first dahlia "Bishop of Llandaff".............uneaten............
Sunday, July 25, 2004
oh what a beautiful morning
..well it wasn't actually, it was wet and miserable.........but by the time i got up to go to church it was gorgeous...............went to have lunch with F & K and the kids, but soon the sight of them trimming their hedge was too much, i could feel the lawn calling me.............."mooowwwwwww mmeeeeeee..........." so i went home and did just that. refilled the pond, put the fuchsias outside, moved those very unhappy New Guinea impatiens..........planted the Persicarias by the pond, and the new Nepeta in "Catmint Corner".......... and the delphiniums. well, one can always hope. no doubt the snails will appreciate a change to their diet. gave the begonias some comfrey feed. gave the pond iris a concrete overcoat............well, not quite, but had the bright idea of weighting it to make it stay put and stop it wandering round the pond..........hope the lump of cement i've wired it to doesn't poison it. dead-headed the roses, the organic rose is having another flush of flowers........planted the wild strawberry............picked the tomatoes.........oh, the pride. i'm going to eat them with my tuna tonight.
.......i suppose some people might think it was eccentric to give your best friend a bunch of mint, caraway, marjoram and Vietnamese coriander for her birthday, but Fiona seemed pleased, they always like things you can eat. their new garden is lovely too now that everything's up.
............planted some rocket......bought a few cheapo things for pots since the pansies have bit the dust..............moved the impatiens outside to the front step as they're flowering like mad but getting all aphidy indoors....even the camera had aphids............the front looks OK, still a bit dry and bare under the tree but the alpines in the gravel distract from that bit, and there's time enough to plant it up some more................
............first love-in-a-mist is out! - and such a beautiful blue. more on the way, and the escholzia sprouting by the roses...........that bit still looks rather sad and bare, but we'll see what comes up.........the bit where the lavenders are is still something of a mess, those stocks have done nothing except grow leaves, no sign of them flowering...maybe it's too shady. also lots of grass and weeds which is very difficult to separate from the plants. plus big heap of weed scooped from the pond......fertiliser...........
.......i suppose some people might think it was eccentric to give your best friend a bunch of mint, caraway, marjoram and Vietnamese coriander for her birthday, but Fiona seemed pleased, they always like things you can eat. their new garden is lovely too now that everything's up.
............planted some rocket......bought a few cheapo things for pots since the pansies have bit the dust..............moved the impatiens outside to the front step as they're flowering like mad but getting all aphidy indoors....even the camera had aphids............the front looks OK, still a bit dry and bare under the tree but the alpines in the gravel distract from that bit, and there's time enough to plant it up some more................
............first love-in-a-mist is out! - and such a beautiful blue. more on the way, and the escholzia sprouting by the roses...........that bit still looks rather sad and bare, but we'll see what comes up.........the bit where the lavenders are is still something of a mess, those stocks have done nothing except grow leaves, no sign of them flowering...maybe it's too shady. also lots of grass and weeds which is very difficult to separate from the plants. plus big heap of weed scooped from the pond......fertiliser...........
Monday, July 19, 2004
mumble grump
it's so easy to go out and look at the garden and think, why is it such a mess? especially when i've just been to the Botanics and admired their herbaceous border and wondered why mine doesn't look like that..........answer: because i haven't had 100 years and armies of gardeners to make it look like that............we are kind of between flowers at the moment, but that diascia has to be the best value for money of any plant i've ever put in, still flowering away madly by the pond..............the geraniums have finished so there's just loads of foliage and no flowers...............the poppies "Angels Choir" are just starting to flower, and a couple more days and we'll have love-in-a-mist............also the organic rose hasn't finished after all, it's putting out a couple more buds...........
...........most of the underplantings are now being swamped by the big plants so i might move a few into the pondside gravel...........loads of clumps of grass are growing through it, in fact loads of clumps of grass are growing everywhere but in the lawn..........they're easy enough to pull out but it would be nice to have some little thymes and such........the catmint seems to be spreading everywhere as well............
.....need to move the stripey hemerocallis i think, it's being completely dwarfed by the other one and not getting any light, in fact that whole corner needs a makeover............the original hemero has grown absolutely huge and is having a second flush of flowers............did i put steroids in that comfrey feed i wonder?.............
