Tomorrow, 15th July, is St Swithuns Day. For those of you who haven't read David Nicholls' 'One Day' or aren't aware of this saint let me fill you in. According to tradition, the weather on St Swithun's feast day will continue for forty days. Which to us Brits mean if we have rain tomorrow the superstitious amongst us will believe it will rain for the next forty days Glad I'm not superstitious (touch wood!)
Saturday, 14 July 2012
And look at the gift from Mother Nature.
Last year we had a solitary poppy appear in our old tin bath (well, not OUR old tin bath but someone else's old bath that I have used as a planter). This year we have been bestowed another gift - a mass of the same poppy, festooned along the inhospitable, and frankly dour, steps to our front door. How they has found any goodness in the tarmac is beyond me but they are stuck firm and will give is a warm welcome every time we arrive home.
Here is the first poppy to flower; their tissue paper fine petals will be gone in a day or two but there is another head ready to bloom. Life finds a way in even the most unexpected places and feels like a little pay back for all the terrible weather we have had thus far this summer. I'm grateful for any small mercies, specially ones as unexpected as this.
The garden fights back
I know this could be an opportunity to plant up all the things that love wet conditions but I don't want to tempt fate by succumbing to this idea. I want to think that later this year or most definitely next year we will have sunshine and dry conditions. Plus who has the money to chop and change according to the weather? So, like almost all gardeners in Britain this year, I will grin and bear it although sadly not really with good grace. As the barista in the coffee shop said, "We are all just hanging on to our sanity but another day of this weather and the British public will all turn into serial killers! I must start buying my coffee from a different place!
Anyway, we can escape indoors and bemoan our fate but the plants have to battle on. Here are the flowers in the garden, some caught on a rare sunny day this July.
Aconitum and a rose.
Only one of the three plants I bought last year have come up but this gives lovely long lasting Autumn colour.
Bear's Breeches and the aconitum with a Hibiscus
One of my favourite, longed for plants. I bought this two years ago only for it not to flower last year and this year, when it did flower the rain has knocked it to the ground. Angel's Fishing Rod is it's common name but whilst it is wet enough to keep fish alive I've sadly seen no angels using them!
This is part of the friendship corner, looking rather bedraggled after the downpour today.
The hydrangea is changing from blue to pink. All dependent on the type of soil it is planting in.
A close up of the hydrangea.
The Eryngium (sea holly) has done well but it's used to harsh conditions. The Echinops (globe thistle) isn't doing quite so well.
The star of the show, a huge Agapanthus blowing it's many little trumpets whilst the Gypsophilia fills the space in the background.
The white clematis has done well, head in the sun, feet in the shade.
The spotted foxglove is a personal favourite of mine.....,
and the bee too, can you see it up the tubular flower? If you click and enlarge the photo you can see the fine hairs on the inside of the flower that brush against the bee as it climbs in and out.
Detail of the Giant Scabiosa head. A great mass of this bendy stemmed plants at the back of a border really do create a lot of movement and long term interest. I love this skinny chap.
My very favourite, Crown Princess Margarita rose. She always gives a good show. The blue in the background is a clematis.
Evan with the rain, my roses have done their best and as soon as the sun dries them out a little, up they come.
My second favourite rose, Munstead Wood. This photo doesn't truly reflect the richness of this glorious rose. I moved it earlier in the season so it could climb against the shed and it's doing very well. Such a reliable rose.
Here, the water damage is quite apparent. I pulled gently on the head of this sodden rose and the entire petal structure came away in one piece. Yet the bud by the side has had the benefit of a good dry day as it unfurls so if the rain stays away it will not suffer the same fate. As I type away the rain is back for the fourth time today, heavy as always, and my hopes for the roses fades somewhat.
This bush has one head with waterlogged petals too but still makes a good show. C'mon, Blighty. Show that weather who is the boss (yes, we all know. The weather wins every time)
My new purchases for this year; I have five or six of these beautiful Verbascums, this one has a sprinkling of rain drops on it's petals.
