Where am I going to put them all?

These are the seedlings I have yet to find a home for. Trying to match plant to place is like a horticultural jigsaw with lots of special rules. By the way, I am not looking for new homes for either of the animals!

Yesterday Pippa and I went for a lovely breezy walk in the Ashdown Forest; you can see pictures of it on one of my other blogs, here.

And since I don't spend my entire life in gardening clothes, this is me last night, helping B with a photographic lighting experiment. Glamorous, isn't it? From 10:30 to midnight in a multi-storey car park in Crawley.

Butterfly confetti

I'm so tired I can't remember exactly what I did today. The main thing though was clearing space to put out my new plants. I thought this would just be some light re-weeding, but it became clear I should cut back the two climbing roses (ahem, they being a dog rose and a field rose!).

So the plants still aren't in the ground, and I will be busy with other things for the next few days. I will post again soon!

a little closer...

That was quick!

I will show you what was inside tomorrow.

Meanwhile here's the current view from my study window:



And finally here's a colour-tweaked version of Pippa from yesterday, showing that she's not really a hen!



PS middle picture now brightened

More excitement

First off, can anyone tell me what butterfly this was, who joined me for my morning cup of tea?


I didn't get a good shot of the apple trees today, but here are a few bluebells to be going on with:



Today I was over the moon to receive a cheque from my father to pay for some new plants. So I took out the list I'd made for whenever, and began mulling it over again. I decided to use the opportunity to buy all new plants - ie nothing that I'd ever had before. I had a very enjoyable rummage through a couple of books, and after a while ordered the following from Long Acre Plants:

3 x Asarum europaeum (this is mainly foliage, kidney shaped leaves, shiny, called wild ginger)
2 x Tricyrtis formosana 'Dark Beauty' (these are called toad lilies, they flower in autumn and look fascinating)
1 x Tricyrtis 'Amanagowa' (similar to above)
2 x Uvularia grandiflora var pallida (these flower in the spring, cream coloured slender dangling flowers)
1 x Uvularia grandiflora (same but in yellow, a month apart)
1 x Speirantha convallarioides (white spikey flowers in spring, evergreen)
1 x Geranium nodosum (a mauve hardy geranium)
1 x Athyrium niponicum var pictum (a fern)

So I'll see how that little lot stands up to my tender mercies! They're to go in a bed of fairly damp shade. I know people say you should get 3's or even more of things, but I'd rather get more different things and split them after they spread out a bit. I'm very excited about growing some new plants, it feels like getting to know new people. (some of us should get out more...)

This morning I planted some leeks, twice: once the wrong way and once the right way (make a hole with a stick, place the leek in and fill with water). My husband said please do ask if I'm not sure about anything - but I had no suspicion there was anything special about how to plant leeks!

Then I went to a local nursery and bought 7 alpines. I've put them in an old china sink for now but I know they will get too big for there; I'll plant them on eventually.

Then I mowed the lawn, took Pippa out for a short walk since it was her first in nearly a month (just out of her season), and then - spotted our first borage flower. I love borage: we put the flowers with mint leaves and chunks of lemon in a jug of water. I also put them in ice-cubes to cheer us up in drinks over the winter. I took this picture in the evening and the flash went off, which is why the colours are a bit odd, sorry.

Do you think seedlings actually breed?

There seem to be more and more seedlings every day, even if I don't sow any more!



At the moment this is my favourite plant - a viburnam judii, with the most gorgeous perfume:



I thought you might also like to see this snap of Velvet, just about to drink from the pond:



And finally this is a front garden in a village near us. I am determined now to sow deep red wallflowers and plant creamy white narcissi and some more primulas, for next spring:

Some people can't keep away!

Too much happened today not to blog about it...

1. I found a dead frog in the pond and had to fish him out with a net. Loads of the frogspawn has - do you say germinated? though, and is wriggling around.

2. A robin got stuck in the fruit cage and had to be let out.

3. While digging in a completely different bit of the garden, and one recently created, I found a label for a rose which is nearly 30 years old and which I've never known the identity of. I was over the moon. It is called Deep Secret - or originally Mildred Scheel - bred by Tantau in Germany and introduced in 1977. She's about 4 feet tall, very healthy, a hybrid tea, with dark red flowers with golden stamens and a gorgeous perfume. Flowers from late June until the heaviest frosts. I have several pictures of it but none represent the colour properly, which is a bit deeper than blood - sorry to be gory!

