GARDENER'S WORD

It's time that I did something with the Lonicera periclymenum 'Scentsation' (honeysuckle) that is growing against my north-facing fence.  It had reached the top some time ago and had been busy building a kind of tangled bird's nest.  The flowers were prolific and glorious as the growth started to become heavy and tumble over the top of the trellis for my neighbours to admire, but it desperately needed reining in.  Today, this afternoon, was the time.  I look like I've been attacked by a tiger as the climbing roses New Dawn and Wild Eve had grown through it but, no matter, I love to see the roses with the honeysuckle.  I know what you are thinking but I never, ever, wear gloves in the garden and I never have, and probably never shall.  I find they cause more problems than they solve.  Anyway, as they say in Yorkshire (and possibly elsewhere), the job's a good un' and it won't need doing again for a couple of years or so.    Lonicera p...

I always thought that flat leafed parsley was not very hardy and so during the last winter I over-wintered the parsley in a pot in my mini-greenhouse , along with all my other herbs.  It survived very well.  It's grown quite big after being repotted into a larger pot in fresh compost and placed on a sunny spot on the patio throughout this late spring and summer.  Parsley is, as far as I know, a biennial that is often grown as an annual.  For some reason though, I haven't used it in my cooking this year so I decided to let it flower and go to seed.  The flowers, though tiny, are really pretty, and it has been flowering for weeks.  Each individual flower is only 2-3mm in diameter.  It's been a joy watching the pollinating insects visiting them.  Flat leafed parsley flowers (macro photography) Perhaps I should try and collect some seed for sewing next spring.  I suspect the plant might die this winter.  Flat le...

As it so often is, today it is blowing a gale but dry so far and a wonderful day for washing and drying bedding.  I took advantage of the sunshine for my washing and for myself.  While mooching around, camera around neck, I spotted a ripe strawberry hiding from me among leaves.  How dare it?  I thought it should be punished and so I bit it very hard. Death of a strawberry by biting (macro) Some website and books describe the strawberries that I grow as perpetual or everbearers while I have seen them described as everlasting.  This year I have been very pleased with the crop I am getting from my perpetual strawberries this year.  Last year the strawberries were mostly deformed, covered with botrytis mould and abysmal.  I don't know why this year has been good because, yes we've had a good amount of sunshine, but we've also had long periods of rain and I expected what strawberries were forming to rot and be deformed again.  I've no...

Hebe 'Purple Pixie' (syn. Hebe Mohawk) is a shrubby type of Veronica and although I have now planted a generally herbaceous type of border, replacing what was once a rather unsuccessful rose border, I don't mind planting very small shrubs in it.  The colours are really vibrant and it has been adorned with striking purple flowers for a few weeks already and is just now starting to fade a little.  This would make a beautiful low hedge for milder climates.  Hebe Mohawk 'Purple Pixie' - a shrubby type of Veronica The label says that Hebe 'Purple Pixie' forms a rounded shrub and bears a profusion of pixie-purple flowers from late spring to the first frosts of winter.  The mid-green leaves stay on the plant all year.  It is hardy to -5C.  It likes a sunny spot in fertile well-drained soil and a achieves a height and spread of 50cm (2ft).  It is a source of food for bees and butterflies in early summer. It can be trimmed l...

Having said in an earlier post that bees and hoverflies, pollinating insects, prefer single flowers to double, where the reproductive organs of the flower are exposed and make pollen and nectar readily available, I have noticed that bees like the bright yellow coreopsis that I grow even before it opens up enough to expose the pollen.  Also, the bumblebees seem more smitten with the Sunray than the Early Sunrise  coreopsis plant.  Yesterday I had to laugh at this bumblebee, which I have identified as the Bombus pascuorum (I hope I am right) which didn't seem to be do anything much more than sunbathing.  It could be a male.  Apparently male bumblebees have a lazier life than females and are not so concerned with pollen gathering and have a tendency to remain in place for longer periods of time, doing a great deal of nothing much.  I realise that this sounds like a sexist remark about bumblebees but if the cap fits, etc.   This one lolled ...

I managed to take two or three macro photos which I particularly liked this morning while the sun still shone.  It's been raining on and off all day but the rain just adds to the interest sometimes.  I noticed that the jasmine officinale has just about finished flowering now although there are a few buds still waiting to burst.  The strong winds lately knocked a lot of the flowers off and left the climbing shrub with lots of empty calyxes.  A cluster of flowers of the Sempervivum pumilum drew my attention, I don't know why.  It looked half dead and I considered dead heading it then scrutinised it down the camera macro lens, and this is what I saw... Sempervivum pumilum - Macro photograph Jasmine calyxes after the flowers have gone I also took what I think is a nice photo of a tiny flower on the Heuchera 'Marmalade'.  You'd think these flowers, which are only about 3mm across, would be insignificant but they make quite a statement clustered on a ...

