After a month with no rain I was amazed to have anything at all growing in my gardens. I do spend an extraordinary amount of time watering the plants, but even so it felt as if nothing was growing up until midsummer because of the intense sunshine and lack of water.

At the Gatekeepers Cottage most perennials were planted last year and carefully mulched with wood chipping in autumn, which means they have survived the draught better than plants in my newly planted herbaceous beds. Here the plants have put down their roots deep and with abundant rain and snow over winter the flowerbed has retained some moisture deep in the soil.

The Alliums I planted in late autumn last year all sprung up, and gave a fantastic display throughout June. Then just in time for midsummer celebrations the weather turned and the skies became overcast, giving us a typical Finnish midsummer eve with rain during down.

Along the edge of the border are redcurrant bushes planted as a free flowing hedge. This is only the second year they are in the ground, but we are getting a nice little crop already.

I love the intense blue colour of the delphiniums, and with approaching thunder clouds they really showed off their colours! The interesting thing about making a new border is how it evolves over time, and now that we have had the best of the early summer I see lots of gaps to fill for the rest of the season. A good old weeding session is what is needed, and then plugging the gaps between the plants with more flowers. I shall keep you posted on the progress I make.