Just waiting

My sister found this frog, she got a set of three, one blue, one red, which are her favourite colours and this green one, which I love. I had thought to place it near my wildlife pond, but it's too nice to be tucked at the bottom of the garden.

I've just finished this book, it was recommended to me, set back in early 1900's, not a period I normally read about, it was fun, clever idea, the staff old and current pay back the lady of the house, daughter to deceased man, who had ties in a more lowly part of London. I'm not sure if I would read another book by the author. Book 32 read this year. 

 My greenhouse is still full, lots of bedding plants, almost ready to go out, along with herbs and some leeks. I have plants on the mini greenhouse frame, it's still working hard, even without the plastic cover it's a useful space. There are two tubs with 4 cauliflower plants in, these will go into the raised bed once the broad beans are finished, and a tub with a horseradish plant. My sphagnum moss stays in here on the big plant pot saucer. 

I have 2 tubs of carrots I would like to be outside, but neither have holes in the bottom, so with all the rain they stay inside, I also have 2 tomato plants, the green tub has broad bean husk in, my composter is full for now. There are plants which need to go out, again the rain is stopping me moving things. Along the back are my succulents and cacti, it's a permanent feature in here. 

It's been a nothing few days, home together, out in my garden when I can, reading when it's wet, the evenings have been cooler again, time watching TV.  We both loved Race around the World, which ended last night, the producers choose interesting people, opinions made at the start change as we get to know them, everyone running to the same goal, brilliant TV. Sewing bee is back on, I'm not inspired with the sewers so far, hubby over the years has always watched with me, he now loves it as much as me, I'm hoping after a couple of eliminations, we can see past the ego's, and enjoy their journey. 

February garden

For many years our garden was bare in all the cooler months, these days I have some colour, I adore hellebores, these bloom first in the garden, I have added to them, my daughter has given me two for birthday gifts (my birthday is in November). I now have 5 plants in different colours. I hope to get a few more, most of these are at the back end, which is now my veg section.

I again adore snowdrops, but the bulbs rot in our heavy clay, over the 15 years we have lived here, I have added loads to the soil to break it down, so the bulbs now survive, I grow them in the ground and in pots, once the flowing pots finish, I intend to put them in the ground and get more bulbs later in the year. 

My seed potatoes are starting to slowly sprout, I'm not thinking about them going into the grow bags until March is here, so slow and sure is the route for me. It's a very itchy time of year, I want things to grow, I know it's to early to sow or plant, but the desire is there. 

We did pop to The Range, hoping to get a replacement Tony tortoise, he was a gift and through the winter his head broke off, sadly none in stock, but these came home with us, I have been looking for red pompom dahlias for a while, I hope there is one in the mixed bag, hubby chose the single colour one. All these packs for just £10.

There are leaves from bulbs everywhere, the long side bed going to the garage is full of daffodils, later there will be bluebells, the new bed is full as well, I will have to check back on photo's as to what I planted, or maybe just wait and enjoy. The old herb bed is not so full, I will transplant more from the side bed after they have flowered. The Magnolia tree has a couple of pink buds as well. 

The amount of rain we are again having keeps me inside, most afternoons we read, in one way it's good, it stops me doing things, as does these bloody stick around bugs. Hubby is still unwell,  neither of us have any energy, we are planning a garden centre visit one morning soon.

Whilst waiting for the days to pass so I can start my seeds, I have been thinking about my strawberry tower, it's needs it's permanent place, somewhere it can sit and not be in the way, whilst being in the sunshine, I do have an idea forming using the space outside my greenhouse. I do like to think things over because you can always be sure to move one thing in our small garden, starts a chain reaction, where other pots need to move, and repurposed.

I'm not eating much, hubby did make simple pancakes for tea last night, I am craving sugar, so I had mine with part of a chocolate covered icecream Magnumn, and some fresh raspberries. Valentines day will pass quietly in our house, we have cards, which are in their 3rd year of use, we just wrote another message inside with 2024 beside, no gifts or flowers, at our ages we don't need wasteful stuff to prove our affections for each other. 

Inside out

We had Molly on a sleep over, with 3 children we have them sleep over one at a time, she slept all night and was really happy next morning, it's been years since I did little girls hair, she is not keen on having her hair brushed, so after cleaning her teeth, I left the cold tap on and did her hair whilst she was playing with the water. 

