lily of the nile and zinnias

The lilies of the nile are in full bloom. They are also called african lily- but they are not actually lilies.

The lily of the nile is probably better known under the name agapanthus- comming from Greek (agape= love and anthos= flower).

I love these blue-purple flowers- blooming now during the summer when there are not so many flowers (except if you can afford to water them a lot).
Agapanthus- once established- do not need a lot of water during the summer, which makes them great for us.

You can propagate older plants by digging them up and divide them into smaller clumps.

This week the humidity of summer really started to kick in. Luckily we had some clouds and always a nice breeze that made the sweating more bearable.

Not so long ago I started to ask myself how I will survive this first summer of gardening- but I am getting a bit more used to it now and it does look like I will survive. Of course sometimes I would not mind to sit in an air conditioned room.

We planted some zinnias this week. The chrysanthemums we planted in the beginning of the winter were not nice to look at anymore. You could actually keep them in the ground, cut them back and they will grow again once winter and rain will start. But we prefer to plant some summer flowers instead. 

I love zinnias. They grow in my private garden since many years and I enjoy their strong colours during the summer months.

I dead head them regularly to get more flowers.

At home I started to dry another batch of peppermint. I already have a lot on stock but I know that I will need a lot of leaves for tea once there will be no fresh mint in the garden anymore.