Thursday, July 24, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
beans beans beans
........and peas..........mange-tout and sugar snap. the asparagus peas are extremely pretty, a beautiful deep crimson colour. lots of things have come on since our short break in Cornwall..........most notably the cornflowers which are now cornflowering madly and look really beautiful..............and the California poppies. a stray Shirley poppy has appeared in among them.........the day lilies now have buds but are still very slow to actually flower. more love-in-a-mist and cosmos on the way...............and more roses. strawberries and gooseberries slowly ripening, raspberries going over................salads coming on in their tub and the rocket not deterred by having the nasturtiums fall on it..............small runner beans now appearing and tiny tomatoes......and some courgettes big enough to eat. it all looks extremely pretty. some Oriental poppies still producing flowers.............the pink jasmine absolutely flourishing and the variegated one coming along..............and "clotted cream" has flower buds. we are picking beautiful sweet peas..................herbs doing well although only the dill has come up of the old seeds. one coreopsis has managed to struggle into flower and the rudbeckia are still very small............but we now have a row of lovely sunflowers in the perennial bed. the lysimachia is out and looks great against the purple leaves, its own and the persicaria. can hardly see the pond for all the vegetation and the froglets are roaming................
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
and there's more...............
...........and the RHUBARB!!
............and the BEETROOT!!
and the ASPARAGUS PEA!!
............and the BEETROOT!!
and the ASPARAGUS PEA!!
in another part of the forest.................
........not a huge amount happening on the houseplant front as all the action is outside...........Hoya now flowering and Stephanotis finishing..............orchid growing another flower spike. but in a corner of the greenhouse, planted ages ago and forgotten..................two of the Stephanotis seedlings have sprouted!!....................now potted on and in the ITU, growing very slowly if at all, but we'll see.................alongside them a bit of geranium that fell off, and some bits of Mum's Christmas cactus. for some reason most of the forest cacti died, i suspect it was still too cold when they went out for their summer holidays. however the MCC looks very healthy so hope the cuttings take..............
summer harvest
Just about to eat our first dinner made with things from the garden............the funny weather of sunshine and showers has brought everything on in a sudden rush and it can only be described as burgeoning...............have picked the first sweet pea but the oriental poppies are just finishing so everything is still all coming out in the wrong order. Paeonies just finishing too after a magnificent display, and the first love-in-a-mist are coming up through them, very pretty. the organic rose was as usual first to flower............"Curiosity" now has buds and also the one Carrie uncovered under the clematis, no idea what colour the flowers will be..............the VJR (Very Jaggy Rose) has put on loads of leaf but no buds yet. orange patio rose now flowering beautifully but other one not out yet. the canna lilies were obviously insulted by me deciding they were dead and putting a tomato in their pot............the tomato has met a mysterious fate and fallen over and the cannas are putting up superb leaves! Various things just on the brink of flowering...............lilies, sunflowers, more sweet peas..............sweet rocket still going strong and first night-scented stock just appearing. very exciting, i've never managed to get them to grow before. Some California poppies in the pot with the lilies, brilliant orange.............the ones in the beds coming on but no flowers yet. red scabious out, godetia growing well, cornflowers just about to bloom. first honeysuckle flowers appearing at the bottom of the garden but the big honeysuckles not out yet. alliums never showed at all this year..............the day lilies have been very late and have only now put up flower buds. there also appears to be another day lily in the perennial bed, not a clue where that came from - did we bring it from Mum's or is it a SQ survivor?
Morning Glories after a slow start now taking off, at least in pots but i see that one of the ones in the garden has actually survived though still very small. nasturtiums in flower of course...............variegated jasmine is doing well, again with more light after the clematis had its haircut. the pink jasmine was also slow to get going but flower buds have now appeared. the two hebes in the purple patch are both flowering and look very nice, with the Lysimachia "Firecracker" beside them and almost ready to flower. Rudbeckia seedlings are now all planted out, along with the Coreopsis..............i hae ma doots about the latter, they were very slow to germinate and are still very small but seem to be growing away quite well. Cosmos seedlings from the greenhouse and straight into the ground seem to be about neck-and-neck.
In the greenhouse..................the tomatoes are romping away but we've moved most of the rest out.............courgettes and squash into containers because they're already flowering and tiny courgettes are manifesting themselves..............i've taken the chillies out of the raised bed and into individual pots and we'll try some indoors and some in the greenhouse to see how they get on. moved the poached-egg plants outside because they were taking up too much space. salad containers are now planted..................the pak choi and other salad thing in the barrel have bolted but the flowers are pretty so we've left them as a nice contrast with the red runner-bean flowers. Thai basil and lemon basil into pots but staying in the greenhouse and some of their siblings off to Angi's balcony. i bought a new variegated oregano.............the old golden oregano is on its last legs, it never really got over being tramped on by the guys laying the patio, but the pot marjorams are doing well and i've divided the variegated oregano to make an extra plant. Carrie has cut down the lovage...............allowing more light to The Fig. don't know if The Fig will ripen but if it does it will be very exciting................we are now eating fresh raspberries and the crop promises to be heavy, although if we keep picking them as each one ripens there won't be enough for a full meal.............we're doing that anyway with the sugar snap peas and mange-tout, hovering over the veggie bed like the Witch in "Hansel & Gretel" waiting to see if they're ready to eat yet............we're in a between-salads phase but there's chard, small purple cabbage leaves, sorrel, nasturtium, parsley, and even beetroot leaves in the meantime.............my herb pot is slow to get going but the dill is in the lead having just started to sprout. and we do now have borage flowers for our drinks, and sheaves of applemint to make our summer fizz.............
............definite froglets in the pond, much splooshing and splashing every time we approach................the irises haven't flowered this year but the watermint is doing OK...............all the aquilegias are down now and i've trimmed the lower branches of the lilac and tidied the under-tree bed a bit..............meadowsweet just about to flower and huge clump of Michaelmas daisies same as last year................i've taken some cuttings of Isabel's prostrate rosemary and the clematis for Runa's fence. very pleased to see that the passiflora has not only survived being moved but seems to be growing madly, i didn't expect it to flower but i see at least one bud.............
in the front.............clearing all the bulb foliage and putting down the cocoa shell has made it look as neat as it can when everything's covered in big shaggy clumps of thyme............i've toasted all the weeds with the flamethrower thing which was very satisfying and it has helped.............the patio clematis is in flower but the rose shows no sign of buds.............honeysuckle just finished and needs tying up. it still all looks a bit of a mess, but it's a pretty mess................Mum's snow-in-summer has established nicely and has flowers, and i've tied up the floppy rose, also no sign of it flowering but it's still "early summer" after all................
Morning Glories after a slow start now taking off, at least in pots but i see that one of the ones in the garden has actually survived though still very small. nasturtiums in flower of course...............variegated jasmine is doing well, again with more light after the clematis had its haircut. the pink jasmine was also slow to get going but flower buds have now appeared. the two hebes in the purple patch are both flowering and look very nice, with the Lysimachia "Firecracker" beside them and almost ready to flower. Rudbeckia seedlings are now all planted out, along with the Coreopsis..............i hae ma doots about the latter, they were very slow to germinate and are still very small but seem to be growing away quite well. Cosmos seedlings from the greenhouse and straight into the ground seem to be about neck-and-neck.
In the greenhouse..................the tomatoes are romping away but we've moved most of the rest out.............courgettes and squash into containers because they're already flowering and tiny courgettes are manifesting themselves..............i've taken the chillies out of the raised bed and into individual pots and we'll try some indoors and some in the greenhouse to see how they get on. moved the poached-egg plants outside because they were taking up too much space. salad containers are now planted..................the pak choi and other salad thing in the barrel have bolted but the flowers are pretty so we've left them as a nice contrast with the red runner-bean flowers. Thai basil and lemon basil into pots but staying in the greenhouse and some of their siblings off to Angi's balcony. i bought a new variegated oregano.............the old golden oregano is on its last legs, it never really got over being tramped on by the guys laying the patio, but the pot marjorams are doing well and i've divided the variegated oregano to make an extra plant. Carrie has cut down the lovage...............allowing more light to The Fig. don't know if The Fig will ripen but if it does it will be very exciting................we are now eating fresh raspberries and the crop promises to be heavy, although if we keep picking them as each one ripens there won't be enough for a full meal.............we're doing that anyway with the sugar snap peas and mange-tout, hovering over the veggie bed like the Witch in "Hansel & Gretel" waiting to see if they're ready to eat yet............we're in a between-salads phase but there's chard, small purple cabbage leaves, sorrel, nasturtium, parsley, and even beetroot leaves in the meantime.............my herb pot is slow to get going but the dill is in the lead having just started to sprout. and we do now have borage flowers for our drinks, and sheaves of applemint to make our summer fizz.............
............definite froglets in the pond, much splooshing and splashing every time we approach................the irises haven't flowered this year but the watermint is doing OK...............all the aquilegias are down now and i've trimmed the lower branches of the lilac and tidied the under-tree bed a bit..............meadowsweet just about to flower and huge clump of Michaelmas daisies same as last year................i've taken some cuttings of Isabel's prostrate rosemary and the clematis for Runa's fence. very pleased to see that the passiflora has not only survived being moved but seems to be growing madly, i didn't expect it to flower but i see at least one bud.............
in the front.............clearing all the bulb foliage and putting down the cocoa shell has made it look as neat as it can when everything's covered in big shaggy clumps of thyme............i've toasted all the weeds with the flamethrower thing which was very satisfying and it has helped.............the patio clematis is in flower but the rose shows no sign of buds.............honeysuckle just finished and needs tying up. it still all looks a bit of a mess, but it's a pretty mess................Mum's snow-in-summer has established nicely and has flowers, and i've tied up the floppy rose, also no sign of it flowering but it's still "early summer" after all................
Sunday, June 29, 2008
raspberries and tadpoles
WE have started eathing them and they havve now been seen with 4 legs andn look quite grown up.. most exciting.
veg garden progress
Every thing is now growing extremely fast. At present in veg bed are climbing beans up to 4 ft(flowers budding but not yet out). Shallotts, plenty of greenery.. overwshadowed by broad beans. Broad beans with pods now up to 3 ins long and plants 3'6" high. Norli peas with flowers, beetroots , very strong leaves but small bulbs thus far. very small quantity of cumin plants.. most have been eaten by slugs grrr. Sugar bon peas, we have eaten two off the plant but plenty more coming. bulb fennel doing well, probably too closely spaced. Red cabbage and broccoli.
Corgettes (goldie and black forest) and squashes (turks turban and gails) were all very slow but those grown on in the greenhouse to be quite large plants and then put in the bed on 1st June have done much better.
Corgettes (goldie and black forest) and squashes (turks turban and gails) were all very slow but those grown on in the greenhouse to be quite large plants and then put in the bed on 1st June have done much better.
Sunday, June 01, 2008
backlog
garden has been so busy that we've got a bit behind on the writing-up, jotting down notes but not had time to blogify them. so here they are:
26/4/08
Godetias beginning to sprout (in the greenhouse)
Planted out Gail's squash and sowed the Norli peas
Established net to stop cat trauma to the veggie bed (broad bean seedlings)
First sight of shallots sprouting
planted My Love dahlias
Sorted through compost and found family of mice! which had made a very cosy little home - moved them to the other side keenly watched by Tiger...........
Sowed Nigella "Miss Jekyll", Escholzia, night-scented stock and cornflowers
Potted up the french tarragon
Moved the tomato seedlings
27/4/08
damn it bloody cats have AGAIN dug up shallots - fencing and cage reinforced extensively, replanted shallots for the THIRD time grrrrr God help the radishes
planted out beetroot seedlings
sowed poached-egg seeds into veg bed
Movied the Passiflora into the perennial bed
Moved the Ceanothus - good luck
Earthed up the ivy in its pot and planted a couple of nasturtium "Empress of India" beside it
Moved the Pasque flowers to the "iris bed" by the paeonies
Moved the mystery plant (?coreopsis) to the perennial bed
Spotted FROG x2 in the pond!!
Sowed the salad barrel - pak choi, lettuce, mustard spinach and runner beans
Sowed sweet marjoram
First cherry blossom out!
2/5/08
TADPOLES!!
25/5/08
Planted out "Sugar Bon" peas - about 3 ins high
Black Forest courgette planted out with 2 leaves has been totally munched
Broad beans now 12 ins high and need staking
Shallots look good
Tadpoles - lots - large but no legs yet
Planted out climbing beans and two aubergines purchased at OSP
Perovskia doing well but no sign of dahlias yet
First paeony opening imminent
Sweet rocket nearly 4ft high - much taller than bleedin' eart
26/5/08
tadpoles very carnivorous now - scoffing dead snails urrrghhh
Potted on courgettes and Turks Turban squash
planted out red cabbage and broccoli
27/5/08
Cleared up creeping buttercup in "wild" zone - Carrie attacked by brown compost bin, blood ++ and trip to Minor Injuries at WGH
29/5/08
Wind finally gone round to West - most of May bright and dry but unseasonably cold so everything a bit behind.
Second dose of Nemaslug applied
Roses treated with lethal mix of garlic, sugar and ginger
1/6/08
Flaming June, ha - but yesterday was gorgeous, and the garden has definitely responded to the warmth. Paenoies and organic rose now out and one of the yellow roses, but the oriental poppies still haven't appeared. Cats been digging again and nearly but not quite managed to destroy the peas. Ceanothus sadly has not survived being moved..............have put in the tree paeony and planted out rest of godetia seedlings and some of rudbeckia seedlings, keeping some back in the greenhouse just in case. Various things waiting in the greenhouse to go to new homes......tomato plants and chili plants for Sita, Fuchsia cuttings, pots of Nigella and tomatoes for Maryam. basil seedlings have just germinated but no sign of the stephanotis. Morning glories distributed in various places, with again a couple in the greenhouse as reserves...........i've never actually managed to grow them before but they look nice and strong. greenhouse stuff mostly still quite small............raised beds have tomatoes, chillies, aubergines and cucmbers. one courgette "Goldie" in a pot, beside the pot with the runner beans and tomatoes. salad barrel mostly dominated by the biggest and healthiest parsley plant ever seen............just have to think of lots of things to do with parsley i guess................coriander just starting on the window-sill and will need tp start more summer herbs and salads once the greenhouse is clearer. Coreopsis have been very slow and unlikely to flower this year, but i've potted the seedlings on to encourage them.........lupins look fab and delphiniums coming on too, those are longer-term projects for the perennial bed. Nigella, cornflowers, NSS and Escholzia doing what they're meant to do in the annual bed, clary also beginning to sprout. the sweet rocket has turned out to be huge............pretty white or pink flowers with a sweet scent inthe evening. fabulous lilac at the back, diascias starting to flower and the first tiny begonia leaf just poking its way up in the planter bench............
26/4/08
Godetias beginning to sprout (in the greenhouse)
Planted out Gail's squash and sowed the Norli peas
Established net to stop cat trauma to the veggie bed (broad bean seedlings)
First sight of shallots sprouting
planted My Love dahlias
Sorted through compost and found family of mice! which had made a very cosy little home - moved them to the other side keenly watched by Tiger...........
Sowed Nigella "Miss Jekyll", Escholzia, night-scented stock and cornflowers
Potted up the french tarragon
Moved the tomato seedlings
27/4/08
damn it bloody cats have AGAIN dug up shallots - fencing and cage reinforced extensively, replanted shallots for the THIRD time grrrrr God help the radishes
planted out beetroot seedlings
sowed poached-egg seeds into veg bed
Movied the Passiflora into the perennial bed
Moved the Ceanothus - good luck
Earthed up the ivy in its pot and planted a couple of nasturtium "Empress of India" beside it
Moved the Pasque flowers to the "iris bed" by the paeonies
Moved the mystery plant (?coreopsis) to the perennial bed
Spotted FROG x2 in the pond!!
Sowed the salad barrel - pak choi, lettuce, mustard spinach and runner beans
Sowed sweet marjoram
First cherry blossom out!
2/5/08
TADPOLES!!
25/5/08
Planted out "Sugar Bon" peas - about 3 ins high
Black Forest courgette planted out with 2 leaves has been totally munched
Broad beans now 12 ins high and need staking
Shallots look good
Tadpoles - lots - large but no legs yet
Planted out climbing beans and two aubergines purchased at OSP
Perovskia doing well but no sign of dahlias yet
First paeony opening imminent
Sweet rocket nearly 4ft high - much taller than bleedin' eart
26/5/08
tadpoles very carnivorous now - scoffing dead snails urrrghhh
Potted on courgettes and Turks Turban squash
planted out red cabbage and broccoli
27/5/08
Cleared up creeping buttercup in "wild" zone - Carrie attacked by brown compost bin, blood ++ and trip to Minor Injuries at WGH
29/5/08
Wind finally gone round to West - most of May bright and dry but unseasonably cold so everything a bit behind.
Second dose of Nemaslug applied
Roses treated with lethal mix of garlic, sugar and ginger
1/6/08
Flaming June, ha - but yesterday was gorgeous, and the garden has definitely responded to the warmth. Paenoies and organic rose now out and one of the yellow roses, but the oriental poppies still haven't appeared. Cats been digging again and nearly but not quite managed to destroy the peas. Ceanothus sadly has not survived being moved..............have put in the tree paeony and planted out rest of godetia seedlings and some of rudbeckia seedlings, keeping some back in the greenhouse just in case. Various things waiting in the greenhouse to go to new homes......tomato plants and chili plants for Sita, Fuchsia cuttings, pots of Nigella and tomatoes for Maryam. basil seedlings have just germinated but no sign of the stephanotis. Morning glories distributed in various places, with again a couple in the greenhouse as reserves...........i've never actually managed to grow them before but they look nice and strong. greenhouse stuff mostly still quite small............raised beds have tomatoes, chillies, aubergines and cucmbers. one courgette "Goldie" in a pot, beside the pot with the runner beans and tomatoes. salad barrel mostly dominated by the biggest and healthiest parsley plant ever seen............just have to think of lots of things to do with parsley i guess................coriander just starting on the window-sill and will need tp start more summer herbs and salads once the greenhouse is clearer. Coreopsis have been very slow and unlikely to flower this year, but i've potted the seedlings on to encourage them.........lupins look fab and delphiniums coming on too, those are longer-term projects for the perennial bed. Nigella, cornflowers, NSS and Escholzia doing what they're meant to do in the annual bed, clary also beginning to sprout. the sweet rocket has turned out to be huge............pretty white or pink flowers with a sweet scent inthe evening. fabulous lilac at the back, diascias starting to flower and the first tiny begonia leaf just poking its way up in the planter bench............
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
potting frenzy
the weather is clement and the seed season has started in earnest...........all available surfaces are covered in seed trays and various things are rocketing away................broad bean seedlings out into the veg bed today, absolutely beautiful and strong with huge roots...........sweet peas out too...........beds weeded and cleared, perennials moved...............i've planted out the dame's violet and moved a few mystery plants into a clump beside the dicentra.........i think one might be a coreopsis from last year but i haven't a clue what the others are. montbretia and aquilegia are coming up everywhere but i've been a good deal more ruthless this year about moving them to where i want them to be rather than letting them run riot. re-potted Norma's rose and the patio rose into David & Ian's turquoise pots and scattered in a few escholzia beside them. salads are out of the greenhouse..........we had a huge stir-fry with all the mibuna and pak choi, they did fantastically well and it was so lovely being able to nip out to the greenhouse in the early spring and pick fresh salad leaves. hope they'll do as well in the barrel..............i've made up a couple of pots for Maryam with nigella "Persian Jewels", and the little trio pot with three kinds of mint. put some pendula begonias into the planter seat...........various things from last year still alive but those will fill a gap. the scorched rose is still alive and i gave it a trim and feed to help it get over the trauma............wonder what the huge plant in the corner by the applemint will turn out to be. possibly a weed, but it does look a bit intentional..............might be a salvia but it will be a nice surprise whatever it is..................
front garden putting on a great spring display as usual, the new vinca has established well and is covered in lovely purple flowers.................nothing to do there really until all the bulbs die down, pleased to see the wood anemones looking so pretty..................
.............it has been quite mild but we had some proper frost this winter. paeonies in bud already which i think is early...............and could the new one i planted about four years ago be planning to flower at last? the patio apple trees have blossom, the new blackcurrant looks very happy and so do the whitecurrant and the gooseberry, so the fruit garden is shaping up well...........
front garden putting on a great spring display as usual, the new vinca has established well and is covered in lovely purple flowers.................nothing to do there really until all the bulbs die down, pleased to see the wood anemones looking so pretty..................
.............it has been quite mild but we had some proper frost this winter. paeonies in bud already which i think is early...............and could the new one i planted about four years ago be planning to flower at last? the patio apple trees have blossom, the new blackcurrant looks very happy and so do the whitecurrant and the gooseberry, so the fruit garden is shaping up well...........
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
the flowers that bloom in the spring, tra-la
............looking at the notes from last year, some things are blooming in the spring tra-la a bit earlier. the winter has been pretty cold with proper frost, but now that the clocks have changed it feels like spring and we've had a bliz today............only the second real full day's gardening of the year but what a difference a little bit of work makes................i tidied out the shed a few weeks ago and got rid of a lot of clutter...........some of the veg seeds are planted in the greenhouse and we're enormously proud of our winter salads which are only now beginning to bolt. everyone who comes to visit gets dragged into the greenhouse to admire the pak choi..........most stuff still just at the preparation stage but we are very much more organised than last year, thanks to having the greenhouse. but today was the first proper prowl round............so i hoed and weeded the fruit beds, moved the whitecurrant and Isabel's alpine strawberries and tied up the raspberry canes..................tidied the bit where the paeonies are and moved Helga the iris down to join the irises "Harmony", glad to see she's had some babies...........lots of things are just beginning to show, like the catmints, but lots in full swing already. and most exciting of all............there is FROGSPAWN in the pond!!...............
Sunday, August 12, 2007
we'll gather lilacs in the autumn again.............
......the dwarf lilac is flowering again, as are the forget-me-nots, wallflowers and violets, along with late-summer-type things like Montbretia and Michaelmas daisies. Carrie has given the clematis an extremely radical haircut, it doesn't seem to mind and is starting to grow back, but it's left some big spaces into which to put our sunflowers. the corocosmia "Lucifer" that i put in a couple of years ago has deigned to flower at last............very pretty so worth the wait..........Carrie's dahlias in their pot are spectacular, and thanks to the judicious application of organic slug pellets we have managed to get the Bishop of Llandaff to flower at the front before the snails ate it. the geraniums have also come into flower after a long delay and are looking rather Mediterranean and colourful. Carrie's Snail Purge seems to be having an effect.............however many we pick up there still seem to be plenty more, but maybe word has got round that if you're a snail and you don't want a one-way trip to England it's best to stay out of our garden..............
Monday, July 09, 2007
Monsoon season
the rain it raineth every day............today it dothn't, but we've had what seemed to be weeks and weeks of torrential rain, floods in England etc............the weeds and the snails loved it but a lot of our precious plants didn't..............as a result of the bizarre weather some things that should have been flowering in spring are still going strong.............chaenomeles, forget-me-nots, wallflowers........summer flowers are definitely delayed or didn't flower at all, day lilies still not out and normal lilies only flowering now...................Carrie's veggie patch is now a thing of beauty and pong with lots of seaweed and manure dug in and the spuds in situ............we got very behind on the planting because it was too wet to do much, but have stuck most of the remaining seeds in trays and pots in the greenhouse to see what happens.................we've decided to just not bother with the idea of seasons this year and the weather seems to agree...............
.............the Rescue Rose from Hopetoun seems to like having the greenhouse to snuggle against and has repaid the support with lots of beautiful pink flowers..............once again i had to cut the lovage which had grown to enormous height, and released from its shadow the bronze fennel is hanging in there and the oregano has come back after a very unhappy time in the cold and wet........
.............the Rescue Rose from Hopetoun seems to like having the greenhouse to snuggle against and has repaid the support with lots of beautiful pink flowers..............once again i had to cut the lovage which had grown to enormous height, and released from its shadow the bronze fennel is hanging in there and the oregano has come back after a very unhappy time in the cold and wet........
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Miss Jekyll's marigolds
well i don't suppose she planted them herself exactly, but they came from the garden she laid out at Lindisfarne............her designs are still there in the castle to look at, although how anyone could read her writing is anybody's guess......we bought two marigolds and a lettuce in her honour. the marigolds are in with the tomato plants in the GREENHOUSE!!.........other garden works have been held up rather by the weather. it's been a cold, wet and blowy summer so far and everything is way behind last year. the Oriental poppies are only finishing now. the paeonies are still not all out, and some of them have rotted with all the rain. the Pasque flowers hardly lasted any time; the alliums were the success i'd hoped they'd be, and i've now planted up my end of the planter bench with scented geraniums, variegated lemon balm, lemon thyme, and a diascia. all the pots are doing OK, but we just need some nice warm sunny weather so i can get the grass cut and we can sit with our borage-flower drinks and admire it all........the chaenomeles at the front has decided to have another go at flowering, and i've added to the alpines by the path................the bit under the tree still looks a bit sad but we've moved the clematis from the back (to make way for the new veg bed!), i've rearranged things a bit and put down some coco shell and it looks much better. gave the willow a haircut and weeded it..............tied up the rose.......volunteers continue to make their contribution to the garden, i notice a small hypericum growing in the alley, the mystery hellebore is doing well and the campanulas are back again along with loads of herb Robert which is spreading prettily but rampantly, let's hope it's not as badly behaved as the Alchemilla..............
Thursday, April 19, 2007
welcome back old friends
definitely spring............a few days of warmth and then some little showers, and everything has burst into life. welcome back, Chilean glory vine which is supposed to be an annual and has appeared four years in a row among Paul's honeysuckle. welcome, veronica "Georgia Blue", flowering since January after sulking all through last summer following the move from Cornwall and pretending to be dead. welcome, Queen of Night tulips, almost out and doing exactly what i wanted them to do in the "purple patch". welcome, first Pasque flower and lovely fluffy foliage. and of course welcome loads of beautiful daffs, narcissi and spring bulbs of all kinds. no sign of the alliums yet............but the fritillaries at the front look lovely and lots of things are flowering there already, no doubt enjoying the extra light now that the tree has had a crew-cut. i worried that it had actually died, but no, there are new shoots with flowers on so it will soon be back to its thick thatch. the chaenomeles "Madam Butterfly" has been absolutely beautiful, still quite small but with lovely pink flowers.................the one at the back is pretty too but has taken a lot longer to come out.
............the cold frame is full of seedlings, but we are awaiting something even more exciting - a greenhouse! which should arrive next week. not only are we growing stuff for ourselves, we're also giving Mary's garden a makeover, moving stuff from the garden at SQ, and constructing a new veggie patch for Carrie to play in...............
............the cold frame is full of seedlings, but we are awaiting something even more exciting - a greenhouse! which should arrive next week. not only are we growing stuff for ourselves, we're also giving Mary's garden a makeover, moving stuff from the garden at SQ, and constructing a new veggie patch for Carrie to play in...............
Friday, September 08, 2006
the rustle of spring
well the rustle of autumn actually, but it is time to be thinking about bulbs, even though everything is still flowering madly and cropping hugely...........we are eating the new potatoes which are wonderful, especially the Pink Fir Apples....we don't know what the other kind are, but they're all perfect, and completely un-slugged. and all that on a regime of being thrown into the ground and completely neglected...............i've moved the gooseberry and whitecurrant bushes, the whitecurrant looked very unhappy in its tub so i've moved the strawberry into it instead and moved the whitecurrant and the gooseberry to the potato bed beside the rhubarb. then in go the field beans to be green manure..............Dad's raspberries are on the other side so they can lean against the shed, with fenugreek at their feet.......the chard is still going strong so we might as well keep eating it until it packs in, all the winter salads are coming along too.............the courgette is kindly producing one or two at a time which is just right........one of the beans has died but the other still looks fine..............and of course there are tomatoes every day, and blueberries................
...........i really should do some drawings next year in spring............i remember there were some bare bits but of course now that it's bulb time i can't remember where they were. and no doubt the Garden Elves will rearrange the planting plan..............alliums are my latest new thing........some in the "purple patch" with Queen of Night tulips...........and some in a pot with narcissi so i can see what they look like...............
...........the escholzia that came up with the patio rose looked absolutely beautiful so i've harvested the seeds and re-planted them.............i have no recollection of putting them there before but i guess i must have, it may have been last year though............
...........the front is still irritating me...........a couple of autumn croci have come up and they do look very nice so maybe i should put in some more as there's nothing else much at this time of year once the summer flowers have gone over............i intend to try leaving the geraniums out, as they should survive, but i might take cuttings just in case they don't.........and i've added some croci to the square tubs so there'll be something to look at in spring........
..........there was a surprise when i dug up the raspberries at Mum and Dad's............a paeony. i don't remember there ever being one there before, but i've heaved it out and added it to my paeony patch, which also contains the irises "Harmony". no doubt it will sulk...........the others sulked for about five years i think after i moved them from the front, let's hope it has more emotional intelligence than those ones...............
............winter onion seedlings have come up so i wonder if they'd be OK in a pot...........lettuces are doing OK and we must remember that in that wooden tub are the gladioli Byzantinus........
...........i really should do some drawings next year in spring............i remember there were some bare bits but of course now that it's bulb time i can't remember where they were. and no doubt the Garden Elves will rearrange the planting plan..............alliums are my latest new thing........some in the "purple patch" with Queen of Night tulips...........and some in a pot with narcissi so i can see what they look like...............
...........the escholzia that came up with the patio rose looked absolutely beautiful so i've harvested the seeds and re-planted them.............i have no recollection of putting them there before but i guess i must have, it may have been last year though............
...........the front is still irritating me...........a couple of autumn croci have come up and they do look very nice so maybe i should put in some more as there's nothing else much at this time of year once the summer flowers have gone over............i intend to try leaving the geraniums out, as they should survive, but i might take cuttings just in case they don't.........and i've added some croci to the square tubs so there'll be something to look at in spring........
..........there was a surprise when i dug up the raspberries at Mum and Dad's............a paeony. i don't remember there ever being one there before, but i've heaved it out and added it to my paeony patch, which also contains the irises "Harmony". no doubt it will sulk...........the others sulked for about five years i think after i moved them from the front, let's hope it has more emotional intelligence than those ones...............
............winter onion seedlings have come up so i wonder if they'd be OK in a pot...........lettuces are doing OK and we must remember that in that wooden tub are the gladioli Byzantinus........
Monday, August 21, 2006
and.............
i put in the chamomile seedlings at the front...........they've done well to survive on complete neglect so i suppose they deserve a home..................and the oenothera from Hopetoun at the back, under the rose. we did do a bit of pruning so hopefully it will get light..............i haven't cleared the veg bed yet as there's chard still going..............and some wee nettles which i hope to cultivate once i've forgiven them for stinging me.................the strawberries are putting out loads of runnersand one of them has rooted in the awkward patch.............so i suppose i could just leave it and see how it gets on..................the artichoke has responded to not having blackfly and looks really well, i guess it could come out of its pot next year but we'll see if it makes it through the winter..................
watering
two days of torrential rain, hooray!!...................gosh but the garden needed it. still some showers about but still warm and sunny, perfect. we despatched a whole load of snails over the wall at Newhaven.................Carrie thinks i've been being too kind to them, and i have to say they haven't kept to their side of the bargain, which was, i won't kill you if you don't eat the plants. so it's zero tolerance from now on..................
..............the herbaceous border still looks a bit of a mess, but i've learned that i have to be more disciplined about cutting things down when they finish flowering. the Dicentra is pretty, but it's also a haven for weeds and snails, and smothers everything underneath it. i think i have to get a bit more anal about tying things up so they don't flop about so much as well, so we can see what's underneath. acquired a couple of salvias from Hopetoun search-and-rescue, and a gaura............also one of Carrie's Cerinthus which we hope will self-seed.............not sure if Mum's kaffir lilies will make it, but i can always dig up some more...............once all the mints establish they will hopefully spread, and fill in the gaps at the front. the rue is good because it doesn't collapse, but the vinca needs to be cut pretty viciously and often not to take over..........the pernettya has died i think...............and the astilbe also looks extremely unhappy, being swamped by the ceanothus................might move it to Carrie's garden to rescue it...........
.............i still feel dissatisfied with the front garden too..........my little alpine arenas have done really well, exactly what i wanted in fact...............but the area under the tree is a mess. i realise that the way to make it look neater would be to rip out all the thyme growing through the paving..................it looks nice and smells great, but it also traps weed seeds which then establish. there are quite a few new volunteers............all those Canterbury bells that came up, a nice geranium, and a very pretty frilly aquilegia..........gifts from the neighbours...........but unfortunately they all come up in funny places and look untidy. it looks wonderful in the spring when all the bulbs come up, but apart from the bit next to the path, it looks a mess the rest of the time. being dry shade of course it is going to be difficult................however the two vincas seem to have established which is a start.................
..............the herbaceous border still looks a bit of a mess, but i've learned that i have to be more disciplined about cutting things down when they finish flowering. the Dicentra is pretty, but it's also a haven for weeds and snails, and smothers everything underneath it. i think i have to get a bit more anal about tying things up so they don't flop about so much as well, so we can see what's underneath. acquired a couple of salvias from Hopetoun search-and-rescue, and a gaura............also one of Carrie's Cerinthus which we hope will self-seed.............not sure if Mum's kaffir lilies will make it, but i can always dig up some more...............once all the mints establish they will hopefully spread, and fill in the gaps at the front. the rue is good because it doesn't collapse, but the vinca needs to be cut pretty viciously and often not to take over..........the pernettya has died i think...............and the astilbe also looks extremely unhappy, being swamped by the ceanothus................might move it to Carrie's garden to rescue it...........
.............i still feel dissatisfied with the front garden too..........my little alpine arenas have done really well, exactly what i wanted in fact...............but the area under the tree is a mess. i realise that the way to make it look neater would be to rip out all the thyme growing through the paving..................it looks nice and smells great, but it also traps weed seeds which then establish. there are quite a few new volunteers............all those Canterbury bells that came up, a nice geranium, and a very pretty frilly aquilegia..........gifts from the neighbours...........but unfortunately they all come up in funny places and look untidy. it looks wonderful in the spring when all the bulbs come up, but apart from the bit next to the path, it looks a mess the rest of the time. being dry shade of course it is going to be difficult................however the two vincas seem to have established which is a start.................
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
autumn gap
well it's still summer really.................but there is a definite gap in the right-hand bed now that i've cleared it a bit...................tidying away the Johnson's Blue and the dicentra foliage shows how little else there actually is in there. so i've put in one of the hand-reared lemon catmint...........the applemint from the raised bed and the black peppermint that was threatening to die in its pot..........moved a Michaelmas daisy and the salvia...............that bed has always been a problem and never managed to turn into the nice herbaceous border that i'd like it to be, i've put in the Lychnis from Redhall in the hope that they'll self-seed, and the Helenium from Carrie's...........gave the pyracantha a good feed and water because it's been looking a bit dry............not surprisingly because digging down shows just how bone-dry the ground is..........
...........dug up and ate the first potatoes...........absolutely perfect. and some red onions.........and some green beans.............picking ripe tomatoes daily and loads more to come..........and we had gooseberry and rhubarb for pudding.......the gooseberry has done very well for its first year.
................a few lettuce in for the autumn...........plans for winter onions and rainbow chard once the courgettes are over............
...........dug up and ate the first potatoes...........absolutely perfect. and some red onions.........and some green beans.............picking ripe tomatoes daily and loads more to come..........and we had gooseberry and rhubarb for pudding.......the gooseberry has done very well for its first year.
................a few lettuce in for the autumn...........plans for winter onions and rainbow chard once the courgettes are over............
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
o frog of mine
yes there is one!....................filled up the pond and did a bit of tidying and there he was sticking his slimy little nose through the duckweed...................i just hope he's got a lady friend or the wildlife pond may be short-lived...................will he sing i wonder?...............while tidying i noticed a mysterious purple plant that seems to have appeared next to the heather by the pondside, no idea what that is..................the Michaelmas daisies have now formed a huge clump, and there's something else appeared that looks like one of the stocks, but nowhere near the others...............
...............we ate the first courgettes and yellow squash last night, bursting with pride. so easy, and so pretty. the chilies are coming on well................so are the gooseberries..............however the veggie patch has become very overgrown with potato foliage. no idea if there are actually any potatoes under it..................suspect not with it having been so dry, but then we weren't even trying to grow them last year and up they came..............some more foliageis fighting its way out of the compost.................the onions may have had it, being smothered with borage and potato, but i've cleared it a bit and we'll see what's there once it dries out..............
.............put in the Lychnis from Redhall and some more of Mum's kaffir lilies...............there's a bit of a gap just now when the poppies and bleeding-hearts are finished and before the montbretia come out, so i need to put some more perennials in. need more salads too as they've been chewed somewhat.................corn salad is on its way but i might try some under cloches to keep the snails off...............
...............we ate the first courgettes and yellow squash last night, bursting with pride. so easy, and so pretty. the chilies are coming on well................so are the gooseberries..............however the veggie patch has become very overgrown with potato foliage. no idea if there are actually any potatoes under it..................suspect not with it having been so dry, but then we weren't even trying to grow them last year and up they came..............some more foliageis fighting its way out of the compost.................the onions may have had it, being smothered with borage and potato, but i've cleared it a bit and we'll see what's there once it dries out..............
.............put in the Lychnis from Redhall and some more of Mum's kaffir lilies...............there's a bit of a gap just now when the poppies and bleeding-hearts are finished and before the montbretia come out, so i need to put some more perennials in. need more salads too as they've been chewed somewhat.................corn salad is on its way but i might try some under cloches to keep the snails off...............
Saturday, July 15, 2006
8 ft lovage
......it looks very impressive but as herbs go it's not exactly useful.............the golden oregano is looking extremely healthy though and at least can go in the pasta.............nice clump of chervil in the hanging gardens...............and dill in one of the baskets..........
........tiny green tomatoes are now making their appearance, and most exciting of all, tiny yellow squash. courgette flowers also on the way, and the onions have fallen over like they're meant to which my book says means they're ready. i've eaten a few tiny strawberries off the clump in the wild area............and there are a few gooseberries coming too. not sure what's happening in the potato patch................copious healthy-looking foliage but it remains to be seen whether there's anything underneath it..................
............some casualties of course......i thought the canary creeper was too good to be true. a couple of the courgette plants disappeared, fingers crossed for the rest............there has been some heavy rain but mostly it's been hot, dry and sunny which is probably helping. i also took the snails for a walk.................to the playing field. what's very strange is that there were loads living in the day lily, and yet they don't seem to eat it..........a few nibbles, but despite the numbers they hadn't stripped it. i suppose it makes sense not to eat your house but i didn't think they had the intellectual capacity to work that out. anyway.........a bucktful have gone to play cricket and i figure it may take them a little while to walk back.................
............watering this evening, i gave a frog a fright..........so some of the tadpoles did make it, or at least one. the pond is nice and murky so there are plenty of places for them to hide.
............flower-wise it looks a little bit sparse as various things have finished and others aren't out yet. the day lily will be out very soon, but the purple clematis has finished and so has the dicentra. the pyracantha has pretty little white flowers, i didn't think it would flower in its first year............can't see them too well behind good old Johnson's Blue, but that means nice berries in autumn. the organic rose is soldiering on as usual, and a peachy-coloured one has turned up in that clump that i don't recall having seen before..............
.......one of the prettiest effects is, as usual, completely accidental. i must have put some california poppy seeds in beside the orange patio rose.............they've come up and turned out to be a beautiful cream colour and it looks gorgeous. big clumps of borage have arrived too, always nice to have the flowers for our drinks...............i cleared away the aquilegias now they've finished, hoping to create more room for the lemon balm............
......at the front i put down some fenugreek as green manure, hoping to suppress the weeds...............planted another vinca, the purple one, and an epimedium.............the pink rose has stubbornly flowered, so although it must be bone-dry and devoid of nutrients under the tree, it's hanging in there........so is the one bit of paeony that refused to be dug up and moved to the back.........
...........geraniums very slow to flower, a few flowers beginning now but it's not exactly the glorious display i'd hoped for...still, once out they'll go on for ages and then they can come indoors to be made into cuttings for next year............my little alpine plantings look superb and i'm so pleased with how they've turned out. especially the pratias..............they are both covered in beautiful wee blue flowers and spreading between the cracks just as i wanted them to............there are huge clumps of thyme everywhere, i don't think i ever actually planted any but i'm not complaining...............a geranium has established itself under the tree which appears to have migrated from no. 16 as i saw it in their garden............so nice to have generous neighbours............
........tiny green tomatoes are now making their appearance, and most exciting of all, tiny yellow squash. courgette flowers also on the way, and the onions have fallen over like they're meant to which my book says means they're ready. i've eaten a few tiny strawberries off the clump in the wild area............and there are a few gooseberries coming too. not sure what's happening in the potato patch................copious healthy-looking foliage but it remains to be seen whether there's anything underneath it..................
............some casualties of course......i thought the canary creeper was too good to be true. a couple of the courgette plants disappeared, fingers crossed for the rest............there has been some heavy rain but mostly it's been hot, dry and sunny which is probably helping. i also took the snails for a walk.................to the playing field. what's very strange is that there were loads living in the day lily, and yet they don't seem to eat it..........a few nibbles, but despite the numbers they hadn't stripped it. i suppose it makes sense not to eat your house but i didn't think they had the intellectual capacity to work that out. anyway.........a bucktful have gone to play cricket and i figure it may take them a little while to walk back.................
............watering this evening, i gave a frog a fright..........so some of the tadpoles did make it, or at least one. the pond is nice and murky so there are plenty of places for them to hide.
............flower-wise it looks a little bit sparse as various things have finished and others aren't out yet. the day lily will be out very soon, but the purple clematis has finished and so has the dicentra. the pyracantha has pretty little white flowers, i didn't think it would flower in its first year............can't see them too well behind good old Johnson's Blue, but that means nice berries in autumn. the organic rose is soldiering on as usual, and a peachy-coloured one has turned up in that clump that i don't recall having seen before..............
.......one of the prettiest effects is, as usual, completely accidental. i must have put some california poppy seeds in beside the orange patio rose.............they've come up and turned out to be a beautiful cream colour and it looks gorgeous. big clumps of borage have arrived too, always nice to have the flowers for our drinks...............i cleared away the aquilegias now they've finished, hoping to create more room for the lemon balm............
......at the front i put down some fenugreek as green manure, hoping to suppress the weeds...............planted another vinca, the purple one, and an epimedium.............the pink rose has stubbornly flowered, so although it must be bone-dry and devoid of nutrients under the tree, it's hanging in there........so is the one bit of paeony that refused to be dug up and moved to the back.........
...........geraniums very slow to flower, a few flowers beginning now but it's not exactly the glorious display i'd hoped for...still, once out they'll go on for ages and then they can come indoors to be made into cuttings for next year............my little alpine plantings look superb and i'm so pleased with how they've turned out. especially the pratias..............they are both covered in beautiful wee blue flowers and spreading between the cracks just as i wanted them to............there are huge clumps of thyme everywhere, i don't think i ever actually planted any but i'm not complaining...............a geranium has established itself under the tree which appears to have migrated from no. 16 as i saw it in their garden............so nice to have generous neighbours............
Saturday, June 24, 2006
back from holiday, nothing has died..............Midsummer Day was characterised by some of the most atrocious weather ever seen, howling winds and horizontal rain............everything seems a bit dry here but most things have survived. the courgette which had the most anti-slug stuff on it has been eaten to extinction............not even a stump left..............and the delphinium has also disappeared. some of the Morning Glories haven't made it either but the ones on the window-sill seem OK. the slugs have also enjoyed the Livingstone daisies......maybe they'd be better at the front..........
....the purple clematis is putting on the most spectacular display ever seen, fabulous flowers which look great against the foliage of the yellow rose and the honeysuckle which is just emerging. the honeysuckle at the front is also flowering, much to my surprise, huge yellow flowers.................
..........at least one tadpole still alive, and the funny larva thing with the long tail...........Rosa Incognita from Hopetoun turns out to be pink, and the rose at the bottom on the arch is now flowering..............borage appearing where it wasn't planted as usual and almost out...........
......i've bought some scented geraniums at the Highland Show today to replace the courgette, hope we can take cutting and generate more and more...............
....the purple clematis is putting on the most spectacular display ever seen, fabulous flowers which look great against the foliage of the yellow rose and the honeysuckle which is just emerging. the honeysuckle at the front is also flowering, much to my surprise, huge yellow flowers.................
..........at least one tadpole still alive, and the funny larva thing with the long tail...........Rosa Incognita from Hopetoun turns out to be pink, and the rose at the bottom on the arch is now flowering..............borage appearing where it wasn't planted as usual and almost out...........
......i've bought some scented geraniums at the Highland Show today to replace the courgette, hope we can take cutting and generate more and more...............
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
wedding presents
at this time of year things change so quickly that there's something new to see every day.............latest excitement is the first mange-tout pea!!......about to be manged...........the purple clematis came out a couple of days ago, paeonies almost there but despite watering not quite out............red oriental poppies making a fine display but the pink ones are later. the Himalayan poppy has flowered, not as spectacularly as last year, but my book said it would flower once then die, so it clearly hasn't read it. nor has the Chilean glory vine, an annual, back for its third year........
.................i've tidied the back, put everything away, all plants now potted up..........hanging baskets doing really well, i've forgotten what i put in them but the tomatoes are looking good and starting to flower..............the potato plants are enormous and as usual there is a fine crop in the compost heap...sigh. i've risked putting the morning glories out, have never succeeded in growing them out side but it's warm, and the dry weather is keeping the gastropods at bay i think.............small lemon balm plants from last year in the herb bed, some new small thymes by the patio junction to try and soften it and keep the weeds down...........Isabel's alpine strawberries are in a pot or the alpinery.............still quite small but the main strawbs are flowering already............
................major task of tidying the front accomplished yesterday, to the accompaniment of Katisha and the neighbours' ginger boys having a frank exchange of views...........she looked very impressive all fluffed up like that...............they clearly thought so too because they sidled off again.............the front always looks such a mess once the bulb foliage dies down, rampant weeds everywhere...................but it seems to have decided it wants to be a cottage garden and is growing lovely frilly aquilegias which must have blown in from the neighbours; welsh poppies, and campanula.............i've got the Redhall woodchip down and it looks better, though i need some more for the back. the bit under the tree always looks a bit sad with nothing growing in it once the bulbs have gone...............maybe i should try some hellebores............
.................i've tidied the back, put everything away, all plants now potted up..........hanging baskets doing really well, i've forgotten what i put in them but the tomatoes are looking good and starting to flower..............the potato plants are enormous and as usual there is a fine crop in the compost heap...sigh. i've risked putting the morning glories out, have never succeeded in growing them out side but it's warm, and the dry weather is keeping the gastropods at bay i think.............small lemon balm plants from last year in the herb bed, some new small thymes by the patio junction to try and soften it and keep the weeds down...........Isabel's alpine strawberries are in a pot or the alpinery.............still quite small but the main strawbs are flowering already............
................major task of tidying the front accomplished yesterday, to the accompaniment of Katisha and the neighbours' ginger boys having a frank exchange of views...........she looked very impressive all fluffed up like that...............they clearly thought so too because they sidled off again.............the front always looks such a mess once the bulb foliage dies down, rampant weeds everywhere...................but it seems to have decided it wants to be a cottage garden and is growing lovely frilly aquilegias which must have blown in from the neighbours; welsh poppies, and campanula.............i've got the Redhall woodchip down and it looks better, though i need some more for the back. the bit under the tree always looks a bit sad with nothing growing in it once the bulbs have gone...............maybe i should try some hellebores............
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Flaming June
today it really is................hot. a succession of warm sunny days has brought everything out. the geraniums have arrived and are in their pots, and the bluebells are just finishing at the front, so time to put the woodchip down and remove the fine crop of weeds from aming the things that are meant to be there. they certainly don't seem to be bothered by the deep shade from the tree..............at the back the aquilegias are in full flower and so is the lilac, flowering profusely and looking very nice. interestingly, the yellow rose was the first to come out and has more flowers this year than i've seen before......the organic rose was later and is only just starting to flower now. the clematis are just finishing and the purple one isn't out yet, although i see John and Fiona's is, being on a west-facing wall. the campanulas and the rue are also doing their show at the bottom of the right-hand bed.............and the Himalayan poppy is not dead as i thought but is getting ready to flower. the Oriental poppies are definitely behind this year, not out yet........maybe the lack of rain has held them back.
...........the pond now has tadpoles! unlike Carrie's mine are not getting steak but are i hope eating all the midge larvae............the salad leaves are doing really well, i guess we need to eat more salad to keep up...............the lovage of course has grown to a great height, unlike the variegated lavender which looks most unhappy............need to eat more sorrel too, and the oregano looks beautifully healthy.............patio veggies a bit variable again, the tomoatoes have looked very miserable for a while but the sun seems to be perking them up..........potatoes going great guns in the veg bed, onions too...............fennel recovering from the move............jasmine looking much happier and starting to climb...........passion plant suddenly come to life........Marvel of Peru may have failed to be marvellous, the ones i took outside look to have died, the indoor ones still alive but no sign of flowers..............the delphinium in its pot seems to have been spared by the snails so far, as do the canary creepers.............lilies looking extremely well for some reason, having been left to freeze in their pots all winter with absolutely no attention, i sometimes feel that the more i cosset things the worse they do, whereas things that are just left to get on with it seem to do rather well...............
........as usual of course things are coming up in completely different locations from where i actually put them..............love-in-a-mist by the pond instead of in the bed...............borage everywhere..................the lemon balm from Sussex has survived and is fighting its way up among the persicarias..............
............lemon catmint has produced a germination rate of 1%.......which is better than the germination rate of 0% of the eryngiums so far...............chili peppers are doing well tho............passiflora also doing well and going off to be wedding presents soon...............
...........the pond now has tadpoles! unlike Carrie's mine are not getting steak but are i hope eating all the midge larvae............the salad leaves are doing really well, i guess we need to eat more salad to keep up...............the lovage of course has grown to a great height, unlike the variegated lavender which looks most unhappy............need to eat more sorrel too, and the oregano looks beautifully healthy.............patio veggies a bit variable again, the tomoatoes have looked very miserable for a while but the sun seems to be perking them up..........potatoes going great guns in the veg bed, onions too...............fennel recovering from the move............jasmine looking much happier and starting to climb...........passion plant suddenly come to life........Marvel of Peru may have failed to be marvellous, the ones i took outside look to have died, the indoor ones still alive but no sign of flowers..............the delphinium in its pot seems to have been spared by the snails so far, as do the canary creepers.............lilies looking extremely well for some reason, having been left to freeze in their pots all winter with absolutely no attention, i sometimes feel that the more i cosset things the worse they do, whereas things that are just left to get on with it seem to do rather well...............
........as usual of course things are coming up in completely different locations from where i actually put them..............love-in-a-mist by the pond instead of in the bed...............borage everywhere..................the lemon balm from Sussex has survived and is fighting its way up among the persicarias..............
............lemon catmint has produced a germination rate of 1%.......which is better than the germination rate of 0% of the eryngiums so far...............chili peppers are doing well tho............passiflora also doing well and going off to be wedding presents soon...............
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Merry May
long gap, because of course there's been far too much to do in the garden for there to be time for writing. after the usual pause where big bare bits appear between the spring bulbs, everything has suddenly surged up and it all looks rather good. of course it helps not to be working............all the plants are clearly benefiting from the attention. there have been some lovely warm days.......last year was relentlessly cold and wet until the end of May, but it's been a lot milder this time although interestingly some things, like the Oriental poppies, the organic rose and the paeonies, seem to me to be later than last year. none are out yet. the bulbs are almost finished apart from the bluebells, so the ones in pots have gone into the gaps, the woodchip is ready to go down at the front, and we await the arrival of the geraniums from Oxfam. Carrie has ordered a huge bag of compost which is all sitting ready for the empty pots............
..........already we're eating home-grown salad leaves. the sorrel has done extremely well and a little clump of salad burnet reappeared in the ex-herb bed............plus, wouldn't you know, the lovage............oh well, it's decorative and it gives the snails something to eat. however, so far despite some wet weather, they've been rather good and not eaten anything vital. potatoes are in and sprouting; onions are shallots ditto, fennel coming back to life, four kinds of mint going.............we're finished off the alpine wall and dressed it with shell sand which looks very nice. our veronica from Cornwall is in its own pot with some home-grown antirrhinums.......we haven't seen the variety "Georgia Blue" anywhere else which may mean it won't grow here, but i've bought a couple of other veronicas because the flowers are so pretty. an artichoke sits in the big blue pot in splendour............the tomatoes are out, though looking a bit pinched and unhappy..........even the Tesco basil looks very healthy, the Thai basil also doing very well, and the purple basil from last year's seeds. the runner beans are in the hanging gardens of Trinity making friends with John and Fiona's honeysuckle. clematis in full flower at the moment, and first Cystis flower out today. no sign of the bergamot, it may be a casualty......or the corydalis which i suspect has become a juicy snail snack.
...........poor old Australian tree fern completely bone-dry so i've re-potted it with moss and a good soak and put it beside the mini-pond which contains water mint, irises and a Bloody Dock.......the LOTV still sulking in the pot doing absolutely nothing, so maybe i need to give up and move them to SQ............
.........bought loads of plants at Redhall open day, endearingly chaotic but cheap...........including the Flora Incognita which is now part of the Mum Memorial Garden at Carrie's..........some red Lysimachia "Firecracker" which i fully expected the snails to eat but maybe the shell mulch is working..............the coffee grounds and Germolene seem to be keeping them off the canary creeper so far.................
.................most of the seedlings are now at their final destinations, apart from courgettes just in and some more flower seeds..........they were right about the lemon catmint being slow to germinate, two seedlings out of 100 is not a great percentage i feel........okra still alive but not looking terribly enthusiastic.......chili pepper plants look healthy tho and need potting on, and the passiflora beginning to take off, unlike its mate outside..........
........oh, and of course the Marvel of Peru................well, they have grown to a great height so i've just re-potted them, kept most indoors but one out to see how it gets on, with tomatoes and a runner bean................morning glories are staying inside and happliy climbing up the bathroom blind, but i've got some more that can go in the hanging gardens once they've sprouted...........
..........already we're eating home-grown salad leaves. the sorrel has done extremely well and a little clump of salad burnet reappeared in the ex-herb bed............plus, wouldn't you know, the lovage............oh well, it's decorative and it gives the snails something to eat. however, so far despite some wet weather, they've been rather good and not eaten anything vital. potatoes are in and sprouting; onions are shallots ditto, fennel coming back to life, four kinds of mint going.............we're finished off the alpine wall and dressed it with shell sand which looks very nice. our veronica from Cornwall is in its own pot with some home-grown antirrhinums.......we haven't seen the variety "Georgia Blue" anywhere else which may mean it won't grow here, but i've bought a couple of other veronicas because the flowers are so pretty. an artichoke sits in the big blue pot in splendour............the tomatoes are out, though looking a bit pinched and unhappy..........even the Tesco basil looks very healthy, the Thai basil also doing very well, and the purple basil from last year's seeds. the runner beans are in the hanging gardens of Trinity making friends with John and Fiona's honeysuckle. clematis in full flower at the moment, and first Cystis flower out today. no sign of the bergamot, it may be a casualty......or the corydalis which i suspect has become a juicy snail snack.
...........poor old Australian tree fern completely bone-dry so i've re-potted it with moss and a good soak and put it beside the mini-pond which contains water mint, irises and a Bloody Dock.......the LOTV still sulking in the pot doing absolutely nothing, so maybe i need to give up and move them to SQ............
.........bought loads of plants at Redhall open day, endearingly chaotic but cheap...........including the Flora Incognita which is now part of the Mum Memorial Garden at Carrie's..........some red Lysimachia "Firecracker" which i fully expected the snails to eat but maybe the shell mulch is working..............the coffee grounds and Germolene seem to be keeping them off the canary creeper so far.................
.................most of the seedlings are now at their final destinations, apart from courgettes just in and some more flower seeds..........they were right about the lemon catmint being slow to germinate, two seedlings out of 100 is not a great percentage i feel........okra still alive but not looking terribly enthusiastic.......chili pepper plants look healthy tho and need potting on, and the passiflora beginning to take off, unlike its mate outside..........
........oh, and of course the Marvel of Peru................well, they have grown to a great height so i've just re-potted them, kept most indoors but one out to see how it gets on, with tomatoes and a runner bean................morning glories are staying inside and happliy climbing up the bathroom blind, but i've got some more that can go in the hanging gardens once they've sprouted...........
Monday, April 10, 2006
Garden Room
either the garden is taking over the house, or the house is taking over the garden...........the dining-room repainted has now become the garden room and intensive care unit. there has been much re-potting and tidying, and it looks rather nice. by one of those serendipitous things, i found exactly the kind of chair i wanted upstairs in the spare room...........no idea where it came from but it looks just right. the windowsill is now kitted out with trays, and full of seedlings. the plan is to keep the summer bulbs indoors until it's very much warmer..........i've gone wrong before by putting things out too soon, spring it may be, but it's still pretty cold. however.....the freesias are off and running....and the Marvel of Peru.............how could anyone resist growing something called Marvel of Peru? - but i've never actually managed to see what they look like. there is a begonia bulb and a lily bulb sulking in pots, hopefully to provide some indoor flowers..........and the giant begonia is now in an enormous china pot and has had several more babies in the process.
...........raising seeds for two gardens is quite an undertaking and a bit experimental...........but only the gypsophila have completely failed to make it. everything else has at least come up, so far so good..........my tomatoes are doing brilliantly and even the chillies came up after a long pause.........
