Little helping hands

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garden visit, jobs to be done, NGS

Brother Dorris and his family visited from New Zealand for a few days. Yesterday, before they left for the airport they helped me do a few jobs in the garden.

The best little helper, helped me plant some seeds: Red Pak Choi, French breakfast radish and Calendula.

The best kind of help.

In the run up to my Open Garden at the end of September, in aid of The National Garden Scheme I have got a phenomenal amount to get done. This little bit of help has got me started on the task ahead.

Thanks. Have a safe trip back. D.

Butterfly count

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a butterfly book for the pocket, bigbutterflycount.org, butterflies, Edmund Sandars, Oxford University Press 1939

Today is the start of the Big Butterfly count in the UK. 19 July to 11 August 2019.

You can download an identification chart from Big Butterfly Count, there is a free App and you can also read about how to count them. Yes I know we can all count but we need to be sure we do not count the same Butterfly more than once.

Counting butterflies can be described as taking the pulse of nature: butterflies react very quickly to changes in their environment which makes them great biodiversity indicators. The count will help scientists identify trends in species.

Choosing the right weather ( bright and sunny ) is important.

I think today’s weather will not be suitable (rain) but there’s plenty of time to take part.

Celebrity endorsers, if you’re interested in such stuff, include Sir David Attenborough, President of Butterfly Conservation, Alan Titchmarsh MBE, and Joanna Lumley OBE.

I shall take part armed with one of my favourite little books: A Butterfly Book for the pocket by Edmund Sandars. ( Oxford University Press London: Humphrey Milford 1939). I found it on a market in Old Amersham many years ago.

The pictures above were taken by me in 2012. Time to get counting and to take some new pictures! I hope you will take part.

Thanks for reading. D.

Friday flowers: welcome to Delft

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Delft, dianthus, flowers and wine, the best combination, the Netherlands

Friday frou-frou: 4 May 2018

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Colour, May, ornamental cherry blossom, pink, Sakura, Spring, Thank goodness it's Friday

Pink blossom, hopelessly romantic?

Or sickly sweet like candy floss?

Whatever you think, and I find them far too frou-frou, I reckon we all cannot fail but to be impressed by this sight against a blue sky.

Finally a fine weekend is forecast, which will make a pleasant change, especially for a bank holiday weekend. Be sure to spend as much time as possible outside, that’s certainly my plan. D.

Friday: news flash💛

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gardens open for charity, news flash, NGS, Thank goodness it's Friday, yellow book scheme

The National Garden Scheme have announced that in 2017 they raised a record £3.1million for charity. Crikey. 💛

Beneficiaries include Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie, Hospice UK, Carer’s Trust, Queens Nursing Institution, Parkinson’s UK, Perennial and MS society.

As someone who is opening her garden for the first time I feel proud to be part of this extraordinarily brilliant fund raiser.

By heck £3.1million that’s a lot of people looking at gardens, quaffing coffee and cake.

I hope any local readers will join me on August 12th. Those of you who are further afield, do try to visit at least one garden in your local area.

Look for the Yellow Book. D.

Flowering wood

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blossom, in a vase on Monday, lichens, sticks, Thank goodness it's Friday, twigs

On Monday I planned to join Cathy with a vase of flowers but I could not find anything suitable. I had pruned a plum tree and decided to bring a few twigs in the house. Daughter Dorris demanded an explanation for the ‘sticks’ in the kitchen. Not wishing to be a laughing stock or accused of the kings new clothes I kept my sticks to myself.

Now on Friday these sticks have rewarded me with their rather understated blossom.

On closer inspection each blossom is a cluster of individual flowers

And the twigs are covered in tiny lichens

These are so much more than sticks and I like how the colour blends with the jug they are plonked in.

Have a super day. D.

Friday faffing: orchid

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friday flowers, house plants, Liberty Rose Vintage, orchid, Thank goodness it's Friday, Wendover

Orchids, once the preserve of the connoisseur, the eccentric or the rich are now positively commonplace thanks to the supermarkets. As a consequence I feel a little nonplussed about them yet really I should be delighted as they have become readily available and relatively affordable.

