Welcome to a slice of my weekly gardening journal – an entry for the week leading up to Lammas Day, Saturday August 1st. This week: Maintaining sweet peas in Every Which Way, pond weeding in All in Good Time, and botanical illustration in Sharp Pencils and Inspiration.

‘The last week in July’ – what a week that was! Monday I took a day trip to a near-ish garden in Northampton called Canons Ashby. Following this it was head down for the working week, where the temperatures continued to rise each day, ending with the fan-oven Friday ridiculousness. It might have taken all of Friday evening to top up my fluid levels, but at least now I’ve thankfully returned to my normal self – apart from permanently etched tan lines of course…

In a works capacity, irrigation of containers and raised beds became something of a priority due to the temperatures, but all came through the week nicely. Indeed this was the very same with my containers at home, with additional watering needed each evening, and occasionally in the dark!