Mallows are doing well this year. My mom has several blooming beautifully.
The mallow is quite easy to grow from seed and plants tend to grow several decades if they like the planting spot.
We only have the pink form of the flower but I think I will buy the white variety next year.
Topmix Red seems to be a early bloomer which is perfect for our short summers.
The variety is quite short but blooms are beautiful.
The shade of red is also darker than I expected.
After a cool start of July we are finally going to have a heatwave up here in the north. Luckily I have a week of from the office and able t enjoy it in the summer cottage.
The corn marigolds (Glepionis segetum) are at their best and I really like the yellow cloud they have formed.
Maybe next year I will plant them to a bigger area to allow them to give even better show.
The perfect time to harvest dill. No yellow leafs yet.
I tried a new variety called Mammoth this year and it seems to be doing quite well. Dill is a bit un predictable to grow but have managed to do well several years in a row now.
I usually collect the harvest at this time of the year and freeze it to be used during the winter.
Rhododendrons are blooming well and looking beautiful.
We are enjoying the beautiful weather and relaxing. Days are long and full of light.
Midsummer is here and for the first time in a decade it is actually warm. Usually we somehow always manage to get poor weather for midsummer.
It has been dry up here in the north. We have not gotten a good rain for a month now.
Sitting in a summer cottage and watching a thunderstorm going past but not close enough for any rain.
You can see the dryness from the plants. Lack of water makes them smaller and better suitable for the dry weather.
The May Queens are doing well though. They are perfectly suited for long dry periods and seem to enjoy the weather.
I was a bit disappointed in the spring because there were not that many lily bulbs for sale.
Then I found a way around the problem and started to buy ready planted pots from the stores.
I let them bloom in the balcony first and then take the pots to the summer cottage for planting. Hopefully I will have them blooming for many years.
Dianthuses are doing well this year and there are so many colors available in the stores. Nearly bought few more this morning but resisted the temptation.
Flowers are enjoying the heatwave that has been giving us over 30 degrees Celsius temperatures past few days. I have also managed to relax in the near by park sunbathing.
At this time of the year our nights are less than five hours long and it does not really get dark at all. Up here in the north we know that winter is never that far away and desperately try to enjoy the limited number of summer days we are going to get.
Gardening in the North 