Tuesday view: 29/8/17

Tags

basil, bell peppers, Erigeron, eupatorium, persicaria affinis, tomatoes, Tuesday View

This morning around 7am the garden was looking like this. 

Some closer shots

Persicaria affinis spreading nicely

 

Erigeron is spreading around the gravel

It is a beautiful time of year yet I think there is definitely an Autmnal look to these pictures. Yikes, Autumn is around the corner. 

Joe pye weed

At the garden where I work the greenhouse is churning out tomatoes, basil, cucumber and bell peppers. 

Harvest and Autumn approaches. 

Take a look at Cathys lovely blog as she is the host of the Tuesday view. 

Tuesday view: 1/8/17

Tags

Coreopsis moonbeam, craftsmanship, echinops ritro, EW Carter, garden building, locally made, persicaria, Persicaria affinis sweet chestnut, rustic, summer house, Thalictrum, Tuesday View

My goodness it is August, yikes our Summer is galloping along. The view in my garden is altering as the roses fade out between flowerings.

The echinops and coreopsis are flowering but the earlier hot, dry weather has stunted their growth when compared to last year. 

Echinops and Coreopsis in front of Molinia Transparent. 

On the edge of this border is a carpet of Persicaria affinis. This ground covering form has engulfed the tiny but very pretty Thalictrum. Look carefully you can just see the delicate foliage poking through. 

While I am preparing this post to share with Cathy our lovely host of the Tuesday View, I thought I could also share my recent project. 

At the bottom of my garden there was a patio which was not very pretty, having served as a base for some sheds to store bedding for the goats. I noticed that as it was west facing it was the perfect spot to catch the evening sun.  Under the trees, it seemed the perfect place for a bench.  Alas it was not to be as the birds sat in the trees above and well made rather a mess. Quickly the seating was relocated and I made a mental note to get the patio taken up. 

Then when out and about I spotted a shelter for smokers in a pub garden and that got me thinking ( not smoking). Four posts and a lid that would do the job keeping the err debris off. The seed planted in my mind I started to look on line for something suitable. Then I came across EW Carter working on a tree house. After a brief discussion the plan was on. 

Created offsite in locally sourced Sweet chestnut, the frame went up in a couple of days at the beginning of May. Then the roof of my choice, wrinkly tin. 

After a swift topping out drink there was a pause pending my painting the cladding. Sadolin to match the building around us was applied to weatherboards. Never again, such a tedious task and so tricky as the wet boards were too long to stand up in the garage. Yawn. Anyway it got done and Ed returned to apply the cladding. 

I then painted the interior side of the cladding in a Cuprinol old stone. 

Then Ed returned to instal bench seating , again in sweet chestnut. 

Oil lamps given to us years ago by Brother Dorris have a new home and citronella candles provide any lighting. An indoor/ outdoor mat from ikea disguise the slabs and a group of cushions and throws serve to make a comfy hideaway. 

 Now if the weather would only improve …..

Thank goodness it’s Friday: Loving the Seseli

Tags

friday flowers, hardy perennial, lace like umbels, Seseli montanum

A random post about a plant I love. 

This is a hardy perennial with dark feathery foliage and white umbels with plum tones. Low growing to a mere 24cm, I think it is exquisite. 

That’s it, nothing else to say except it likes a sunny spot. 

In a Vase on Monday: cheers

Tags

Ammi majus, Bupleurum rotundifolium, cheers, cornflower black ball, cornflower polka dot mix, cornflowers, Dahlia Arabian Night, Dahlia mignon.mixed, Echinops, in a vase on Monday, Persicaria amplexicaulis Firetail, tankard, Verbena bonariensis

Today’s Vase is actually a beer glass and the flowers are a pleasing selection, well pleasing to my eye, apologies if not to your taste. They are from my homegrown patch,  which was a large patch of bare soil just a few months ago, onto which I planted a few seeds.

There are Dahlia mignon and Arabian Night, Ammi majus, Verbena bonariensis and the lime green of Bupleurum rotundifolium. 


White perennial sweet pea, pretty but alas with no scent. Cornflowers Black Ball, Polka Dot Mix and just your regular, good old delightful cornflower. Jo, if you are reading, I hope you like them. 

Now pop over to Cathy and take a look at the other Monday vases. They will not disappoint.

In a Vase on Monday: British Flowers Week

Tags

apothecary bottle, British Flowers week, in a vase on Monday, Lily, oriental lily, poppy seed head, Rose "Lark Ascending", Verbena bonariensis

Cathy is the host of this lovely weekly feature and those of us who take part or who read the posts know all about the exquisite selection home grown flowers can offer. With this in mind I would like to share my British bunch, grown and picked by me. Just as normal really!

The centrepiece to the bunch is an extraordinarily dark lily. I grow a number of lilies in a raised bed and just leave them to it. This year the lily beetle has found them and I had to strip the leaves as they were covered in a black gunk. The flower seems to be untouched so I think it’s fair to say I got away with that one.  

Interestingly, well to me anyway, is that the buds of such a dark colour lily are an orange tone. With this in mind I chose Rose Lark Ascending.

I cannot praise this (David Austin) rose enough, it’s a firm favourite. It picks up the orange lily bud in a soft tone of orange to which I have added a few sprigs of  vibrant purple Verbena bonariensis and some soft green grey poppy seed heads. 

All that was left was to decide on a vessel. It had to be the orange brown apothecary jar as the colours seem to work.

The weather here is full on Summer reaching a sultry 29 degrees today. Incredible and dare I say it, not very British. The flowers are though. 

Tuesday view: 16/5/17

Tags

allium, anthriscus, sweet sicely, Tuesdsy view

Today the wind has been blowing about a warming air,  full of dust. Not terribly nice and my eyes now feel almost gritty. Through these peepers the view in my garden is looking more colourful than a couple of weeks ago mainly thanks to the Geums.

There are geraniums in the foreground and allium heads almost ready to open. There is lots of fluffy white from the Anthriscus and Sweet Cicely.  

Joining Cathy with my Tuesday view. It’s a fun way to track progress so do take a look at her blog.D.

Growing

Tags

seedlings, Spring, Tuesday View

A quick post today to share a picture of progress in the greenhouse. 

It is officially Spring yet today the weather seemed unaware of the facts, there was a real bite to the wind. 

Safe and sound under glass, the seeds are growing well. 

Silent Sunday: camellia promise

Tags

camellia, promise, rain, Silent Sunday

No relation to Storm Doris

Tags

germination, heat mat, seedlings, Storm Doris, vegetables for the kitchen garden

So for the record, this Dorris, is not in any way related to the current Doris running amock across the uk. 

I abandoned attempts to prepare the garden belonging to Ali . Debris dropping on my head whilst working was not fun. 

To distract and restore calm I shall share these babies, safely tucked inside the greenhouse. 

Salad leaves on 8 February 

Now, Cut and come again salads and spicy leaves today. 

Thanks to a heat mat, cucumbers, sweet corn, chard, lettuce, basil have germinated. Borlotti beans are beginning to show but so far no sign of the French beans.

We have had power cuts, massive disruption to trains, planes and automobiles, damage to trees and buildings thanks to Doris at 50mph. Further North I hope the snow has eased.

Be safe out there and let’s hope that peace will return as the storm moves off to the North Sea. 

Wordless Wednesday: crocus

Tags

crocus, Dutch crocus, wordless wednesday, yellow