...........most of the underplantings are now being swamped by the big plants so i might move a few into the pondside gravel...........loads of clumps of grass are growing through it, in fact loads of clumps of grass are growing everywhere but in the lawn..........they're easy enough to pull out but it would be nice to have some little thymes and such........the catmint seems to be spreading everywhere as well............
.....need to move the stripey hemerocallis i think, it's being completely dwarfed by the other one and not getting any light, in fact that whole corner needs a makeover............the original hemero has grown absolutely huge and is having a second flush of flowers............did i put steroids in that comfrey feed i wonder?.............
Sunday, July 11, 2004
serene sunday
oh how i love our light nights..........came back from the meeting and pottered about a bit till after nine, it's a bit close and midgies tonight but i got the weeding done at the front and put the courgette plants in their new home............they look lovely and juicy and i'm sure the snails will be delighted..........would we love the summer so much if we didn't have the cold and dark of winter to get through i wonder......
.........that huge weed in front of the compost bins is actually an aphid farm. i was going to pull it up until i noticed all the little blighters clinging to the stems and the ants tramping up and down with the milk buckets...........all very wildlifey and organic and hopefully if the ants are stuffed full of honeydew they won't be able to eat any of the plants...........
.....pond was all weed and no pond so i've refilled it and hoicked out the weed, i don't think it is leaking after all but we'll see what it looks like tomorrow.......chucked in rockery seeds, mowed the grass, it's hard to tell the difference between the wild garden and the rest because it all looks pretty wild at the moment......planted the dwarf comfrey where the runner beans used to be, sigh...........will have to think of something to make out of huge bunches of mint, there's a limit to how much mint tea a girl can drink, and as for bloody lovage..........
.........that huge weed in front of the compost bins is actually an aphid farm. i was going to pull it up until i noticed all the little blighters clinging to the stems and the ants tramping up and down with the milk buckets...........all very wildlifey and organic and hopefully if the ants are stuffed full of honeydew they won't be able to eat any of the plants...........
.....pond was all weed and no pond so i've refilled it and hoicked out the weed, i don't think it is leaking after all but we'll see what it looks like tomorrow.......chucked in rockery seeds, mowed the grass, it's hard to tell the difference between the wild garden and the rest because it all looks pretty wild at the moment......planted the dwarf comfrey where the runner beans used to be, sigh...........will have to think of something to make out of huge bunches of mint, there's a limit to how much mint tea a girl can drink, and as for bloody lovage..........
prima donna
i wonder if the pond has a leak.............the water level dropped to almost nothing but i filled it up again and it seems to be holding.............perhaps just because it's been warmer it's evaporating faster. i need to clear all that weed. i just worried that the rain has loosened the liner...........it was so full that it was actually washing over that flat slab, but i think as usual i'm worrying about nothing. i just had visions of having to empty it and re-line it...........
.........so, the begonia "Prima Donna" has decided it's not dead after all. i left it in a dark corner under the lilac, but in spite of that it's putting up leaves. so i've moved it, weeded it and given it some comfrey (or midgie) feed.....and it's visibly grown since yesterday.
.........so, the begonia "Prima Donna" has decided it's not dead after all. i left it in a dark corner under the lilac, but in spite of that it's putting up leaves. so i've moved it, weeded it and given it some comfrey (or midgie) feed.....and it's visibly grown since yesterday.
Wednesday, July 07, 2004
flying snails
when i said before i went away that i would like it to rain so that my plants wouldn't die, i forgot to say "and you can stop once i get home". weeks of torrential rain are keeping everything lovely and green but making it hard to get anything done. the pond got full almost to overflowing..............and the gastropods are in heaven. they've climbed right up the Bishop of Llandaff dahlia ignoring all the leaves to eat the nice juicy bit just below the flower head............and we can forget the green beans i think. but the star had to be the one that came in and was found halfway up the stairs.........having left a cute little trail of slime on the stair carpet............there are two in the kitchen this morning so i guess they really are coming in through the cat-door. they must be quite strong to be able to push it open, so i suppose dahlia stem must have the same effect as spinach. or maybe the electric shocks from the anti-slug tape are having an ECT-like effect and making them feel so good that they can barge through the cat-door and climb the stairs no problem. i'm not quite sure what they think they're going to do when they get upstairs but i suppose they can always start on the houseplants.
