Natural cycles....

...they come...they go....

...the seasons come...linger...and then move on...

Just as we all do.   It has been a sad few weeks, death of friends, family, pets...but all these are a natural cycle such as we see every day in our gardens.   The garden is a comfort to me.   Things grow, flourish and finally die but there is always new growth to follow...so it is with all life.   Even in death there is a hope.   In the grief there is knowledge that it will pass, life will go on....may not be the same but there will be good times again one day.

This last few days it has been WINDY season as we were battered by the dying tail of Hurricane Gonzalo.

Bamboo taking a hammering in the wind.

The bamboo is planted there as much for it's screening and good looks value as a part windbreak down that side of the garden.   Nevertheless I know I will have to put in some artificial wind baffle to stop the wind racing like an express train down the garden.   I hoped it would be better since my neighbour put up his fence, but it is worse.   The fence is a solid fence and channels, rather than filters, wind as it would if it were slatted.

At last the wind abated after a couple of days of noise.   You wouldn't believe the different sounds the wind makes whistling, hissing, banging, groaning, rustling...and then quiet when it stops.   Peace.

I went out into the garden to survey the damage, not too bad.  So far the greenhouse has held but we get much worse 'blows' than this recent one.   We'll see...this gardening in the wind is a real challenge.

However, the garden is still providing provisions for my table.

Butternut soup, homemade and home-grown butternut.
Ignore what the mug says, it isn't ox-tail!

That was lunch yesterday and today I also had a meal from the garden.   I thinned the winter lettuce.   Instead of composting the thinnings I replanted a few and made a salad out of the others.   No matter how thinly I plant lettuce seed I always have far too many per pot.

Lunch time salad - greens home grown and a couple of the tomatoes

So it was pleasant working away in the greenhouse this morning.

Winter lettuce seedlings - will grow them on to big lettuces.

Don't waste those you thin,
 they are excellent in salad.

The Mandevilla is absolutely thriving in the greenhouse at present and filling it with sweet musky tropical scent.   I will try to move it indoors later but it might be a bit difficult to see how or where to put it as it has a vine creeping habit.    I need a hanging place near a window I think.

Mandevilla and beneath is a Pelagonium.

 Maybe tomorrow Jonah and I will have an opportunity to go and plant the remainder of the bulbs in the garden.   I might get just a few more miniature daffodil bulbs on the weekend....and then that will be it for spring bulb planting.   J & D gave me some bluebell bulbs which I have already planted on JP's grave as they requested.   Yes, we had a good walk through the bluebells with them one afternoon, it will remind me of the happy times.  

JP is part of the garden but he is going to part of a much bigger scheme one day...it is a secret for now, I will tell you all about it when it happens...it is a lovely idea another  friend, H, has thought of in remembrance of him...a real wild garden....I'll say no more....

Would you believe it I picked another bunch of sweet-peas too today.   In spite of the wind, the willow fence behind which they grow did a good job of sheltering them!

Sweet-peas,
courgettes, on of them a marrow already
and some winter salad greens

Look....Courgettes!   The first the slugs haven't managed to eat before me!  At last and one has grown so big it is almost a marrow.   I expect the Fernley Whittingstall Veg book will have a good idea of what I can do with it.  It won't go to waste.

So wind notwithstanding I had a very productive couple of hours in the garden this morning.

Willow fence protecting the sweet-peas

A garden is always a series of losses set against a few triumphs, like life itself. ~May Sarton

That's all for now, folks.....chat to you again soon.

In a corner of my garden...

...sheltered from the elements is...

JP's Grave

...a new little garden especially for my dog, JP, who died unexpectedly and suddenly, this week.  

And now we lay you down to sleep,

A devoted friend who earned his keep,

As you leap and bound through the starry night

Keep us safe and and bathed in light.

(Verse sent to me by dear friend who knew Dog)

In this respect gardens have real healing properties....just digging the grave myself helped overcome the shock and sadness a little bit, and it was the least I could do for my friend of the past decade.   It will continue to be a comfort.   Not just to me, but the healing process helps my little granddaughter too.  She is not yet 4.   This afternoon, the first place she visited on coming around to see me was JP's grave.   She added a pretty bird's feather to it to 'make him happy'....

