callmemadam | Better than the office

Whenever I step outside at the moment, to hang out washing, throw something away, greet the postman, I see a weed that needs pulling up, a new flower out and off I go prowling round the garden instead of getting straight back in to do some work. This morning I took the camera, not to very good effect but it is a useful record for me.

Just a few of the masses of Sweet Williams out. Plenty for the house and still plenty over.

Lysimachia atropurpurea, a notorious plant. Everyone who sees it at a show wants it immediately, then finds that the nurseryman has already sold out. If they do get hold of a plant, it dies. I've grown this from seed and grown it on hard before planting. Whee! The colour goes very well with the rose. It's worth clicking on this one to get the bigger image.

There are still plenty of geraniums out and to come and this is one of my favourites

Geranium robustum, a strange name for such a delicate-looking plant. The foliage and the flowers both have a wonderful silvery sheen. It is growing in very poor soil in a spot where it's a case of 'live or don't, I can't help you'. I suspect that it keeps itself going by self seeding. These flowers are in a sort of suspended mass, about three feet across, which appears to be floating.

Too many campanulas. Oh dear, Campanula persicifolia gets everywhere and surprisingly, the white form seems more vigorous than the blue. Every year I mean to weed some out but by the time I get round to it I've forgotten which are the special double forms and so don't risk it. With the foxgloves still going and the Sisyrinchium (another keen self seeder), there's no lack of verticals.

I just love astrantias: it's worth cutting a flower just to sit and gaze for a while at its complexity and daintiness. These are all forms of Astrantia major, which unfortunately doesn't do that well for me, unlike Astrantia maxima, which go crazy.