............one anemone almost out. i cut the last organic rose for Nan when she was round for dinner...we're kind of between roses at the moment because the orange one isn't quite out yet, in fact a few things have finished so there's a flower-free gap, apart from the diascia still blooming away madly. the lavenders are out and have grown really well, that bed will look good in a couple of years. the comfrey feed looks more like a midgie breeding station and has probably got a bit diluted by all the rain so there may not be many vitamins in it...........
.........one tomato almost ripe!.........oh the excitement. i'm not quite sure what haute cuisine i can produce with one tomato the size of a marble but i'm sure i'll think of something.......
............one anemone almost out. i cut the last organic rose for Nan when she was round for dinner...we're kind of between roses at the moment because the orange one isn't quite out yet, in fact a few things have finished so there's a flower-free gap, apart from the diascia still blooming away madly. the lavenders are out and have grown really well, that bed will look good in a couple of years. the comfrey feed looks more like a midgie breeding station and has probably got a bit diluted by all the rain so there may not be many vitamins in it...........
.........one tomato almost ripe!.........oh the excitement. i'm not quite sure what haute cuisine i can produce with one tomato the size of a marble but i'm sure i'll think of something.......
Monday, June 28, 2004
rain
finally managed yesterday to get out in between the showers and cut the grass..................cut down the lovage and salad burnet which had gone all scraggy, and put in the new catmints..........cutting the clematis has left a big gap behind the roses where all the tangles of foliage used to be, so i've chucked some annual seeds in to fill it in the meantime.........my little gastropod friends have also been active in all this wet weather, have chewed the runner beans to perdition and eaten the pond lobelia down to stumps. other things have attractive holes in but aren't quite completely destroyed, i suppose there's only so much they can eat at one sitting.........maybe the sweet peas are for dessert. so much for the slug tape, organic slug granules etc.
.......the lavender bed is totally infested with weeds.....got big bunches of sappy weed growth out but i'll have to watch it or they'll all just grow in again. the pinks had rotted while i was away, i put in what's left but i doubt they'll do much. catalogue plants *definitely* a bad idea. the herbs are good tho, nice and healthy, although the cats jumped on the lemon catmint and broke it and i think it might have died.
.........courgette plants and tomatoes have survived my absence, the courgettes need to go out so i need to get another raised bed. maybe the comfrey could go in that too to stop it taking over the garden as there isn't really a space for it. the rockery bit still looks pretty sad........better for having the weeds removed, just need to throw in the aubretia and stuff and hope they grow.
.........lawn looking better, still some baldy bits but it does seem to have benefited from the attention. i don't think this garden is ever going to be all beautiful and tidy like next door's.......i can sometimes get downhearted when i look at it and think, why is it such a mess? but it's a rather pretty floriferous mess.............OK, so it doesn't do what i want it to but it grows all sorts of lovely surprises.......
..........it would be really House Beautiful to start drying some herbs and making some herb oils.......that lovely blue glass jar that Pat bought for me at the Meadows Fair could hold some rose oil maybe..........maybe i should get that herb book and find out how to make pot-pourri.........oh i'm just getting so domesticated in my old age..........
.......the lavender bed is totally infested with weeds.....got big bunches of sappy weed growth out but i'll have to watch it or they'll all just grow in again. the pinks had rotted while i was away, i put in what's left but i doubt they'll do much. catalogue plants *definitely* a bad idea. the herbs are good tho, nice and healthy, although the cats jumped on the lemon catmint and broke it and i think it might have died.
.........courgette plants and tomatoes have survived my absence, the courgettes need to go out so i need to get another raised bed. maybe the comfrey could go in that too to stop it taking over the garden as there isn't really a space for it. the rockery bit still looks pretty sad........better for having the weeds removed, just need to throw in the aubretia and stuff and hope they grow.