Never under estimate gardens to help heal.   Never under estimate graves and special places to help quicken happy memories of past loved ones.

I have under-planted the bare patch with bulbs, lots of bulbs, I don't know if they will grow.   There are Ipheon, Scilla, miniature Narcissus, Muscari, Camassia and Snowdrops as well as the already blooming cyclamen in the photo.

Today I plucked up the courage to contact NGS (National Gardens Scheme) to ask about possibly entering this little garden.   My request was greeted with enthusiasm and encouragement...but having looked at the photos on their site...well, not so sure.

First of all I wouldn't open the garden in 2015 - it would be 2016, so that gives me a bit more time.

Secondly, I have the opportunity to decide between now and next year when entries close.

Lastly, if I do get another dog, not to replace JP but because a home is not a home without a dog...well, the 'new' dog might be a digger...a garden wrecker....

The idea does appeal to me ...as a goal...and undoubtedly as a challenge...as if gardening isn't enough challenge in itself.   Oh, it might be fun...I'll see.


What has been going on, other than burials, in my garden this week.

Continued autumn colours and continued bulb planting.

Virginia Creeper looking lovely now.

I have planted many bulbs in the ground and just as many in containers for the patio, aiming for early spring colour that will go on through to late spring.  It's an experiment.   In due course I will show you the results..both good and bad.

Today the Sambucus Nigra arrived.   I have grown this from a cutting before but I haven't been able to source one to take a cutting from.   I used to have a lovely one in Dorset.   It is really an Elder.  But this is black and has pink blooms that are lovely.   I also have a Buddleja Lochinch to go in between the greenhouse and the sheds to act as a bit of wind-shelter when it grows bigger.

Sambucus Nigra and Buddleja Lochinch

The other Buddleja I have growing is huge now.   I pulled it up by the roots where it was growing...in cracks in the paving round G and D's house a couple of years ago...hopefully this one will do as well and act as a butterfly magnet and a windbreak too.

The other little job I have done this week is re-pot a Pelagonium, a variegated, scented one that has salmon pink flowers.   I did this specially for my eldest grandson who is now living in his own cottage on the farm where he works.   A few years ago he helped me propagate the mother plant....so now I'll give him this one back.   I've loads, quite a few different varieties, he can have more if he likes.

I found the container in a local junk/antiques shop.   I don't know if he'll like it, but I do.   I think it is suitably masculine too.

There is so much to do.   Plants to get undercover before we have frost.   The weather at the moment is unseasonably warm and is likely to stay that way for the weekend.  I shan't be here so I hope there is no sudden frost.

I will chat to you again next week.   I look forward to seeing other-peoples' gardens back in Dorset this weekend!   Maybe get a few ideas...and inspiration.   Take care and happy gardening.

Do not stand at my grave and weep,

I am not there - I do not sleep.

I am the thousand winds that blow,

I am the diamond glints in snow,

I am the sunlight on ripened grain,

I am the gentle autumn rain.

As you awake with morning's hush

I am the swift-up-flinging rush

Of quiet birds in circling flight.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,

I am not there - I did not die.

(Verse sent from another friend who knew JP well)

(Thank you to everyone, more than I care to name in case I forget anyone, you know who you are, thank you for your kind words this week regarding JP's sudden death.)

RAMBO...

...The Shed...

(Little Shed gets a name)

This week the door of Little Shed was in danger of falling off.   It was becoming unhinged due to rust...can I use the same excuse about myself, I wonder?    A shed without a door through the autumn and winter is not at all desirable, therefore I asked the carpenter, the same one who re-hinged the garden gate...everything here is slightly unhinged I think, I asked him to please fix it for me.   He did. Immediately.   Using the hinges he had in his van...they are enormous.

Huge hinges for a little door

 So the Little Shed is now called Rambo because the hinges are quite out of proportion to the strength of the door.   Ostentatious, even.   I will paint the name on the shed soon.   However, there is more chance of the shed blowing down altogether than the door blowing off in the winter storms now.

