After a month or so of no rain and unseasonably hot temperatures it finally rained yesterday refreshing a very dry and dusty garden. This morning I took the time to wander around capturing what is left of our summer garden. It’s amazing how rarely I actually pay attention to the detail in the garden, very much taking it for granted. Looking at it as a whole it looks blowsy, a little out of control and well on the way to being finished for the year. But then looking at it closely I found plenty of life, little splashes of colour and interesting shapes.
We have cut back almost all the lavender on our 100+ bushes but a few sprigs cling to life. I’m always a little sad when it’s time to do this as it means summer’s coming to an end. It also means no more gorgeously perfumed evenings when the lavender fills the air, though the actual process of cutting it releases the oil and the smell is heavenly. The trimmed bushes have their own beauty and look tidy but I do so love it when they are in bloom.
There is still a fair amount of oleander in flower and a few sprigs of ceanothus out for a second time this year. First time round in April, they were much darker in colour and the bush was groaning in flowers. Now they are pale and sparse, but pretty none the less. I imagine this must be to do with the amount of water they’ve been getting but not being a technical gardener this is just a guess. To see what the ceanothus looked like in April, click here.
Thanks to the lovely Mediterranean climate we have agaves, aloe vera, grasses and a palm tree which create some striking architectural shapes. We also grow plenty of succulents, some of which produce crazy triffid-like flowers.
The dry stone wall which holds up our lavender bank always looks lovely in the morning light. It seems to glow with warmth and makes a lovely backdrop for the few late summer flowers growing by it. Aren’t the shadows created by the witches fingers great?
Many of the flowers have finished leaving interesting seed pods, this is particularly so with some of the crazy weeds we get. The plant with pink and green berries is one such example. If anyone can identify it I’d be very happy. It’s an annual self-seeded plant which grows to about 2-2.5 metres high and birds love the fruit. Unfortunately it makes very dark staining poo which they then proceed to release on the tiles of the pool, creating nasty stains!
One plant which finally seems to have established itself this year is our lovely little bougainvillaea. It’s still only small but we have visions of it climbing over the pool railings and tumbling down in tropical splendour. Let’s hope it survives another winter!
In contrast to the delicate bougainvillaea one plant that thrives in the garden at Lou Messugo is rosemary. The bushes surrounding the door to the gîte have to be cut back severely on a regular basis or they’d take over. There’s certainly no shortage of herbs for our guests to use!
I hope you’ve enjoyed your tour of our September garden. As you can see there are no signs of autumn here yet, we still have a few weeks of summer left. What’s happening in your garden right now?
You may enjoy these other posts about the garden at Lou Messugo:
Summer garden: flowers, weeds and bees
Oleander – the flower with power
Hi Victoria, how lovely to hear from you and discover you are reading my blog. This year’s September garden is very different to last year’s and I hope you’re not disappointed when you get here as we lost plenty of plants this summer. We had the hottest and driest summer on record and the garden has suffered. However, there are still some plants flowering and not everything is dead! I look forward to meeting you and Andrew very soon, and thanks again for reading/commenting.
Hi Phoebe,
After seeing your garden photographs, I am very much looking forward to seeing your lovely garden iwhen we arrive at Lou Messugo soon. There is no garden where we are currently staying; an old stone apartment house near Uzes. It has been a wonderful experience, but I am a gardener and I have missed having access to a garden while staying here. Your Blog is also useful to us to help compile a list of things to do and see while we are in the area.
Cheers,
Victoria and Andrew Dixon
Wow – so very pretty – my garden is weeds or boring trees
20 years here 😉
I mean nearly 19 years ago! I should know how long we’ve been married!!!
The wire sculpture is one of a pair (the other is a man), actually clothes hangers, made for us as wedding presents nearly 18 years ago in Hanoi! 😀
Yay indeed! While I know many people love autumn, I’m very much a summer girl and like to cling on to it as long as possible!
Thanks Doris! 🙂
Lovely pictures as Provence gently slips towards Autumn. There are some familiar plants there and some that I would never see up here in Normandy! I love your simple wire sculpture too although she might get a bit chilly come winter with us!
The effect of 100 lavender bushes is lovely and the smell is delicious but they are hell to cut back! Worth it though of course! We love our wall too. 🙂
See what I said to Catherine about that Richard!
Thanks Catherine. The caterpillar was pure chance, I actually only saw it after I took the photo! I think the witches fingers are probably pig face, though I thought pig face was smaller. Same family that’s for sure.
Summer lasts a lot longer here in the south.
Yes they are very unusual.
I love conkers. I’ve tried to explain how to play with them to my French boys but they just think I’m crazy!
Pilar, my gardener is my hubby JF!!! He is really good! 🙂
lavender and Provence go hand in hand, we just [i]had[i] to plant lots of it. It’s amazing how the ground is so dry that the water disappears instantly.
Ha ha Hannah! It certainly is a lot of work and I have to admit my husband does most of it!
100 lavender bushes? You lucky thing (not when it comes to trimming it back of course!), that must smell amazing! You have such a pretty garden, I’d love a dry stone wall. I love seeing the rain drops on plants after a shower, like pearls for plants!
Thanks for joining in again lovely x
Those are some of your best photographs yet. I particularly like the one of the grub encroaching on an osteospermum flower.
You really have excelled yourself this time Phoebe. Fantastic photos. Loved the caterpillar. The thing you call witches fingers is what we called “pig face”…..I think
What an amazing selection of plants and flowers. I’m amazed you have no signs of autumn yet.
I love the pink edge leaves, so pretty x
Beautiful photos – we have plenty of Autumnal signs here, falling leaves and even conkers since August!
your gardener is really good!
Yay no sign of Autumn!!! We have one of the bottle brush plants but it is now just leaves. Enjoy the colour x #HDYGG
wow! simply stunning! so much beauty!
I bet your garden soaked up every last bit of rain after not having any for so long! It’s looking beautiful and I can’t believe how much lavender you have 🙂 Lucky you!
Wow, absolutely stunning! If you fancy popping over to the UK and sorting my garden out I’d happily swap for a week or two!xx