Margaret's Garden Journal for August 2008

My new hamock (£5 from Liddl's) is up at last, slung between an aspen and a hawthorn in my mini snowdrop wood. We had five minutes of hot sunshine one day last week and it was absolute bliss to lie back in deep shade gazing at dappled sky.

Despite all this summer's rain interspersed with vicious winds and occasional scorching heat-wave I am really pleased with the garden this year. It has been a relief to see the vegetables growing well after the disaster that was last year.

There is a mystery though. I planted two rows of beans and treated them in the same way. The result reminds me of Joseph's prophetic dream while he was in prison. One row is flourishing with dark green leaves and plenty of set beans gtoeing longer faast. The other row is spindly with leaves dying from the bottom up, with the few beans that have hanging on but not growing. I suspect the bad lot of beans must have been damaged by the wind or else are being attacked at the roots.

The fruit, apart from the plums have done as well or even better than last year. I have never seen a plant fruit so profusely as the blackberry and the berries are large and juicy. The autumn flush of raspberries promised to be good as well.

The dalias are as rewarding as ever. I have one in particular that my son-in-law gave me that I like very much- a tall double crimson with flowers held on tall stems above the foliage.