worth waiting for..............
Sunday, July 17, 2005
10 today!
.........so my birthday present to myself was an arch for the bottom by the compost bins...........not quite sure what's going to go in that bit yet but i've created an entrance.............very hot and humid today, and next door having a garden party, very Homes and Gardens, with a little band and a buffet.......Fiona's 60th apparently............so i put the arch together to the accompaniment of light music and chatter and the sound of champagne corks...........much to my amazement it all fitted together and no swearing was involved..............
............a rose "Compassion" for the base at one side, and a pink jasmine like the one Katty and Mark have for the other.........and some annual climbers till those grow up...........
............was at Klondyke yesterday too, i still feel sick at the thought of their cafe and they don't have a great stock, but i got an Ipomea called "Sweet Caroline" and another wee thyme............and a tropaeolum for the corner by the bins...........
...........sunflowers now taller than me and big brown flowers, more coming...........the Morning Glory had one morning of glory and that seems to be it............
............a rose "Compassion" for the base at one side, and a pink jasmine like the one Katty and Mark have for the other.........and some annual climbers till those grow up...........
............was at Klondyke yesterday too, i still feel sick at the thought of their cafe and they don't have a great stock, but i got an Ipomea called "Sweet Caroline" and another wee thyme............and a tropaeolum for the corner by the bins...........
...........sunflowers now taller than me and big brown flowers, more coming...........the Morning Glory had one morning of glory and that seems to be it............
Monday, July 11, 2005
flaming july
the hottest few days of the year so far..................how relaxing to be able to wander about in not too many clothes, pottering about and pulling the odd weed............i've eaten five strawberries off the three plants, all different flavours, the Elsanta was the sweetest. took Katty and Mark a big bunch of sorrel and chard...........the chard is growing like mad and looks lovely. the sunflowers have shot up and are now eyeballing me in a menacing kind of way, soon they'll be able to look down on the top of my head. bought a variegated vinca for the front in the hope that it will spread.............with the paper down and all the weeds covered, it still looks a bit bare and patchy and could do with some more ground cover............
,,,,,,,,,planted some more thymes and a couple of Pratia in the gravel by the pond..........and put in a new blue grass and angel's fishing-rod in that gap, plus the new veronica divided in two.........
cut down the Himalayan poppy, there is new growth at the bottom and i wonder if it will flower a second time........if i cut the Oriental poppies it will leave a big gap, might need some cheapo annuals.........
.........the pernettya looks to have died and i really should dig it out...........the white Astilbe looks nice and that would give it more room...........
.........courgette plants still growing mightily................morning glory soon ready to flower........tomatoes now have flowers so hopefully fruit soon.........planted the new variegated lavender.............fennel seeds growing apace indoors and should be ready to go out soon.......
,,,,,,,,,planted some more thymes and a couple of Pratia in the gravel by the pond..........and put in a new blue grass and angel's fishing-rod in that gap, plus the new veronica divided in two.........
cut down the Himalayan poppy, there is new growth at the bottom and i wonder if it will flower a second time........if i cut the Oriental poppies it will leave a big gap, might need some cheapo annuals.........
.........the pernettya looks to have died and i really should dig it out...........the white Astilbe looks nice and that would give it more room...........
.........courgette plants still growing mightily................morning glory soon ready to flower........tomatoes now have flowers so hopefully fruit soon.........planted the new variegated lavender.............fennel seeds growing apace indoors and should be ready to go out soon.......
Monday, July 04, 2005
101 uses for a dead bird
well it's not that i've not done anything since the last entry.......as usual some of the experiments didn't work, a lot of the herbs didn't survive, all the parsley died and the tarragon was eaten by the slugs, so was the chervil and the dill............so a couple of mints for Hopetoun's search-and-rescue are in instead........however i'm very proud of the chard, it looks great........and the sorrel is doing extremely well and has been in a few salads, ditto the rocket...........
........the only thing i brought home from the Scottish Garden Show was the idea of the aerial herb garden...............old milk containers cut out and hung from a cane lashed across the raised bed. at least if the slugs eat them they'll have had to work up a damn good appetite first..........i moved the comfrey out because it looked ill and it's now lurking behind the roses, and in the raised bed are some courgette seeds which are going great guns...............since the beans got decimated last year i've adopted the aerial idea for them too and they're in a hanging basket, with three kinds of stawberries from Hopetoun in another, already beginning to ripen................that was the day we just popped over for lunch and ended up being there all day and came back with the blueberry........