I am slowly putting the garden to bed for winter, little bit by little bit.  It's difficult, there are so many plants still wringing the last of the summer rays from the autumnal sun.  It would only take one sharp frost to turn them black.   While they are blooming the bees have  food so I tend to leave them till the last possible moment before cutting them back.   However, annuals are over so those I pulled up and composted.  Then I dug over the bed, pulled weeds and planted spring bulbs.

All ready for a long sleep over winter.

 This afternoon I continued planting more bulbs in pots for the patio in spring.  I usually forget what I've planted in which pot so it is always a surprise.   I hope at least some come up, usually they do. The trick is to plant with consecutive flowering bulbs all in the same container so the daffodils come up first, then the tulips, grape hyacinth and so on.  This should mean that there is a little bit of colour from February on till late spring with luck.... we'll see.  Just one more 'set' of bulbs to plant into a container, I ran out of time this evening.

Meantime there are a couple of star players still performing in the garden....

The Passiflora, abundant beauty.

Also sweet-peas...these have been flowering since July ...every time I pick a bunch I think it must be the last but no, another little bunch for the table again on Friday...

Sweet-peas

And the fragrance of 'new' rose, Bridge of Sighs, is just heavenly.   It seems to flower continuously too.

Bridge of Sighs Rose

At this time of year the Cyclamen start to come into their own.  I love the butterfly flowers.   I have planted a few of the little hardy ones in the front of the bed directly in front of the patio...now I spend my days yelling at JP to stop taking a shortcut across the bed...

Hardy Cyclamen add a touch of colour

The bigger more flamboyant Cyclamen make wonderful houseplants, but be aware they don't like being too warm or too wet, so don't stand them close to a warm radiator or over water them.

Cyclamen make a lovely house plant.

I've potted up a varigated salmon pink Pelagonium to take to Chris at the end of the week.   He helped me propagate them years ago.   Now he has his own  cottage I thought it would be nice for him to have one to brighten a windowsill in winter.   He can have more as I propagate more next year.   I want to try growing Agapanthas from seed too.   I have promised some to Sarah if they grow as she will one day, no doubt, have a place of her own....they are easy to look after and usually flourish with almost no attention at all.

In every gardener there is a child who believes in The Seed Fairy. ~Robert Brault, rbrault.blogspot.com

I must repot my hostas too.   They did really badly this year.   The slugs got them.  They will recover, I hope, if I repot and move them to a better location.   Next season I will treat the pots with nematodes.

There is still much to do...all in good time.   A little and regularly is the only way I can manage it. Jonah has started to help in the garden.   On Friday he 'helped' me plant miniature daffodil bulbs and then he planted Thomas his Train Engine.   He is trying to say the names of plants.   He likes the starry Asters.   Leah usually comes to help too but she was engrossed in playing with her little toy farm.   Both of them love to smell the herbs and the lavender.  She is already very good with the names of the plants in the garden.   I think it is how it all starts.   It is fun to see things grow.

Why try to explain miracles to your kids when you can just have them plant a garden. ~Robert Brault, rbrault.blogspot.com

Some I was given recently, aren't they wonderful!

That's all for now...chat to you again sometime soon.   Have a great week!

It's that time again....

...for preparation....

Autumn is a wonderful season.   Mellow.   Lovely colours, lovely smells, smokey, rich, enchanting...
It's a time to linger over the last of the summer rays, some of which still have a remembrance of warmth in them.  A time to appreciate that dulcet, sleepy moment just before the flowers fade.

Starry Asters feeding the bees

A time to reflect on how good the summer has been, to rejoice, and to appreciate.

Festooned with Passiflora.

But it is also a time to prepare and look forward ....autumn storms will come.   Indeed, in the early hours of this morning we had a very heavy shower, and stiff winds.   Winter chill will spread its fingers across the garden soon enough.   The garden will need to be tucked up safely to sleep through it all.

So now is the time to prepare - and prepare is just what I started to do this week.

Glue bands round the fruit trees and their stakes.

I managed, eventually, to wrap extremely sticky glue bands round the plum and apple trees.   Also round their stakes.   Unglamorous they may be, but grease bands and barrier glues applied to fruit trees in October help prevent female winter moths from climbing the trees to mate with winged males.   If unprotected, the pale green "looper" caterpillars that result will cause damage to plants, seen in late March to early June.

