Work in Progress...

Why is it after all the work you put into the garden in Spring, by the time August comes round, when I want to sit and admire the garden, all the flowers seem to have dissolved into the dense greenery that was, only a few months ago, delicate appealing shoots.

There are splashes of colour but not what you would call a highlight, the predominate colour in my shady garden is green:

Scented flowers are pure bonus and greatly appreciated by me, from the kitchen window I can't see these lilies but they are well worth growing:

Will be just my luck that the latest round of thunderstorms will come crashing down on top of these! 
Any suggestions for how to protect the lilies at this stage? It would be such a shame having kept them going through the seige of the lily beetle to lose them now!

Im just wondering ~ should I grow an umbrella plant over the top of them?

The passion flower, has just opened, I think I love it for its detailed layers as well as its colour, and don't rain drops make plants sparkle?

So here is the back garden [the front garden seems to me to be a place that should be kept respectable or made into a show, but for me its not somewhere I can relax] in August:

This was taken at 8 in the evening, too late for the sun's rays. I love the variety of colour and shape in leaves ~ good value I think! 
Really pleased with the lilies and I have a note to remind myself to plant more of them, particularly on the hedge side to brighten a totally green area.

Roses have done particularly well, even if they don't particularly like this free draining slightly acidic soil:
Alpine sunset:

The fuchsias are just coming into their own, some making a better display than others, I have to hope they will survive till next year. 


Sometimes its the shapes as much as anything else that make the interest and the impact, such as the balloon flower, I love the colour of this too but its the fascinating bud and opening flower that I like it for most:

I rather like the variety of fuchsias, shapes, colours and the way they dance in the breeze, although these are not my favourite colour they are making a good display ~ next year they might work well in the flower bed ~ I hope they are hardy! [Checkerboard, they have the RHS seal of approval!]

And then there is my pond, only made last year, it is growing well but still no frogs or dragonflies:

NEWS UPDATE
Look what/who I found today ~ hiding under the water hyacinth leaves:

Sadly the frog has not re-appeared............but just today [5 days later] I have spotted 2 baby frogs jumping around the flower bed..........so that looks hopeful.
The fuchsias seem to respond to weather that is not blazing hot, their flowers bobbing in the breeze are fascinating:

As to the shadiest parts of the garden, ferns and hostas seem quite happy: