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Flowers in July

July 15, 2016July 15, 2016flowers, garden11 Comments

There has been some sunshine this week. Enough for me to nip out into the garden and take a few pictures anyway.

I haven’t included any long shots, my camera was on the wrong white balance setting and they all came out a bit orangey/acid.

So whilst some of these closer shots are still quite vibrant, I think they just about get away with it.

I’ll have to get on a chair to get some pics of the in flower honeysuckle. I didn’t this time.

This hot pink rose isn’t growing in the pot, it’s just hugging the flowers that are. It grows behind but has nothing much to grab on to. It’s in its third home. I’ve had to move it because I initially planted it in a stupid place, where it slumped on the ground. It looked kind of depressed. Now, it’s more contained but still makes an attempt to reach out for friends.

Trigger warning, nasty story in next paragraph. Scroll past to avoid.

I’ve got more borage than is necessary. I didn’t rip it out, like I was supposed to. It gives me gardener’s guilt. I tell you what else gives one gardener’s guilt: mowing down big, fat juicy frogs. Seriously, I am traumatised. Yesterday, I was merrily chopping the grass to a more acceptable level when, judder judder thump. A frog was flung a couple of feet from the whizzing blades, flung carelessly to his death. I may have hollered loudly, I may have also run inside the house and waited until Husband came home to sort it out.

Isn’t salvia nice?! So blue! That’s better.

I think it’s a good year for bugs. There are little black bugs I’ve never seen before. They’re particularly noticeable on the big stinky daisies.

I was disappointed to find them hiding in amongst the sweetpeas too. I’d brought in a lovely bunch to put in a pretty vase. Somebody came in behind me and promptly chucked them back outside. They were riddled.

So, we’re mostly admiring the flowers from a distance. I think Marcy is just looking for the bugs.

Someone has eaten the top off the snapdragon. More bugs!

I’ve got caterpillars writhing all over my brassicas but they’re not touching the nasturtiums. I thought those cabbage white butterflies loved nasturtiums.

Ugh, bugs!

More June Garden

June 28, 2016June 28, 2016flowers, garden4 Comments

I only have garden pictures today as I’m not up to date on anything else. Even these aren’t really making me dance a jig.

We’ve had so much rain. It pummeled the roses so that their fallen petals left a hazardous slippery goo on the steps. And sadly, because I thought it was done, I chopped all these twisty branches off two days ago. It is far more naked than this right now.

I’m assuming it’s slugs that have treated themselves to my hosta. It was certainly they (and the snails) who decimated my first round of lettuces.

Aphids are having a go at the lupins, which never stood a chance this year. I sprayed them with bug spray a few weeks ago; the leaves were curling and the stems and buds were smothered in thousands of mischievous sap sucking bugs.

The rocket has gone to seed. I don’t mind too much as we got a fair few dinners from it. Plus, the flowers can be eaten too. Bonus.

Last year’s parsely is going to seed, as expected. I am still gathering what parsley I can from it before it goes too ‘not right’. There is also new stuff in there somewhere too. I have far more nasturtiums than is necessary but everytime I rip it out, the guilt weighs down on me.

Even the butterflies look tatty. Eeh, I’m not painting a very jolly picture.

Things that made me happy were the delphiniums. I hadn’t realised they were here already, so to see them was lovely. Mind you, something/somebody has already flattened two of them so now I’m sad again. They are also really hard to photogrpah nicely.

Another pleasant surprise is the feverfew. Strictly speaking it’s an univited guest. It cropped up surrepticiously one summer and was not seen again for another three years.

Last year it decided to come back and I was delighted. I made sure to save some seed too. What I like about it is that, it is a double petalled variety. The one I bought at the garden centre was not and also had very yellowy leaves. I prefer the one that chose me.

The pots are looking alright. As usual I didn’t have much of a planting plan. Before the season begins I promise myself that I will plan what to buy and plan where it’ll go. Pah, it never happens. I end up just buying what I fancy. And to be honest, that method hasn’t not worked for me. Provided only a handful of colours are chosen, I think anything can look good. I go for blues, purples, pinks and white. I avoid yellow, orange and red. I don’t like them…until the day I do and then I’ll buy all those instead.

