For the record

It is a grey midweek day, so without the brilliance of sunshine to send the camera into chaos with light and shade, I thought I would do my customary recording of the garden this morning.  I like to take photos of my plants.  They bring so much pleasure to me, and all those who live and come here, that it seems a little churlish not to look back and enjoy them again, at a later date.

I hope you enjoy these late summer colours as much as I do.

The August Sunday last summer, when we lost our dear old cat, Girlie, I bought two echinacea plants to remember her by.  They have bloomed magnificently this year.  These are for you Girlie.

This is Gaura lindeimeri 'The Bride', a beautiful, elegant plant which is a joy to me.  It seems to like our very sandy soil and its long, airy stems of white butterfly flowers just float and wave in a magical and ethereal way.  It's one of my favourite summer plants.

The sweet peas have had a bit of a chequered career this summer.  When I was in Australia they started to flower, but they were only picked a couple of times.  When I got home I snipped off a mass of seed pods, fed the plants and, bless their hearts, they have rewarded me with several weeks of flowers.  I really didn't think they were going to make it beyond the end of July, but here we are, in early September, and there are still some flowers to pick, and their scent is arresting - delicious.  And lurking in a shady corner of the garden, a blue hydrangea has made an appearance this year!  In the gloaming, its pale flowers, the colour of blackbirds' eggs, are luminous and beautiful.