Of woeful neglect and lots of rain

This summer has been so busy for us that we have sadly neglected our garden and hence this blog too. In that time, our garden has just grown wild and not in a particularly good way. For the last four weekends all we have done is try to make amends and catch up with nature.

We started with fierce dead heading, filling the compost bin with spent mops of buddleia, alliums, hypdrangea, roses, geraniums and lavender. Was such a shame to bin armloads of such fragrant stalks but was reminded that I am too pressed for time to even think of pot pourri or anything similar.

Meanwhile, on the much-blogged-about back bed, a ferocious form of climbing weed had taken control of the walls, the shed and even the climbers we planted a few months ago. It was an arduous task pulling them out and all I could do was the lop them just below soil surface in most cases, knowing full well that they would make a nasty comeback. After we removed the army of weeds we had to install the trellis along the wall for the honeysuckle and passion flower climbers to grow on to. 

In another bed, clematis had run amok and had also been attacked by clematis wilt. Again, they were let down by our lack of care, with the climbing support provided, rather inneffective. So I just pared them down to ground level and decided to be better prepared next year.

At the end of each weekend, we would have very little to show for results but for some turned earth and clear space, but we had to plough on, quite literally.

I think I may have rescued a few crocusmia bulbs that had come unearthed and an anthurium that was struggling to survive. The anthurium had been planted four years ago, along with three others of its kind. They were crowded out by other plants in that bed, such as the fatssia and the viburnum, and eventually only one survived. Similar tale with the crocusmia, in the shade of the ceanothus. Pleased to have given both a better chance of survival by replanting them in pots. I also found some dahlia tubers in a packet in the shed, that had started to sprout. Potted them too. Several months late. Better in the soil than in the shed.

Another tedious task has been to pinch out aquilegia saplings from practically everywhere. As much as I am grateful for self-propogating plants, I do have to say, No Thanks, to this one.

Feel somewhat redeemed after four weekends of desperate claw-back maintennance work in the garden. There are some more tasks to be done. More next weekend.

On a more uplifting note, we have the most beautiful sedum bloom, pictured here in the midst of another downpour, and the cyclamen had started to make its appearance in a very fashionable pink - just what we need as the autumn takes hold.

Winter colour

Hunkered down for the winter

We did intend to get out and dig for England over the autumn. I got help for the some of the hard digging and created a new bed at the back of the garden. We could have lots of climbing roses there, I thought. We set off in earnest to the fancy garden centre and before long we had a trolley loaded with bulbs of all sorts, as well as the sedum  have been looking for. At the till, we realised that that we had nearly 200 bulbs of narcissi and tulips, but no  coherent planting scheme. That plus a time-starved week ahead and we decided to we put all the  bulbs back on the shelves with a plan to return the next weekend when we knew which bulbs we needed. Next weekend never came and eventually we missed yet another November with no new bulbs. A right disgrace. Anyway, I can at least share that Spring-Summer 2012 is going to see lots of tulips of the Parrot variety, not in our garden though, but most certainly in a lot of gardens up and down the country. 

The last new addition to our garden were six beautiful sedum with pink blossoms. We just about managed to plant them between days of blustery weather and very wet soil. Sedum are winter hardy and provide a carpet of ground cover, just what we need to fill up the gaps in our front bed. We did pick three bare root roses from David Austin, but they too remained potted over the winter - cannot be a good thing, but hopefully not a crime. 

On a more cheerful note, the warmer than usual November meant that the oriental poppies continued to grow and both plants appear to have established well.

We also bought some cyclamen at the garden centre at a deeply discounted price and the label said it would not last the week. A little TLC, a large pot, indoor placement and a whole month later, the cyclamen are thriving and bringing fabulous colour against the bleak hues of winter. 

Earlier on we had a sunflower bloom from a seed past its expiry date, well, a year or so past its expiry date. Should try my luck with the other seeds next year.

Last night we brought our geraniums indoors at 1.00 am, just before the next major frost. They continued their display well into December, probably confused by the warmer winter as the poppies were.





















Signing off for the year now, with a lot of promises and
plans for the next year.  Hope the birds will be fine over the winter.