I go for a mixture of garden centre and supermarket. I get the fancier ones from the garden centre and bulk them up with cheapy supermarket staples. And, if I’m feeling enthusiastic, I’ll gather seed from those that give it up and I can grow my own plants for the following year. It worked for the anagallis (not yet flowered though). I also saved the seed from last year’s hosta but nothing came of those. I didn’t look into it, just bunged them in a pot to see what would happen. The answer turned out to be nowt but you don’t know unless you try. Stock is a good one to save as is aquilegia. I forgot to save either of these last year.

If you want to get a shock like me, look at this blog post from last year (scroll past all the irrevelant pictures). How neat and tidy is that?! What a difference a year makes! I’ve let myself go, obviously. I had no clue. The shame!

A Cottage Garden in June

June 9, 2016June 9, 2016flowers, garden, veg patch12 Comments

I’m not sure you can call it a cottage garden if you don’t live in a cottage. However, it’s the style I like and I’m going to call it one. The theme for this post is pictures of my garden. And that’s it. It’s all I’ve got to show as I haven’t taken any photographs of anything else (apart from camping pics that I don’t have time to go through). I’m in a can’t be arsed slump. It must be the weather.

In no particular order I’m going to blather about some flowery pictures and see where it takes me. I will fly by the seat of my pants. I’m an expert at it.

I like this pretty peach rose. It wasn’t planned. He is a leftover from the previous owner who dumped it behind the shed. I plopped it in the ground to see what would happen. I’m glad I did.

Whilst I’m down at the bottom of the garden, amongst the birds and the bees, I may as well start here. It’s a total mess, not at all manicured. It’s the way I like it as it means you can avoid a lot of hard work.

I’m a sucker for pretty flowers.

As well as those geraniums I’ve got some ox eye daisies coming up. My brother and I used to call them bum flowers when we were kids because we thought they smelled like bums! Delightful. I haven’t actually stuck my nose in any of the ones that have presented themselves, I’m not that keen. Maybe I should, just to check and see if they’re still bummy. They add a bit of non-bummy interest too. I like a bit of white to break up the bluey purples that are going on.

I missed the peonies do their thing. They’re a bit saggy and old now. It must have happened quite quickly. Look at all my weeds in the gravel. I can tell you that most of it is borage. It goes mental. I think it’s going to have to come out. It’ll get massive if I leave it. If anyone in East Devon wants some, give me a shout and you can have some. I’ve got loads. Same for nasturtiums.

Loads of figs happening.

This was the hawthorn blossoming a couple of weeks ago. It’s shrivelled and died since. I’m surprised that it’s a thing I look forward to (not the dying bit, obvs). It’s really impressive when in full flower.

This also happened. Not in June, mind you but it was the last day of May so not a million years ago. So cute. I’m relieved that these guys fledged. Tits. Coal tits. It was a close call though. The day before, one of them ended up in our hall way. As far as I’m aware it’s Marceline’s first real gift for us. She also brought us a wasp last night though. Luckily the little tit was still alive and not in too bad a condition. It was taken back to the box where it wriggled back in.

Here she is; a tiger in the lupins. A frog was her prey this time. I heard it way before youngest child spotted it.

It did not have a particulary pleasant singing voice. But I’d recognise a frog scream anywhere. Our old cat used to bring in half a dozen frogs a day. It got tiresome, ferrying them out again. I don’t like it when they go rigid.Anyway, that’s reminded me about the lupins. Look what a difference two weeks makes?! Delightful, they were. Now, they’ve been ravaged by slugs or something. Gutted. I love lupins, if only for their leaves. And look what they’ve become! pfft.

Just up a bit from the lupins, I’ve got some alliums. They were really cheap to buy this time round. A couple of years ago you were lucky to buy three in a pack for less than a fiver and this time I got loads (I don’t really remember, it was months ago). I’d be much happier if a couple of small children hadn’t gone round with whipping sticks. In this photo you can make a few headless casualties (a the top).

Ok, I seem to be working clockwise around the border. I do like a pretty tangle of speedwell. I think this is called Veronica. Loads of things seem to be called Veronica though, flowers are confusing.

There’s loads of this near me, it grows all over Devon. Erigeron or Mexican fleabane. It’s in fashion at the moment (Mum saw it on Chelsea). I never thought of flowers as fashionable/unfashionable but apparently this is the case.

Up near the house is a yellow rambling rose. I bought it from the local garden centre about five years ago. Two years ago its pergola doodah got blown down and the rose was chopped to a foot high. In two years it has gone nuts. I love it.

The smell was drifting gently in to the living room last night (had the doors open), it was lovely.

Everyone grows runner beans here. A couple of years ago there were six gardens in a row with them. Interesting, hey?!

I’ve also got peas. It sets me appart from the runner bean crowd. Bean dweebs.

And because I never do, let me show some of the front garden. The foxgloves out the back were weak this year, pathetic and weedy. I thought they’d be happy wherever they ended up but not so as it turns out. There are loads out the front and they’re very perky. Mostly I choose alpine plants for the front as they’re not as fussy. I have cerastium (snow in summer), it sits very nicely with some lithodora (which was thirsty and manky looking at the time of photographing, so I cropped it out). Erm, what are those pink things? Are they indeed, just pinks? Dunno. And some weeds to show you that I am neglectful and untidy.

This afternoon I potted on some anagallis and my morning glory. I also started planting out some lettuces (with the help of a not so competent three year old) but had to stop for school pick up. Now that I’m back indoors do I really want to continue with that job? I’d probably make the tea instead. Eldest is at judo so I should do it now.

Time for a Garden Catch Up.

May 19, 2016May 21, 2016flowers, garden, veg patch25 Comments

It’s getting good. Starting to get happy with sunshine and flowers. Yeah, there’s been loads of rain as well but it’d look pretty shockin’ without it.

This small magnolia was at its best about three weeks ago. It’s over now. It was a birthday present last year. I think it should grow to about four feet. The plan is that it’ll eventually hide the compost bin.

The kerria japonica is also looking tattier than this picture suggests. Probs taken on the same day as the magnolia.

I’ve loved watching the fern unfurl over the last few weeks. I’m not sure but ferns might be considered a bit naff these days. I still like em.

Figs. I’m happy that they grow well in the garden, I feel quite smug about it sometimes. What’s that about?! I don’t even like the things. The tree is looking fresh green though and that, I do like.

Hiding in the fig tree is the cat’s favourite outdoor thing. Many catis hang out here. I think it has something to do with that bird box. I inadvertently caught a blurry coal tit too. Husband said he saw a starling trying to have a rummage in their hole…!

Cox. The apple blossom got lost in the clematis.

The clematis is growing all over. I like it, it’s becoming rebellious.

Pretty.

This butterfly is boring. There was another one that was prettier but it gave me the slip with its flappy ways.

Lupin leaf. Lupins are the thirstiest plants in the garden. They look so sad when they haven’t had a drink. I do too, I expect.

This geranium is Rozanne. This is the first flower of the year. It’ll be covered in them soon enough.

Aquilegia. I think the seeds came from a wayside plant up the road. I don’t know what the rules are about nicking seed heads. I’ve got my eye on some deep purple ones too.

Who could possibly want to tear up all these “weeds”?! I know people do it. They are so lovely and there would be very little out there right now if it weren’t for these.

Forget me nots.

Here’s a quick glimpse of the veg stuff. I do grow most from seed but I bought the purple sprouting as plugs (horrid word). I don’t need that many so there’s no point buying loads of seeds. I’ll cheat and buy courgette plants too.

I’ve kind of caught up with myself from last year now. It was May last year that I published the first garden post. There was another post soon after. Kind of the same but different. I’m losing my aquilegia, I didn’t realise until looking at the pictures. Better pinch some more of those seeds.

I’ve linked up with #MakingHome

A Pretend Spring Cottage Garden.

April 22, 2016April 23, 2016flowers, garden, outside13 Comments

Now that the garden is well into the first stage of Spring prettiness, I am here to unashamedly post shed loads of photographs just because I want to. I also thought I’d post these sunny pictures today because outside it is cold, wet and grotty. What a flippin’ miserable day. Most of the pictures have been taken in the last two weeks but some with the cat were before that.

