Not a lot to show you this week that you have not seen already, unless this is your first visit, in which case I urge you to look at some of the earlier walks. We have finally had some rain: a good quantity on Thursday night and again last night. In fact, I see that it is raining quite hard as I write (at 09:51, Sunday). With luck my two rain water butts will be filling.

The first image this week is of my only Delphinium. I really need to acquire some more. This one is performing better this year than last – perhaps it likes the dry conditions!

Next a look at a clump of Shasta Daisies (Leucanthemum). These are a relatively short stemmed variety but I also have very tall ones. One of my foolish mistakes: I already possessed a couple of examples when I purchased seeds. The seeds germinated in huge numbers, producing many more plants than I needed. Moreover, they bulk out very quickly so they can be propagated by lifting and dividing annually. And seedlings pop up everywhere I mulch with garden compost. A few years ago I gave several roots to the cancer support centre where I was a volunteer gardener. Two years ago I gave some to the community garden here in the retirement village. I still have too many. The tall ones need support else they flop over, smothering nearby plants. Not my favourite, to be honest!

Here are a couple of antirhynums (snap dragons). These should not still be here! Planted, with others, two summers ago, they are still going strong.

Nearby is one of the prettiest roses in my modest collection

I like to keep the pond margins a bit wild. In this image you will see yellow rattle in the foreground, a water lilly and various grasses. We don’t get much in the way of acquatic wildlife but the birds love to come for a drink and a bath, everything from sparrows to rooks and pigeons – even the occasional magpie!

We will end this week with a look at my latest project, still in progress: a raised vegetable bed. This is not quite the final location – I aim to position it so that there is space for a second one. For now I intend to grow some late summer salad plants, followed by autumn sown cabbage which we will harvest next spring. If it goes well I’ll construct the second bed then. My biggest worry is that I have chosen boards that are not sturdy enough. It took only a couple of hours to assemble yesterday afternoon. Today I shall fill it with soil, compost and manure, working between the showers.