My big brown rubber boots and the last box of snail bait. Pretty much sums up this summer until now..
Of course, I want to complain about the weather! This summer is just as bad as summer 2014 was good. The problem is that I am here in Scandinavia for a given amount of time, and that means that I have a lot to do in the garden before I leave for Texas again. But it’s so wet!
Despite deer, elk, snails and an exceptionally cold spring, our garden here at Orust, Sweden are doing surprisingly well. No one has done anything here since I left in October last year, so it’s quite interesting to see what survives without any care at all for eight months. The winter here has been of the mild type, Coldest temperature measured in winter was -9 C (15,8F). That means that roses and other tender plants did not freeze back as much (some plants as the butterfly bushes not at all) as they usually do.
Its weed everywhere of course, but what else can you expect? And at the moment the wet weather makes it less tempting to dig on. Today I’ve tried to go outside three times, but after some minutes it starts raining again. I really hope the weather gets better tomorrow.
It’s loads of weed and tall grass everywhere.
Blackcurrant with self-seeded Dianthus flowers “Sweet William, (Dianthus barbatus) in between.
It really helps when you cut away the grass everywhere. It’s like the shrubs and trees breathe easier again.
Happily, it seems that the deers are not that fond of Clematis.
“Sweet William” (Dianthus barbatus) seems also to be deer resistant. This nice biennial plant self-seeds all around the garden. Seems that the snails leave them alone too.
Yes, weeding.
I put a newly bought Coriander outside to keep it fresh a couple of days ago. Look who is visiting! I think Coriander is number one on the snail’s favourite list. However, the two snails visiting this plant did not live much longer..
The Lilium regale (“Kings Lily”) are not touched by the deers. The snails and the Scarlet Lily Beetle are fond of them though.
Link to how to sow Dianthus barbatus
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