Salad in October

I guess the only thing to do is throw all the gardening books out of the window and just accept whatever the garden chooses to do. Have just picked three cucumbers and several tomatoes, and admired the lovely bunch of coriander that, having stubbornly sat there doing nothing all summer, is now flourishing in its pot. Dahlias, nasturtiums and roses are all going strong...........the Georgia Blue veronica at the front put up one little flower soon after planting just to show that it could, and the pink rose has also just begun to flower. both pot clemati at the front are in flower, and the purple one at the back has had its usual second flush. blueberries nice to eat and apples almost ready............Carrie has moved the strawberries and launched an attack on the gooseberry sawfly, which at least waited until we'd harvested the fruit before stripping the bush of every single leaf.........
the courgettes are finally finished, but when we went to pull them up it turned out that the froglets are hiding under the leaves, so maybe not just yet.......

Front garden blitz

The front garden has been looking like the wrath of God for some time, and of course the worse it got the more awful became the thought of doing something about it. However in the end we couldn't stand it any more.............so while Carrie was redecorating the study it was my job to revamp the front. A lot of the plants that had started off as sweet little alpines had grown huge and scraggy........so the easiest way to to dig pretty well everything out and start again. The rose put up a fierce fight, as we have found that roses tend to do, the root had actually grown under the patio slabs............so we had to cut it in the end.......
I wanted some kind of barrier to stop the earth from the bed all sliding on to the patio, so in the end I dismantled the little rockeries and used the stones. Trimmed some of the thyme and took up the rest, and moved the rockery plants into the beds. I am ashamed to say I've lost patience with the weeds so I got some super-lethal weedkiller and sprayed them. So much for being organic, and of course Katisha then became obsessed with running over the poisonous slabs and rubbing her face against the toxic weeds............however she seems fine. So do the weeds. They look extremely well with not a sign of a shrivel. Weedkiller - pah.
The pot honeysuckle has looked unhappy for some time so it's now in the bed with the rose's old spiral frame. the Eryngium is beside it as a show plant, and i plan to move the little orange rose which has been in a pot at the back for years but has looked very miserable this year and not flowered. the red standard rose from SQ is in a pot by the front door, and i've cut back the pink rose which has been lashing the postie and everyone else in the face every morning............so far it looks much better, off to Hopetoun tomorrow to spend our gift vounchers on some new little alpines...........

...............e tutti veg..............

Extremely proud of the cucumbers............we only managed to grow one the last time so we've got two this year and more coming...........a variety called "Muncher" which we are looking forward to munching, especially since it's supposed to be burpless...............

Tutti fior

It just looks gorgeous at the moment and every day something new comes out.............first California poppy today, godetias, Shirley poppies, antirhino nearly there, lemon balm, roses still going strong..........crocosmias "Lucifer" absolutely blazing away...............lilies and phlox........

Day lilies

Think the double one might have come from Mum's and be called "Flore Pleno"............the gorgeous red one is called "Crimson Pirate" and I got it at the farmers' market (I was supposed to be buying a chicken but you know how it is..........)

The smelly corner

Just lovely, with honeysuckle, jasmine "Clotted Cream", and lavender...........only problem is they don't leave much room to actually sit in, but wotthehell...........

Morning Glory mystery

These are a new variety tried this year "Hazelwood Blues" which I think us very beautiful. However something most odd has happened in the other pot............what I thought I'd planted was the usual "Heavenly Blue", but that doesn't appear to be what's come up. Something still lovely but much darker, almost purple. Wot dat? Doesn't really matter I suppose but just gives the lie to any lingering notion that we are in charge of this garden in any way..............
Even better, the Tree in the Wall down in the corner beside the chair has turned out to be a cherry. An edible cherry. With cherries on it. They are absolutely delicious..........but where the hell did that come from? Like the paeonies and rose at the front, it gets no sun and appears to be growing on absolutely nothing, and yet it's fruiting.................our fruit has been amazing this year, we have raspberries, blackcurrants, whitecurrants, strawberries, gooseberries, rhubarb, with apples and blueberries to come..............yum. Veg a bit more variable but we have huge cabbage as usual and courgettes now ripening, runner beans flowering, globe artichokes, lettuce and chard, potatoes, tomatoes and, very exciting, tiny cucumbers in the greenhouse!.................

Frog worship

No, not praying to Mecca.................photographing the frogs. Today's exciting news is that we have tadpoles with legs! as well as at least 8 adult frogs, going to get a bit crowded in there soon..........

Paeony surprise

The pink one in the front garden..........this is its first flower in 13 years. I know paeonies can sulk but that's one hell of a huff......worth the wait though because it's very beautiful and also matches the roses........the rose starts off orange and then goes pink, is flowering really prolifically this year and looking very lovely. paeonies in the back also lovely, fine display from the purple clematis and the red lily also out.............

And from the front garden.......................

I think this is the first time this wild rose has ever flowered..........the pink phlox with variegated leaves is very pretty, so is the veronica, also flowering well this year, and the rock rose...........

Chive flowers; gladiolus byzantinus; Oriental poppies: delphinium

The Rescue Rose

Yellow rose today and yesterday........................just with a little bit of sun and water.........

They're back!................

...........or rather, probably, they've never been away. We heaved a huge amount of vegetation out of the pond which had formed itself into a sort of floating island, and discovered that at least four big frogs plus some tadpoles were still in residence............have constructed a Kitski-proof barrier (we hope) cos the frogs are still a bit dim when it comes to self-preservation and they will keep getting out of the pond which is not a good idea.............

The Time of Year

There is a conversation that takes place round about now, it goes like this:
Me: The (name of flower) is very late this year
Carrie: You said that last year
OK so I thought the day lilies should at least be putting up some flower spikes by now but I could be wrong.............the Oriental poppies are *definitely* late, so there...........and the honeysuckle at the front too. Tomatoes are now in their gro-bags in the greenhouse, all the lily-of-the-valley variety seeds from last year came up, I thought they were probably too old but obviously not, so they're in too, and the chilli peppers, cucumbers in the other one............gave the Rescue Rose and clematis a crew-cut to let in more light...........potatoes into the Chinese pot and climbing beans into the barrel..........we are going to have tons of raspberries again, and the wee apples trees already have lots of tiny fruits............

Helga in bloom!

One perfect rose.....................

Why is it no one ever sent me yet
One perfect limousine, do you suppose?
Ah no, it's always just my luck to get
One perfect rose.
(Dorothy Parker)

........actually I'd much rather have this beautiful rose, the limo wouldn't fit in our driveway...........

Pride and Joy

Don't think this variegated pond iris has ever flowered before. God knows why it's decided to flower now but it's obviously a good year for irises, since - even more exciting - down behind the paeonies, Helga is about to flower. Looks like she's going to be purple. We have no idea where Helga came from, she may be a rescue from Hopetoun, in which case if she behaves like the Rescue Rose she'll just get bigger and bigger and take over............
Because of the funny weather things have been very late, so the first oriental poppy has only just come out and the rest have yet to appear. Organic rose also only just out. The lilac has been gorgeous and lasted for ages.............so lovely to go out in the garden and be greeted by great wafts of perfume. Basils very slow in the greenhouse but at last beginning to appear...........wallflowers have also lasted for ages and only starting to fade now. Delphinium about to flower............morning glories a bit slow too since, same as last year, as soon as we put them outside it got cold. Windowsill herbs are happy..........tomato plants still small but have benefited from yesterday's rain. *All* the chili pepper seeds came up so we have loads of plants, some may have to go to the church summer fair................ Veg are in, and we're eating PSB and leaf beet.........the salads are slow but on the way..........