I am sorry I have not blogged for ages, I have been 'up north' looking after my mum. She had a fall in August and deteriorated rather rapidly so we ended up staying there for 3 months caring for her.
It was a tough few months in more ways than one.
Anyway mum is now in a lovely care home and has settled well. We have been clearing her house which will go on the market in the New Year.
I hope to be back blogging in the New Year.
I apologise I have had to enable comment moderation as I have been inundated by spam comments.
Happy Christmas to anyone still reading xxx
Monday, 23 December 2019
Sunday, 8 September 2019
Summer, lots of changes.
The garden has been amazing, I have lots more flowers than usual, the nicotianas I planted I though would grow to about 12 inches have hit 3ft plus and to be honest are far to close to the path, but they give a fabulous closed in feeling.
This spikey leaved plant which I have totally forgotten the name of is huge, the one planted in a pot is far smaller.
It is covered in spikes from the trunk
to its leaves....
My new dahlia has excelled its self
and there have been loads.
All the dahlias I overwintered have not done so well, but the 3 new ones have done well this red/yellow one with the tree dandelion next to it,
Amaranthus Pointy finger, looks exactly like a pointy finger, makes me smile every time I walk past it.
but stunning flowers as well, I cannot wait for this clump to get bigger, I think its my favourite canna.
Another Canna easily over 8ft beautiful leaves and yes it will flower if the autumn is mild.
The Rincus in the new bed have reached amazing heights. Blue Giant on the left should reach 10ft plus and out sized New Zealand Purple easily, but New Zealand purple has reached heights I have never seen before in my garden the seed pack says it can reach 7ft well it is way above that. When I put the new soil in this bed I did add a lot of bags of farmyard manure which I think helped. (Note to self: bu more farm yard manure)
Landscape pic of this bed.
Stumpy, well that is what I have called this Maureli against the back drop of the T-Rex it looks quite good but should be 6ft plus, maybe I need more manure down here lol!!
Another landscape photo from the side bed. Butia with Ricinus communis zanzibarensis to the left and the Tree tomato to the right.
As a precaution I always dig a few up to over winter in the greenhouse. but the rest are left outside covered with extra soil or manure.
One of my baby Hiniba from last year.
At the back of the Hiniba is a new plant for me this year Manihot Grahamii, its the one with the very pretty leaves. I planted it here to give it protection from an expected hot summer which never happened, so I hope it has had the chance to get some good roots down to help it through the winter.
Now I am preparing for winter and have started to wrap up the greenhouse, more details in the next post.
This spikey leaved plant which I have totally forgotten the name of is huge, the one planted in a pot is far smaller.
It is covered in spikes from the trunk
to its leaves....
My new dahlia has excelled its self
the heads are about 6-8 inches across
and there have been loads.
All the dahlias I overwintered have not done so well, but the 3 new ones have done well this red/yellow one with the tree dandelion next to it,
and another new one the flowers change colour as they age.
Amaranthus Pointy finger, looks exactly like a pointy finger, makes me smile every time I walk past it.
some look better than others but you still get the idea.
Canna Cleopatra has not only got stunning foliage
but stunning flowers as well, I cannot wait for this clump to get bigger, I think its my favourite canna.
Another Canna easily over 8ft beautiful leaves and yes it will flower if the autumn is mild.
Canna Durban looking good against Ricinus Carmencita Red.
Landscape pic of this bed.
Stumpy, well that is what I have called this Maureli against the back drop of the T-Rex it looks quite good but should be 6ft plus, maybe I need more manure down here lol!!
Another landscape photo from the side bed. Butia with Ricinus communis zanzibarensis to the left and the Tree tomato to the right.
The Elephants ears, Colocasia Pink China have been amazing this ear and as far as I am concerned are the hardiest for me.
As a precaution I always dig a few up to over winter in the greenhouse. but the rest are left outside covered with extra soil or manure.
One of my baby Hiniba from last year.
At the back of the Hiniba is a new plant for me this year Manihot Grahamii, its the one with the very pretty leaves. I planted it here to give it protection from an expected hot summer which never happened, so I hope it has had the chance to get some good roots down to help it through the winter.
Now I am preparing for winter and have started to wrap up the greenhouse, more details in the next post.
Friday, 2 August 2019
Front Garden Decision
Today I have come to a decision reference my front garden. It requires too much water! I only have a tiny water butt which collects water from the porch and is an awful eyesore when no plants are growing. I am forever having to drag the hose through the house to top up said waterbutt, so enough is enough.
I am really disappointed with the display this year, the sunflowers have been decimated by slugs. So what I 'think' I may do (as it can always change), is lose the troughs that sit on the wall behind the box hedge, which now has blight. Keep the hanging basket and windowbox, (my dad made that).
Take out the box hedge altogether and replace it with.......................
lavender! I already have two lavender bushes in the front garden and the bees love them, I always used to have lavender here and it has done well.
So as luck would have it when I was in B & M today they had a tray of 6 lavender plants for £6, £1 each not bad, so I planted them down the fence line.
