The garden has very much been on autopilot: too busy and the savagely dry weather (now broken) meant that trying to enjoy anything was rather hard. But we had a nice evening tonight and it is remarkable what is happily growing.

A collection of Oakleaf Hydrangeas, now past bloom with soft dusky rose pinks, a set of rhododendrons growing with vigour and all lustrous green, the tall pink monarda running wild beneath the dark shade of the pines, the white candles of snakeroots and clethra, the last fading scents of the great white Casa Blanca Lilies, the first flush of goldenrod, a grapevine so heavy it reaches down towards the path….the green grapes a promise yet to behold. Tomorrow, tomorrow comes even in the heat of summer, and with it a bounty of new things in their day of grace.