The garden hangs heavy in the mid-August heat. This month has always been the month when leaves drip, petals curl, fruit blushes – but today is not, was not, London-hot.
And yet my one ripe tomato is doing its thing, green to yellow to pink, its neighbour just starting to get the message. Its complex colour needs careful handling to hold on to the white patches of shine.
It's been a good year for day flying mint moths, colourful little clouds of them around the lemon balm, sage and fennel. But today, a lone moth settles on a French marigold, matching it perfectly. I sketch it speedily and fill in the flower later.
I pay heed to brambles only when foraging or clearing but today, new growth sharp against the lavender, I marvel at its tight folds and creases. Drawing gives me a proper look at things...
Marvellous, too, is the chard. Hardy in every weather, I see it wilting – but sun clear, it perks up as I draw.
Well done, hot plot, for managing still to serve up fresh joy.
Ballpen, watercolour and fineliner on handed-down watercolour paper.
Rose sketches from this project are available as greeting cards, from the Garden Museum shop in London and at Hackney Wick Underground.
On my Teemill shop, watercolour and line sketches on t-shirts and tote bags.