Into Autumn

If the weather is too wet or cold for gardening, there's a better chance that I'll be writing about gardening, so after another long break, here we are back at the gardening blog.  

We had our first hard frost of the autumn last night, so there was a white frost on the garden this morning.  Unfortunately, I had to dash off to work before it was light enough for photographs.  The garden is looking tidy right now, as we have kept the leaves swept off the paths and weeds out of the joints between the paving slab.  There are still a few late summer flowers but most of the colour and structure comes from varying leaf shapes and shades now.

The herb garden is certainly looking a bit dull without the flowers of the roses, salvias or verbena bonariensis.  Since this photo was taken, I've put some new pots in each corner, of the same design as the tall copper-Verdigris effect ones by the path in the photo above, planted up with tulip and crocus bulbs for the spring.  It's always nice to look forward to some colour for the new year. 

In the veg plot, the brassicas are thriving.  There is also a very decent crop of leeks, although a few have been affected by a rot problem of some sort which has collapsed the stems.  I need to tidy up the currant bushes and there will be some serious lopping of the large hazel tree beside the greenhouse this winter, hopefully to encourage the pollarded stumps to throw up some nice, straight poles for use as bean supports or even to make hurdles to edge the beds and enable us to build them up with extra compost.

Unlike last autumn, when we were laying our new paths in the veggie plot, we can take it easy in our garden this year and use more of our free time for exploring other gardens and parks.  

We've in annual tickets for Trentham Gardens, as I want to follow the progress of the woodland meadow plantings.  Here are a few photos from earlier this month...

We're also planning to resume our strolls through the parks of the Six Towns: here are some photos from last weekend in Victoria Park, Tunstall, which is also seeing some much-needed restoration and improvement work and will be interesting to keep an eye on throughout the year.

One good thing about the shortening days is that the sun now sets within view of the landing window, rather than behind our neighbours' house so, although the lack of daylight limits what we can do outdoors, we can enjoy some glorious winter sunsets.

At the End of an Endless Summer?

Hello again!  Is there anybody there?

It's a very long time since I last wrote a gardening blog, not least because a couple of hours a day has been devoted to keeping the garden and allotment alive through the drought - yes drought, in North Staffordshire!  As if my arms aren't long enough, I've been hauling a couple of 12 litre cans around doing careful and thorough watering of everything that has needed it in the garden and down on the allotment.  That's being remedied right now with some spectacularly heavy showers although it's surprising how dry the ground still is a few centimetres down, as I found while splitting and moving some of my hellebores yesterday.

The other reason this blog has been neglected is that there's a new one for younger readers, staring Sonning Bear, the little teddy we rescued from a tree by the Thames on our travels last year.  You can read what he's been up to at:  https://bearonaboat.blogspot.com/

So, how are things in the garden?  Last year, it was quite badly neglected while we did our narrowboat odyssey to Godalming and back.  This year, as we've stayed at home much more, it's looking much tidier and a great deal more productive.  Here are some photos...

A good idea proved to be moving the solar fountain out of the herb garden and onto the patio, where we could see and hear it better than in it's old spot.  This has also made it easier to reach and maintain the roses in the herb garden, which have put on a good amount of extra growth this year, due to getting regular care and watering.

The last of the lilies are now in flower nearby.  It has been a superb year for them, despite the appearance of the usual lily beetles.  Being at home, we have stayed on top of the squishing where they are concerned and were rewarded with some fabulous and fragrant blooms throughout July:

 A mistake - at least in the short-term - was deciding to treat myself to some new (expensive) roses for the front garden early in June.  The front garden is always full of colour throughout the spring but gets rather dull in late summer, once the Alchemilla mollis starts to look dusty.

The plan was therefore to take some big chunks of that out and plant roses in the gaps.  I bought six of those gorgeous David Austin shrub roses.  They looked so nice, I treated myself to three more.  It was forecast to rain heavily that weekend.  It didn't - in fact, it didn't rain like it meant it until yesterday!  The roses are still rather short to show up well but, when they have reached their proper height and are all in flower again, they should add some much-needed colour.  The two looking best right now are Lady Hamilton and Jubilee Celebration.

 Lady of Shalot and Queen of Sweden are also looking gorgeous.

Anyway, that's all for today's update.  There will be more soon, including a proper look at the veg plot and a look at some of this year's surprising harvest, including a great crop of hazelnuts and even fresh figs!

Snowdrop Season

The snow has gone, the weather is getting milder and the days longer, and Gardener's World is back on the TV, so it must be spring, although my snowdrops are still in full bloom a good couple of months after they started coming out.  It seems that the regular falls of light, powdery snow have kept them in a state of suspended animation for a longer than usual flowering season.

February Snowdrops

This was bad news for a friend, travelling to the south coast from Scotland, who I promised a pot of snowdrops when I lifted and split them, expecting to be doing so the weekend before her visit.  Unfortunately, they look just too good to disturb just yet.

Snowdrops in mid March

Although we missed the more dramatic snowfalls from the 'Beast from the East', we seem to have had regular snow this winter, starting with a covering quite early in December accompanied by some hard frosts.

Late December snow

Christmas itself was fairly mild but there have been several dustings of snow and some cold nights since.  If not on this site, I have been blogging about some of this, including some photos of the garden, but from the perspective of a couple of little friends enjoying themselves in the wintery conditions, but I haven't been organised enough to both keep up with the bears' adventures and do a proper garden blog!

Snow - late February 2018

Hopefully, I'll manage to do some more regular updates as the garden comes into bloom.  After being blasted by the cold winds and drooping alarmingly, the hellebores have fully recovered and are starting to really flourish, while crocuses and primroses are starting to come out too.

There's work in progress in the veg plot as well, but I think I'll save that for the next update - hopefully this side of Easter!