Slugging It Out In The Garden

The summer so far has been drab and dreary. The temperatures have been comfortable, moderate. But the fog rolls in at supper time and doesn't roll out again until about four o'clock the following afternoon. We madly try to hold fast to the couple of hours of sunlight but it slips from our grasp as yet another blanket of grey drops down on us.
The garden has become a damp jungle dripping with slugs and fog water - but pretty nonetheless. I go slugging every day with a container of salt water and a trowel. I have a quota of 100 slugs before I go on to other chores. On Friday, I collected (with ease) 201 slugs from the grassy areas alone. I have deep seated feelings of revenge when I find them chomping in a newly planted hydrangea or a pricey gerbera daisy. I remember FRED saying last summer (another damp, foggy one) that he squished them with such vengeance in his heart when making his morning rounds in the garden. FRED's slugs grow to the size of small mice so I suppose I should feel grateful that at least mine are the smaller variety.

There are a lot of red tones in the garden in July.


Astilbe: Red Fanal

Rose: Morden Ruby

Believe it or not, I actually planted less in the window boxes this year and they have filled out quite nicely despite the cutback.



Closer examination reveals a new variety as well:


Yarn: Extra Merino Big
Company: Schachenmayr Nomotta
Color: Magenta