Kniphofia

The red hot pokers have loved the summer weather this year.

There are lots of new varieties around, and the smaller ‘popsicle’ series have proved excellent, even if it is not easy to tell the mango from the lemon from the orange from the papaya from the banana. Despite originating from South Africa, they do seem to be winter hardy, even in the colder north.

Other than the decorative ones, for once we haven’t seen many slugs and snails this year.
That said, I suspect they are hiding deep down in the soil, lying in wait for wetter weather.
We have had very few wasps this year (the bees are relieved as an attack can kill a colony in a couple of days and we finally have strong colonies again), and there were weeks without small birds too, although some of them, especially the wagtails, seem to be returning now.
It’s also been a very strange year for biennials and annuals.
Teasels, sown last year, just sat as rosettes until a couple of weeks ago, and now have small teasels about 6″ off the ground, whereas normally they would be knee-high at least. Nicotiana too are stunted with small flowers. We haven’t had the extremes of heat or dryness experienced in the south, and nothing has suffered extreme stress, so I’m not sure what is going on there.
Still, as they say in The People’s Emergency Briefing, this year’s weather is the most stable it will ever be, so we’d best get used to it.