Room with a view at the end of May

As another month draws to a close I thought I'd give you a peek at the view from the living room window this afternoon. How can I not smile every time I look out on this?

At the back of the picture is our dog rose - delicate white petals on thin but very prickly branches that spring up from the deep pink geranium at it's base and weave in and out of the privet hedge and the buttercup bush - this is the first year it has looked this good - obviously roses are thriving this year. The bush roses are really coming into their own now - Gentle Hermione wafts her beautiful perfume around whenever we step out the front door and Alan Titchmarsh is bowing under the weight of his enormous pink blooms whilst The Dark Lady has graced us with just 4 deep red cushions. Rosa Mundi and Grandad Knight's Moss rose are still just in bud promising colour for a many weeks to come. The holly and flowering currant are now adding depth and structure to the back bed, their deep greens contrasting with the bright beech hedge behind. The lovely unusual white with dark blue inner delphinium spikes are just starting to open - she sits in a pot to try and keep her safe from slugs as we've lost so many over the years. The clematis is just a tangle of seed heads wrapped around the drain pipe now but I love the effect of the feathery fronds so will leave them alone for a while longer. Dotted throughout the beds are self-sown nigella, aquilegia, lemon balm and a few of the relocated cornflowers adding to the general waftiness of the beds. The hollyhock in the foreground is enormous but just sits in a crack between the paving slabs returning each year, far healthier than any we have deliberately sown anywhere else. The lovely sweet pea tower made from our allotment willow is on the left - can't wait for those to start to flower next month and add to the beautiful scents wafting around.

The planted area of the front garden measures just 6.5 by 2.5 metres and has hedges on two sides with a small paved parking and bin storage area and an even smaller area of patio slabs leading to the front door where I keep adding pots of herbs, flowers and salads!