Floral Bliss #82

The flower beds in the front garden are full to capacity as the shrubs continue to grow and spread even though they get a trim at the end of the flowering season.  The English lavender bush probably needs dividing, but it's so healthy I'm reluctant to split it up. It has been attracting bees and butterflies and is a welcoming plant to have by the front door.  As we or visitors brush by the hanging branches of the lavender bush the fragrance is wonderful as is the scent of the Joie de Vivre roses next to it in a raised bed. 

A while ago I mentioned that this pink hydrangea wasn't turning blue, which I wanted to happen. To my surprise some of the hydrangea heads are now mauve. I think the special feed that changes the pH of the soil and helps them to turn blue is working.  I've also been digging in some acidic organic material such as orange peel and coffee grounds as I read somewhere that doing this also helps to change the pH of the soil around the plant.

In the back garden the roses are still blooming, but need dead heading every day.  I don't mind doing that in the relative cool of the evening.  It has been so hot and humid recently and, of course,  whilst I've been doing the dead heading and tidying Mr P has been doing the essential watering of the plants. 

Candy pink phlox isn't my favourite colour for a flower, but they do add some colour now that other blooms are going over. I've always wanted a mauve phlox so on Saturday there was a quick visit to the nearby garden centre to see what end of the season plants were on sale.  I found just what I was looking for on the sale counter and paid only £3 for a small specimen in a pot.  I haven't decided yet  where it'll go in the garden.  I'm sure I'll find a space for it.  In the meantime it's being watered and getting some TLC.   

As it's nearly the end of the month my next gardening report will be a general July roundup including progress in the veggie plot.

Today I'm joining Riitta's for Floral Bliss.  Thank you Riitta for organising the linkup.  

                                                    

A walk by the canal

After a morning at my meeting listening to health professionals and then socialising with members of our group and volunteers over lunch I felt in need of a walk along the canal towpath as I wanted to find a particular industrial building that is now a centre for a charity that supports the homeless.  

The swing bridge is interesting as you can see the runners on which it moves and just as I was coming out of the offices a narrow boat that had been moored overnight was getting ready to leave so I stopped to watch the mechanism in action activated by one of the people that had been on board.

The narrow boat stopped again at another mooring just by one of the old buildings, the former Sheaf Works, which is now standing empty perhaps waiting for a company to convert it for its needs.

You can walk along by the canal for several miles, going under viaducts and bridges and passing former industrial buildings.  There are static moorings and yards where narrow boats are being restored so the canal and environs continues to be in use today as well as reflecting the heritage of past times. 

From the canal towpath a footpath under one of the viaducts leads into Blast Lane, the name reflecting its past as a place where blast furnaces would have been used in the heavy industry of the area and then into another street where a former mid 19th century cutlery works, an extension of the one on the other side of the  canal, the Sheaf Works, now houses workshops and a second hand store which sells furniture, vintage clothing and other items for the Emmaus charity.  

You can read more about how the Emmaus Community and support network started in France here  and also how it was brought to the UK.

I could have spent a long time browsing in the different areas of the store and there's also a small refreshment area, a play shed with toys for the children and, of course, Ralph and Rodney, two pygmy goats.  Then I walked back to the quay side. 

  murals of horses heads on two old brick walls      

access to Victoria Quays Sheffield Canal Basin

 through one of the old railway arches

Merchants' Crescent -  a terrace of coal merchants' houses

A 'Le Tour de France' display in the Terminal Warehouse which has been

converted into apartments and also is used for small business enterprises.

The Terminal Warehouse - where my walk ended.