GARDENER'S WORD

I wanted a clock in my garden room and it took me a while to find one which I liked and which would fit in with the rest of the rather eclectic selection of bits and bats.  I chose a 34cm 'patchwork' clock which I found on the Amazon website.  It was inexpensive, is light in weight, and seems to be made of the kind of stuff that sturdy beermats are made of.  It's suitable for a kitchen and therefore should not be a problem in humid conditions.  I'm not sure yet how my unheated garden room is going to fare in winter, will there be damp or humidity, but I have taken that into account when choosing things to go in it.  'Patchwork' clock and barometer I had to reposition one of the ceramic pictures so that I could put the clock and the new barometer where I wanted them to go.  I think the ceramic pictures look better when they are in vertical pairs. Ceramic pictures by Benaya As my garden room has no electricity (I wish it had but my garde...

As I may have mentioned in an earlier post (or maybe not), I tend to be a bit wary of petunias because they are sticky and I have found in the past that they must attract butterflies which is all very nice except that this was once evidenced by green caterpillar poop landing on my precious marble table and staining it!  However, I tried Surfinia ® Suntory Collection petunias (external link) this year—the greeny white 'Lime' and the 'Heavenly Blue'—planting them in the four hanging baskets which decorate my home's east facing back wall every spring to autumn.  I must say, they are doing very well despite the labels saying they like full sun.  Hanging basket of Surfinia ® Suntory Collection Petunias: Heavenly Blue and Lime seen with Bacopa Scopia 'Great White' The label of Petunia Surfinia 'Lime' indicates that it likes full sun and achieves a trailing length of 75cm (30in) and height of 23cm (9in).  It has a reliable cascading habit for baskets ...

I can be quite fussy about apples and like them with a really sharp tang, so when I bought some apples a couple of weeks ago that I didn't like they just sat in my refrigerator while I tried to think of some way of using them.  Then I realised the other day that the birds might like them.  While mooching in Marks and Spencers I came upon a rather pretty bird apple feeder.  At £5 it seemed like a lot of money for a bit of metal but it does look lovely dangling from the bird feeding station and the birds are pecking at them.  I'm not sure if they like the apples any more than I did though.  Bird Apple Feeder from Marks and Spencers Amazingly, the birds leave my raspberries alone and someone said that that is because I feed them so well on other things they like.  Below we can see Blue Tits, what I am fairly sure is a Bullfinch, and sitting at the top is a little brown bird that I cannot quite identify; a baby thrush maybe? Bullfinch and Blue Tits on...

While mooching around my little garden this morning I noticed something odd.  The Dryopteris filix-mas 'Euchinensis' has many fronds which are splitting at the ends in a fan-like way.  Looking at old photos, I see it has done it before but not so noticeably.  I have no idea why it is doing this but the plant seems to be very healthy.  Perhaps it is healthy and happy.  Dryopteris filix-mas 'Euxinensis' with ends of fronds splitting The fascinating sex life of ferns Dryopteris filix-mas 'Euxinensis' with ends of fronds splitting Looking at the photographs below, you can see that not only the very tips of the fronds are splitting but this is also happening at the end of each blade.  Dryopteris filix-mas 'Euxinensis' with ends of fronds splitting Dryopteris filix-mas 'Euxinensis' with ends of fronds splitting possibly (c) of FancyFrondsNursery.com

Resurrection is probably too strong a word for it, but I honestly thought that my lawn would struggle to recover from the rough treatment it has had lately.  The fencing constructors had to work in terrible rainy conditions and the lawn got trampled into a muddy state.  Later, other workers unwittingly put something down on the grass which scorched it somehow.  The grass has survived all this and is almost back to its best.   Lawn revival - 25 June 2017 Regular mowing (once or twice a week) makes the grass dense as, when you cut it often, it stimulates the formation of new shoots.  When the workmen had finished stomping around on my once beautiful lawn (see images below), I threw down a packet of lawn seed among what grass was left.  When the grass started to grow and revive, I also tried a little experiment.  I feed my lawn every spring but this year I didn't want to put down weedkiller.  There were onl...