Just a few new things in the garden this year, the Azalea has loads of new buds, I'm not normally a fan of pink/red plants, the Geranium in the mug, is a replacement for a plant lost, both photo's on top row. The tiny white flowers in my half pots looks pretty, my Camelia is still blooming, with just a few buds left, all these plants are new this year.

These blooms are regular in the garden, the chives are blooming again, I love them, we do cut them, but always grow too many. The Hosta, in my copper coal bucket grows well, I pull it away from everything in hope to stop the slugs and snail, at some point the leaves will all get eaten, but it's the natural cycle. My early Alliums are blooming, this is their 2nd year. 

I am trying a few new plants this summer, my Astrantia's grew well, one is in the garden the other in the huge pot by my greenhouse door. This Physalis, Chinese Lantern is completely new, I have popped it into my big brown pot, which was the only empty pot, it's still in the greenhouse, now by the open door, soon I hope to have it in the garden. I am growing this for ornamental reasons, not to eat any fruits. 

I want to change the two bigger pots by our side door, our main entrance, at the moment I have eucalyptus which has got woody at the bottom, it's hard to try and keep them like a bush, after chatting with hubby we have decided to go for white lavender, he has blue lavender in the front bed. Being tight, I have decided not to change the pots this year  I have taken 8 cuttings from my white lavender in the back garden, just to see if I can get 6 plants, it's worth a try, I have rooted lavender before.

I have three water butts, and I have just half of one butt left, so as the half term comes to an end, is it wrong of me to hope and want rain, any gardeners will understand, going into summer with little rain water, is not a place I want to be. Everything is focused on the outside at this time of year, we are enjoying our space, and next door has gone quiet.

It was fun to have Molly, she is so much like her mum, brings back so many happy memories, she plays independent, and tries most everything, typical youngest child with her I can do it attitude. I did tell my daughter the trick to getting Molly's hair done. We have had a simple few days at home, eating loads of salad and relaxing.

One final thought, how can it be June already, sat here shaking my head, it will be Christmas all too soon. 

Garden post

 I have moved the patio furniture around to reflect how it would look, once my planned work is done, just to see if this layout works for us, you can just see the chalk line, which is the edging of the paving, the rest of the area will be lawn. I do love how clear this section will be, as normal, I can pop pots on the table to add colour, The black fence under the acer, is the same width as our garden and the patio will be, all very neat. 

We moved the wooden table and chairs to outside the garage, which is a sun trap, but I don't like them here, with the washing line and the side bed, it's all too much. Also if we BBQ, the gas unit goes into this space, not a good idea if the grandchildren are here. The side path from the garage down will disappear into lawn, again you can see the chalk line, our lawn will be much wider. 

This I like, using the herb area, I have moved the big herb pots to the left of the Olive tree in the huge pot, we don't use this side of the double gates. There is another huge pot of herbs, which I could not move on my own, once they are gone, it will all fit nicely. I do need to decide where to put my tall chimney pot. 

Here we get a nice view of the garden, with plenty of space to walk by, there is afternoon shade from the fence, but we can always move the table out if we want the sunshine or have more people here. The herbs will give us natural scents as we sit in the sun. The pergola will go, and all the levels will be the same, all helping as we get older, it is a big job, expensive, but worth it, hence the sorting now, to ensure it all flows. 

Already the smell from next door is not so nice, and the flies near the house are huge in numbers, it's no use trying our environmental health department at Fareham Borough Council, we worked with them for years, built a case, which they then dropped, so we are as always, on our own. I think it might be nice to have the garden closer to the patio doors, at the moment we look out onto decking and furniture, so seeing it clear would look better. 

We both agree if it goes ahead, we can remove the decking ourselves, and use it to build the raised beds, fill and plant them. We would need to pay someone to do the rest, but both the paving and fake grass is better done by someone who knows what they are doing. 

I really enjoyed my afternoon in the garden on Saturday, working not too hard, drawing the chalk lines helped hubby understand fully the design, and except one small detail, he was happy, he is concerned regarding the cost, it's not going to be cheap, the design of this garden was set by previous owners, I had added and worked it for 14 years. Hubby was away Saturday afternoon and home later today, so plenty of me time, I rested all evening and again had another early night. Daughter is looking much better, she just needs to keep an eye on her energy levels, Will is at Grandma's house, so she spent the afternoon is the garden with hubby, George and Molly. 

Flowers not showers.