These glue bands are the devil to wrap round the trees, they are so sticky that everything, including my fingers, gets stuck to them.   The only thing that removes the gunk from the fingers and scissors used for cutting the bands is white spirit.   A simple job wrap two trees and their stakes took a long, long time.   Of course the phone rang while I was doing it, twice.   Aaaargh!  done now. (Glue bands - you have to wrap them round the stakes or the bugs will climb up them and get onto the trees.)

Today I made a start on sorting out the pots and containers on the patio.   I refreshed the compost and replanted a couple of them with spring bulbs over planted with winter flowering pansies and violas.

Just a touch of colour by the kitchen door.

And I made a start on redoing the front bed.   The one right in front of the patio.   It has been sort of going for 3 years and needed a good tidy and a bit of replanting.   More spring bulbs.   Short daffodils, the tall ones blow over in the spring gales, so I have learned from bitter experience.  And tulips, just a bright harlequin mix,   I pulled up the strawberries past their best; any reasonable ones I replanted temporarily down by the greenhouse.  The geums stayed as did the poppies and peonies.   I lavishly sprinkled a mix of hardy annual seed given me by Roger earlier in the year.   I thought I'd experiment with the autumn sowing as one of the options suggested.   Let's see if any survive and germinate in the spring.  Finally I planted some little cyclamen along the front edge.   They will give a touch of colour through the darker months and come again every year I hope.  I love these little butterfly flowers, so dainty but so tough.

Looks a bit sparse but hopefully, come spring, will be a riot of colour.

Very last of all, I gave all the bits I had redone a good mulch of bark.  So that is that, all tucked up ready for the colder months.   I still have half the bed to do, it's a big bed. There are lots more containers and posts to refresh, take in, protect and so on.   It will keep me busy all month.

But enough of the work.   It has been time to just enjoy the garden too.

I found a butternut I didn't realise was growing!

The butternut continue to ripen and swell.  I found one I hadn't realised was on the vine as it was hidden.   Not until I moved some old bean bushes did I see it.

The garden path

The sage,lavender and rosemary lining the garden path are doing well and looking so good right now...smelling divine.

The entrance to the garden from the blue gate

The whole garden seems to be humming a peaceful song as it settles down to giving a last burst of colour before it curls up and goes to sleep.

A last burst of colour.

It is all good, very good.  The greenhouse is ready and waiting for the tender plants to be housed there.   The salad and lettuce are doing very well in there  already.

Ready and waiting

I will have to get an extra set of shelves this year I think.   Goodness, I do hope it withstands the gales this year.

Lastly, let's not forget the wildlife.   This garden is designed, I use that word loosely, very loosely, to bring in wildlife and it does.  That is why I don't manicure and tidy it to within an inch of its life, so there are some little places for all the little creatures that help to keep the garden alive, healthy and fun have some shelter...the spiders particularly like the greenhouse....

Greenhouse spider

I found some very cute nest boxes for the birds ...actually they are not nest boxes but nest baskets really.   I have hidden two in the garden in the hopes they will attract someone to use them.   Maybe they won't be suitable, maybe the entrance is too big...we'll see...

Nest basket in sheltered place in the hazel.

Maybe a robin will be tempted, It takes time for them to get used to the foreign objects I place in the garden ...

Apart from that I have oiled New Bench.   Taken in the dragon to apply yacht varnish and store till the spring,...dead-headed anything that is still blooming and needs dead-heading...all these are little jobs that are easy to do in 5 minutes here or there.   Slowly the garden will be prepared for the winter. Slowly, but surely, now.

And lastly, I picked yet another bunch of sweet-peas...surely they cannot go on much longer?   Sarah, at least there will be a bunch on the table for when you visit this weekend!

Is this the last bunch this year?

Gardening is about enjoying the smell of things growing in the soil, getting dirty without feeling guilty, and generally taking the time to soak up a little peace and serenity. ~Lindley Karstens, noproblemgarden.com

That's all for now, folks...happy gardening and a special mention to Sally...congratulations on your new garden stairway my friend!   I love the idea that it has the imprint of your grandchildren's footprints in it.

See you next week!