Weather conditions have been challenging for the garden. After a cold and quite wet winter, Spring was dry and hot turning some of the ground like concrete and shortening the flowering season for the peonies. There have been losses in the garden and wind damage. A very large piece of a huge multi-stemmed willow in the middle of the garden snapped in the wind in early July. This effectively lost the centre of the plant. Once it was removed I could see adjacent stems were dangerously weakened and had to go too. The end result was not as bad as I expected and there is much more space and light for surrounding plants. The willow has huge roots and is planted on top of a spring that makes that part of the garden extremely wet so aside from its decorative function it makes quite a contribution to the garden.

I was very pleased in the Spring to see how well the pink Camassia are establishing themselves and also how well the Primula sieboldii flowered. My new shade garden is giving me a lot of pleasure. And I gained an enthusiasm for Hamamelis which led to me buying several new varieties. They are slow to grow but lovely to see in flower in the Spring.