We did have something to grumble about, double the average amount of rain for one, 146.3mm/ 5.8". The average temperature of 14.3C was nearly 2C below a norm of 16.1C, and the average high of 19C was nearly 3 degrees below normal.
And we had rain 27 days out of 30.

For all that, the garden doesn’t seem to have suffered too badly, although very heavy rain yesterday left petals in soggy masses on the ground. However because of the moisture, the garden is full of fragrances, wafts of honeysuckle, roses, dianthus, irises, and a myriad other sweetnesses. The swallows skimming along at road level seemed to concur with the gloomy weather forecast for today but the day improved as it went on, cool but comfortably warm in the sun. I got some dead-heading done before a friend arrived for tea, cake and talk. D has two fine gardens, and this summer is looking after a neighbour’s garden too. She said that foxgloves don’t like wet weather and seem to grow, in her experience, in rather stoney, dry places which may be why the seedlings took themselves to the parking area. Well, I am sure that I can find them some suitable places in my garden, not out of it!

The roses particularly the David Austins get well chewed by Japanese bugs, I even got two this morning chewing their way through a flower on Shropshire Lad. Clipped several buds on Graham Thomas that were badly chewed and were not worth developing to flowers.