What's in the garden today?

The Philadelphus is late flowering this year. Normallly I expect it to flower in mid-May, but this year it has been about 3 weeks later than usual.

Last year I cut the bush back very hard, and it grew lots of new branches, which are now covered in blossoms.

Near the micro-pond I have three or four Hardy Geraniums. This delicate pale one is flowering at present, in amongst the unruly seed-heads of the Red-veined Sorrel.

This cheeky Purple Sage has decided to spoil the symmetry of the big fern growing next door:

The very first Sweet Pea flower is just showing some colour. My Sweet Peas have grown very slowly, but in the last couple of weeks they have responded well to the higher temperatures. If I grow them again I think I will sow them much later. There is practically no sign of the first ones I sowed; they almost all died, I think because the weather wasn’t right for them, whereas the second batch have done a lot better.

After their shaky start, the Runner Beans are looking fine now, and the first flowers are beginning to appear.

The Broad Beans are just about ready for harvesting. The yield will probably be OK but not outstanding. I’m not sure whether the “Stereo” pods will get any bigger than they already are – which is small. What I have read about them seems to indicate that the pods will not go above say four or five inches long, and will contain maybe 5 beans.

As they usually do, the Blackfly are wading into the tips of the bean plants with gusto:

I’m not particularly fussed about this, because it doesn’t affect the plants much at this stage of their developmment, and we don’t eat the leaves so the Blackfly are welcome to them.

Some of my “Purple-top Milan” Turnips are nearly ready too. The biggest ones are about the size of a golf ball now.

Finally for today, I leave you with a photo of this year’s first bloom on my “Sunset Boulevard” Rose: