container planting Archives

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!

A cottage garden in spring.

June 1, 2015June 1, 2015flowers, garden8 Comments

It’s not really a cottage garden, it’s my garden made to (kind of) look like one. This is totally self indulgent but I want to record what the garden looks like at the moment because I think it’s pretty. Apart from round the side to the left, that’s a mess (mostly leftover stuff from the fancy pants new patio and kids stuff).

It’s frequently changing and next week it probably won’t look the same at all. And then I’ll take more pictures and do another post…and I’ll become obsessed. I’m already a tiny bit obsessed.

We did the garden five years ago and it’s my job to keep the plants maintained. I kill quite a lot of plants but thankfully, most seem happy. The plants that die are most likely to have have poisoned by me because I was too liberal with fertiliser. Some of them definitely don’t enjoy overdosing on it. And other stuff just doesn’t like the soil, I guess. I don’t know what kind I have.

I am just getting into container planting at the moment. Pots look great in number but they do get thirsty. I’ve got a lupin in a pot and he seems to be enjoying it. Loads of flowers are going to pop up soon. The lupin in the bottom bed is already in flower, this guy is behind. If it’s got flowers, I suppose he is really a she. Whatever.

This yellow rose is the first of what will be many on the rambler. Last year in a February storm, we chopped it back to a foot high because it was torn from its moorings. It spent the rest of last year recovering and growing. This year I reckon it’ll be fabulous. That’s If the green fly don’t attack it too much. And it does have a little bit of black spot and a touch of mildew too. I keep forgetting to spray it. Oops.

The alliums aren’t happy with me. They’re being drowned by a japanese anemone. I’ve pulled up some of the anemone to give them room but a few have given up and decided not to bother growing anymore. Fingers crossed I get at least five. Mind you, it’s not as if I planted any bulbs last autumn, they’re from the year before. More will have to go in this year.

Crikey, I never thought I’d geek out about gardening. I’ve started young. This is what old people do. harrumph.

Still using my doily too!

In a few days I’ll put up some crochet pictures. I’m working on a blanket that’s not behaving itself.

One completed doily

May 28, 2015crochet, flowers, garden1 Comment

I took this photo yesterday morning around 6.30. It looked lovely in the garden. It was a bit cold but that didn’t stop two children barging past bare foot, in their pyjamas.

I finished my doily. I got around to blocking it so that it looks neat and tidy. If I make this pattern again, I’ll add an extra round of single crochet in the main colour before embarking on the final two rounds of contrast colour. I think it would look neater this way.

Now I just need to work out what to do with it. Where should I put it? Not got a clue! I’ve put it in various places but can’t work out what looks good. Maybe I’m not a doily person after all. It just looks daft. I’d better make another one, just to be sure.

This was the blocking process; pinning it out on a piece of cardboard covered in a tea towel. I also put clingfilm round it to hold the tea towel in place. It got a light spraying of warm water and I left it until it was dry. The cardboard wasn’t that thick so I did manage to poke my legs with pins quite a few times.

The garden looks good at the moment. I keep going out to take photographs but not quite achieving what I want. Mind you, I don’t think I will, not without learning how to use the camera properly. I need to locate the instruction manual and become less of a “point n click” person.

There is speedwell growing in my herb bed, it decided to move in last year. It’s a good looking weed though so I don’t mind it being there. It’ll soon be overcome by the alarming amount of self seeded borage that’s started to show.

I’m working on two crochet projects at the moment and a couple of sewing projects. It’s half term week though, so I’m not able to do as much as normal.