Summer flowers

Who's da mummy.......parent of cutting that went to Alison in Glasgow to replace her garden that the neighbours had "weeded"......

And not forgetting the front garden. The baby mock orange has never flowered before, and the honeysuckle (non-scented, sadly) has never flowered so prolifically. Nor have we previously seen the white foxglove.  And anyone who thinks that a rose will neither grow nor flower in very dry soil and deep shade under a tree hasn't seen this one......

Out of the greenhouse......and on to a plate. Food miles: 0

June Is Bustin' Out All Over......

Before there are any smart comments, it's meant to be like that. Wildflower meadow innit. 

Why is it no-one ever gave me yet

One perfect limousine, do you suppose?

Oh no, it's always been my luck to get

One perfect rose....

Another victory for Sweden.....

Crown Princess Margareta wins the "'Tis The First Rose of Summer 2015" award.......

Cherry blossom

Healthy herbs

Chervil and spearmint looking extremely fit

Crown Princess Margareta in bud...

Veggie planting

With assistance from Monte.........

Cactus nursery

16th January 2015

Isn't chervil wonderful stuff. The Mediterranean hers are all cringing in their pots looking pinched and withered and totally miserable as the wind and hail batter their leaves, while the chervil waves its cheery little fronds in the air, having started to come up in October and now looking very fit and healthy.....

Prroduce......

THE FIG!...............I held out for as long as I could hoping it wouldn't finish ripening till Carrie got back from her long-haul trip........but alas it was starting to split, so I had to eat it. Itt was delicious. 

And the mystery squash.......

We has apples...............

December 28th. Never give up........

Catching up

The sudden radio silence last year was due to a number of factors, mainly to me not being able to figure out how to upload photos from the iPad, since cameras are now so last century. Also, we were so busy with Fringe shows and visitors that the poor old garden got completely neglected........and having the overflow accommodation, i.e. tent, in the middle of the lawn meant we couldn't actually get past it to see what was happening in the veggie patch. Which, among other things, was this:

We think it might have been one of the seedlings we brought back from Cornwall, but of course have no idea what kind of squash it was. Other than that it was rather tasty. However, everything else more or less carried on as usual, and when the Art Shed's grass roof was relieved of its duties it came back to cover the big bald bit in the lawn where the tent had been.......................

Apple blossom time.............early May

Wallflowers still going

New rose "Crown Princess Margareta"

  Tree peony 15th May

California poppies out......

Organic rose and back lilac 29th May

Lovely pond iris - 31st May

Flutterbye in August

A wee familiar face.......

 Ginger mint in its new location

Monte investigates the grass roof...........

Harvesting.................

Slow start

First vegetables were actually eaten in January, as the chard and rocket kept going all through the winter. Some things never  stopped, e.g. the lobelias in the pots at the front, north-facing etc.......the last sweet pea flowered in December. Well, it was mild.................and in parts of England, terrible flooding, but none for us. So this year everything more or less on schedule. The garden has kind of done its own thing with little assistance from us so far, but another Easter in Cornwall doing a major blitz on the Lost Gardens of Tregaminion reminded us that our own little patch is a bit neglected so a modest amount of tidying has been done, and today we had our first lunch outside with the frogs. Spring has sprung. The cherry tree is in full bloom, lilac just on its way but no roses yet. Have planted new rescue rose Crown Princess Margareta in the bed next to the organic rose and hope they will get on. All last year's seeds which we planted in the full expectation that they would not come up actually have, so there are lots of baby sage, Oriental poppy and delphinium plants to be accommodated, and a new caryopteris (son of very old one from Colinton Road which must now be about 20..........) and a spare lemon verbena. Herbs have mostly made it so only dill and basil to plant: for some reason the borage has all decided to grow in the front garden this year rather than the back for reasons best known to itself, which means a long walk from the kitchen to get the flowers for our drinks, gracious living has its price...................

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

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