Nepeta faassenii alba, like all nepetas, is commonly known as catmint which is said to send cats into a state of euphoria.  I know some catmints do that but I have a cat, a Ragdoll called Alfie, and he never pays this plant any attention at all.  Alfie always was a contrary cat but it might have something to do with me telling him to keep off the plants.  Alfie's quite well behaved, for a cat.  I can tell you, though, that bees are attracted to it.  The flowers are tiny individually, on spikes about 2in (5cm) in length at the end of trailing stems.  The flowers, while not insignificant, attract bees, and are dominated by scented leaves which smell lovely if crushed.  Nepeta faassenii alba and the bumblebee - 'Coming in to land!' Nepeta faassenii alba - Macro photograph Nepeta faassenii alba is great for ground coverage.  I planted my small new plant a few months ago and it has spread to about 16" already.  I don't consider i...

I was terribly disappointed this morning while taking photographs in my garden.  I have wanted to take a superb photograph of a hoverfly (in fact, a mediocre photo would do!) in flight for quite a while and I had such an opportunity this morning.  It's a sunny day, after much rain, and I think the sun was reflecting on my camera lens.  A hoverfly flew right up to the lens.  Perhaps it was looking at itself, or perhaps it thought it was another hoverfly that it could see.  Whatever the reason, it hung about for an age.  It kept hovering around, changing positions and just when I thought I had it, it moved so close to the lens that my lens couldn't focus.  I tell you, it was so frustrating.  Anyway, a little later the same, or another, hoverfly stuck around on a dahlia long enough for me to get a reasonably good photograph or two.  It showed no interest in me, or the lens, whatsoever Hoverfly on an aging dahlia with pollen exposed...

I was in the garden this morning, camera slung around my neck, when I noticed that the penstemon 'Purple Passion' was attracting bumblebees.  They are my favourite insects, way ahead of graceful butterflies, because I like the way they bumble around, undeterred.  In comparison, butterflies are boring.  Now and then, of course, a bee will bomb me like some fighter pilot going into battle but I stand my ground, perfectly still, and eventually it will leave me alone.  If a wasp did that to me, I'd be in fight or flight mode because those little ******ds sting without mercy.  I would have liked to have taken better, more in focus, photographs but I'm afraid the bees are too fast for a novice photographer like me. Bumblebee, wings furiously flapping   Bumblebee hovering near a Penstemon 'Purple Passion' flower Bumblebee about to enter the throat of a Penstemon 'Purple Passion' flower Bumblebee and Penstemon 'Purple Passion' Bum...

Although I don't grow sunflowers in my garden, the birds do.  They drop seeds from their feeders all over the place.  One particular seed managed to germinate in my garden border quite unnoticed until it was about 18 inches in height, at which point I felt it unkind to destroy it.  I think it's a little late but it is now developing a fat bud.  I took a macro photograph of that today and discovered a strange little insect lurking there.  I have no idea, at this point, what it is.  Sunflower bud with little insect - macro photograph

After several days with sunshine and rain, mostly rain, my garden was looking very lush, and sparkling bright, and inviting this morning in the lovely sunshine.  While there are lots of jobs that need doing, I've taken the swing cushions out of the shed and put them on the hammock swing to let them air out as I have the intention of spending some time this afternoon lolling around with a good book.  I'm just starting to read The Rainmaker by John Grisham.  First though, there are jobs demanding attention.  If I am to cope with my garden, handicapped and challenged as I am by constant vertigo and an ever tilting world—which can be funny at times but mostly it's not—I cannot afford to just sit back and do jobs when I feel like it.  Mostly I never feel like it but the demands of the garden keep me going.  I didn't feel like it today either but the frequent downpours of rain on the front lawn over the last week are rapidly pushing the...

Like many people, I suppose, I used to wonder if Robins moulted and lost their red breasts during summer months, replacing the feathers with brown because, for a long time, I could not recall ever having seen a red-breasted Robin except during winter.   Since I moved to the place where I now live, I have occasionally seen Robins all year around, sporting their bright red breasts.  Just lately, I have seen Robins, or a Robin, quite often.  It is difficult to identify the males from the females.  This one arrived this morning to feed off the mixed bird seed hanging on the bird-feeding-station.  It seemed as inquisitive about me as I was of it.  Robin in August Today the weather is relatively dry, after rain during the night, but the wind is quite fierce.  I was taking the image from indoors and I went and bumped the camera lens against the kitchen window, trying to get as close a shot as I could with my 24-105mm lens, and off i...

