Despite the drought, the garden looks great, especially when Mr. B. cuts the lawn. My gardening activities have been temporarily curtailed by acute low back pain (I could barely stand up after bending to pick a flower), but I am now into week 3 and on the mend. Alpines such as Ramonda myconi and many saxifrages are flowering in the alpine troughs and the gravel bed is full of colour.
The recent rain is very welcome, but the weeds are making a come back. I planted out my white cosmos seedlings (one can do a lot while crawling) just before it rained and I hope they get away before the slugs find them.The Chiltern Seeds catalogue tempted me to purchase a number of nicotianas (alata ‘Lime Green’, langsdorfii ‘Lemon Tree’, glutinosa and sylvestris ‘Only the Lady’). Now the seedlings need to be potted up and then I will put some plants in the pots that had tulips and tall varieties in the borders. Our yellow rattle (also know as hay rattle) has been a real success in the ha-ha and is flowering. I am hopeful that my mini-meadow will take off now the grass has been weakened by the rattle. I will plant the Chiltern Seeds ‘Cornfield mixture’ in the autumn.
Roses are beginning to open. Rosa Nevada (a modern shrub rose) is covered in frothy creamy-white scented blossom. Agnes, a yellow rugosa rose, is also in full bloom. The china rose, Rosa mutabilis, (not scented) is also in flower. Ramblers up the apple trees are covered in buds and should be magnificent in June.
So far the slugs have not attacked the hostas, probably because it has been so dry, so the foliage of the plants in the damp bed provides a wonderful mix of shape and colour set off by plants such as white bachelor’s buttons, Ranunculus aconitifolius ‘Flore Pleno’ and masterwort, Astrantia major subsp. involucrata ‘Shaggy’ both of which look lovely at this time of year.
Upper Green Garden 
What a lush garden, I never have any luck with Ranunculus. I bet all the roses make it smell great.
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