My raised bed by the back door, again is looking good, I can never remember what spring bulbs are in here, so it's always a joy to see what blooms. For the summer I have a Fuchsia at each end, in the middle I planted a pale pink peony, which I am not expecting much from this year. Hubby made this bed back in 2019 when he renewed the decking. 

On the left is the Acer we planted into the ground a few years ago, it's slowly growing and will one day fill the space. On the right is my trio of Acers, which are in a huge pot, these are near the bottom of the garden, three different colours. So lovely to see new growth, different colours in the garden.

Spring pots are still performing, now the tulips are starting to bloom, so much colour, most bulbs grow better in pots and raised beds, our heavy clay rots most bulbs through the wet winter months. Top righ is my Chinese witch hazel, plenty of new growth and a tiny bright red flower forming. 

Olive tree and herb area are all coming back to life, we popped the mint into a big plastic pot, which was left over from a previous sort out, many of the herbs have new growth and my chives are thriving. They do well in pots through the cold wetter months. Both raspberries and blueberries are showing signs of growth, the blueberries have a few flowers on. 

These are all for the big raised bed in front of the greenhouse, I am hoping to move a few other things, and purchase some nemesia plants, which should fill the bed with colour. I do have two fuchsias along the fence side to soften the lines.  

I grew gladiolas in two big pots last year, it's worked but the blooms were too high, so I have over wintered them in the garage and soon it will be time to plant, I am thinking of popping them in the back of the red rose bed, it's a sunny spot. 

I spent a few hours outside yesterday afternoon, it was a lovely sunny day, I have sorted my raised bed, moved the big daffodils to the red rose bed, I scattered all the bulbs in photo above and pushed them into the soil, so most of the raised bed is sorted. I did transplant a daisy from the small black tub, it does look as if it has survived the winter, this raised bed should be full of colour this summer. 

I got 7 strips of bedding plants from the village, about 35 plants, I will split and pot them on and once they are a good size I can put them in the ground, but not for about 4 weeks, they are in my cold frame for now. I also got 6 strawberry plants, these are already in my strawberry tower, we should have a good harvest this summer. I only have a bag of begonia corns left to plant, but it's still a bit early for them to go into the pots.

I'm not going to the garden centre with sign group today, I will spend some more time in the garden, I'm hoping to get the wooden garden table out and all my ornaments which sit along the shelf by the fence over the side bed. I am going to move our bird bath from the garden and fill the area with plants taken from elsewhere, the bird bath will revert back to an alpine garden, which means I will need to go shopping for plants. 

 

Growing

 I said in my last post I had taken cuttings for plants along the soon to be exposed back fence panels, I'm trying something different, I got sphagnum moss last year, I have kept it in a huge plant saucer, keeping it wet with rain water. I have popped all my cuttings in it, in hope they grow sturdy roots, I don't expect success with everything,  but hope some will grow, I have a plastic cover for when it gets cooler. They have been here a few days and still look good.

I have repotted our rosemary plant into a bigger pot, the pot was from the front garden, the heather's had died and hubby did not want it. This section is looking nice, we moved another big pot to stand by the gate, without the motorbike, I can spread out in this space. When digging out the heather's 2 had new growth, I have potted them and left them in front of the Olive.

Hubby did clear the first space in the garage for my shed things, I love this wooden unit, it's very useful, I emptied it before moving it, gave it a good clean using linseed oil, and then sorted everything before filling it. Loads have been thrown and a few other things have found a home here. Hubby has to sort a couple of his shelves, he is sourcing some longer planks, so I can have both shelves above. We have had this unit since the late 80's, and I'm pleased it's still in use, now all our gardening items are together in one place. I still have loads to bring out of the shed.

My shed was purchased back in 2014, so 8 years old, it fits into the space behind the garage, but as it's such a tight fit, we can't get to do outside maintenance, since Pauline built her summer house with a rubber roof covering, the rain water blows directly onto the back of my shed. Hubby will help me clear the rest of the stuff. 

It's much darker earlier each evening, my lights around the garden are on much longer, now the mornings and evenings are cooler, any warmth in the daytime quickly disappears. We still have our summer quilt on the bed, but it is defiantly cooler, the season is changing. Shh! we have not had rain for a couple of days, managed to get all the laundry day. 

I have lost my way with lowspend-nospend September, with my sister here we spent more on food, and this weekend we have husbands son and daughter here for lunch, 8 adults and 8 children plus us, again expensive, hubby is hoping we can have a simple BBQ, with the children playing in the garden. I also purchased the christmas fabric, and I will need some pansies for the garden as I sort the rose bed. 

