Word of the day.....alliteration

Why? Because my taties are trashed, broad beans battered, courgettes crushed and foxgloves flattened.

broad bean stem broken just below where flowers have formed!

Monsoon rains and gale force winds have, yet again, tried to upscuttle my gardening efforts but all is not lost. I had the foresight to get out on Thursday night with stakes and string and truss up as many plants as I thought would be affected by the weather. I couldn’t do them all, hence the damage, and I’m sure most will survive although it does set them back a bit.

These container-grown onions had their tops bent and broken but at least they can be used. Unfortunately the foxgloves, which were attracting a lot of insects, will probably not pick themselves up.

As for the courgettes, their large leaves act like sails in the wind and get really blown around. Some stems are broken but these plants are so vigorous that they'll soon send out new ones. If this weather is to become the norm for summer I can see plant breeders rushing to produce dwarf varieties that succeed in low light conditions. Until then we'll just have to put up with it.