So, the Salvia Patens Blue have been planted - in the monochrome border! Well, something is better than nothing and if these handsome chaps flower they will be a delight to view from the house.
Remember the bargain annual plants we bought when we met up with Luke's dad a month or two back? For five pounds I filled this large blue pot with fuchsias and upright and trailing lobelia. At least these gives us some interest and can be moved around to fill a boring spot in the garden - if only they weren't so heavy to shift!
What a graceful arch to the yellow flower stem of the humble tomato. It will be such a shame after Luke's tender cultivation of these plants if they do succumb to blight. It's a miracle though if they don't - conditions (wet and warm) are ideal for it. He's going to get some resistance spray and fingers will be firmly crossed.
A room with a view. From our loft you get a slightly better idea of the shape of the garden. With fruit bushes along the left, the vegetable patch behind the white bed and the chicken run and wild garden behind that we move over to the shed and the greenhouse, fronted by the herb garden and then down past the hammock to the clashing corner, the long border, the tree with the bird feeders that our chickens make a run for every time we let them out of their run and down to the friendship border which is obscured by the conservatory roof. Further on down is the monochrome corner, the deck and the wood store. Our compost bin and water butt reside in between the shed ad greenhouse and our bits and pieces, including logs to be cut, hide behind the shed.
Anyway, we can escape indoors and bemoan our fate but the plants have to battle on. Here are the flowers in the garden, some caught on a rare sunny day this July.
In the wild area this plant is doing it's job - attracting insects.
A victim of the weather; this lupin was overcome with greenfly, another infestation has stripped my blue lupin within a day. You snooze, you lose, as they say and I caught both of them too late. What a shame.
Here, the water damage is quite apparent. I pulled gently on the head of this sodden rose and the entire petal structure came away in one piece. Yet the bud by the side has had the benefit of a good dry day as it unfurls so if the rain stays away it will not suffer the same fate. As I type away the rain is back for the fourth time today, heavy as always, and my hopes for the roses fades somewhat.
The half barrel (still smelling slightly of beer!) sits out by the front steps and has spilled over the edges to soften them up. This barrel was filled by Jack next doors' 8 year old grandson and me a few months ago and is a very cheap and cheerful welcome to the house.
Here is a lovely tiny tomato with beautiful curlicue bits adorning it's 'head'.
If you think I have exaggerated about the rain we have endured this 'summer' just look what has happened to these keys in five days! I tied these to string and hung them over the peas to act as a pigeon scarer (well, really just because I wanted to hang these old curiosities up actually and I needed an excuse) and already they are rusty. Happy days!
1 week later.
Well, you didn't think I could keep away, did you? If my poor old plants can struggle on despite having their roots practically rotting whilst their buds whither from an almost continual bashing by heavy downpours - well, I can at least tell you about them, can't I?
Let's do all the bad news first.
The potatoes are nearly all suffering and I know when we dig them up each spud will have a coating of scab. The peas, who usually love the rain, are yellowing up because they are totally waterlogged. This year's crop of raspberries has been very poor - of course it doesn't stop the chickens hopping up and down in brave attempts to dislodge those red jewels from their settings. Many a time I've seen Mrs Bun pull half a raspberry from the stem and then hop up again to break off the remaining half and wolf it down. We've always shared the raspberries with the hens because I think it gives them some interest as well as a little exercise so the bottom few have been the property of the chickens whilst anything from 15 inches up has been human fodder. However, I'm finding that the few we have just don't want to ripen up very well and then they seem to get mould on them within a day. I've not had enough to make a summer pudding again but there are a couple each day ripe for the picking.
The alpine strawberries have not been touched by the chicks; not sure why but they have been allowed to come to fruition and are scarlet dots in amongst the lush green leaves of the plant. The red currants are taking forever to ripen although they are slowly getting there. The new cherry has withered and died but the apple, bought the same time but placed at the top of the garden, is doing well.The box edging around the herbs is filling out nicely and so far, touch wood, Luke's tomatoes have resisted the blight although I do not know how long they will hold out for - it seems inevitable.