Perhaps it is because they are available with the baked beans and the cornflakes, just stick it in the trolley with the weekly shop that Orchids no longer feel “special”. Or maybe it is because they are available in every conceivable colour, including vivid blue, that they no longer seem special or exquisite.

This one has been in the house for a couple or three weeks. It was a gift from cousin Julie and I really am enjoying it. I think perhaps it is the stripes which are visible on both sides of the petal and the rather interesting colour combination that is holding my interest.

The roots are usually in clear plastic pots as they need some natural light. I found this rather nice, clear glass, fat (jam pot shaped) vessel, which I think suits it rather well. Should you find yourself in Wendover, pop into the courtyard to see Liberty Rose Vintage. Failing that look at her Instagram page of the same name.

So what do you think about orchids? Love them or loathe them? D.

A fistful on Friday

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Amy Ireland, Covent Garden, Floral street, JamJar Flowers, Melissa Richardson, Rakes Progress, Thank goodness it's Friday

How wonderful is this? Wallpaper? Art installation? It is as if the flowers were flattened as the paper was rolled up.

This beauty was hanging in the Rakes Progress pop up shop in Floral (yes really) street, Covent Garden.

If you are in the area take a look at their website as they are running a number of displays, workshops and talks but be quick, the pop up shop ends on 26 January.

Have a beautiful day. D.

Friday flowers

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commercially grown white rose, cut glass creamer, December, friday flowers, garden magazine, ivy berries, Kenji Toma, mistletoe berries, periodical, Rakes Progress

Unlike Cathy I did not manage to be organised enough to prepare a blog post sharing my in a Vase on Monday on Christmas Day. I hope you all had a lovely day wherever you were.

I did have a little offering of a shop bought white rose, (I saved one for myself, thanks Mo) a few white buds of mistletoe, some greenery and big fat black ivy berries.

Placed in a cut glass creamer it was a token for the Christmas table along with two pots of white cyclamen.

They worked well as there is something annoying about anything taller where you have to duck round to see the person opposite. Or maybe that can be useful.

As I write this post I am having a quiet day catching up on household chores and saving an hour with my cup of tea to read through my neglected issue of Rakes Progress.

Cover photograph by Kenji Toma.

This is an excellent Quarterly which I signed up for at the Chelsea Flower Show. I guess I would describe it as the horticultural equivalent of Cereal Magazine in terms of presentation and quality of photography.

Within this issue, number 6, there are articles on indoor gardens and honesty sheds, the ancient Indian city of perfume and America’s original land artist Agnes Denes, freediving grandmothers and catwalk florists, plus stick weavers, kokedama, kosher cooks and Milton Keynes. Quite a crop to keep the reader going until the snowdrops appear. I encourage you to seek out a copy for a truly original and refreshing look at all things horticulture related.

Thank goodness it’s Friday: favourites

Tags

December, fatsia japonica, favourite shrubs, Thank goodness it's Friday, winter interest

Did you know, this is one of my favourite shrubs in the garden at this time of year,

Fatsia japonica.

Evergreen with large waxy palmate leaves, Fatsia can grow to an impressive 2.5 meters.

Once established it needs little maintenance save for the removal of its dead leaves.

It tolerates deep shade and neglect and will grow on most soils including chalk which this specimen is proof of.

Most of all, it has these creamy white Pom Pom flowers which stand out against the dark green leaves.

These days (does that make me sound old?) Fatsia is referred to as an ‘architectural plant’ and yes it certainly is. Yet it is more than just that, it is also a star at the back of a border in a country garden or a rather handsome feature plant in the foreground of a town garden, perhaps hiding the bins.

Architectural, low maintenance, evergreen, shade tolerant, neglect tolerant yes Fatsia japonica really does all these things. It is also, absolutely beautiful at this time of year.

I hope you have had a good Friday. Do you like Fatsia japonica?

D.