Five minutes later they were flat on their faces again. Pulling the blinds across, I decided that the best course of action was to ignore their histrionics and leave them be. Here they stayed until the next day when they were righted and examined. Amazingly, there appeared to be no damage; all fruit firmly in place, all stems intact, Tomatogeddon had been averted. Thrilling stuff, don’t you agree, no doubt soon to be picked up by an indie film producer and made into a cult classic. If you want even more excitement, pop over to Jim at Garden Ruminations and find out what the rest of the Six on Saturday gang are up to. Which reminds me, shall we proceed?
This hydrangea is a cutting from a much loved specimen in our ex-front garden in Ilfracombe. It has done very well in our new garden, in spite of being quite different conditions. Just goes to show.
Dahlia merckii has begun flowering in the shady border. I wasn’t sure how it would get on with lack of sun, but it seems to be coping relatively well. A little tardy both starting into growth and subsequently blooming, which is hardly surprising. Definitely worth the wait.
I saw the parents of this Eucomis bicolor recently in Welsh John’s garden. They are significantly larger than this fledgling, hopefully, the shape of things to come. Shamefully, I noticed the withered leucanthemum after I had taken the photograph. It has now been dead headed and cuddled.
The self-seeded Cuphea lanceolata have returned, which is fortuitous. I must apologise to those I promised seed to last year. Unfortunately, whilst carrying several precariously balanced seed containers into the house to finish their drying, I tripped and dropped the lot. Clumsy, moi? The more obvious I managed to rescue, the rest went up the hoover.
The first cosmos flower has arrived. Nothing to do with me.
One of the fallen was ‘Orange Banana’ which although unmistakably “orange” is far from banana like. Earlier in the week one fruit was a better name-match, slim and gently curved. I ate it. Sorry about that, it was delicious.
There we have it, another Six complete. Upwards and onwards.
Off The Edge Gardening 
These tomatoes look delicious. Do you have a lot of them? Enjoy them and I hope that with the rain, they won’t get blight… My toms are coming here too, but mine are mostly red and have a small roof to keep the rain off them( those outside) . Nice photo of the eucomis and pretty little Cuphea flower
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The orange bananas are quite prolific, I have a plant in the greenhouse too. They are prone to blossom end rot though. So far this year Ruby is the tastiest.
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Is that a yew to the lower left of the hydrangea? Not much else resembles redwood like that. Dahlia merckii is cool because it is a simple species rather than a hybrid.
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Yes, well spotted, it is a yew. I like the simple forms of dahlia too, I’ve got another I’ve grown from seed that might feature next week. Watch this space!
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The dahlia is gorgeous, as is the cosmos. The tomatoes look yummy!
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I am glad that the tomatoes survived the wind, it did ruffle the poor runner beans that have been struggling in the heat.
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Yes the simple dahlia is so perfect, I could almost be tempted. I also like the hydrangea in your header photo. You are way ahead of me on tomatoes ripening, maybe I should be planting out earlier. I like the look of the orange banana variety.
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My tomatoes have been a disaster this year even without a tempest. I don’t know why I torture myself trying to grow them each year. Those beautiful photos in the catalogs always seduce me.
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Nice orange banana.That Eucomis is something, I’m thinking about what. Tomatoes are pretty resilient it seems. I just cut mine back dramatically. the corn worms found them.
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Corn worms sound scary! 😳
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Nasty, they get inside the fruit.
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Like N20gardener my eye alighted on the hydrangea in the header. I’m rather hoping it is the same one I have in a pot awaiting planting or are you refusing to name it to avoid a breach of SoS rules?
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I can tell you, but don’t let on 😁 It is Hydrangea aspera Hot Chocolate. The same?
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No, mine is H. aspera ‘Rosemary Foster’. Anything named by Maurice Foster (great plantsman) after his wife (lovely lady) has to be a good plant, was my reasoning when I bought it, knowing it would be a big grower and that I had nowhere to put it.
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Sounds very familiar ….
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Glad you rescued your tomatoes
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Your cosmos looks like Velouette which I grew last year. This year I bought in seedlings but they lack the white stripes. I am growing tomatoes in the conservatory again, the first time in a few years, they were supposed to be bush tomatoes but only one of the three is so I have had to tie up two of them and hope they don’t all topple onto the floor! The things we put ourselves through.
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Nice selection of photos. Your hydrangea looks very similar to one I have, but I have no idea what its name is. I couldn’t agree more regarding the dahlia. I have had a great amount of pleasure from growing the ‘Bishop’ and all his children from seed.
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Your tomato looks interesting and your hydrangea is beautiful. Also like your dahlia, must try some from seed next year.
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