A few years ago I bought a different kind of hosta, Gold Edger, to plant in my garden.  I believe it's intended to be grown at the edge of a border but I chose to plant it in a relatively shallow terracotta pot that I found, a broken pot on which the bottom had fallen out!  I planted Gold Edger in it and look at it now; lovely leaves and producing flowers too.  Hosta 'Gold Edger' grown in a shallow, bottomless, terracotta pot It has a lot of flower spikes ready to open Despite the fact that it is so close to the ground, it is relatively slug free.  The top of the container is covered in sharp grit and I think that is what is helping to keep slugs away.  A container of slug bait lasted for years, but I ran out a year or so ago and never bothered buying any more.  I think birds eat a lot of them and I admit I 'deal' with them when I find them. By the way, the plant with the deep pink flowers and interesting foliage shown above is Dicentra formosa...

For me, the view through the windows of my home are as important as having a beautiful garden.  I believe that with a bit of trickery, almost anyone can have a lovely view even if it means simply sticking stickers on your window, affixing a bird feeder to the glass, attaching a window box, or hanging a basket of flowers that can be seen through the window.  It just needs a bit of imagination and improvisation.  However, I realise I am fortunate.  I have a small garden in which to create my view, and a lovely view of miles of West Yorkshire from the front of my little home which has needed no help from me.  This is the view of my garden now the garden Room has been installed, now that the hanging baskets are in bloom, and the border perennials in flower.  Through the kitchen window, 2017 I think anyone would agree that the view is not as beautiful as it was in the summer of 2015, but that is simply because the hanging baskets are not as clearly in view,...

It's raining today, after a dry day yesterday.  When I had my lovely little garden Room installed, no way did I want rain water from the roof pouring willy-nilly onto my garden and causing problems.  I didn't want water finding its way under the Room, nor did I want it pouring onto a plant and undermining its roots.  The idea I came up with was to have a water butt at the side of the Room (just space for a slimline water butt) with a wide gutter around the Room channeling water directly into the butt.  Then, and this is the nifty trick, I attached a soak hose (a hose with holes in it) and led the hose down the slope of the garden, along the base of the fence's gravel boards where the ground can be very dry, even during rain.  Bingo!  The plants are loving it.  Clematis that seemed unhappy last year are flowering well.  Water butt and soak hose NOTE:  I leave the water butt tap half-turned on permanent...

It's been a lovely day today after all the rain yesterday.  The garden looks lovely with all the border plants closing ranks and keeping out the weeds.  The lawn has finally got back to its beautiful state after suffering from workmen's boots.  One plant in the south-facing border which is standing out at the moment is the Philadelphus 'Snowbelle', a small and fragrant shrub which is loaded with pure white fragrant flowers and throwing out new shoots.  It's happy.  I'd had it in a tub for a couple of years and it was clearly not impressed.  It made little growth and few flowers.  This year, when I had to clear a lot of the plants growing in containers from the top patio to make space for the garden room, the Philadelphus was one plant which I decided should be transplanted from pot to border.  What a different that has made.  So, if you have a plant which isn't happy, maybe it needs a change of situation.  Philadelphus 'Snowbelle...

After a week of glorious weather, a sunshiny dry spell with some people complaining that it's too hot up in the 30s (not me), the rain has come and it's very welcome too.  The rain has saved me a job by watering my garden and at the same time has put nitrogen into the soil.  You can almost see the plants sitting up and begging for more.  The birds seem to like to visit and feed when the rain is like a fine mist.  On my bird-feeding station (I can see it from my desktop computer) there are so many different types flitting back and forth, reaping what they did not sow: sunflower seeds.  I've seen Coal Tits , Blue Tits ,  Sparrows, Greenfinches, Robins , Thrushes , Chaffinches, and what I thought was a Bullfinch , but I am wondering where the Goldfinches are.  Hang on, a blackbird has just arrived and is kindly picking up bits of seeds which the greedy small birds have dropped. Good. Goldfinches, 2016 A lady at a garden centre told me that...

