Other things precluded spending time in the garden today, but on returning from an afternoon visiting an elderly friend in hospital I thought I would make the effort and actually SIT in the garden with a cup of tea – but it didn’t last long! There were just too many Buts – another rose to deadhead, benches too scratchy and needing to be sanded and repainted, but in particular it was just too Hot! A few more rose heads were snapped off, a couple of photos taken and I came inside – tomorrow, I believe, is meant to be hotter…..
The conical basket above is one of four on the walls at the back of the bold borders and are already one of this year’s success stories, all the more commendable because they are largely recycled from last year. The nasturtiums were sown this year and were flowering 
within about six weeks, the downside being that they were meant to be this soft butter yellow colour as shown on the packet front, but the details on the back I belatedly found describes them as ‘gold, orange, yellow and red’ which they indeed are – never mind! They were started inside and placed with fresh soil in the baskets with last year’s bidens (grown from seed and survived the winter in situ) and trailing begonias overwintered in the greenhouse. The speedy regrowth of the bidens is astonishing, all the more so as it is essentially an annual, or is just treated as one? There is a red flower of Rosa ‘Pardirektor Riggers’ in view against the wall, and the giant plant on the left is another life’s wonders – Inula magnifica, also grown from seed last year and rapidly building up to showing off its yellow daisy like flowers. All from one tiny seed…
A cooler ramble earlier in the day had also brought wonder, but not on the same scale as the inula – the first raspberries! Having caught sight of a hint of pink on a loganberry (just one) yesterday, I pushed past the prickly new stems to reach the raspberries behind to see how they were doing – and found a small handful ripe and ready to pick, with lots more to come. The small handful (mostly ‘Autumn Treasure’) was duly picked this morning and escaped my breakfast, taken instead to our elderly friend. These autumn fruiting raspberries are being double cropped, so after this early fruiting this old fruited wood will be cut back and the new shoots allowed to crop later in the year. Lots of raspberries – yum yum! – perhaps they will make up for the lack of blackcurrants and gooseberries….
Rambling in the Garden 
How wonderful to have autumn raspberries already, I left some of my canes this year, we have plenty of fruit coming but none are anywhere near pink yet! I agree, the weather is just so hot at the moment, I have to do any gardening early in the morning now.
These first raspberries are a good 3 weeks earlier than last year, which was their first full season with me. Certainly looks promising for later, and that is just the earlier crop! Hope you have a good crop too, Pauline.No chance of morning gardening today, but seems like a good idea for tomorrow – I’ll be out there!
I’ve heard if you double crop the autumn raspberries they crop the same quantity but over the two periods so I’ll be very interested to hear about yours. You should try to sit and enjoy your garden sometimes, not just work in it! Enjoy your hot weather it is unlikely to last long!
Yes, Christina, Which? Gardening did a report a couple of years back and every variety they tested gave a larger crop overall, some considerably so. I have only had mine about two years, so last year was the first full season of double cropping and I was picking raspberries from the beginning of July to the end of November – well worth it! I did try to sit today, Honest! Actually, I am short of a good book at the moment, something to be engrossed in – that would help me sit 🙂
I never think of hot weather in connection with Britain – does it happen often? I envy you your raspberries. My Razzleberry plant came back in early spring, raising my hopes after I thought it had perished in last year’s summer heat, but it fried again during our unexpectedly early May heatwaves.
And I had to smile at your comment, Kris, as I suppose ‘hot’ depends on what you are used to. I tend to think of anything above 70º (21ºc) as ‘hot’ and today it was up to at least 77º (25ºc) but that’s just me – and that won’t be hot by your standards!! I had to google ‘razzleberry’ and wikipedia suggests it is a pie made from raspberries and blackberries – what would you say your razzleberry was? Sorry it got frazzled, anyway 😦
Not as hot as that down here, but I decided to work in the greenhouse this afternoon. Mistake! I am afraid I am like you, I will sit down for a few minutes, my mind will drift to something that needs doing, the guilt sets in.. and that’s it.
Your nasturtiums are rather fun!
Glad it’s not just me, Jessica! 🙂
Hi Cathy, I didn’t know that about the autumn raspberries, what great news!
I was rather embarrassed that I seemed to have forgotten to cut mine down, and now I can pretend it was the plan all along 😉
Well of course it was 😉 Definitely worth doing, anyway – well, foolish not to really!
Mmmm, raspberries! How lovely you could resist them and take them to your friend. Hope it cools down for you – we have been suffering this week with temperatures in the 30s, but this morning is cooler and there’s a nice breeze. Énjoy the weekend, and take just a few moments to sit and relax in your garden. (Although I’m just the same! 😉 )
I knew there would be plenty more raspberries in due course – but I do look forward to the first picking on my breakfast! Enjoy your w/e too.
We had our first raspberries for breakfast today, they are so early this year. I grow a yellow one too which is really prolific and makes a nice contrast in the bowl.
Never mind scratchy benches, my dear, what you need on a day like today is a hammock. I’ m going to get into mine right now. At least I will as soon as I have dead headed my roses and done just a few other pressing jobs.
Hmm, I am afraid hammocks don’t appeal Chloris – seasickness and falling out (of the hammock, not with the Golfer) come to mind. Do the yellow raspberries taste the same as red raspberries? They sound more tempting than the hammock 😉
The raspberries taste the same as the red really but they look nice mixed with the red in a bowl. In fact I was so pleased with them that I am using them as my header at the moment.
But you don’ t fall out and you don’ t get sea sick because you don’ t wobble. It is heaven, really. If you ever visit my garden in summer I’ m going to pop you into my hammock and you won’ t want to get out. You’ ll have to eat your words.
And can I eat yellow raspberries as well? Suffolk here I come… 🙂
Of course, you can lie in the hammock and eat yellow raspberries.
I am eating raspberries as well Cathy thanks to your tip about double cropping!!
I am glad you decided to give it a go, Julie 🙂
Your nasturtiums look lovely, but annoying if you had expected something else! I have found they are rather unpredictable plants. They are supposed to be really easy to grow, so much so that they are often sold as children’s seeds, but for a few years I planted some for my in-laws and they refused to flower! I assumed the first time it was because the soil was too rich, so the next time I used poorer soil and still no flowers. Very strange. Also I used to have some that seeded themselves every year and were wonderful up a very dry house wall. Now I can’t get them to do much there at all, but they will grow up another house wall. What is it with nasturtiums???
Strange isn’t it? I grew some last year which were OKish and I let them drop their seeds bud I don’t think there were any self-seeders. I must look at the packets more carefully next year if I want single colours…
Hasn’t it been glorious? Perfect weather for pottering – nothing too strenuous and stopping for a break every so often! Interested in your double cropping of autumn rasps. Didn’t know you could do that. Must remember that. We have a double row of summer rasps, just starting now – the first pickings have been duly lapped up!
Do check out the double cropping as it has everything to recommend it – particularly an increased overall crop
Normally thorns deter you but not when it comes to raspberries. Raspberries are worth the long sleeved shirt in the heat or the scratches. Delicious. 🙂
Not as thorny as our loganberries though!