Several days ago I moved the water dish on the bird-feeding station to above the level of the bottom of the seed feeders.  The idea behind this was to stop the birds dropping seeds (and poop) into the water and contaminating it.  It's important to keep feeders and supplies clean in order to try and prevent the spread of disease.  Since I did it, the water has remained cleaner for longer.  Of course, there is always something, isn't there?  Today that something was a dumbass feral pigeon that decided to wade around in the water while sussing out the situation with regard to a Woodpigeon that was enjoying the seed that the feral pigeon wanted.  The water doesn't look all that clean now, does it? Woodpigeon (left) and feral pigeon checking each other out For once I managed to get my camera before the performance ended.  While the two different types of pigeon were competing for seed, the little birds that live in the vicinity of my garden just...

A week or so ago I cooked up a packet of mixed wild rice and white rice that had gone beyond the 'best by' date in my kitchen cupboard.  Once cooked, I cooled it and fed some of it to the birds, freezing the rest to give to them bit by bit.  The thrushes like the rice.   Although I rarely see magpies in my back garden, they are common where I live and I saw a flock of them, about 20 or more in number, only the other day from my home's front window.  It seems that they like rice too.  Now, I am happy for all birds to dine from the complete bird-feeding station that I have at the top end of my back garden even though they are eating rather a lot! However, I wasn't happy today when I was stunned to see two magpies attacking a squirrel.  The squirrel was on top of the fence, running along, minding its own business, not heading towards the rice or the bird seed, while two magpies were interested in the rice...  ...One magpie saw the squi...

I cannot tell you just how relieved I was this morning when I rolled up the blinds and looked out upon my garden to find all the fences and plants intact.  After all the weather warnings we had received in the U.K. as the remains of Hurricane Bertha headed our way in the form of heavy rain and strong winds, I cannot see a single sign of damage.  Although it's still quite windy out, there are momentary lulls and I don't feel the wind strength is enough to worry about.  The Southgate and Swingtime fuchsia filled hanging baskets have survived extremely well, and the taller plants like the Penstemons and the taller Campanulas are still upright and the flowers unscathed.  The cherry tree is still full of leaves and is looking remarkably fresh and healthy considering all the wind and rain we've had and I am wondering now if I have been watering it enough!  A tile has slipped on my roof but is still protecting my home, I think, and so all is well, so far. ...

The weather people have said that what's left of Hurricane Bertha is heading my way.  Well, not just my way but the way of many people in the UK.  Of course, the Pennine Mountains in West Yorkshire are to get special attention and in the morning I will look out and see if I still have garden fences.   In fact, tomorrow morning I shall look out and see if I still have a garden.  We had a lot of sunny weather lately and we have needed the rain, but it has rained almost non-stop today, and we had torrential downpours yesterday, and I have a wittering and whining cat that hates to be cooped up when many birds are in my garden.  Not that he ever catches any. Blue Tit enjoying the peanuts I noticed this morning when I got out of bed and looked out of the kitchen window that my bird-feeding station was busier than normal.  A dozen birds or more of all different kinds were busy getting plenty to eat.  I wonder if they know that furious weather is ...

After being absent many days, it seems that Arry Arachnid, the female Araneus diadematus that I posted about earlier, is back.  She's woven a wonderfully elaborate web between the guttering under the roof and a hanging basket and her web is out of the way of my cat, Alfie, damaging it.   Araneus diadematus - female I was confused by the protrusion under her abdomen but it seems that the flesh-coloured protrusion is called the epigyne and is the external genital structure of a female spider. Flesh-coloured epigyne of Araneus diadematus    She dropped her meal (the black object near the bottom of the image, between her legs) when I started to photograph her and after putting up with me taking dozens of shots, she eventually got sick of me and retreated to the safety of somewhere under the house roof. 

I had never seen the like of Geranium 'Purple Passion' until I came across it while visiting the RHS Garden Centre in Harlow Carr a short while ago.  Immediately, it's burgundy leaves attracted me, long before it came into flower.  The flowers, though small and about 1.5 cm across, are bright and in profusion, standing out against the dark leaves.  What's even more delightful about this spreading geranium, is that it is attracted bees and butterflies.  Geranium 'Purple Passion' flower Geranium 'Purple Passion' leaf The label says Geranium Purple Passion (Cranesbill) has stunning plum-coloured foliage all year and bright pink flowers throughout summer.  It is hardy.  It likes full sun or partial shade in well-drained soil.  It achieves a heigh and spread of 15cm (6in) x 90cm (36in).  It is a source of food for bees and butterflies.  Geranium 'Purple Passion' and a 'Small White' butterfly  Geranium 'Purple Passion...