In that nesting box, we’ve spotted a pair of coal tits flitting in and out. We watched them a few days ago collecting tufts of garden string to line their nest with.

There’s no particular order. I did think about planning them out in a nice sequence but I was getting confused.

Freaky pussy.

The muscari finally decided to come out to play.

The peonie has chosen not to take part in any games just yet.

Clematis is not quite ready.

This picture is a missed opportunity. Must fit some more camera learning in. Mind you, that bee was gone just as quickly as it arrived.

I’ve also got my veg beds that need sorting. We planted some peas a couple of weeks ago and they’re coming up now. But there’s not much else going on there.

Honestly, I’ve been planning on a lovely garden post for ages and now that I’ve decided to do it, I can’t think of much to say! Probs for the best. Better get back to something more crafty.

I link up here:

Since it’s Spring…

March 22, 2016March 22, 2016beginners photography, flowers, garden, outside19 Comments

The garden is slowly waking up. We’re still not in “pretty” territory but it’s on its way.

The muscari in my garden are well behind others. I see them all over town; big and bright, in huge swathes or on their own, poking out of cracks in the pavement . This is their second year in the garden, I guess they need to establish themselves before being impressive.

Forget me nots are so pretty when in their masses. In their masses they can get fungal diseases, which I think occurred last year when it was really soggy. I can see dark splotches on the leaves, which I reckon is fungal. I could tear them all up and give them a break but I’ll see how it goes.

Celandines are usually one of the first flowers to come round after winter. I would have had more but when we first moved in I ripped them all out. I didn’t know what they wear. They’d probably be considered weeds in someone else’s garden but I like the bright they bring.

Living twigs. That’s the fig on the left and on the right is some sort of miniature cherry relative. Dancing with the butterflies? Something like that.

The crocuses in my garden are few and far between. I must have planted hundreds of bulbs in all the autumns we’ve lived here and yet I see very few waiting to come back after each of their first appearances.

Isn’t this a bit early for a peony? I used the macro lense for this but I struggle to see where the focus is and so I wiggle the lense miniscule amounts and take a picture at each wiggle (I know where I want the focus to be but it doesn’t always end up in the right place) . The margin for accurate focus is barely anything. I think I’m doing something wrong.

I’ve had erysimum all through the winter. It’s gone straggly but it’s still flowering.

There are still lots of daffs going strong. I’m amazed how long the season has been.

This is the biggest area for flowers, down at the bottom of the garden. See? It hasn’t quite got there yet. There’s a lot more green than there was a couple of weeks ago though. And look at the first garden pictures I posted ten months ago (scroll past the shawl). Let’s see how it looks in another two months!

Spring plants and flowers at Escot Park.

February 22, 2016February 22, 2016flowers, garden, outside13 Comments

It was half term last week and on Monday I took my boys to Escot Park near Ottery St Mary, Devon. We’ve got an annual pass as it isn’t far from where we live. It has loads of stuff for the children to do and lots of interesting things to see.

This year there will be even more to see as there will be new enclosures for some animals. They already have an excellent space for red squirrels (if you’re lucky they come up and say hello to you. They might even try to search your pockets for nuts!!). There are otters, wild boar and birds of prey too and they will soon be joined by lynx, wolves, wild cats and pine martins. I think that’s right, I’m saying it from memory.

Escot also has lots of interesting trees and plants. This is the bit I like. At different times of year there is always something beautiful to see. I will go back and see the bluebells and at some point, enthusiastically yet carefully put my nose in all the roses of the walled garden.

Excuse me if the picture quality is dodgy, I took these photographs on my phone. The only thing I’ve done is to squash the size down a bit.

Who doesn’t love a teasel?!

Apologies if you’re not keen on snowdrops…

The snowdrops were amazing. I don’t recall seeing them there before, must’ve always missed them. I got told off by the boys at this point, for taking too many photos. They wanted to go and play on the pirate ship.

Good old crocus.

I don’t normally like camelias but even I thought these ones were beautiful.

I used to want cyclamens in the garden but they look better in this environment. Plus I did plant some a few years ago and I reckon the vine weevil got them. They never did come back.

So, yeah, that was nice. The boys had fun and so did I. It was a lovely sunny day. I’m glad we went. I shall take small boy back next week if the weather is good. Gotta get my money’s worth on that annual pass.

