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

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

Chive flowers; gladiolus byzantinus; Oriental poppies: delphinium

The Rescue Rose

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

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

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

The Time of Year

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

Helga in bloom!

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

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

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

Pride and Joy

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

Hip hip hooray

Yes we have frogspawn again. Photos to be added.. but I have to work out how we can keep the froglets safe from our cross eyed mighty hunter who likes to stick her great big clawed paw down on top of them.

Chionodoxa "Glory of the Snow"

Katisha helping to prune the catmint

well it is a mess but that's the point of doing the tidying I guess......................

Hyacinth "Delft Blue"

spring tulips

Here's a pretty mess

It's been a long cold lonely winter................................but it seems that the spring is here at last. It's been far too cold to do any work in the garden at all, until now..........but everything has suddenly burst into life so it's time for the post-winter tidy, and to see what has survived. A few pots have cracked..................the cuttings in the greenhouse died.............and it looks as though the prostrate rosemary may not have made it................but remarkably most other things seem OK and are beginning to resurface. The spring bulbs are as usual looking extremely pretty.......................I've moved the Braeburn apple out of its pot and into the ground, and split the mystery day lily. The cold frame has gone to a good home via Frecycle, Carrie has cleaned out the greenhouse (aka winter cat toilet...........), and I have harvested last year's crop of tiny carrots. Veg seeds are on order......................houseplants have had a titivate and a few gone to the compost to be recycled into next year's veg. We have rosary vines like other people have mice, I took loads of cuttings for the OSP sale, not expecting them to take, but they all did so I have lots of extra peace lilies and Christmas cacti..................I'm going to try some tomatoes indoors this year, they did so badly last year both inside and outside because there wasn't enough sun to ripen them. I wonder if the morning glory will come back......................it had loads of seeds so I've just buried them all and watered it and we'll see if anything happens.................

winter-hardy vegetable....................

Hebe

frozen in thyme..................

REALLY cold frame....................

snow up to the oxters is no fun..........................but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.............

and whose are these sweet little pawprints?...............

our beautiful apples........................tasted great too.............. !

Japanese maple in all its autumn splendour.................

dew on the love-in-a-mist

taken in misty autumn.......................

Frozen veg

In the bleak midwinter..................some things are still valiantly alive. the chard and broccoli are stiff with frost but hanging in there...........the pond is frozen solid and Carrie is defrosting the bird bath every day. more is forecast.............we've had the first white Christmas for many years, and the cats object greatly to having to use an outside toilet in such cold weather..................

Autumn planting

I have just cleared away the runner bean plants, bolted chard and some of the squash plants. The broad beans I sowed about 4 weeks ago are 6 inches high and now in the bed.

Cut the lawn for the final time this year. Wanted to make final installment of compost but beaten by dusk.. composting as been this years thrilling development, my hottest hot heap went up to 55 deg C.. fantastic.

bye-bye annuals. it always feels a bit sad to pull things up especially when there are still a few flowers..............but it means we can see the sedums, and make room for the wallflowers..............

interesting to compare the actual flower with the picture on the packet, it's much more pink...............was also supposed to flower in the summer but i did put them in quite late i think. it's called "Dizzy"!...............

mega sunflower head, destined to be bird food........................

geranium cuttings in the greenhouse

Autumn trim

September has been very warm and dry so rather than the garden going to bed, it's woken up again and all sorts of things that didn't do much in the spring are flowering now. the rescue rose and yellow rose not of Texas are both laden with flowers, as is the purple clematis and the Cystis. however...........it is time to do a little tidying up. so Carrie has been working on her beloved compost heap, and i've given the Persicaria its winter haircut and taken some cuttings, as well as some of the lemon balm and the geraniums. tender basils now indoors............Georgia Blue rescued from its tub into a pot. more salads planted in the greenhouse..............we still have rocket, corn salad, bull's blood and leaf beet outside but we wanted some more started for over the winter. annuals are out and wallflowers are in...............catmint trimmed and the passion flower retrieved from its hiding-place behind the fennel..............
empty seed packets tell the tale of what worked and what didn't.......................after much labour the Chinese forget-me-not produced ONE flower, the godetias were also much weaker than last year but the cornflowers did brilliantly again. the dahlia "My Love" is flowering really nicely, and the cerinthe also a great success. courgettes almost finished, tomatoes have been very slow but ripening at last....................strange, because it was a much warmer summer but the outdoor ones did almost nothing. runner beans very successful, the mini-carrots and beetroot too..................have just picked another lot of blueberries, and we have three different kinds of apples ready to eat!.....................

and now even more ready to eat. does this not just look like something you'd see in the Sunday supplements.............Nigella eat your heart out............

still life with veg............

Is this not beautiful. A squash!..............and beetroot, courgettes and rhubarb all ready to eat............

Love-in-a-mist "Miss Jekyll"

Ipomea "Kiss Me Quick"...................!!

other pride and joy.................biggest ever sunflower!

our pride and joy......................amazing squash!

Godetia

the other day lily....................think this may have come from Mum's, no idea what kind it is and i think this is its first year flowering. beautiful double flowers...............worth the wait!

Phlox in flower

Random Harvest

Haven't really got our act together since we came back from holiday so out today for a bit of minor tidying.......................pulling up obsolete bolted lettuce, chard and rocket and planting more salad, picking beans and peas, cutting down some wilted borage etc. everything very lush................first blueberries now ripening so no need to go all the way down the garden to graze...............first tomatoes appearing too but still green. courgettes cropping steadily, runner beans ditto.............haven't looked at the potatoes yet to see what they're up to. PSB planted for next winter and delphimium seeds harvested...................