Company in the garden

Today as I was weeding, I felt I was being watched. Can you see him?



These days I rarely see birds in the garden while I'm out, although I see many from the window. Clearly Mr Robin had spotted that my feline companion was out for the count!

The Pond

Someone asked whether we have fish in the pond. You bet we do! We inherited 4 koi in our previous house, and we grew very fond of them, so we made a pond here.

We wanted a depth of nearly 5 feet for protection from heron. We tried digging the hole ourselves but it began to fill with water very quickly and frankly was jolly hard work. We got a builder in; I assumed he'd use a machine but he sent a man with a spade and a wheel-barrow! Said man worked like a trojan and in 2 days excavated a hole so neat it looked like something computer-generated on screen.

The hole was 5 feet deep; the pond is now a little less because of its linings: first sand, then old carpet, then heavy butyl liner. There is a shelf for marginal plants along the long edge, and the liner rises and dips again beyond that to make a marsh strip. A filter keeps the water fairly clean and oxygenated. Neither our dog nor our cat have disturbed the fish; we have seen heron visit the garden (an awesome sight!) but the fish have not been killed or injured by them.

Our set-up is a compromise: it's not the koi enthusiast's ideal, because we have plants in, we allow frogs etc (which can bring parasites), and we rarely use chemicals in it. It works very well, in our eyes. There was a major problem last year when I didn't report to my husband in time that the filter pump had stopped working. Half the fish died from lack of oxygen. I later learned that fish live much closer to the margin of feasibility, in terms of how they breathe, than we do, and so oxygenation is a key point. I still remember lifting out the dead fish each time I go near the pond, but I hope this will lessen.



I absolutely love the pond. I wish we could have a waterfall but I understand this is not easily arranged because of technical problems (essentially the filter chamber is configured wrongly for that to work, it's hard to see how we could have one without replacing the whole system which would be daft).

Bliss

Today my husband did lots in the garden too. He strimmed all the edges - this is quite a job given that the garden is rather bitty and complicated. He also put up a new temporary fence. And then he read and kept me company. We had lunch outside for the first time this year.

I cleared and mowed the lawn. It lookes much, much better for it, with the edges done too. I took photos of the whole garden (not pretty ones, just as a record). I sowed 2 trays of echium - a bombproof plant I love. The first vinca flower is out.

And I took a photo of this butterfly.

A garden pay-back day, it was wonderful.

The end of the beginning

Today I weeded most of the remaining large bed. Despite nice enough weather it was cold and the bed is hard work, weeding underneath and round roses and digging out our friend, the bindweed.





Pippa kept me company.



One of my next jobs is going to be to prune the roses. This is one of my favourites (I find it very hard to choose) - it's a dark red, with a gorgeous perfume, and flowers from about July onwards until the frost. I tried to move it a few years ago but the roots were amazing! It is one of the few plants in the garden from before we came which I love, the others being the apple trees and a white spirea.

And this frogspawn has appeared in the pond.



Bob asked whether we have fish - yes. Maybe I'll talk about them tomrrow, since it's forecast to be wet.

Much better!

Today was a far better day in the garden. Only the morning was fine, but that was OK because the rain was forecast and I had things planned.

First thing, I went out with Pippa on the lead for a quiet browse at other people's front gardens. The nicest are nearly always outside bungalows. My favourite was a corner plot, with lawn surrounded by a wavy-edged bed of shrubs, including interesting small ones, - not many bulbs, and lots of space with promising looking sprouting perenials. I'll be back there in a few weeks'.

Then I weeded at the front, since it faces north-east. There's gratifyingly little to do at the moment, more bits of litter blown in than weeds, just a few dandelions. Everything doing well.



I took this rather poor snap, through the water, of a frog in the pond - or is it a toad? Either way, I love its being there. It feels like a natural approval of the pond we made.








For good measure, here's one of Velvet and Pippa together. This is the first time they have sat so close of their own accord. You can see Pippa making herself as small-looking as an Irish Setter can be, so as not to scare off her favourite friend!




Then I tidied up a bit in the conservatory and shuffled a few seed-trays around. In the last of the sun, with the greenhouse doors open, I sowed our tomatoes: Latah, Grushovka and Millefleur, each in half-trays to go in the magic box (heated propagator). Then I sowed pots of marigolds, pots of black hollyhocks, and a whole tray of gyspohila. PS also larkspur.

