Now cropping................

Runner beans and courgettes. It has cooled down a little bit but the weather is still mainly beautiful after a glorious summer. The morning glories, sons of last year's, are still going on and on..........new chili plants now flowering indoors. Happy herbs by the back door, and lots of salad.............all the cuttings have taken, which is now a bit of a problem cos there's nowhere to put them, I am also growing some sage from seed to replace the old plant that died.
The one day lily flower is all there's been and "crimson pirate" didn't flower at all. However the beds are full so maybe these will have to move into containers along with all the delphinium seeds I didn't expect to come up. Lots of caryopteris cuttings too which are all turning into new plants.
Colin the Comma Caterpillar which was living on the blackcurrant has now turned into a chrysalis and is doing a very good impression of a dead leaf. We wait expectantly.........

Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer............

Heatwave.

California dreaming

Looking at last year's notes, maybe this year hasn't been so different in terms of what has come up when............a cold May stops everything in its tracks, but all it takes is a little warmth and rain and it all catches up. However some things are definitely delayed - the day lilies have yet to put in an appearance and only one flower spike has come up, and the pink clematis was about a month late. Roses, however, are on schedule, and I don't remember the white rose flowering so prolifically before, the lilac also went on and on for weeks, so the cooler weather may be prolonging flowering when things finally do come out. However we missed the paeonies, which were just opening as we left for Hill House last week and were gone by the time we got back. Most exciting, though, the paeony at the front has flowered - maybe even *two* flowers if the second one opens - and the California poppies are back for their third year along with a lovely pink sweet-pea and some mange-tout that came up beside the delphinium. I've taken some cuttings off the old caryopteris which has been looking a bit unhappy, and one has taken; we also took gooseberry cuttings which rooted well so two have gone to hill House and one will hopefully be going to Ross' new garden in Abernethy.

For some reason this year we also had fantastic chervil which grew in huge bunches in the herb bed when everything else was still clenched with cold; spinach also doing extremely well and the runner beans are on the move............courgettes, tomatoes and cucumbers coming on slowly as usual. 

We have just instituted a water barrel at the front, because guess what, it's HOT!! and all the things that did not die of cold are now hanging over the sides of their pots gasping and threatening to die of the heat..........I planted up all the containers with extra geraniums and lobelia for the MWF garden party (Rose's geraniums in their pots at the front door............) and strewed the steps with big bunches of applemint which seemed to go down well despite the weather not playing ball........

Have planted some Oriental poppies to replace ours that died, and some delphiniums just to see if we can grow them now that the frogs have dealt with the slugs..........

Cauld Winter's Icy Blast.................

The weather.

It has been cold. 

Very cold. 

In fact it has been bloody freezing. For months. There was one reasonably warm and sunny day in March................Hooray! we thought, spring has sprung! - and rushed out to tidy in preparation for the growing season. Even the frogs popped up to say hello. But that was it.............the temperature immediately dropped again and stayed down, and all the little planties that had started the spring fling just stopped dead. We have ONE mini-daff out at the back and two mega-daffs at the front, the crocuses and chionodoxa have appeared as usual but everything else looks all pinched and miserable. There has also been hardly any rain - hence wildfires in the Highlands, up at Hill House last weekend the ground was bone-dry and the grass completely brown. So...........we have planted no seeds because it's just too cold. However the baby tree paeonies are doing very well on the kitchen window-sill, and I have started some prayer plantlets for the Inverleith St Serf's sale in June........

And there has been some wildlife...............one morning I heard this strange noise and wondered what it was, was somebody drilling? Yes somebody was - a great spotted woodpecker on the telegraph pole. He had worked out that if he banged on the metal bit at the top it made a better noise...............and had also worked out that the suckers at no. 19 had hung up a lovely fatsnax for him. Unfortunately he is too shy to have his photo taken but we will catch him someday................M. Le Blackcap has been a frequent visitor along with a flock of long-tailed titis, and we have even seen some goldfinches down eating the nyger seed which has been there for about three years without anything touching it............

And now it definitely is spring...................the familiar cccrrrrrrrrOOAAAAAKKKKKKKKK! is emanating from the pond and the frog orgy is in progress............