Thank you for such wonderful photos and great commentary.

Dear Tami, I am so glad you enjoyed it. I thought you may miss it. There were some exciting things in it if you like carnivorous plants etc. Glad to hear from you and I trust you are well?
Did you like the orchids? Most people do, I know.

Neil.

Neil, I am not into orchids. They are beautiful but I have never had a yearning to plant them. I really enjoyed the Dahlias, Aliums, hollyhocks and Mandevillas. Of course the lavenders in the pictures are lovely. I can almost smell them from here. I have a Sarracenia 'Doodlebug' plant that looks very much like the one pictured. I await the Part 3.

Dear Tami, I have a Sarracenia flava 'Maxima" that grows well here and keeps the wasps down.
Hollyhocks I love, everyone grows Alium, and of course lavender. Dahila's are a problem hare as they get invaded with ear wigs, which is a pain!
We also grow a lot of Canterbury bells, and bluebells as well.
Regards.
Neil.

Neil, it is a shame about the ear wigs devouring your dahlias. I have not had any pests on mine this year.

Dear Tami, it has been a very strange year for a lot of pests and plant happenings! For instance although it has not stopped raining for the last two weeks now, but we did get an hour break in the weather which gave me time for a look around! There are a lot of hollyhocks out next to a Magnolia in full bloom and two daffodils! How strange is that, everything apart from the hollyhocks are completely out of season! To make natters even worse, the new neighbour we have does not look after her garden at all, so now we have bindweed coming through! There was only a bit at first, but when I looked yesterday, it has grown everywhere.That is going to take a lot of clearing up as it roots if it touches the soil and spreads even more! I have tried to complain to her but she does not speak English and thought bindweed was vegetable and was eating it! What a nuisance that is!
Luckily my tree ferns are enjoying the rain and the Japanese maples, as we had such a dry spell and now it is like a marsh outside!
Regards.
Neil.

Daffodils? In July? Wow, that would be a strange sight. They don't last long here as we don't have much of a spring in south Georgia. We almost go from cold to hot overnight. I wish they lasted longer because I really like tulips and daffodils but, alas, they don't like the heat.

Dear Tami, normally our springs start in February and last till the end of April depending on the weather. But it can go on longer if the weather is bad early on in the year!
Seeing spring in the UK is wonderful as we have masses of Daffodils, Iris, crocus, snowdrops, Hyacinths, grape Hyacinths, tulips, pansies, primroses, and flowering spring shrubs. Even some of the trees join in.
I suppose it would be nice to have hot weather as we are always complaing about the cold weather, but the British are not made for hot climates. When we get a 'Heatwave here and it goes above 80F then everybody complains!
Regards.
Neil.