.........lawn looking better, still some baldy bits but it does seem to have benefited from the attention. i don't think this garden is ever going to be all beautiful and tidy like next door's.......i can sometimes get downhearted when i look at it and think, why is it such a mess? but it's a rather pretty floriferous mess.............OK, so it doesn't do what i want it to but it grows all sorts of lovely surprises.......
..........it would be really House Beautiful to start drying some herbs and making some herb oils.......that lovely blue glass jar that Pat bought for me at the Meadows Fair could hold some rose oil maybe..........maybe i should get that herb book and find out how to make pot-pourri.........oh i'm just getting so domesticated in my old age..........
Saturday, June 19, 2004
summer break
oh well, everything seems to have survived my being away...........it's still incredibly cold for the time of year, and it's obviously been wet here, my fears that everything would die of thirst were unfounded.........weeds growing madly, will need to do a clear-up and plant out the new herbs......the bank by the pond still looks a bit empty and sad so i need to get those seeds in........runner beans coming up and have been chewed already but they don't seem to have touched the swee'peas....white rose which i had completely forgotten about has a couple of lovely flowers, it's a bit swamped by the lilac but doesn't seem to mind.....
........front looking very good too, alpines all flowering....dont' know whether the oyster shells should go there or at the back by the pond, but they will forever be a reminder of the LGBT week at the Mac and all that went with it, and the lovely lunch with Ellen......
........front looking very good too, alpines all flowering....dont' know whether the oyster shells should go there or at the back by the pond, but they will forever be a reminder of the LGBT week at the Mac and all that went with it, and the lovely lunch with Ellen......
Friday, June 11, 2004
herbs
the herbs and the last of the mail-order plants have arrived, at about the worst possible time, i.e. just before i go on holiday. i won't have time to plant them up before i go so just have to hope they'll be OK till i get back. the cats have already found the herb that's supposedly attractive to cats and have dragged it out of its pot and chewed it, so i don't know how long it's likely to survive........
.........the first of the field poppies is out, and also the biennial poppies are back this year..........
..........and the spotted begonia seems to be putting out a flower.........
.........the first of the field poppies is out, and also the biennial poppies are back this year..........
..........and the spotted begonia seems to be putting out a flower.........
Monday, June 07, 2004
clematis haircut
what a glorious day it was......really hot..........i love being able to put on my grubby old shorts and am quite chuffed that i can still fit into them........i had them when i was in Australia and used to wear them with a khaki sleeveless shirt and my Akubra hat, i was all tanned then of course and looked like a park ranger........
..........so, the clematis. it may be carrying metaphors too far, but it was while i was struggling with a particular relationship that it fell off the wall..........it had become top-heavy and tangled, and was beginning to strangle the roses, also the jasmine had completely disappeared into its depths and wasn't getting the chance to grow..........i had to cut away most of the vegetation to re-fix the netting, and it's actually a wonder it stayed up as long as it has given how weak the fixings were.........the basic stem is thick and strong, so cutting away all the foliage won't hurt it, i weeded and fed around the stem and it lets in a lot more light, and also lets more light and food to the jasmine.........it will be interesting to see what happens to the relationship. basically we care for each other a good deal more than either of us is prepared to admit i think, but it had got top-heavy with all sorts of tangled stuff which needed to be cut away.......i suppose we needed space, and more light and food, but the basic plant is healthy......
..........so, the clematis. it may be carrying metaphors too far, but it was while i was struggling with a particular relationship that it fell off the wall..........it had become top-heavy and tangled, and was beginning to strangle the roses, also the jasmine had completely disappeared into its depths and wasn't getting the chance to grow..........i had to cut away most of the vegetation to re-fix the netting, and it's actually a wonder it stayed up as long as it has given how weak the fixings were.........the basic stem is thick and strong, so cutting away all the foliage won't hurt it, i weeded and fed around the stem and it lets in a lot more light, and also lets more light and food to the jasmine.........it will be interesting to see what happens to the relationship. basically we care for each other a good deal more than either of us is prepared to admit i think, but it had got top-heavy with all sorts of tangled stuff which needed to be cut away.......i suppose we needed space, and more light and food, but the basic plant is healthy......
Sunday, June 06, 2004
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