..........outside the bulbs are blooming................it looks rather nice and more things that i thought were dead are surging into life...........catmint for the cats to chew and throw up on the carpet........and certainly something happening where the lemon balm was..........the black peppermint is beginning to sprout, and even the Himalayan poppy turns out not to be defunct after all..............no sign of the corydalis though, i'm sure it was around by this time last year.........the yellow buttercup "Brazen Hussy" is doing its thing and spreading like mad..........i've planted the mystery Hopetoun rose and moved the Choisya, this is its last chance...........put in some Kaffir lilies and a spirea from Mum's garden.........moved the hebe from under the rose and the lavender too............planted bog iris in the mini-pond........two ivies in pots for contrast...........both the chaenomeles are doing well, and the new clematis was not destroyed by slugs after all, or at least not yet............
............veg-wise the onions are in, and the potatoes are chitting in the downstairs toilet. the salads are sprouting nicely in the raised bed, and amazingly, the Hanging Gardens of Trinity have started to sprout again of their own accord!.............planted garlic beside the mystery rose, and the strawberry is also still alive............
...........raising seeds for two gardens is quite an undertaking and a bit experimental...........but only the gypsophila have completely failed to make it. everything else has at least come up, so far so good..........my tomatoes are doing brilliantly and even the chillies came up after a long pause.........
..........outside the bulbs are blooming................it looks rather nice and more things that i thought were dead are surging into life...........catmint for the cats to chew and throw up on the carpet........and certainly something happening where the lemon balm was..........the black peppermint is beginning to sprout, and even the Himalayan poppy turns out not to be defunct after all..............no sign of the corydalis though, i'm sure it was around by this time last year.........the yellow buttercup "Brazen Hussy" is doing its thing and spreading like mad..........i've planted the mystery Hopetoun rose and moved the Choisya, this is its last chance...........put in some Kaffir lilies and a spirea from Mum's garden.........moved the hebe from under the rose and the lavender too............planted bog iris in the mini-pond........two ivies in pots for contrast...........both the chaenomeles are doing well, and the new clematis was not destroyed by slugs after all, or at least not yet............
............veg-wise the onions are in, and the potatoes are chitting in the downstairs toilet. the salads are sprouting nicely in the raised bed, and amazingly, the Hanging Gardens of Trinity have started to sprout again of their own accord!.............planted garlic beside the mystery rose, and the strawberry is also still alive............
Friday, February 17, 2006
Spring clean
is is less cold this year or am i getting tougher? since i met Carrie i have certainly acquired more outdoor clothing...........and the imperative of having two gardens to do instead of one has forced us out early..................what's so nice is to see the signs of growth already, even so early in the year. a lot of things that i thought were dead have turned out not to be after all, clipping and clearing the dead vegetation reveals little shoots at the base. i did very little tidying before the winter...........wildlife garden you know.........and was rewarded by Dorcas bringing in a frog (alive), and by visits from a handsome great spotted woodpecker. the birds are quite spoiled and have a luxury circuit between me and my neighbours with plenty of courses to choose from.........the old apples have been a great success with the blackbirds, but they're not so sure about the turkey stock.........
since i don't have any notes from this time in the year before, i don't know if it always looks as bare as this. apart from the bulbs there are huge gaps, and it's hard to remember how big some of the plants will get later and resist the temptation to throw more things in. and of course, there are never enough bulbs. however............i've stocked the problem bit by the lilac with Christmas roses and a Christmas box............last year it just became a mass of weeds and grass and i need to keep a closer eye on it this time..........
..............turning scientific, i tested the soil for the first time ever.............with some interesting results. the right-hand bed turns out to be acid, which may explain why some things have done well there and some haven't. i've stuck in a pyracantha, given the vinca a severe haircut because i don't want it swamping everything, tidied up the ceanothus which looks very nice but didn't flower last year. the Himalayan poppy may be dead as apparently they only flower once, but i've put in the ones i grew, which look absolutely nothing like it and may turn out to be a lovingly cultivated weed. the oriental poppies are still going strong, but there are still some gaps......it's early yet though so worth waiting to see what else is in there.........
Catmint Corner looks a bit scruffy but has benefited from a tidy.............no sign of the lemon balm, but it may still be alive............the hemerocallis is flourishing already, i remember it did this last year then grew absolutely huge in the summer and filled that whole space........
............let us not forget the carefully constructed and beautiful new veggie beds at the bottom through the arch...............one lone occupant in the form of the bronze fennel so far, but great plans............
Hopetoun's search-and-rescue corner has provided a mystery chaenomeles, a white currant, and a mystery rose. i've just put in another chaenomeles at the front but it's a bit of an experiment, hopefully one of them will make it. one of the pot clemati has gone to SQ and i've planted the other at the front - again a bit of an experiment. we also rescued a nice wee hebe and a perfectly healthy-looking escallonia for Carrie's garden, plus a mystery variegated bush, we know not wot but it looks quite nice anyway.............
..............plans include the mini-pond and the indoor hydroponic garden........and now that we have our COLD FRAME the sky's the limit............
since i don't have any notes from this time in the year before, i don't know if it always looks as bare as this. apart from the bulbs there are huge gaps, and it's hard to remember how big some of the plants will get later and resist the temptation to throw more things in. and of course, there are never enough bulbs. however............i've stocked the problem bit by the lilac with Christmas roses and a Christmas box............last year it just became a mass of weeds and grass and i need to keep a closer eye on it this time..........
..............turning scientific, i tested the soil for the first time ever.............with some interesting results. the right-hand bed turns out to be acid, which may explain why some things have done well there and some haven't. i've stuck in a pyracantha, given the vinca a severe haircut because i don't want it swamping everything, tidied up the ceanothus which looks very nice but didn't flower last year. the Himalayan poppy may be dead as apparently they only flower once, but i've put in the ones i grew, which look absolutely nothing like it and may turn out to be a lovingly cultivated weed. the oriental poppies are still going strong, but there are still some gaps......it's early yet though so worth waiting to see what else is in there.........
Catmint Corner looks a bit scruffy but has benefited from a tidy.............no sign of the lemon balm, but it may still be alive............the hemerocallis is flourishing already, i remember it did this last year then grew absolutely huge in the summer and filled that whole space........
............let us not forget the carefully constructed and beautiful new veggie beds at the bottom through the arch...............one lone occupant in the form of the bronze fennel so far, but great plans............
Hopetoun's search-and-rescue corner has provided a mystery chaenomeles, a white currant, and a mystery rose. i've just put in another chaenomeles at the front but it's a bit of an experiment, hopefully one of them will make it. one of the pot clemati has gone to SQ and i've planted the other at the front - again a bit of an experiment. we also rescued a nice wee hebe and a perfectly healthy-looking escallonia for Carrie's garden, plus a mystery variegated bush, we know not wot but it looks quite nice anyway.............
..............plans include the mini-pond and the indoor hydroponic garden........and now that we have our COLD FRAME the sky's the limit............
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
how embarrassing
OK, so it isn't rhubarb..............but it's Chinese rhubarb so an understandable mistake.........no wonder it's grown so much, it apparently reaches a height of 6 ft so i think it's going to have to move house at some point...........
...........the new arch looks good and the rose and jasmine appear to be surviving. this is a long period of drought............we refilled the pond yesterday because it was almost empty, and put the log from Hill House in a strategic spot...............some of the thymes etc at the front seem to have died of thirst and the water barrel is very low.............grass in the wild area all yellow..........strawberries ripening nicely and the courgettes have sudenly grown to a massive size, no flowers yet tho..........some of the new things like the veronica and the angel's fishing-rod looking a bit unhappy and requiring more home-made compost, i must say it does look rather nice.......
........we got a free tree at Hopetoun House summer fair.........a rowan to keep the witches away, now planted at the bottom by the bins..........runner beans now moved to hang on the new arch so they can climb up it................
...........the new arch looks good and the rose and jasmine appear to be surviving. this is a long period of drought............we refilled the pond yesterday because it was almost empty, and put the log from Hill House in a strategic spot...............some of the thymes etc at the front seem to have died of thirst and the water barrel is very low.............grass in the wild area all yellow..........strawberries ripening nicely and the courgettes have sudenly grown to a massive size, no flowers yet tho..........some of the new things like the veronica and the angel's fishing-rod looking a bit unhappy and requiring more home-made compost, i must say it does look rather nice.......
........we got a free tree at Hopetoun House summer fair.........a rowan to keep the witches away, now planted at the bottom by the bins..........runner beans now moved to hang on the new arch so they can climb up it................
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
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