.........from Ryton i got the idea of mixing veg and flowers in containers..........and was also relieved to see that their experiments don't always work either, there were various beds with labels on that appeared to be completely bare...........
............herb lawn not going to work but the grass looks *much* better being left a little longer. the purple sage is still not very happy even though i moved it beside the new painted sage to give it the idea............the painted sage has taken well and is flowering happily but maybe the purple sage is just feeling even more inferior.......
........so, today............tidied the front, put newspaper mulch down with compost on top under the tree and derived a certain satisfaction in the light of the Wimbledon ladies' singles result from throwing a handful of compost on Venus Williams' face....... the pansies all finished quite suddenly, went from looking lovely to dead within a very short time, so i've replaced them with some bargain orange-scented thyme for the oblong planter, some gazanias for cheap cheer, and a new little bay tree as i think the one at the back is definitely dying. of old age probably..........i've no idea how long i've had it but i suspect it's many years........goodbye old friend........in its tub is the new bronze fennel............
........new purple hebe by the pond producing pretty purple flowers. honeysuckle now out so the chair area is just beautiful, with wafts of lovely perfume............my experiment with the night-scented stock didn't work either, they came up fine but then all died........too wet maybe. a mysterious red rose has appeared in that bottom corner............could it be the one i planted on Spicey's grave that i thought had died, having migrated under the paeonies and surged up beside the choisya?
............i was right about the potatoes in the compost-heap. Carrie moved the heap so we now have another plantable area at the bottom............and in the process found the potatoes. we ate them for lunch that day and they were lovely.............of course if i'd been trying to grow potatoes no doubt nothing would have happened, but this garden is just full of surprises.........i notice there appears to be a clematis growing at the front, God knows where that came from........
.........Carrie has also given me some lemon balm from Sussex, it's taking a while to establish, but should fill in some gaps very nicely..........also some variegated mint - ginger mint i think? - which is looking very nice in a tub with some gold-tipped marjoram beside it..........
..........the oriental poppies put on the usual fab but short display, and the love-in-a-mist "Persian Jewels" is looking very nice..........but the star of the show had to be the Himalayan poppy. it flowered and flowered, beautiful sky-blue flowers........finished now and i'm not sure whether to cut it right down, it liked the leaf-mould so i must remember to give it some more...........
.........there is a nasturtium growing out of the leaf bin, and also one growing in the crock box. determined little souls.......
........the bit by the pond is still under construction..........still looking a bit bare. the NZ flax and curry plant add to the colour contrasts but the pink geranium hasn't quite taken off as ground cover. and..............after a long and happy life, the diascia has finally died. considering it was supposed to be an annual and lived for three years, i think it did extremely well............i need some more wee spreaders for that area..........
...........oh, the bird. caught by extremely bad cat, a young blackbird...............she was so pleased with herself that when i took it outside she brought it back in again, so i thought i'd better dispose of it definitively. where better than under the rhubarb? well rhubarb needs organic material apparently..............Phil the Delphus has gone to the Council, having never flowered and looked distinctly dead, so the rhubarb is in the painted tub with plenty of chicken manure and a dead blackbird.........
........the only thing i brought home from the Scottish Garden Show was the idea of the aerial herb garden...............old milk containers cut out and hung from a cane lashed across the raised bed. at least if the slugs eat them they'll have had to work up a damn good appetite first..........i moved the comfrey out because it looked ill and it's now lurking behind the roses, and in the raised bed are some courgette seeds which are going great guns...............since the beans got decimated last year i've adopted the aerial idea for them too and they're in a hanging basket, with three kinds of stawberries from Hopetoun in another, already beginning to ripen................that was the day we just popped over for lunch and ended up being there all day and came back with the blueberry........
.........from Ryton i got the idea of mixing veg and flowers in containers..........and was also relieved to see that their experiments don't always work either, there were various beds with labels on that appeared to be completely bare...........
............herb lawn not going to work but the grass looks *much* better being left a little longer. the purple sage is still not very happy even though i moved it beside the new painted sage to give it the idea............the painted sage has taken well and is flowering happily but maybe the purple sage is just feeling even more inferior.......
........so, today............tidied the front, put newspaper mulch down with compost on top under the tree and derived a certain satisfaction in the light of the Wimbledon ladies' singles result from throwing a handful of compost on Venus Williams' face....... the pansies all finished quite suddenly, went from looking lovely to dead within a very short time, so i've replaced them with some bargain orange-scented thyme for the oblong planter, some gazanias for cheap cheer, and a new little bay tree as i think the one at the back is definitely dying. of old age probably..........i've no idea how long i've had it but i suspect it's many years........goodbye old friend........in its tub is the new bronze fennel............
