The month of July has been very hot at Pershore with occasional heavy downpours of rain. There have been some casualties but the garden is still colourful and interesting.

Sand Beds
Some of the androsaces have suffered in the high temperatures and unremitting sun. This bed has now had some shading placed over it.

 In the second bed, Asperula daphneola has a few flowers to show . Part of this bed also has some shading.

Alpine House
The Alpine House has been shaded since May.

Some new plantings of androsace species together with other tufa-loving plants have been made in the tufa.

Ourisia ’Cliftonville Roset’ continues to bloom well. This photo was taken 2 days ago and can be compared favourably with the photo take at the end of June (see the June article).

Campanula hawkinsiana is flowering beautifully at the moment.

Cotswold bed
The plant of Dicentra 'Ivory Hearts' does not appear to have suffered in the heat and is now in bloom.

The dainty flowers of Leucojum autumnale seem to appear earlier each year.

Crevice Garden
The Crevice garden continues to be of great interest.

Daphne x napolitana ’Bramdean’ is flowering  and seems to love growing in its crevice.

Clematis tenuiloba 'Ylva' continues to flower well and is spreading nicely along its crevice.

Aster coloradoensis has pretty pink daisy-like flowers. This plant has died out in other parts of the crevice garden but it has been allowed to seed itself around with some success.

A quick look at Helianthemum lunulatum and you could mistake it for a small hypericum. It forms a very nice shrubby, yellow flowered plant.

Zauschneria californica 'Dublin' is tumbling nicely over the rocks and is just starting to bloom with its stunning orange-red flowers.

Scree Bed
Campanula tommasiniana has formed a large mound and is covered with its small pale blue pendant bells.

A lovely plant of Origanum 'Emma Stanley' is showing its dark rose bracts well against the scree.

Tufa stack
In the lower area of tufa surrounding the stack, Daphne jasminea is growing and flowering well among the rocks. This plant has no direct winter protection.

Mediterranean Bed
A plant of Hermannia stricta planted in 2005 is flourishing in this bed with its charming lampshade-shaped flowers.

Similarly, Agapanthus 'Peter Pan' was planted last year and has flourished given the shelter of the building, producing several stems of its pale blue flowers.

Woodland bed
Almost hidden away at the back of this area can be found the lovely woodland plant, Anemonopsis macrophylla. This plant strongly dislikes hot dry winds, hence its positioning. The flower shows some browning on the edges but is still delightful and well worth looking for.