The hens are enjoying being in the garden though, we've enjoyed a good few bird visits here as so many young birds use the peanut and seed feeders as a ready source of energy. How does this benefit our girls? Well, the wild birds are messy eaters so our four hang about underneath the feeders and have the crumbs from the feeders. Very canny. We've had three sightings this afternoon of an august russet breasted Bullfinch. What a very handsome visitor he is and I'm transfixed each time he makes an appearance, clinging to the rose stem or perching on a plant.
The roses continue to produce a mass of buds although many of the flowers have dropped off without being able to open - just a cushion of soggy petals bound tightly together before they fall.
This morning, before the latest downpour which had me running to collect the week's washing from the line before it was completely soaked, I planted up Luke's favourite Salvia; Paten's Blue. It's a rich, bright blue and startles people with it's bold, almost gentian colour. We had a lonely spot in what used to be the monochrome corner before it kept surprising me with stray random pinks and purples. Now I just am grateful if anything pushes through the bog-like soil.
Having visited a lavender farm yesterday, Luke returned home with three new lavenders for the garden. Lavender should be the easiest thing to grown and cultivate but I seem to kill everyone of my lavenders if I get anywhere near them. I am thinking of just keeping them for a few years without cutting back as, no matter how frugal my trimming is (and I never cut into the old wood) I seem to finish them off. So I have a huge one in the front garden that I will try to take cuttings from before pulling it and it's woody stems up in a couple of years and a lovely butterfly one by the greenhouse door that should see me good for a few more years. The knives though, are not out for this plant. I shall let it keep it's head and spread itself freely before replacing with a newer plant once it's got too straggly. Look how good the field of lavender looks though....
Beautiful, isn't it?
They also had a wild flower meadow which put my teeny patch to shame. Here's how it's done!
I am so envious!
We did have a very quick wander through a field down the bottom of the hill from us. Within minutes the weather had turned and we had to nip back pretty sharpish to the safety of the car.
Most of the plants I bought earlier this year are now half price in the sale because there is so much unsold but I'm fine about paying full price for my feather Bronze Fennel. I'm always pleased to reacquaint myself with the Giant Scabiosa - a tall, bobbing yellow flower head on a long bendy stem - the flowers are as tall as I am. Sadly, my plant is pushed into a corner and is not expanding but I may well buy another and leave that one where it is (but that is for next year).
The gypsophilia around the large agapanthus is like a froth of cappuccino foam and really brightens up that little bed. I lost two of the plants I put there but this one plant makes up for any disappointment.
We have lots to do in the front garden although the two wooden steps down from the elevated decking to the grass have both split and cannot be used now. The beautiful, Crown Princess Margarita roses are doing me proud (I bought them as a tribute to my father after he died and they always make me think of him when I see their bright apricot flowers grouped together.) My plan is to remove the misshapen and half dead conifer one side of the decking entrance and to replace it with a mirror image of the planting on the other side; a honeysuckle, rose and lavender although with this temperamental weather this will almost certainly not be happening this month.
On a more optimistic note I have today removed the electric blanket from the bed. I am currently wearing a woollen jumper and there hasn't been an evening without the wood burner going but I am hoping we are getting towards more seasonal weather. Well, you've gotta have hope, haven't you?
Let's do all the bad news first.
The potatoes are nearly all suffering and I know when we dig them up each spud will have a coating of scab. The peas, who usually love the rain, are yellowing up because they are totally waterlogged. This year's crop of raspberries has been very poor - of course it doesn't stop the chickens hopping up and down in brave attempts to dislodge those red jewels from their settings. Many a time I've seen Mrs Bun pull half a raspberry from the stem and then hop up again to break off the remaining half and wolf it down. We've always shared the raspberries with the hens because I think it gives them some interest as well as a little exercise so the bottom few have been the property of the chickens whilst anything from 15 inches up has been human fodder. However, I'm finding that the few we have just don't want to ripen up very well and then they seem to get mould on them within a day. I've not had enough to make a summer pudding again but there are a couple each day ripe for the picking.