I basically used what was in the garden and could be dug up, to see if it would work. The planters were in B&M for £1 each. I used soil add lots of perlite so its free draining, added a layer of gravel on the top and 'Bobs your Uncle'!
They will have to be lifted in for the winter but I don't see that as a problem. It will be interesting watching them grow.
I am really disappointed with the display this year, the sunflowers have been decimated by slugs. So what I 'think' I may do (as it can always change), is lose the troughs that sit on the wall behind the box hedge, which now has blight. Keep the hanging basket and windowbox, (my dad made that).
Take out the box hedge altogether and replace it with.......................
lavender! I already have two lavender bushes in the front garden and the bees love them, I always used to have lavender here and it has done well.
So as luck would have it when I was in B & M today they had a tray of 6 lavender plants for £6, £1 each not bad, so I planted them down the fence line.
I will pop out tomorrow and see if I can get some more.
Meanwhile trying to embrace the none watering theme, I made up some wall baskets for the back patio which gets full sun all day
I basically used what was in the garden and could be dug up, to see if it would work. The planters were in B&M for £1 each. I used soil add lots of perlite so its free draining, added a layer of gravel on the top and 'Bobs your Uncle'!
They will have to be lifted in for the winter but I don't see that as a problem. It will be interesting watching them grow.
We shall see.
Wednesday, 31 July 2019
July 2019
This is going to be a super long post with lots of pictures, so grab a cuppa, and some biscuits, find a comfy chair, then I will begin.
I am still trying to pace myself and not get bored, which I do, easily, I am a doer. So I am sitting down and 'doing' my blog!!!
I went food shopping to Lidl the other day and they had some sedums on sale, 6 for £4.99 I think, so I decided to do a hanging basket on the patio. Hanging baskets have never done well here as it gets far too hot, Sedums like heat and don't mind being baked, so I though for £4.99 it was worth a go. We will pop back later in the year to see how it grows.
Another sedentary job, this table is ancient, the chairs all material fold up types died a death years and years ago along with the matching parasol. So I decided to give it a lick of paint, looks good I think.
I also intend to 'upcycle' an old garden parasol. I found one I thought would look fabulous on the bottom patio on Ebay but at nearly £75 I thought no way! So I found an old parasol for free and I am going to see what I can do with it!
We have had masses of rain, all the water-butts are full to the brim, the garden always grows quickly after rain, so here we go.
Tree ferns are slowly recovering, whether they will ever get back to what the originally looked like I have no idea, but we can but hope.
My Washingtonia has gone mental since I potted it up, shame it can't cope with our winters as it is so beautiful.
My Hiniba from last year, one of the original pups, far, far better in its 2nd year.
Shhh, don't tell everyone, this is new to me this year a Manihott, I have been told its hardy as well, but we will see in my garden, it has also grown well for its first year. Aren't the leaf shapes gorgeous.
My trachy, unbelievable huge now, struggled to reach it up a ladder to keep it tidy. We are really not sure what to do as it has grown well above our garden now, it ma have to come down as I am going to be unable to keep it tidy anymore.
Canna Cleopatra, even if it ever flowered the leaves are stunning. I definitely should plant more cannas,
Good old Musa Basjoo, with a very tall canna in front. If anyone wants to have a go at a tropical garden then this Ensete has to be the first plant you should grow. Root hardy. A lot of m 'tropical' friends protect theirs with straw, I don't because I would have to carry the straw bale through my house, and that is not happening!
Another Canna about to flower, this is in the new border so it needs lots more height added for next year.
Cycas Revoluta, planted out earlier this year as it was getting to big to over winter in the greenhouse. I am really worried about this being out in the winter, I don't expect it too survive, sadly. But a friend has one out in his garden in Wakefield, which is a lot further north than me, he uses 'scaffolding net' to protect his. All I can do is try.
The two Olive trees, seem to love it here, they have both grown tremendously. I wonder if I will ever get any olives?
The Arid bed, such an odd bed really.plonked in the middle of a south facing garden, but everything seems to love being here and grows and grows.
Different view, I don't often take a pic from here.
Some of the smaller plants in the end of the Arid bed.
The T-Rex
and the fig have also mental this year. I don't grow the fig for figs, so have no worries about keeping it cut back.
Here you can see all the new edging have had done, looks really smart and like a proper garden lol!
So here comes the tatty bit, oh, I know its not that bad, but its below the standard I like to keep. I don't think tropical will grow here as in the winter it gets very cold down this end.
The fish in the pond keep breeding, we reckon there must be over 50 in here now. I ask pond shops if they have a contraceptive for ponds and the look at me blankly!!!
The view from hubbies office, it is lovely here, we often sit and drink our afternoon tea here. The fences look a bit bare but I have two passionflowers starting to grow up them. People say I should paint the fence, but that's just more work and it would need doing every year so the can stay as they are.
The Gunnera??? In the dampest part of the garden ad still its stumpy, to the right of the arum lily you can see I planted another small T-Rex, its not small now it is romping along and will soon hide the greenhouse.
