October Flowers

 

I chopped down a load of stuff in the garden a week or so ago, and just left it in a huge heap hoping it might dry off or something. It is all still a mess. But I popped outside just now to see what has been going on and found all sorts of delights. Above, a sunflower in with the plum tree.

Below, the miniature rose decided it was warm enough to put out some fresh blooms:

The persicara flowers on and on since July:

The morning glory was a disappointment all summer, growing huge and attaching itself to the honeysuckle but no flowers ... and then suddenly a few weeks ago a fabulous display of bright blue ... delightful:

Some random borage self seeded in one of the pots, it remains one of my favourites:

Indoors: I had left a couple of basil plants on the outside kitchen window sill (just to see how they would do) and I had bought one inside to use recently and now it's decided to flower too:

And the lemon pips that Dunk saved for me have all sprouted and now I have 3 tiny lemon trees:

And I totally forgot to mention that when I chopped down the *outside* cucamelon plant I was astonished to find it had fruited ... a dozen cucamelons ... I call that a win.

Stay safe. Be kind. Get another compost bin because it's amazing how much waste 20 square metres of concrete can produce.

July in the Garden

Above is the flower that has emerged from a 'decorative' carrot plant, one of many things that survived the winter and has just quietly been doing its own thing.

Below is something else that overwintered, it is chicory catalogna gigantic di chioggia from Vital Seeds. I found the leaves quite bitter so just abandoned it, then in the spring it started growing again and put up this huge statuesque shoot, about 6 feet tall:

I waited several weeks for the flowers to emerge and they are a complete delight:

I have been planting seeds on and off over the months. There are some meagre basil seedlings on the inside kitchen windowsill but the nicotiana on the outside are coming along quite well:

I chopped down the triffids the other day because the flowers had finished but the garden has another monster ... the squash:

which has also finally put out some flowers. I am excited to see what fruits I might enjoy later this summer:

The garden blooms on all over, enjoying the warmth and the regular rain:

Stay safe. Be kind. Grow something tasty.

T is for Tregothnan

The Tregothnan estate in Cornwall first grew Camellia bushes 200 years ago, and in 1999 the first Camellia sinensis plants were grown that produced the first tea crop in 2005. The tea they sell is very (very) expensive, but for my birthday Dunk bought me a tea bush; it doesn't look like much but in 5-10 years of careful tending and pruning I will have my own home-grown tea:

The aim is for a bush with a wide flat top because you pluck the top pair of leaves and the bud from each stem. The leaves then have to be withered, rolled, oxidised and dried before being brewed into a fine cup of tea. This feels like the ultimate long term plan, but then gardening always has its eyes on the future, with much care and devotion before the reward. I can't wait to try it.

They also have lovely flowers which I hope will be visited by many Tree Bumblebees.

Linking back to the A to Z Challenge.

Stay safe. Be kind. Plan ahead.

(Tulips in the rain, outside the university library)

K is for Kale

I don't have much space, and most things are in pots but I do like to try and grow some edibles too. Last summer I bought some Daubenton Kale from The Backyard Larder. It is a perennial vegetable; unlike most green leafy veg that you grow from seed each year this plant will survive the winter and continue to grow new leaves as you harvest them. I confess I have not used any over the winter and just left it to do its own thing. I have grown quite a few green leafy things; chard, purslane, corn salad and rocket, all of which I have had on the go since last summer and most even seem to have survived the winter, the chard has lots of new growth. I thought I would try a different veg this year so have planted some beetroot, and the slugs don't seem to have found the seedlings yet.

Linking back to the A to Z Challenge.

Stay safe. Be kind. Eat your greens.

Spring

It was a beautiful clear blue morning, cold and crisp, reminding us that it is still a little bit winter. The trees are bare but all sorts of stuff is bursting into life and bringing joy.

This shrub on the way home from the gym (I cropped the rubbish on the grass out of the photo):

And after pancakes and tea and chat and birthday cards I pottered around outside.

Crocuses out under the plum tree:

Primroses in the side bed:

New growth on the dog rose:

New growth on the physocarpus:

New growth on the kale:

A whole tray of viola seedlings that have survived the winter under the bench:

And the forsythia, that is still a tiny bush (maybe it needs some space to grow) and who blooms early and briefly, just beginning to do it's thing:

Stay safe. Be kind. Relish the joys of spring.

eating my greens

So this week's excitement included an epic battle between a tiny house spider and a vine weevil. Who knows how it managed to get in this web underneath the kitchen wall cupboards but it met its fate there. After two days of struggle the spider triumphed:

I spent the other week trying to eat something home grown every day, having kale in my scrambled eggs and salad sarnies for lunch, culminating in home made pesto:

It was pretty good but I think maybe I overdid the garlic. And it took me all summer to grow enough basil.

It finally rained:

but the sunflower finally bloomed:

and my wallflower cuttings, having sat, still alive but not rooting, for several months now, have new growth and are looking good for next year:

I have a pile of books to review, but am off to Claire's and a swim in the English Channel.

Stay safe. Be kind. Put a hot water bottle on that bad back.

Another view

After being not-ill with covid last week, this week I am very ill with probably-flu and have now lain in bed for two days, practically unheard of in my adult life.

A year ago I posted an aerial view of the yard, and it looks even more lush this year, though the leaves on the persicaria is all brown and unhealthy and I'm not sure whether to cut it right back. I like the way the amount of concrete showing has decreased dramatically.

I have picked a few tomatoes but last night there was enough to adorn the pizzas (I bought two seedlings at Hulme Garden Centre when Claire visited and there was no info on them, one turned out to be a yellow tomato):

The nigella finally bloomed, which is lovely (and will self-seed Claire says):

and the tiny stocks flower, (the seedlings last year never grew and were major disappointment):

Meanwhile, in Japan ... beetle sex:

Stay safe. Be kind. If you have to stay in bed, just look out of the window.