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10.12.08
I am looking forward to
electricity in the greenhouse and no more topping up the paraffin
heater .Hopefully friend Mick will get this done next week. I still
have a greenhouse heater from the greenhouse in Powburn and I will
also be able to plug in the electric propagator- luxury.
18.11.08
What an age since I posted
anything about the garden With two litters of puppies I have had no
time to do anything other than check the greenhouse. This week,
however, the raised bed I have been waiting to have made was finally
completed- much larger than I first thought but ideal for small plants
and bulbs near to the house. So I bought the last of the small bulbs
from the garden centre which had been almost lost in the Christmas
displays. I planted crocus, Fritillaria, miniature daffs and miniature
tulips and some Muscari. In the spring I will pop some primroses and
saxifrages in between. I have lots of primulas in pots but too late to
plant them out now.
The cuttings in the greenhouse
are growing along well and lots of seedling need potting up.
28.9.08 It has been a bit hard
to garden with 2 litters of pups to see to but I have started to sort
out for the end of the season. Planted two tubs at the door with
pansies, crocus and small daffs. I seeded wallflowers and they are
nearly ready to pot up. The white foxgloves are desperate to be potted
up and my tiny greenhouse is starting to bulge. The cuttings of
Lampranthus, Erysimum Bowles Mauve and Persicaria Dragon's Eye are all
doing well and I have to take cuttings from Pelargonium Palace Regal
today.
Dianthus Doris- an old
favourite has done well - it was a very cheap plant from Morrison's-
but the cuttings have failed me in this case- well you can't win them
all.!!
9.9.08 What can I say- rain
rain and more rain but at least the garden slopes away from the house
and seems to be reasonably free draining. The seedlings are doing well
in the greenhouse. I bought a second hand book this week. I have been
after it for 25 years. Gardens of a Golden Afternoon by Jane Brown. I
had it from a library and loved it but it had gone out of print.
Finally with the magic of the internet I found a copy.
25th August I had
written a few updates and they have been wiped out by some mysterious
anti gardening gremlin.
The garden has produce
some super flowers and everything I plant seems to romp away. I have
my beautiful Alstroemeria psitacina 'Coral Star' in flower. I love the
colour combination of dark red and lime green. The lilies friend
Sharon brought from work because they were reduced to 50p a pot are
the most beautiful creamy colour and two plants I bought of Achillea
'Salmon Beauty' have made a huge amount of growth. I am seeding lots
of Salvia and Digitalis amongst other things and will probably have a
huge surplus in the spring. Anyone out there who would like some just
let me know.
Lilium 'Reinesse'
Alstroemeria psitacina 'Coral
Star'
Achillea 'Salmon Beauty'
Across the garden in August-
what an amazing amount of growth.
19th July Wish the really
strong wind would go away. It bends the plants over and does so much
damage. The poor hanging baskets are punch drunk. I finally sowed my
first lot of seeds in the new greenhouse - Digitalis purpurea 'Alba'.
I love the white spikes in the evenings when they look so lovely and
ghostly. Yesterday I planted a lot of plants in a rush and then the
monsoon type rain has watered them in for me - it also soaked me to
the skin. I bought Dahlia 'Art Deco' which I tried to get 2 or 3 years
ago when it first appeared but couldn't get a supply. Happened to
notice it in the garden centre. It really is a flower arranger's
dahlia. Also I have a pretty dahlia called Mary
Dahlia 'Art Deco'
Dahlia 'Mary'
I priced a dumpy bag of gravel
and was told £90 plus another 90 for the crane to lift it over the
hedge. They have got to be joking. Anyway the garden centre was doing
the same mix gravel in bags at buy one get one free so I await
delivery on Tuesday. It's a pretty mix of white, pink and brown small
pieces and should look rather good on the little paths. All the houses
in this area are made of small red bricks so it should blend quite
well. I will do it bit by bit as I feel strong enough to lift a bag or
two.
14th July All I am doing at
the moment is moving a barrowload at a time of soil and ground elder
root. I can only pace myself very slowly these days. There is a table
and potting bench in the greenhouse now and some plastic shelving- no
plants yet though but I can see cuttings everywhere. Friend Sharon
brought me some Verbascums as they were vastly reduced where she
works. So one pot will go in the ground and one will be used for root
cuttings. I also succumbed to a beautiful wine red dwarf Alstroemeria
yesterday. My Salvia patens is in flower. I must get some photos of
that one.
9th July Been busy with
pups and it has rained a lot but finally took a couple of photos
yesterday. The Lilium longiflorum that I bought when they were twice
reduced so a real bargain, the dark red lily that I grew from bulbs
and annual Cosmos. Cosmos is a lovely annual for later in the season
and I like them but at £3 a plant in the garden centre it seems a bit
ridiculous for an annual. Now I have the greenhouse I will be raising
my own next year.
3rd July I know it sounds
crazy but for the first time in 2 years I can weed on my hands and
knees and it feels wonderful. The soil here is the best I have ever
worked on and somebody long ago once had a garden here. I killed off
the grass and rotovated and now poppy seedlings, Forget me Nots,
Euphorbias and Calendula are springing up in all the beds. I will
leave enough of them to see what sort of flowers they produce. I
wonder how long they've lain there under all that rough grass. There
is a concrete path as you can see in the photo below. It starts at the
very bottom and mysteriously ends a quarter of the way up the garden
and doesn't come near the house. There is bindweed in the hedges, some
ground elder and lots of prickly thistles making their presence felt
as well. Heigh ho things are never perfect. |