The most rewarding of 'em all

We lined our geranium pots along the path to our back garden when we brought them out of the conservatory in spring. Gave them a good prune and they promptly re-energised to yield a beautiful display. A friend who often travels to Switzerland remarked that it reminded her of Swiss Chalets with blooms spilling out of window boxes against the dark brown timber of the chalets. Very flattering, but it sort of does, doesn't it?

The geranium amaze me with how little they need by way of care and how spectacular they are. One of those great species in nature that take so little and give so much in return. No complaints against the more demanding types, it takes all sorts to fill this world!  

A beautiful display also from the crocusmia who have this casual air of elegance about them. The bulbs planted in the shade of the ceanothus have paler blooms compared to those that get more sun. Or they may just might be different varieties, who knows! The foliage is elegant too, long sword-shaped leaves with a dark green centre and paler towards the edges.

The crocusmia are special in our garden as they were the very first bulbs we planted after we dug out the flower beds. They have taken a few years to establish but the wait has been well rewarding. 

Talking of rewards reminds me of the hollyhocks. We bought two small potted plants less than 10 cm high in March this year and planted them in our front beds. Less than six months later, we have been rewarded by spires that over 7 feet high with buds and blooms along the length. The hollyhocks are now the defining feature of the front beds, bringing great sculptural value with the wine-coloured flowers, height and textured leaves.  

The Hollyhocks stand straight and tall
like captains in command. 

If they could walk, I'm sure they'd march like soldiers, 

to a band.
From 'A Day in My Garden' by Elizabeth Gest

A post on rewarding plants would be incomplete without mention of ceanothus, which has grown into a whopping big tree, now flush with lilac blooms!

Growing our Five-A-Day

We have finally decided to have a veggie bed this year. But first, how not to grow veg!

Two summers ago, we got some free seeds along with a gardening magazine and promptly sowed them in three seed trays. Suddenly we had to plant nearly forty seedlings  of basil, tomato and peppers. There was no space in the flower beds so I decided to pick up wooden crates from the open market and plant the seedlings in them. The crates just a few inches deep so the roots did not have enough room to grow and anchor the plants well. The basil grew limp. We got one under-developed pepper. The tomato plants literally shot out of the crates.They needed staking and I bought rather feeble stakes from the local garden centre. Soon the stakes were falling and the tomato plants along with them. There were an abundance of green tomatoes that were small and did not ripen, totally not the Gardener's Delight promised on the sachet. I eventually harvested them all for a green tomato salad. The crates remained an eye sore in the garden, the plants going gangly over winter and a certain Mr Macaron pleased at all at my half-witted attempt at veggie gardening. 


The next year, having learnt that just a few seeds would do the trick, I went about trying my hand at French Beans, Courgette and Salad and planted the seedlings in the gaps within our flower beds. The Salad leaves were devoured by slugs and snails, who also helped themselves to the tender courgette plants. But the French Beans thrived, we got loads of juicy beans, tastier than their Tesco counterparts I might add, and the proof of concept was established! 


This year, it was time to dedicate space in our garden to grow veg. Mr Macaron a wee sceptical that our garden is too small. My idea was to dig up a sunny part of the lawn for the veg bed of course. I had to remind him that Michelle Obama had the White House lawn dug up for a veg bed! Surely we can too. So now it's been agreed that we will dig up the lawn to create a bed and grow our own veg! Sowed a few seeds each of tomato, carrots, kale, french beans and courgettes. It should take two to three weeks for the seedlings to emerge, which gives us enough time to dig out the bed, backbreaking work given the unyielding clay soil we have. Once the bed is ready, lettuce and herbs can go directly in.

Talking of which, Mr Macaron mowed the lawn today and though it looks nice and tidy now, sad to see many of the yellow dandelions go. Followed by generous treat of compost for all the plants. The clematis that I thought we might have lost to clematis wilt last year are growing shoots. We created a new wire-frame against the fence to support them on their climb. The geranium troughs were brought out to the garden from the conservatory to make room for the veg seed trays. The tulips have come up with a dazzling display this year - you can see some of them here.


A lovely friend dropped by this evening and brought a pot of white carnations for us - delighted at the new addition to our garden!