Peonies, borrowed flowers and a blooming yucca

Along with an influx of bird houses that sums up June in our garden. I think it's probably one of the best months in our garden, it's full of colour and everything seems in harmony. It's no coincidence that we got married at this time of year, and our garden made a great backdrop for our celebrations. Just as it did a couple of weeks ago for our 110th party.

Our peonies though, while fantastic, didn't hang around long enough for the party, one of those heavy downpours put paid to that. Peonies always look as if they're struggling to stay upright at the best of times, and while they're pretty with raindrops on them it can't help the weight. I think this year has been our best peony year so far though, and of course I've big hopes for next year now.

OUR BEST PEONY YEAR SO FAR

OUR BEST PEONY YEAR SO FAR

It was also the year of the yucca, it needed some love earlier on, but repaid the TLC with two sets of flowers. It was interesting to see them develop as the month went on. They're all done now, but notice how upright they started off.

STARTING TO FLOWER

STARTING TO FLOWER

 
CHERRIES!

CHERRIES!

It's been a great year for cherries too, must be something to do with the weather I reckon. The pigeons too have behaved leaving plenty of the cherries on the lower branches for us. The squirrels were slightly less well behaved, but there were so many cherries this year there was still enough for us both, and for the children at our 110th party who were fascinated by the cherries on the tree, and made short work of an impromptu pudding. And who can blame them?

We've a couple of plants that have popped over from next door, which is always nice as quite often ours go the other way. Elderflower I'm looking at you. In return though we've enjoyed this pink rambling rose with its densely packed flower heads. It's arrived in a part of our garden that doesn't have much colour, so it's arrival has been doubly welcome.

ONE OF OUR BORROWED PLANTS: ROSES FROM NEXT DOOR

ONE OF OUR BORROWED PLANTS: ROSES FROM NEXT DOOR

 
A VISITING CLEMATIS AGAINST THE SUN

A VISITING CLEMATIS AGAINST THE SUN

At the rear of our garden another neighbour's clematis is making use of our trellis and climbing over our jasmine. And looking as good as this, then it'd be hard not to welcome it, wouldn't it?

RIPENING CHERRIES

RIPENING CHERRIES

Our mock orange hasn't really had a good year though, it's the one plant (it's actually more tree-like) that makes MOH sneeze so he's not missed it so much. This was about as good as the flowers got and given that it's almost 8-9 ft tall, you can see why I'm saying it's not been a good year.

OUR MOCK ORANGE WASN'T SO HAPPY THIS YEAR THOUGH

OUR MOCK ORANGE WASN'T SO HAPPY THIS YEAR THOUGH

By now the yucca was flowering, and it really is gorgeous. It developed quite a bit of a lean (as you can see with the stem in the background) but it was no less pretty for it.

AND SUDDENLY THE YUCCA WAS IN FULL FLOWER

AND SUDDENLY THE YUCCA WAS IN FULL FLOWER

I told you those roses were happy didn't I? Along with the jasmine it became one of the most scented areas of our garden. Placing our gazebo in this spot was a stroke of genius, and clearly all planned... ahem.

THE ROSES FROM NEXT DOOR WERE THRIVING

THE ROSES FROM NEXT DOOR WERE THRIVING

Now just look at those cherries. These were I think out of the reach of the visiting six year olds, but I suspect they may have had help. I've never seen as many cherries in a single bunch like this on our tree.

CHERRIES ON OUR TREE LIKE I'VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE

CHERRIES ON OUR TREE LIKE I'VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE

Yes, look it's all getting too much for the yucca, it's now almost horizontal and when the flowers die back completely it's going to leave me with a dilemma. Do I try and crank it back upright, slowly, bit by bit - or do I go for some severe pruning. I think I need to read up on this - if you've experience of righting yuccas, please let me know what you'd do. 

OUR YUCCA ON THE LEAN

OUR YUCCA ON THE LEAN

These bird houses are from HomeSense and I loved their colours. I'd planned to put them in a row on a fence but when I looked at the hanging part I realised it was in the middle of the roof, and that didn't really fit in with my plans. And so, the dormant cherry tree seemed the perfect place to host them - it's unbelievable how different our cherry trees are, isn't it?

A BIRDHOUSE ESTATE?

A BIRDHOUSE ESTATE?

 
A HIGH-RISE INSECT HOUSE

A HIGH-RISE INSECT HOUSE

I carried this insect house around Grand Designs earlier this year, and finally it has been installed amongst the wild strawberries, which have come through the fence from yet another neighbour.  

AND AFTER THE PARTY SOME TIME TO RELAX AND ENJOY

It's been a month where we've enjoyed our garden, and we've had the weather to do so - for most of the time. I've noticed a trend though which you might spot in the photo below. 

AN INFLUX OF PINK IN OUR GARDEN TOO

Yes, it seems there's a steady influx of pink in our garden, and highlighted by the two flowering plants that have popped by too. Ah well, I guess there's worse things!