Things are making a move now......over these last weeks the seed (mostly) has sprouted and tentative growth begun.  Most tomato plants have settled in, strengthened their stems (hopefully they and the cucumber seedlings are over the fragile stage when they're likely to succumb to pests) and although the beans are sending their tendrils spiralling up wigwam and tunnel poles, I don't yet feel we're entirely out of the woods - a certain amount of chomping activity is apparent each morning, despite my best efforts with twigs, sticks, humming wire and net!  But I'm hopeful they're on their way.  

 A little more seed sowing is required to compensate for that which hasn't come up, but on the whole, I think we've got the majority of the summer veg away.....(though I hardly dare say it for fear of jinxing it all!). It's still a 'fingers-crossed', tentative moment....

I imagine I'll eventually tire of getting them out each day, but right now the vision of oriental parasols shading my hydrangeas from that scorching sun is bringing enormous delight (and so worth the 5 minutes of fiddling about morning and night!).

Look who unfurled her exquisite petals this morning.....in anticipation of the heat ahead no doubt.  What a treat, almost a whole year in the making.....

Spikes of my favourite lavender,  L. angustifolia reaching for the sun, swaying in the breeze, just as they should at this time of year....

The intensely fragrant canopy of Burmese honeysuckle who's mound of golden flowers causes the laundry awning to almost groan under its weight is a short-lived vision, anticipated with such excitement each year. Its heady scent is wafting all around the house and infusing the air with pure delight....

Today was the day....not a moment too soon, or too late: lantern-like seed capsules atop tall stalks have created such an enchanting vision these last weeks in the Borders, since their pink petals scattered on the breeze.

But t'was time to collect these exquisite pods before they spilled rivulets of seed to the ground.  Their detail, form, texture and colour variation from turquoise through purple to paper brown never cease to beguile from year to year..... 

The cool of a glorious early evening brought the opportunity to pick and weigh rhubarb, collect elderflowers and begin the lengthy, magical process of turning the two into jam....

How I wish you were here today.....to plunge your nose into the deeply floral, honey perfume of Buddleija Black Knight's first flush of the season's blooms.  Totally intoxicating. Lucky visitors who are coming today - better get my skates on & stop floating on scent!

The last week has disappeared in a flurry of activity....I really meant to post this image of our structure-building efforts this time last week, but with preparation for Saturday's Summer Kitchen Gardening day, I got a bit distracted. Then the scene was no longer wet and rainy, but today I feel justified in posting the image as the newly built structures are covered in droplets of rain once again! 

This week however, there are emerging bean and cucumber seedlings at their feet, which is terribly exciting (you'd think it was the first time I'd done this, wouldn't you??!!).  My excitement at emerging seed never ceases - season to season, year to year, as fragile stems unfurl, the case of the seed still attached like a little hat on top.  Oh but the worry....I've been out there with sawdust to surround each one, in fear of something 'getting them' in the night! Or day - at this early stage, anything can happen...

I know I've mentioned it before, but really I am as enamoured of structures in the garden as I am of plants.  I enjoy the aesthetic they create and that they're there for a reason - to support our climbing beans, cucumbers, tomatoes and sweet potatoes; as well as the sturdy one I've built with Alex this year (best one yet), to support willow panels for shade over our leafy green bed once this overcast weather fades and the summer sun is fierce.

We harvested the bamboo rods once again from our dear friends over the way, spending time in their paddock cutting, trimming and tying the rods together for the trip home in the ute, where they were sorted, grouped and eventually, over a period of days, erected and tied together.  As I write, I'm still intermittently planting the beds as time permits and hope to have most of the 'rotation' beds completed this weekend. 

Also last week, in a panic with the rain (as really garlic oughtn't even to be watered during the final weeks before harvest) I pulled the entire crop on the spur of the moment, for fear it might rot in the ground. The colour is exquisite, and including the ten or so I pulled green, we'll have had a crop of around 150 heads, which I'm delighted with.  Although still 'wet', I'm thoroughly enjoying the pungent new cloves direct from the drying rack and should be able to bundle them up to store in a couple of weeks, once their papery shells have dried.  

Back in the garden, Baptisia australis has joined the throng of deep pink Bourbon Madame Isaac Perreire roses and white valerian around the ponytail tree, pushing out the aquilegias after their early spring froth.

I so love the intense blue of the false-indigo's, pea or lupin-like flowers....especially juxtaposed against the deep green of the pencil pine behind.

The Epiphyllum that Pacita Moore kindly gave me a slip of from her garden a few years ago is thriving now, against the north-facing stone wall of the old house and has produced a phenomenal number of spectacular red-tipped, white blooms from exquisite buds on its peculiar foliage these last couple of weeks.

And the Arc is slowly building to its peak of contrasting textures and foliage....the sweetly scented philadelphus has now been joined by the delicate, white crepe white flowers of Romneya coulteri, the odd Greek Orange Poppy still makes a cheery appearance and it won't be long now 'til the Salvia azurea buds stand upright and open their pretty blue petals.