GARDENER'S WORD

I've wanted a garden room in my West Yorkshire garden for so long, I cannot tell you how long.  Once it was a dream, then an idea, then today it became a reality.  It's only a small room, the size of the existing patio, but it fits nicely at the top of my garden and will give me a place to appreciate my garden, a place to read, paint, work on my laptop, snooze, relax and enjoy the outdoors even on the windiest of days. Alfie, my cat, has already investigated and seems to approve.   Garden Room and Mini Shed Above, the finished 9 x 7ft (274cm x 213cm) garden room and mini shed.  They look good within the boundaries of my new 'anti-storm' (I hope) fencing. It goes without saying that there have been a lot of changes, and there will be more to come, as all the container-grown plants from patio have had to be repositioned elsewhere.  The inside of the Room needs decorating.  My cream marble table has been placed inside.  It was never...

If ever a plant has been reliable in my garden, it is the lovely lewisia.  Each year they all flower, and not just once.  Love lewisias .  Lewisia cotyledon 'special mix' - June 2016 Lewisia longipetala 'Little Plum' August 2016

I was never a great fan of using petunias in my garden as I have found them prone to aphids, they get all sticky and horrid, until I discovered the 'Million Bells' range which are absolutely fabulous!  Yesterday, at the Gordon Mills garden centre in Walsden, I was having a mooch around and just had to take a photograph of the thousands of petunias on display in their greenhouses.  Take a look at these. Petunias hanging baskets at Gordon Riggs, May 2017 Petunias at Gordon Riggs, Walsden, May 2017 Million Bells petunias - Calibrachoa hybrid var. Sunbeirikupi 

I visited my favourite garden centre yesterday (Gordon Rigg's at Walsden) and just had to take a photo of this fantastic reindeer.  Imagine having that in your garden.  It was massive at 8 or more feet tall and I particularly like the way it has been made, apparently with driftwood or bits of old trees.  It's impressive, a thing of beauty, and certainly would give the neighbours something to talk about.  Wooden reindeer at Gordon Riggs garden centre, May 2017

I don't recall the aquilegias in my West Yorkshire garden ever putting on such a show as they are doing this year.  Mine grow near to a north-facing fence, at the bottom of a gradual slope where the soil tends to be damper.  Whatever has caused them to flower so prolifically this year, I am not sure, but I am certainly reaping the benefit.  They are so beautiful, and there are many more to come.  Aquilegias, May 2017 Aquilegias, May 2017

Syringa Red Pixie, a dwarf lilac, is growing healthily at the bottom of my (gently) sloping back garden, in a place where it is moist and receives sun for several hours in the morning.  The fragrance is heady.  I cut two flowers, just two, a small one and a larger one without much stem, and put them into a vase in my living room, and they filled my home with fragrance for a day or two.  Wonderful.  Syringa Red Pixie, May 2017 This is an interesting external link on how to prune lilacs (thespruce.com), as they need pruning with caution.  

The latest addition to my garden, apart from a couple of trays of Crystal Palace lobelia which I bought today at the RHS shop in Harlow Carr, is the Japanese maple Acer palmatum 'Phoenix'.  It's only small at present, a couple of feet high (60cm) but it was relatively inexpensive when I bought it from Gordon Rigg's garden centre in Walsden.  Not too great a photo, but you can still tell it's a little gem. Just got to watch out for the vine weevil .  Hate the little pests, they totally destroyed my young Acer 'Orange Dream'  which cost a pretty penny!  Acer palmatum 'Phoenix' The label of Acer palmatum 'Phoenix' says: This Japanese maple is an attractive addition to any garden but is also great in a container on a patio or balcony.  This plant is an upright branching shrub with beautiful intense colours that vary by season.  When not pruned, the maple can become over two metres high.  Tolerates full sun and shade.  The plant is ha...

Here are a couple of photographs of the Japanese maple, Acer palmatum 'Katsura'.  I buy my Japanese maples quite small.  They grow faster than people might think with plenty of love and care.  Watch out for the horrible vine weevil though that is not above eating the roots of young Japanese maples. Acer palmatum 'Katsura' in May 2017 Acer palmatum 'Katsura', July 2016 It has been a while since I last posted.  Radical changes are going on in my garden, not least of all a new anti-storm fence.  Well, I say 'anti-storm' because there are now concrete posts and gravel boards, and vertical slatted panels that allow light and air through so when the gales come the worst that should happen would be that my fencing panels would rattle loose, and I just cannot see that happening.  And if it did, well the panels can easily be repositioned, fixed, or replaced.  Hopefully the posts will be there for good.  Or, at least, as long ...