More playing with my Canon 600D.

January 26, 2016January 26, 2016beginners photography, garden8 Comments

I haven’t had many opportunities to play with the camera over the last couple of weeks. Some days it won’t cross my mind at all that I should be learning how to use my lovely Christmas present. I’m not going to obsess over it and I’m not going to write continuous blog posts either. The excitement will probably wear off soon enough.

Last weekend I thought that I should probably have a go on it. Keep up with the learning. I went into the garden to see what was going on. Bulbs have sprouted and are flowering early.

With the macro lense added I went in seach of some interesting things. I have no idea why I like the berry picture, I just do. First lesson to learn when taking close ups of stuff? Don’t let your over long fringe cast a shadow over the thing you want to photograph.

Initially I took pictures on the basic manual setting but then I twigged that I should be using the macro setting. I know this. It’s simple. I keep forgetting. It’s good to know that there are similar functions that I recognise from my old compact jobbie. However, if I want to use the camera properly, I can’t rely on them either.

It’s a good start though. I’m happy with the results. I could be satisfied just twiddling the main dial but it isn’t the same as understanding all the abilities of a fancy SLR. I’m pleased they’re there though.

I didn’t have long so I tried something else. Marceline got the Portrait treatment. It gave her a better colour. The standard Auto was dull and grainy(I deleted those). Then it was time to stop playing and hide camera away from my grubby little children.

Yesterday, a week later, I went outside again. I only had five minutes to experiment with a new function I’d read about. I’ve found a great little blog series that has taken away a lot of the fear of posh photograph taking. Consequently, I’ve found a new button. The ISO button. I’ll look up ISO in a minute. Something to do with light. Anyway, the daffodils have started to arrive. Think these are Tete a Tete.

Here are the shop bought daffs. Obvs, they need chucking. The light differences are just the changing of the ISO button. Interesting… But also, the camera is on the P setting and I can’t remember what the instructions said what that meant. It’s all the combinations that get me. You might have the right ISO number set but what if you haven’t twiddled the dial to the right bit? So much information and that’s just an iceberg’s tip.

Here is Marceline on the highest ISO number. Both she and the crochet are (kind of) in focus.

The number went mega low and I focussed on the blanket I’m supposed to be working on right now.

Then I focussed on Miss Marcy. And, what’s good is that I totally meant to do these things!

These have come along nicely in the last week. They belong to Eldest boy who planted them with Granny in the autumn. They were in the shed for a few months before I remembered to go and get them.

The ISO thing also means you can make blurry backgrounds to hide ugly things that lurk behind stuff you want to take pictures of. I don’t always get an accurate focus on the exact bit I want. Is it my eyes or the camera that’s not doing a proper job? Probably the wrong setting.

At this stage I took some pictures of the Spice of Life crochet blanket. I was going to add them here showing similar things about focussing on diffferent sections of the blanket. However, I’m almost finished and I think I’ll save them for another time. I think it’s enough that you know I’ve read what Aperture means.

The Middle of November, Already.

November 18, 2015November 18, 2015crafty, crochet, felt, garden, sewing11 Comments

I’ve been mega busy over the last couple of weeks, getting my craft on and all that. The weekend after next I will be busy trying to make people buy my wares at the PTA Christmas Fayre. I am not going to blather on today because I’m going to plonk myself down on the sofa in a minute and start some more stitching.

Anyway, before I add a few pictures of what I’ve been doing with my crafty ways, I’m just going to squeeze in some garden pictures. It’s all very well being smug about the prettiness of it in spring and summer [it was hard to choose those links as there are betweeny posts with lovely summery flowers in, I just looked in the garden category!] but I shouldn’t hide the tattiness out there come late autumn.

This morning looked very promising but it’s since greyed over and is threatening rain. Again.

Only mildly depressing.

And I should get over myself because in other years there is no way I’d still have flowers in the garden at this time of year. The little purple flowers are a summer annual, Nemesia. Beyond the wall you can see flecks of orange, which is the nasturtium, still going strong.

The blue sky didn’t last. The pumpkins are still resisting the urge to disappear. I chucked them in the runner bean grave after Halloween. Sadsack leeks are sharing the space. Just blinkin well grow, please.