Today my youngest daughter is 40 years old, how did that happen, both daughters have their own families and lives, we see our youngest 3 grandchildren most weeks, our oldest 2 grandsons are busy with their lives, so we don't get to see them, but they prosper and are happy. As a mum all you want is for you children and their children to be happy. 

What to save

My poor gardens are not looking good, I have stopped fighting this heatwave and drought, now I am doing damage limitation, the bedding plants won't last much longer, my 3 beds are really looking sad. I have cut back plants in hope to save them.

I still have raspberries here, 

but they are struggling, these I do still water.

The tomato and cucumber plants are not producing, and it would take too much water to produce what limited harvest they give, I will compost these plants.

My herbs, which we use and the Olive tree, are close to the back door, they get water saved from kitchen sink, we are both washing our hands in this sink after using the loo which is next to the kitchen. 

Some flowers are loving this heat the begonias are doing really well. This display on my metal table is looking OK, the pink flower at the back is in a pot, the flowers at the top of the stem is pretty, but the plants is looking fairly weak. 

Everywhere is just so dry, as I said in my last post, rain has not fallen for weeks, the heatwave over the last few days is over, but the temperature is staying in the mid twenties, and loads of dry days. We often get a sunny warm days in early September, so I am working along the lines, we won't get any heavy rainfall for another month. My rain catching water buts are almost empty, I am now only using the rainwater on plants that need it, my blueberries ect.  

Anyone reading this not in UK, our weather patterns have really changed in the last few years, our summers are normally as many wet days as dry, so we are not good in drought situations, low twenties was our highest temperatures, and not for many days. We have over the last couple of years, changed how we save and use water here, but we do need to do more. We live in south Hampshire in a dry area, the north of England and Scotland have fewer issues with water. 

Loads of leaves are falling from the trees and plants as each tries to save itself, our lawn is fake, so I don't have to do anything with it, we are keeping the birdbath and the bird drinking places full of fresh water, our garden is busy with birds, I think other people have stopped feeding the birds, as the numbers visiting are more now. 

I am surprised how much water we are saving from keeping a bowl in the kitchen sink, it's not a proper bowl, but a big plastic bowl I use for cooking, I do hate to see it there, but is does a great job. 

I have everything crossed we get the thunderstorms promised in the next couple of days, we often miss such storms, the rain won't be enough, but it will help in the weeks to come, if the garden can get a good soak. 

July Garden

The Magnolia tree has blooms again, so I am back picking up petals, once dropped they turn brown very quickly, better in the composter than on the lawn. The grass is fake so it's looking lovely and green, it's much easier than real grass, and we don't suffer the surface temperatures you see all over face book, this was laid with the correct base, it's been down 5 years. 

The old herb bed,

 still a bit bare but things will get bigger next year. Sadly the fence is still broken, her jungle next door keeps us private.  I have a fine net infront to stop the cats coming through.

Back bed and raised bed,

this area has been stunning this year, I have some low shrubs to fill out along the back black fence, it's just so colourful. The blueberry plant is doing good in it's new position. 

The side bed,

things have got very tall here this year, and I like it, the roses have done so very well. 

The herb garden,

herbs in pots are working much better for us, we are using more, I love to bring George to this section, he smells everything, and hopefully does not pick my flowers. 

Less is defiantly better in this back section, removing one big tub gives the feeling of space, and I can allow the hedge to get a bit thicker. The trio of acers has settled in their huge pot, it's all so tidy now. 

Looking back to the house. 

The garden did well in the heatwave of last week, I used the water from the paddling pool for a good water all round, and I watered just the pots twice, I don't have much rainwater left in my butts, so I am being careful with it, some plants only like rainwater, I use it for my houseplants as well. We did have some rain on Friday, but sadly not enough, at this time of year having so many pots can be an issue. It tried to rain Sunday evening, but again just a quick splash. 

The composter is working well, the green stuff I pop in the top is breaking down quickly and there is always room for more, the hotbin was expensive, but it does work well, it also looks neat and I don't have any flies around it. I will have to check to see if I can dig out a bag of compost soon, I would rather not purchase one, under ideal conditions (summer) it should make compost in just 3 months. The dustbin with the shredded stuff from the trees, is also doing well, both can be seen from the house, but neither looks an eyesore. 