Chive flowers are not only pretty to look at, they can be eaten in salads, pollinators love them, the chives look lovely as a garden border , the leaves can be eaten raw or used in cooking, and the flowers are good to photograph.  Here are some chive flower images which I took at various times.  Chive flowers attract pollinators like bumblebees Chive flowers are edible (Gardeners' World link)  Chive flower, pretty in bud Chive flower - macro image Chive flower with chive leaves in the background Chive flower Chive flower beginning to set seed Chive flower in black and white Chive flowers, buds, and leaves

Every time I go to a garden centre lately, I tell myself that I have absolutely no more space in my already packed garden for another plant—then I buy one, or two.  Yesterday it was another fern.  I have a nostalgic thing going on about ferns, mentioned in a previous post .  The newcomer is only young but very beautiful; it's Polypodium vulgare.  Polypodium vulgare The label says (and it seems to be referring to ferns in general): "Ferns belong to the oldest plant varieties on Earth.  More than 50,000 varieties of ferns are found all over the world.  Ferns reproduce by spores.  They filter polluted air and produce pure oxygen.  The plant should not be placed in full sun but should receive much light indirectly.  Water sufficiently to keep the soil moist.  Fertilize once a month. Growing Polypodium vulgare (Royal Horticultural Society external link)  Now the RHS seems to think that this evergreen fern will tolerate...

My newly installed garden room has no electricity.  It could have, if I didn't mind someone cutting an 18in deep trench through my precious garden for the power cable, and connecting it up to the main house system.  As I shall probably use my garden room mostly during daylight hours, I shall rely upon other solutions like smokeless candles (hate the damage that smoky candles cause to decor, not to mention lungs!), battery candles, and perhaps even solar light.  However, I understand that solar panels do not fare so well behind glass, so I would have to have the panel outside with the light itself inside.  sigh.  Meanwhile, while I ponder upon it, I have bought a silver-coloured solar LED spotlight on a spike which I have stuck into the soil and which lights my Room externally during dark hours.  I think it looks really good at night and it's interesting how the light on the double glazing has duplicated the little hummingbirds (stickers) . Ga...

I have been interested in design all my adult life and have always fancied the idea of creating wonderful objects out of wood.  It never happened.  So, when I see a fabulously creative 'objet de bois', I get wood envy.  Look at this fabulous driftwood garden bench which I found doing a Google search for arty garden benches. That would look divine in my garden.  Not sure how comfortable it would be but who cares?  Me wants it. Copyright uncertain.  Image found here (external link). Interested in garden bench design?  Try searching for 'arty garden benches' and 'driftwood garden benches'.

Now yes, I know, this is a gardening blog and a blue/green recycled-glass amphora, or vase, is nothing to do with gardening, but I bought this one today and it is going in my garden room so I am giving it a mention here.  It's very heavy and about 30cm or so tall.  It'll be taller still when I decide what I want to stick in it.  Seems though that what I stick in it has not got to be water!   Blue/green amphora, Spanish, recycled glass  My Room is painted in cream and white but is enlivened with colourful ornaments and ceramic wall hangings .  I particularly like green and blue (I'm Piscean, it figures), which pick up the colours in my garden.  I never realised just how many blue flowers I have in my garden until just recently, and it's particularly noticeable since I put blue/purple and white flowers in the hanging baskets this year.  Close up of Blue/green amphora, Spanish, recycled glass Blue/green amphora, Spanish, recycled...

We're having fabulous weather for the UK.  It's above the mid twenties today, with a blue sky and puffy white clouds.  It's perfect weather for being 'al fresco' and enjoying a garden.  I've wanted a garden room for such a long time and still cannot quite believe I finally have one.  It's a place to be outside while being protected against chilling breezes.  A place to read, relax, snooze even.  It wasn't built, however, for hot and sunny days like this, but more for days when the sun peeps out from the clouds long enough to heat the room through the glass and it's too cold to actually sit in the garden.  Believe me, those days are many, even during winter.  All it takes is a little sun now and then.  So, now I have it.  The Room, and the bubbling sound of the solar-driven Pitcher Cascade .  Small garden room, perfect for a small garden. My small room is a perfect size for a small garden which is approximately 25ft x...

I thought that I'd be lucky if the blue and pink geraniums growing at the bottom of my shadier border, near the dustbin, flowered well this year.  They were roughly dug up when the new fencing was being erected in January.  Then, after, they were stuck back into a clay soil that was cold and had been heavily trodden by fencing contractor boots!  Yet, here they are, geraniums looking fabulous and I do think that the colours of these two different plants (the purple-blue having showy flowers and the pinks coming out in force) go well together.  I love them, and the bees love them too. Blue and pink geraniums, June 2017 Pink geraniums, June 2017