After a June with no rain, good soakings during the first few days of July have brought the garden back to life, made lush and green by that which falls from the sky rather than being reliant on unsustainable, artificial watering.

And the other wildlife too, insects in abundance  – more bees and butterflies than I have seen all summer: the warmth and the recent rain have brought the season back into some semblance of ‘normality’. The plants this week doing the heavy lifting of feeding the hordes of pollinators were Lavandula, Eryngium and Teucrium: good for wildlife, drought-tolerant, beautiful (and therefore good for us) – they tick all the boxes! No words, just let the pictures speak for themselves…

But absolute maestro of our floral show was Buddleia crispa on the side of Beth’s house. Six species of butterfly visiting included four or more lovely, pristine Painted Ladies, one of the welcome stars from the south of any summer garden.

#RewildYourMind and #LetNatureintoyourLife: nowhere better to do that than the Beth Chatto Gardens! Visit Beth Chatto’s Plants and Gardens for more information.