E is for Emma, F is for Flowers

E is for my elder daughter, Emma, the mother of my two gorgeous grandchildren and wife of Tom. Emma is trying to get her first novel published, whilst writing her second and being a full-time mum. She, like us has just got chickens, one of which, a Faverolle is so tame, she is already jumping on knees for a cuddle - after only a few days. I'm so jealous - I only need to walk near the eglu and my two run the other way!

I see Emma and the children lots, as she lives nearby, and we have a weekly coffee, cakes and shopping day.

F is for flowers, which I try to fill my garden with, in as many colours and shapes as possible. At the moment the Monardas and Heleniums are going for broke, and I have to admit to not having the time recently to deadhead them. I normally love deadheading to an obsessive degree, but having been ill for a couple of weeks, they have all been left to their own devices. 

Echinacea purpurea & Monarda Cambridge Scarlet

Helenium Wyndley

They still look lovely when photographed in groups, but the whole bed is looking very dishevelled! I had no idea the Monardas were going to be quite so tall, and in a raised bed, they are towering above us. We'll have to do a lot of plant re-location in the autumn, as there are shorter plants at the back, including a gorgeous Gaillardia we can't see!