View from above. Bottom left is where I lobbed all the twigs from the Halloween decorations. The kids have played with them in their funny games.

This is what I’m working on at the moment. Lots of felt decorations. Some I’ve made before, some I’m just making up as I go. I’ve designed them all myself, if you can call it that. Not sure how hard it is to draw a Christmas tree really (not very?). And it’s a big lie anyway because my eldest boy drew out the Elf boot last year and I helped modify it. That one, he is the designer of.

I rummaged through the fabric drawer for any green and red fabric I had. Mostly it is just scraps but I reckon I can work something out. There is new stuff there too; the reindeer fabric and the stuff above it is a recent impulse buy.

And then there are these jobbies. To ensure I had a lot of them I have done away with the colour changes that made me thing of these as Granny owls. Making them up in just one colour was a lot quicker and they still look nice.

I did blathering when I didn’t want to. Wasting precious making time…. And I’m also trying out a C2C crochet blanket, which I forgot to take a picture of. It’s mainly for stash busting purposes and I wanted to try something new. Any way, I”m off!

Getting rid of garden grubs. The polite way.

October 6, 2015garden, veg patch4 Comments

I have an infestation. Vine Weevil. They are not my friends.

Whenever I have spoken about them with other gardeny types, most have never come across vine weevils or, if they have, they may have seen just one or two of the nasty little grubs in a random strawberry pot. Well, when I first discovered them, it was in their masses. I would dig up dozens and dozens at a time. Enough to make you puke. They are writhy and gross. To treat them, you cannot nuke them. Certainly not when it comes to edibles anyway. Be nice, be organic (pay a fortune).

This stuff arrived on my doormat a month ago. I ordered it from Harrod Horticultural and they send it to you in March and September. It takes some dedication to do it (it takes flippin’ ages) and I procrastinated for a whole month. The instructions tell you to make a kind of soup that you have to water the garden with. A million watering cans later and you are supposed to water the garden all over again, give it a good going over. It also gives you mini heebyjeebies too. Within the candyfloss-like mixture that needs to be dissolved, are millions and squillions of microscopic worms, waiting to burrow into the vine weevil grubs and eat them from the inside out. Something like that any way. Despite heebyjeebies, they are my parasitic pals and I hope they do their thing.

I was out in the garden forever, getting in a soggy mess. It is time consuming, measuring your soup and diluting it with water. Alongside my veg patch I have troughs with strawberry plants. I ignored them this year because they were poorly. If I’d sorted them out (perhaps by getting rid of them) I wouldn’t have been fannying about in the garden today. Vine weevil grubs feast upon strawberry roots and that’s probably where the problem stems (!) from. The adults leave notches in the leaves. I hope that by treating the soil with nematodes, the strawberries will perk up for next year and I will be nice to them again. Perhaps I should have looked after them in the first place.

I had enough mixture to do the whole of the garden, including on the gravel. The strawberries send off runners that end up wedged in gravel paths. I think it looks quite nice so I leave them there. They are at risk of the dreaded weevil too, so it went all over. The gravelly bits look a bit messy right now. It’s autumns fault.

It’s all collapsing. Meh, I don’t care at this time of year. It doesn’t matter. This picture is post nematoding, it’s all the more heavy with watery soup.

The figs are at an end now. There were so many. Weeks and weeks of figs. I ate one of the last ones yesterday. Forced it down. I think there may be one or two left up the top but no more will ripen now. The leaves are dropping and the baby figs are giving up and going brown. I ate more than just one this year, in fact, I surpassed myself and sometimes ate two or three a day! Crazy, I know. I got used to their funny, pappy crunch and floral weirdness.

I wonder if anyone goes to the effort of saving sunflower seeds? I left this head turned upwards, thinking that a bird or two would take a fancy but it’s just going mouldy. I guess they hang their heads down for a reason.

[you know that no won picks thos sunflouer seeds but me and sumtims my brothur picks them. The petls wur reley brite yelow but now it is browney yelowey and they were a nice colour.] – Briefly taken over by a six year old. He’s in his jammies waiting for bedtime, it’s 8pm.