The alpine strawberries have not been touched by the chicks; not sure why but they have been allowed to come to fruition and are scarlet dots in amongst the lush green leaves of the plant. The red currants are taking forever to ripen although they are slowly getting there. The new cherry has withered and died but the apple, bought the same time but placed at the top of the garden, is doing well.The box edging around the herbs is filling out nicely and so far, touch wood, Luke's tomatoes have resisted the blight although I do not know how long they will hold out for - it seems inevitable.
The hens are enjoying being in the garden though, we've enjoyed a good few bird visits here as so many young birds use the peanut and seed feeders as a ready source of energy. How does this benefit our girls? Well, the wild birds are messy eaters so our four hang about underneath the feeders and have the crumbs from the feeders. Very canny. We've had three sightings this afternoon of an august russet breasted Bullfinch. What a very handsome visitor he is and I'm transfixed each time he makes an appearance, clinging to the rose stem or perching on a plant.
The roses continue to produce a mass of buds although many of the flowers have dropped off without being able to open - just a cushion of soggy petals bound tightly together before they fall.
This morning, before the latest downpour which had me running to collect the week's washing from the line before it was completely soaked, I planted up Luke's favourite Salvia; Paten's Blue. It's a rich, bright blue and startles people with it's bold, almost gentian colour. We had a lonely spot in what used to be the monochrome corner before it kept surprising me with stray random pinks and purples. Now I just am grateful if anything pushes through the bog-like soil.
Having visited a lavender farm yesterday, Luke returned home with three new lavenders for the garden. Lavender should be the easiest thing to grown and cultivate but I seem to kill everyone of my lavenders if I get anywhere near them. I am thinking of just keeping them for a few years without cutting back as, no matter how frugal my trimming is (and I never cut into the old wood) I seem to finish them off. So I have a huge one in the front garden that I will try to take cuttings from before pulling it and it's woody stems up in a couple of years and a lovely butterfly one by the greenhouse door that should see me good for a few more years. The knives though, are not out for this plant. I shall let it keep it's head and spread itself freely before replacing with a newer plant once it's got too straggly. Look how good the field of lavender looks though....
They also had a wild flower meadow which put my teeny patch to shame. Here's how it's done!
We did have a very quick wander through a field down the bottom of the hill from us. Within minutes the weather had turned and we had to nip back pretty sharpish to the safety of the car.
The gypsophilia around the large agapanthus is like a froth of cappuccino foam and really brightens up that little bed. I lost two of the plants I put there but this one plant makes up for any disappointment.
We have lots to do in the front garden although the two wooden steps down from the elevated decking to the grass have both split and cannot be used now. The beautiful, Crown Princess Margarita roses are doing me proud (I bought them as a tribute to my father after he died and they always make me think of him when I see their bright apricot flowers grouped together.) My plan is to remove the misshapen and half dead conifer one side of the decking entrance and to replace it with a mirror image of the planting on the other side; a honeysuckle, rose and lavender although with this temperamental weather this will almost certainly not be happening this month.
On a more optimistic note I have today removed the electric blanket from the bed. I am currently wearing a woollen jumper and there hasn't been an evening without the wood burner going but I am hoping we are getting towards more seasonal weather. Well, you've gotta have hope, haven't you?
Thursday, 12 July 2012
Whilst America bakes..,
we bear the brunt of the rain. That whole saying, "It never rains but it pours" is so true and pouring it is. I snuck a quick mowing session in yesterday afternoon whilst it was dry but it's incredible. I have never known it to be so wet and the peas have turned yellow with the damp. The potatoes have scab and I'm waiting for signs of blight on Luke's last chance tomatoes. All in all it's been a damp squib of a summer. The puffins at Skomer Island will come and go another year without a visit from us as the thought of being on a craggy island with no shelter does not appeal. If it were just drizzling that would not be so bad but this is torrential! The flood warnings are still coming and I'm looking at taking up a hobby which does not see me getting wet. How I miss my garden. I am still sure we will enjoy a late summer though..., where there is life there is hope. Although it's getting soggier by the hour!
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