End of month view – September 2017

  Even though there is plenty still happening in the garden, it is the end of the growing season and seems like the right time to take stock of the successes and failures of the past year. Autumn is the ideal time for making changes; getting rid of the under-performers, planting something better, moving things around.…

Six on Saturday – 30/9/2017

We managed a few decent days this week and the autumnal slide has been put on hold. The late show is now on, Asters, Cyclamen, Nerines et al, joining the long season Dahlias and Fuchsias. When I worked on a nursery I often got the impression that customers rushed out to buy plants as soon as…

Six on Saturday – 23/9/2017

The "could be anything" list on our host's participants guide to Six on Saturday is six items long. Perfect, thinks me, I'll do one of each. But I don't make plans, I rarely complete projects and I have no features. My favourite tool is up the allotment. I'll start with a success and end with…

Familiarity breeds contempt.

Blechnum chilensis is a large and handsome fern. For all the many years that I didn't possess it, I wanted it very much. Eventually a friend dug a piece from her garden and gave it to me. It took a year or two to settle down and start producing its large, handsome leaves, then it…

Six on Saturday – 16/9/2017

While there is undoubtedly more going backwards than going forwards, there is still plenty of colour to be found. Harder to find is gaps between the showers to get out and take pictures. Low light levels and wind don't help either. At least I don't have to work out in it any more, for which…

Six on Saturday – 9/9/2017

Ah, the uncertain days of autumn. Things that look good on Thursday are trashed by Saturday; things that look like they will open in time don't. The weather forecast is for rain all day and it's been dry for hours. Right, what we've got is: One. Geranium procurrens. This appeared from nowhere about two years…

Gardening and getting older.

As gardeners we are very conscious of the life span allotted to the various plants we grow in our gardens. Some may be annuals, some perennials, some biennials. All of us will have had things die prematurely, sometimes for no apparent reason. Equally, most of us will have had the odd annual that manages two…

Six on Saturday – 2/9/2017

The elephant in the room regarding this six is the magnolia I have spent half the week removing and disposing of. It's gone, move on. One. Cyrtanthus elatus. Scarborough Lily. I included the variety 'Pink Diamond' two weeks ago, now the red flowering original form is starting to open. They're not frost hardy, but in…

End of month view 1-9-2017

I was going to skip this month, but the meme has a new host and I received a reminder, so here I am, a day late. A few days ago we were looking at a large Magnolia that has been near the centre of our garden for about twenty years and had reached perhaps 22…