While I was showing things off to my husband he noticed a shoot coming up from one of the beans, thank goodness. They and the peas are taking their time.



I didn't blog yesterday because I did very little in the garden. We were busy though: we sorted out our jars. We have loads and loads of these and I don't think they've ever been sorted thoroughly before. We used them for putting homemade produce in (jams, pickles, dried herbs, spice mixture etc) and also because we find they are one of the few things mice can't eat through. This picture shows less than half of them!

The other big event yesterday was a garden visitor I hadn't seen before: a sparrowhawk. Not good for song-birds, I know, but a beautiful and moving sight even so. (This picture is by my husband and actually shows the bird in next door's garden.)

First mowing and fish-feeding of the season

Today we were blessed with glorious sunshine. I am strongly influenced by sunlight - I go a bit mad and spend all day smiling! (Fortunately I don't get depressed when it's dull, I'm just less zaney then.)

First off a couple of flowers. I've shown pictures of both of these little ones before but they are really blooming well now:



- and this next one seems to glow with light, even in a gloomy corner:



It was also the first day I felt it was worth putting out the whirlygig (I'm afraid as usual this is a warts and all photo - there is of course a huge amount of tidying to do about the place)



I went to feed the fish, waking up and very hungry, but gave it a few minutes longer so that this pair could have a bit of peace:



Then I got on with putting away all the clutter I'd spread over the lawn (from the greenhouse) and tidied up the lawn as best I could, and then... I mowed it. This would have made more difference if I'd lowered the blade a bit more but never mind. And here it is afterwards. The whole things still has loads of weeding to do, and maybe looks rather unappealing - but it will look wonderful in a couple of months' time, I promise!



Then finally after supper I soaked two lots of morning glory and one of ranunculus. I find it hard to believe these little dry spidery things will become the plants I remember loving before, and in so little time, but I hope so.

Bob wondered what the next project is. Ha! Tomorrow I will be tackling this, which is our garage:

Sneaky extra post... it's about the dog

OK, I admit, I can't keep away from this place :)

Several people have admired the photos of our dog, so I thought I would take up the meme suggested by Carolyn here, and write more about her.

This is Pippa. She's an irish setter, 4 years old although people meeting her tend to assume she's much younger because she looks gangly to someone not used to the breed, and is extremely lively.

She is our first dog together as a couple - after leaving home I mean. We chose the breed because we wanted a dog who would enjoy the long walks that I love; who would be lively and fun to play with (my husband's main criterion); and who would also be somewhat independant minded and able to cope with a few hours alone. She has proved ideal in all of these. The only snag is that the dog I trained before was a colly, and setters just don't have the same work ethic! Recall in particular is a challenge, and it doesn't help that she's not much motivated by food.

On the other hand she is a delight to the eye, mesmerisingly so - her movement, her manner, everything. Even those who know setters think she is a good example. Her coat is naturally glossy; she gets a bath about twice a year, in plain water. Brain: you'll be wondering about that. Well no, that's not her strong suit, but what she's good at is her sense of direction, her patience, and her memory. She's not great at working things out. On walks, she is phenomenally fast: I have never seen any dog outrun her, and I've never tired her out since she reached adulthood.

P is OK in the garden. I can't say she's great. She gets bored after about an hour or so and misbehaves. She has me well trained - she knows it will get my attention! So if I'm thinking, I keep an eye on her and take her inside, out of harm's way, while she's still being good. Otherwise she will start pulling plants out of pots. She doesn't dig, fortunately.

We also have a cat, about whom I will write another time.

Now, here are some photos of Pippa. Many are from when she was younger and she has filled out a little - you can't see her ribs any more, honest!

I'm watching you

Quick update

I just opened the back door to let our dog out for a quick wee - and it was all full of snow! Just like that. And the amber light from Gatwick a couple of miles away is reflecting off more snow-clouds, making the whole garden show looks like a cosy corner in a pub where they hope orange lights will make you drink more...

Admittedly when I took this photo with my little camera, the flash went off so of course the orange light didn't show up. I hope my husband's greater photographic skills will give me a better picture to post here after dinner. - and yes I know it's very little snow, but it all appeared in about 40 minutes (or so it seemed...)

.... and later: I feel very humbled: this is his photo. The exposure was 16 seconds, and you can see blurring from where the wind moved the trees. You can also see the shadow of the camera and the chair it was resting on (just)... and our demi-johns which should have been put away months ago but never mind!