........new purple hebe by the pond producing pretty purple flowers. honeysuckle now out so the chair area is just beautiful, with wafts of lovely perfume............my experiment with the night-scented stock didn't work either, they came up fine but then all died........too wet maybe. a mysterious red rose has appeared in that bottom corner............could it be the one i planted on Spicey's grave that i thought had died, having migrated under the paeonies and surged up beside the choisya?
............i was right about the potatoes in the compost-heap. Carrie moved the heap so we now have another plantable area at the bottom............and in the process found the potatoes. we ate them for lunch that day and they were lovely.............of course if i'd been trying to grow potatoes no doubt nothing would have happened, but this garden is just full of surprises.........i notice there appears to be a clematis growing at the front, God knows where that came from........
.........Carrie has also given me some lemon balm from Sussex, it's taking a while to establish, but should fill in some gaps very nicely..........also some variegated mint - ginger mint i think? - which is looking very nice in a tub with some gold-tipped marjoram beside it..........
..........the oriental poppies put on the usual fab but short display, and the love-in-a-mist "Persian Jewels" is looking very nice..........but the star of the show had to be the Himalayan poppy. it flowered and flowered, beautiful sky-blue flowers........finished now and i'm not sure whether to cut it right down, it liked the leaf-mould so i must remember to give it some more...........
.........there is a nasturtium growing out of the leaf bin, and also one growing in the crock box. determined little souls.......
........the bit by the pond is still under construction..........still looking a bit bare. the NZ flax and curry plant add to the colour contrasts but the pink geranium hasn't quite taken off as ground cover. and..............after a long and happy life, the diascia has finally died. considering it was supposed to be an annual and lived for three years, i think it did extremely well............i need some more wee spreaders for that area..........
...........oh, the bird. caught by extremely bad cat, a young blackbird...............she was so pleased with herself that when i took it outside she brought it back in again, so i thought i'd better dispose of it definitively. where better than under the rhubarb? well rhubarb needs organic material apparently..............Phil the Delphus has gone to the Council, having never flowered and looked distinctly dead, so the rhubarb is in the painted tub with plenty of chicken manure and a dead blackbird.........
Sunday, May 15, 2005
'tis the first rose of summer...........
...........and 'twas the first really warm day. the wind has changed at last and the freezing breeze turned to something more mellow................i forgot to take the seedlings in last night but they looked fine..........lemon balm not doing so well and the peppers a bit slow but everything else seems OK.............
............so, back to Ground Elder wars...............it obviously wasn't going to respond to being toasted or poisoned, nothing for it but to get down there and dig it up. hard work but strangely satisfying...............bought a new push-mower, much more satisfactory, the hover mower was scalping the lawn badly and even on the high setting was cutting it too short............this looks much better. i'm going to try and make it partly a herb lawn..............plant some herb seeds in the holes where i've dug weeds out or where it's gone a bit bald.........they won't mind being cut and it will smell nice when walked on.............
..............thought about getting some annuals for tubs etc but actually..............it looks OK without. there's so much flowering away that i think it would just look crowded and messy. even the front looks fine as it is. it's actually quite nice to have the patio open............the sunflowers can go in a big tub near the wall,...............swee'peas are in and we'll see if the experiment of putting them at the front is any more successful.............
.....and yes the yellow very very jaggy rose is out.............with more flowers than i think it's had before. usually the organic rose is the first out, but a bit of healthy competition won't do it any harm............
............so, back to Ground Elder wars...............it obviously wasn't going to respond to being toasted or poisoned, nothing for it but to get down there and dig it up. hard work but strangely satisfying...............bought a new push-mower, much more satisfactory, the hover mower was scalping the lawn badly and even on the high setting was cutting it too short............this looks much better. i'm going to try and make it partly a herb lawn..............plant some herb seeds in the holes where i've dug weeds out or where it's gone a bit bald.........they won't mind being cut and it will smell nice when walked on.............
..............thought about getting some annuals for tubs etc but actually..............it looks OK without. there's so much flowering away that i think it would just look crowded and messy. even the front looks fine as it is. it's actually quite nice to have the patio open............the sunflowers can go in a big tub near the wall,...............swee'peas are in and we'll see if the experiment of putting them at the front is any more successful.............
.....and yes the yellow very very jaggy rose is out.............with more flowers than i think it's had before. usually the organic rose is the first out, but a bit of healthy competition won't do it any harm............
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