Generously beJewelled July

Including papery poppies, and cheery, chubby cherries

We have many different types of poppy around the neighbourhood but I think my favourite is still the traditional bright red with black centre one with its papery petals and look of fragility.

The lavender banks are in full fragrant swing now, and clematis has come into its own. The one above is a much darker colour than the usual array.

Acanthus mollis, commonly known as bear’s breeches.

Of course, it is … (?)

Ooh — obviously another veteran car show must be going on in Bristol somewhere.

Loads of hydrangeas are flowering everywhere.

Also, wherever there isn’t a gardener 24/7, brambles are flowering and promising a bumper crop of blackberries to come. This one, above right, is growing up the fence around the little park.

This was a very fine ‘Pinus peuce’ (I think) in a pot outside the chiropractor’s office. I probably won’t be visiting it again. I can’t understand why places like this can’t have air purification systems in them. They’re not expensive and have been proven to be very effective in warding off airborne infections.

Signs of bountiful harvest are everywhere. Unfortunately, the cherry tree — above left — had been stripped bare by pigeons the next time PupperJack and I walked that way.

The plums — above right — are just as plentiful, though, so it would seem pigeons don’t like them.

This socking great yucca — above left — grows like mad in someone’s garden on the main road — luckily, the person in that house regularly trims the leaves, or everyone going by and brushing past them would have their arms in ribbons — the leaves are lethally sharp!

Crocosmias add their incredible redness to the general neighbourhood scenery at this time and are often found growing in odd spots and weird little bits of rubbly ground.

In my own garden, the little rose someone brought as a gift is doing very well — they so often look promising, but then the buds don’t open properly.

And my mid-summer honeysuckle has started opening and perfuming the air.

Meanwhile, orchids quietly get on with their thing in the bay window while the rest of the world, entirely unaware, gets on with its shenanigans.

PupperJack is looking wise again. He’s been doing that a lot this year.

He’s been practising. One day, I’ll catch him peering at himself in the mirror.

Finally! The painting above, which has been on my drawing board for weeks, is finished! It’s a gathering of the gang to discuss their new mission of making sure all doggos have bones and kibble.

World Nature Conservation Day is on July 28th. “Saving plants and animals that face the threat of extinction is one of the primary goals of World Nature Conservation Day.”

“After a century of decline, overall wild tiger numbers are starting to tick upward. Based on the best available information, tiger populations are stable or increasing in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Russia and China. An estimated 3,900 tigers remain in the wild, but much more work is needed to protect this species if we are to secure its future in the wild. In some areas, including much of Southeast Asia, tigers are still in crisis and declining in number.”

Dennett started the Photo-a-Day Challenge to help combat the pandemic blues.

Since then many others kindly share their week with us:

Erika Burkhalter, Anne Bonfert, Tracy Aston, Lisa Bolin, Juan O. Aguilera, David Wade Chambers, June Nguyen, Mia Verita, LensAfield, Barbara Radisavljevic, Diana Lotti, Barb Dalton, Kim Zuch, K. Barrett, Penny Grubb, Ellie Jacobson, Shruthi Sundaram, Jillian Amatt — Artistic Voyages, Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles

(If your name should, or should not, be on this list, please let me know.)

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