Everything is fresh and lush after the recent rain. It was much needed as everything was so dry and the water pressure in our well had dropped. The weather is still summery but without the very high temperatures we had at the end of May. We Irish are not genetically adapted to very hot weather.
The Elder tree is just coming into flower here. Soon it will be time for cordial and wine making. Gooseberries and Elderflowers make a delicious jam combination.
The fields are flush with grass for the animals. Does’nt Daphne look cute amongst the Buttercups?
The Broom is giving a great colour show right now…it’s bright yellow so eye catching. In the past Broom was used in the treatment of dropsy…it is not used nowadays as the plant is considered too toxic. It is poisonous to animals but they don’t touch it anyway. It always amazes me how animals know instinctively what plants to avoid. Broom grows in abundance by the river…I lifted this as a small seedling from the river bank 2 years ago and it has grown rapidly to this 5ft high monster. Considered a weed by many…I love it!
The perennial Geraniums are starting to flower…they will give weeks of colour in the borders…especially if they are dead-headed regularly.
Purple is one of my fave colours so I really appreciate these Alliums flowering at the moment. I buy a few more of these bulbs each year.
Foxglove is starting to reveal it’s gorgeous blooms…another weed…to some people… but one again that we allow to self-seed.
Love this Iris…
In the vegetable beds these Cabbages have put on a spurt of growth after the rain and warmth. Not long to wait until we will be harvesting these.
Click on pics to enlarge.
arignagardener 
wonderful wonderful!! Just my kind of place to visit 🙂
*anna
Everything is so, so green! Does summer bring the bugs as well or is it cool enough this summer to keep them at bay?
Have’nt had a problem so far. Because our garden is organic with lots of herbs and wild plants we find we don’t get so many bugs. Slugs are the biggest problem but it had been very dry which means they can’t travel over the soil. Hopefully the frog squad will keep them at bay now that the weather is wet again.
Not sure if my first comment came through. Beautiful place you live in. Looks so dreamy. Thanks for stopping by my blog today!
So beautiful! All of your photos look dreamy. Thanks for stopping by my blog today!
Bridget, I’m with you on the broom! In New Zealand it has long been viewed as a farm menace – imported (maybe by some of your early relatives) for hedging, it liked it there too much, and (with gorse) tried to take over. But in full gold it’s gorgeous – and is now rehabilitated somewhat as a nursery plant to enable regeneration of native bush which comes up from under its shelter. I’ve taken a bath perfumed with broom flowers. Smelt great, looked fabulous, but was a bit messy to get out of and clean up after!
BTW, I’ve just started a still-very-new blog called healthyhedonism.wordpress.com, which (reading yours) you might like. I’m hopeful that people might contribute their own thoughts to that one.
Hi Janet, had a look at both your sites. Well done on your book publication. It looks full of valuable info. I have subscribed to your other blog and will put it in my links. Good stuff!
Great growth in your garden,Bridget. Love Daphne,she is so lucky ! Your cabbages are flawless too 🙂
Hi Bridget! what a calming view around your place, it always amazes me! That yellow broom is very nice, especially from a distant point of view, where you placed it. I always wonder about animals knowing instinctively botanics too… My dogs eats my garden grasses to purge…
Your pictures and words have beautifully captured your climate and locale. I can practically smell the freshness and coolness. Also, I really enjoyed your Bulgaria trip.
Your cabbage leaves look so nice, without any chew-mark or holes. The slugs in your garden don’t attack them?
It has been very dry recently so not too many slugs about. The recent rain has brought them out again though.
Wow, the rains really did their job, didn’t they? Looks wondrous.
Michael
Amazing isn’t it, how we classify “weeds”? LOL I let a lot grow here too, that my neighbor’s probably scratch their heads at.
Lovely pictures Bridget. It’s interesting what you say about animals knowing instinctively what to avoid as I have just started studying zoopharmacognasy…which is facilitating animals to self select treatment. They do seem to know what they need and what they don’t so instinctively. Wishing you and your animals many happy summer days. x
I like the vivid coloured alliums and cabbage plants.
I love all your flowers; that field of buttercups with Daphne in it is gorgeous. Is she eating them?
No, animals don’t eat the buttercups. There’s lots of grass in between them though.
wonderful to see everything so green. We have had tons of rain, at least it feels like tons, so green is predominant right now. Things are just beginning to bloom, columbines and lilacs, iris and wild geraniums. Love the colours of summer.
Beautiful, Bridget!
It’s lovely to see some colour in the gardens sin’t it. We have broom on the preimeter of the allotments and I love it – certainly not a weed in my book 🙂
Both my hubby and I have Celtic blood and therefore have inherited an inability to cope with too much heat. Unfortunately, although no longer particularly hot here, it is very humid and not pleasant. I wish the air would clear. The photo of Daphne in the field is just gorgeous and those cabbages look tasty already.
Daphne looks adorable!
Lovely pictures!!! Oh I miss all that green and Daphne is one lucky donkey!!! I’m not sure about the Irish not being genetically adapted to very hot weather though! Its in the 40’s here and I am getting used to it very quickly! I never thought I would! But you’d be surprised how the body adapts itself to new situations. Only problem is it makes you feel the winter cold SO MUCH MORE! And they don’t have house fires here, they build a fire outdoors and all the family sit around it! When we build our Egyptian house I am building a fireplace and growing the trees for firewood. Not enough trees here to burn otherwise!!!
I love the foxgloves. My grandmother used to have loads in her terraced garden. I always feel they are rather magical somehow!
Beautiful pictures and Daphne would look cute anywhere! Aww!!! I want to spend a day with her! 🙂
Your geraniums look the same as the wild ones we have here. They have a beautiful pale purple flower but the smell literally makes you gag. Nature’s little joke I expect!
Jane x
I’m glad ours are without the gagging smell!