The raised bed by the bottom patio. A difficult bed to plant up as it can get very dry unless I remember to water it, but I am loving the Icelandic Poppies.
A Rincinus with the passionflower growing up the fence.
This is the side of the garden I never show because it is boring. I keep the lawn because underneath is riddled with major suckers from old trees, the roots are thicker than your finger, we have toyed with digging the lot up and getting rid of the roots but that only works if you can get to the source of it and we suspect that to be in the neighbours garden.
It is very dry under those plats so I have recently planted some large sedums and lavender so next year it should look a bit better.
So there you go my garden top to bottom Writing this has kept me stationary for quite awhile. Thank you.
I am still trying to pace myself and not get bored, which I do, easily, I am a doer. So I am sitting down and 'doing' my blog!!!
I went food shopping to Lidl the other day and they had some sedums on sale, 6 for £4.99 I think, so I decided to do a hanging basket on the patio. Hanging baskets have never done well here as it gets far too hot, Sedums like heat and don't mind being baked, so I though for £4.99 it was worth a go. We will pop back later in the year to see how it grows.
Another sedentary job, this table is ancient, the chairs all material fold up types died a death years and years ago along with the matching parasol. So I decided to give it a lick of paint, looks good I think.
I also intend to 'upcycle' an old garden parasol. I found one I thought would look fabulous on the bottom patio on Ebay but at nearly £75 I thought no way! So I found an old parasol for free and I am going to see what I can do with it!
We have had masses of rain, all the water-butts are full to the brim, the garden always grows quickly after rain, so here we go.
Tree ferns are slowly recovering, whether they will ever get back to what the originally looked like I have no idea, but we can but hope.
My Washingtonia has gone mental since I potted it up, shame it can't cope with our winters as it is so beautiful.
This elephants ear has been in this pot for years, survived the beast from the east and still growing, I will re-pot it next year. Surprisingly hardy plant. The stupid little red flowers shoud be purple ad a lot bigger, well that's what it said on the packet!!
My Hiniba from last year, one of the original pups, far, far better in its 2nd year.
Shhh, don't tell everyone, this is new to me this year a Manihott, I have been told its hardy as well, but we will see in my garden, it has also grown well for its first year. Aren't the leaf shapes gorgeous.
My trachy, unbelievable huge now, struggled to reach it up a ladder to keep it tidy. We are really not sure what to do as it has grown well above our garden now, it ma have to come down as I am going to be unable to keep it tidy anymore.
Cleome, such a beautiful flower, has wicked thorns on its stems though. I really love these, I should have grown more.
Canna Cleopatra, even if it ever flowered the leaves are stunning. I definitely should plant more cannas,
Good old Musa Basjoo, with a very tall canna in front. If anyone wants to have a go at a tropical garden then this Ensete has to be the first plant you should grow. Root hardy. A lot of m 'tropical' friends protect theirs with straw, I don't because I would have to carry the straw bale through my house, and that is not happening!
Cycas Revoluta, planted out earlier this year as it was getting to big to over winter in the greenhouse. I am really worried about this being out in the winter, I don't expect it too survive, sadly. But a friend has one out in his garden in Wakefield, which is a lot further north than me, he uses 'scaffolding net' to protect his. All I can do is try.
The two Olive trees, seem to love it here, they have both grown tremendously. I wonder if I will ever get any olives?
The Arid bed, such an odd bed really.plonked in the middle of a south facing garden, but everything seems to love being here and grows and grows.
Different view, I don't often take a pic from here.
Some of the smaller plants in the end of the Arid bed.
and the fig have also mental this year. I don't grow the fig for figs, so have no worries about keeping it cut back.
Here you can see all the new edging have had done, looks really smart and like a proper garden lol!
So here comes the tatty bit, oh, I know its not that bad, but its below the standard I like to keep. I don't think tropical will grow here as in the winter it gets very cold down this end.
The fish in the pond keep breeding, we reckon there must be over 50 in here now. I ask pond shops if they have a contraceptive for ponds and the look at me blankly!!!
The view from hubbies office, it is lovely here, we often sit and drink our afternoon tea here. The fences look a bit bare but I have two passionflowers starting to grow up them. People say I should paint the fence, but that's just more work and it would need doing every year so the can stay as they are.
The Gunnera??? In the dampest part of the garden ad still its stumpy, to the right of the arum lily you can see I planted another small T-Rex, its not small now it is romping along and will soon hide the greenhouse.
The raised bed by the bottom patio. A difficult bed to plant up as it can get very dry unless I remember to water it, but I am loving the Icelandic Poppies.
A Rincinus with the passionflower growing up the fence.
This is the side of the garden I never show because it is boring. I keep the lawn because underneath is riddled with major suckers from old trees, the roots are thicker than your finger, we have toyed with digging the lot up and getting rid of the roots but that only works if you can get to the source of it and we suspect that to be in the neighbours garden.
So there you go my garden top to bottom Writing this has kept me stationary for quite awhile. Thank you.
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