I'm back to dead heading each day, and watering the greenhouse, it has been far to hot in there, but other than a cucumber plant, every thing else is OK, I have a small steady harvest of tomatoes, and should soon be getting more smaller cucumbers from my second plant.

It's trying to rain, we have dark clouds and it's windy, 🤞🤞we get a storm. 

Gardening

I dug out my composter for the first time this weekend, I really thought it was going to be wet and smelly, but luckily for me I got lovely compost, a bit too many woody bits, but it's a learning curve, I used it on my side bed as a mulch. I took out the bottom third. 

Hubby got a new toy, a shredder, it will help with the woody bits when we cut back shrubs and branches from the tree's, he trimmed the twisted willow as we don't want it getting huge. All the bits have been put into my black dustbin, in hope it will add to the leaf mulch I am making. So other than thicker branches (and we don't get many of them), everything can now be reused in the garden. 

On a sunny day everything looks great, I have all my bedding plants out now, the greenhouse is almost empty, I sorted all my plastic pots and cleaned them ready to reuse next year. 

Our bench is being used every day, we do love to stop for a coffee outside, it's nice to sit together and chat, another small plan is forming, not too much work, just sorting an untidy spot. Here you can see the shade forming from the garage, lovely spot for a hot day, it's always sunny in the morning and shady in afternoon. 

This is now my herb section, I have loads here, chives, thyme and parsley in the big black tub, and in pots I have bay, rosemary, mint, 2 x sage, lemon balm and marjoram. I have seeds sown for basil and some cress on wet kitchen towel. The bay has been cut right back, I am training it into a ball top. 

The beds are starting to look good, I still have a few gaps, but once everything has grown it should look full, I have cut back on my forget-me-nots in hope I get a second lot of flowers. 

Saturday was a working day, I don't think of gardening as work, it a passion of mine, hubby was happy to use his new shredder, the twisted willow looks a better size for our garden, we both are pleased we can reuse almost everything in the garden, without using the council expensive garden waste system. There will be times when we have branches thicker than we can shred, I am hoping I can pile them in a corner to rot themselves down. After 12 years here working outside, we don't get many weeds, I do keep an eye out and pull any when they are small, all our plants are healthy, so nothing is a chore. I have even decided to get rid of 2 big pots, they are not needed with the new garden bed giving us loads of colour. 

Sunday was a lazy morning, I went out for an afternoon tea lunch with youngest daughter, it has been planned for ages, it was a fundraiser for Portsmouth Downs Syndrome charity. Our host was daughters hairdresser, he is gay and has a cross dressed alter ego, he has been fundraising for a couple of years, he's such a fantastic person. 

Herbs to flowers

 Our herb garden has evolved, when we moved in this space was decking and in a state, I started popping pots here to cover the messy base, This was back in 2009, we were still sorting the house, so we did not have much time outside. I had a grow bag here as well. 

We decided to remove the decking planks, leaving the frame for a small garden, this was in 2010, we tried for many years to grow things in this space, it was not big enough and it was not a success. Too many cats digging up my veg made us not want to eat anything. 

 I then decided in 2016 to make it into a herb garden, using pot tops to keep the herbs tidy and slate around them, it worked much better, but often I would look at this space the herbs are good, not many plants here, but it was tidy.

It stayed this way for years, but lots of the herbs did not like our clay soil, many died each wet winter, I also have herbs in separate pots as they are too invasive to plant in the ground, these days we hardly pick any of them. This is how it looked before work started.

Firstly I picked off most of the slate, it been added around the acer and Magnolia trees, I removed the membrane, it's not worth keeping, I have dug out the herbs and potted some of them, the rosemary and the garlic both were binned, I took a couple cuttings from the rosemary. The small bay tree is now in a big pot, the bird bath is staying. 

Still loads to do here, I have added more manure and top soil, should now be perfect for planting. I have placed loads of bulbs from my big black tub, these should be OK planted 'in the green' and come back next year, I had a couple forget-me-nots to help fill gaps, a small hellebore as well as some nerines, which I love. There is a buffer zone of slate at the front, helps with plants which flop and the slate links the sections both sides. 

All this because we moved our bench and sit with our morning coffee, looking at this bed, hubby has never enjoyed the herb bed, as I have said before, the garden is never finished, luckily we did not want too many plants, I did get some packs of bulbs and corms, half price, they won't grow this year but will be OK for next, a few packets of seeds, we did get a rose and top soil.