In a Vase on Monday: still hot

~ Sam

Phew, cor blimey and good grief! It’s still hot; hotter than is comfortable when you have to get on and Do Things. These temperatures are absolutely lovely when you can lie about reading, swim in a pool or the sea, then lie about some more but not lovely when you have to sit at a computer (which gives off heat), or scrub toilets or do anything that involves expending energy. Earlier this morning, I spent 30 minutes picking up the small apples that have dropped off the old apple tree in the back garden, deadheading a few plants and picking blooms for a Monday vase and that was enough! Any gardening has to be done early in the morning or late in the evening, so there’s not a lot going on here. Watering and dead-heading is about all we can manage.

Having missed a few weeks of Monday vases, it’s lovely to be able to join Cathy (who hosts this weekly gathering) and her dahlias today. I started off by cutting a few stems of Perovskia ‘Blue Spire’ which were lying down (overcome by the heat, no doubt), then picked my way through the wild patch to reach two Buddleia bushes at the bottom of the garden – one is a common-or-garden massive weed but we have left it there for the butterflies and the other (the darker one – Buddleia davidii ‘Black Knight’) is one we planted. It smells lovely. I thought it would all look a bit too same-y, so I added nasturtiums (‘Jewel Cherry Rose’) and red salvia (I think it’s ‘Royal Bumble’) and a few amber Heuchera spires to make it more interesting.

It seems that here in the UK we’re not alone in having a drought. Jane, The Shady Baker, who farms in Australia, has written eloquently about the severe drought they’re facing. Her family’s livelihood depends on the weather and reading her post put my concerns about the garden into perspective.

Keep cool, wherever you are, and have a good week.

21 thoughts on “In a Vase on Monday: still hot”

  3. Lovely rich summer colours Sam. A hammock in the shade is what you need in this weather; it’s heavenly, a cool drink and a good book and forget the dust and scrubbing the lavs.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  4. The blue and orange-red flowers make a sharp but very pleasing mix, Sam. It’s hot here too. I did what I considered relatively light work in my own the garden early this morning and came in barely an hour later, dripping with sweat. Yuck!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  5. I was just hearing about the drought in Australia on the radio yesterday, a terrible situation. Love the buddleia, especially the Dark Knight, it’s one I thought about getting, the colour is lovely. I know what you mean about gardening, mine is a little neglected at present. And yes, it was far too hot to be cleaning the bathroom and hoovering earlier, I should have given that a miss as well. CJ xx

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. You always manage to find something lovely to go in your vases. I scrabbled a few blooms together last night, calendula and leucanthemum and some honeywort, but the garden here has been dried out so by the summer heat :o(. Lovely to see your flowers, as always xx

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. that’s a lovely vase Sam – I have Dark Knight in my garden too – the bees love it. I’ve been gardening in the evening or in the shady parts of my garden (mostly watering and dead heading) I’ve got sweetpeas in my vase this week but they’re not happy. It’s been high 20s in Manchester for a couple of months now and hardly any rain. It’s grim about the drought in Australia – I have relatives in Melbourne – every time I visit it looks drier. ho hum. Love bec xx ps I haven’t done any house work 😉

    Like

    Reply

  9. One of the upsides to the digital age. I read an English blog & find a link to an excellent rural blog in the next state.
    Thank you for the link.
    Oh yes. The vase of flowers is simply gorgeous.
    I love gardens and flowers and will be reading your blog each time you post.
    Alphie

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  10. That looks so pretty in your blue vase Sam. 🙂 The Buddleia is a nice rich colour. Yes, the drought has hit farmers really badly here too and is constantly in our news. Nothing to feed their cattle and huge crop losses. Hope we all get some rain soon!

    Like

    Reply

Please leave a comment if you'd like to. I love reading them. Making connections with people is the nicest part of blogging.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.