☼* Summertime *☼

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - June 2014

Today will offer very limited photo opportunities as we are committed to family celebrations, on what we hope will turn out to be a sunny day for a beautiful June bride, so the camera came out yesterday. A whizz round before an allotment session and then another on my return. The day started on the damp side after unexpected rain the evening before but it turned into a sometimes bright and warm day, when there were plenty of bees and butterflies about.

The flowers probably do not need much in the way of a formal introduction but just in case :

Top row from left to right - alchemilla mollis, astrantia 'Gill Richardson' which performs better than any other of my red astrantias and salvia nemerosa 'Caradonna'.
Middle row from left to right - the first darkly delicious flowers of clematis 'Petit Faucon' - the colour fades with age, linaria purpurea and leycesteria formosa.
Bottom row from left to right - astrantia variety unknown, rosa glauca - the foliage of which is probably more attractive than the flower and a geranium pratense graced by a visitor.

There are a myriad of June flowers to linger over at May Dreams Gardens, with thanks to Carol as always for hosting. What a great opportunity to share our June blooms and grow our wish lists!

Tree Following With Lucy ~ June 2014

Sometime between my May tree following post and now my affection for my willow has rapidly diminished. Remember those innocent looking catkins - well every year without fail they turn into a billion of fluffy missiles that float away causing an unsightly mess in their wake. This year's initial snowstorm coincided with the late May bank holiday and is still continuing. The fluffies coat the ground, the washing line, the greenhouse etc., etc. and would no doubt make their way into every room in the house if we were to leave the windows open. Sometimes the fall is so intense that I'm too frightened to open my mouth outside but as I mentioned in a previous post I count myself lucky. I could after all live in Moscow and have to contend with some decidedly anti-social female Balsam poplar trees.

Another happening has been the appearance of orange blisters on the some of the willow leaves. I think that these may be some sort of rust fungus but need to find out more. I'm going to see if I can get hold of a leaf to examine this phenonomen more closely. This will involve an almost impossible aerobic feat so don't hold your breath. I've also only just noticed the dark spots on some of the leaves in the photo. My eyes must have been distracted by the fluffies when I took the photo. I'm not sure what these marks could be.

I'm sure that the willow hosts all sorts of wildlife but rather disappointingly I've only observed the odd squirrel and wood pigeon in its branches. Underneath has more or less morphed into a mass of humungous nettles dotted by the odd fern.

No doubt I will harbour fonder feelings for my willow by next month but in the meantime I hope to discover some better behaved trees over at Loose And Leafy. Thanks to Lucy for giving us the opportunity to share news of our chosen trees each month.

'Shows Of Hands' - Here's Waving At You!

Mother's father had a touch with horses ; she had the same with flowers. She could grow them anywhere, at any time and they seemed to live longer for her. She grew them with rough, almost slap-dash love, but here hands possessed such an understanding of their needs that they seemed to turn to her like another sun. She could snatch a dry root from a field or hedgerow, dab it into the garden, give it a shake - and almost immediately it flowered. One felt she could grow roses from a stick or chair -leg, so remarkable was this gift' 

- an extract from 'Cider with Rosie' by Laurie Lee.

It sounds as if Laurie's mother had what we call 'green fingers'. Talking of fingers leads to hands which are certainly 'the tool most precious to a gardener', as Michelle at Veg Plotting writes in her invitation to bloggers to hilight hands and join in her Chelsea Fringe project for 2014.

I must admit that I look down at my hands sometimes and think that they do not belong to me. Am I slowly turning into an alien? No but my hands reflect that I'm getting older more than any other part of me. Well the grey hair can be covered with 'Black Cherry' but the hands are harder to disguise. They are becoming increasingly chicken wrinkled and at this time of year seem to be permanently scratched and dirt engrained. I hear my mother's voice in my ear urging me to wear gloves and use hand cream and reflect that they would probably look better if I had heeded her advice. However regardless of appearance they have served me well over some thirty years or so of gardening. I wonder just how many seeds they have sown, how many cuttings they've taken, how many plants they've planted and just how many weeds they have pulled out. When I think of this I'm not surprised that they look past their sell by date. However I'm eternally grateful for their service.

Unfortunately my hands also suffer from various allergic reactions (even more reason to listen to mum) and are not a pretty sight at the moment. So no photo of my paws today but one that some of you maybe familiar with if you are already a regular visitor here. It's perfect for saying hello to you and to say thank you for visiting. The photo is of my blog atavar and was taken at Sudeley Castle, in Gloucestershire in 2008. The gardens were home to an exhibition of sculpture including a gigantic hand. You can see and read about some of the other exhibits here.

The 'Chelsea Fringe' is now entering its last few days. If you are fortunate enough to live in or near London, Bath, Brighton, Bristol or Kent there are some great events going on this week. If you are further afield you can still participate in Michelle's project over at Veg Plotting until the 8th June. What a great idea for bloggers from all corner of the globe to join hands together in celebration of our love of plants and gardens and be part of this special event. You've got to hand it to Michelle for coming up with such a brilliant idea after last year's magnificent 'Blogger's Cut' cake extravaganza. I'm still recovering after eating my way through this work of art. I'm now wondering what's in store for 2015!

End Of Month View ~ May 2014

We're now definitely on the cusp between spring and summer as my favourite month of the year is fading out on a warm and sunny note. The Solomon's Seal, aquilegias, brunnera, thalictrums, umbifellers and pulmonarias are giving way slowly but surely to astrantias, geraniums, penstemons, elderflowers and roses.

The annual garden club plant sale is done and dusted for another year. The above photo shows some of the plants that I took for sale. There were very few plants in flower on the day, as several of the plants that I had lifted and divided with the plant sale in mind had rather inconsiderately already flowered. I was pleased that foliage plants attracted customers but unfortunately all the tomato plants came back home with me. They walked off the table last year and I could have sold more than I took with me. Sometimes there's no logical rhyme or reason as to what sells and what comes back home.

I'm not convinced that I've achieved much of any substance in the garden having spent most of my time weather permitting either in the greenhouse or at the allotment. The annual greenhouse shuffle is playing out its course and the contents are slowly spilling out into the garden or making their way to the allotment. Today with next spring in mind I've sown some sweet rocket, wallflowers and and lunaria 'Chedglow' which I fell for at the London RHS Show in February 2013. Avon Bulbs are now selling seeds of this stunning purple leaved lunaria.

I took my camera to the allotment this morning but fell at the first hurdle - I left the camera card out so a verbal description instead.The potatoes which were planted on Easter Monday are now reasonably sturdy plants and fingers crossed the danger of frost is behind us. Broad bean 'Witkiem' and pea 'Douce Provenance' are already forming their first pods. I've planted wigwams of 'Cobra' and 'Blauhilde' French climbing beans, whilst a purple podded mange tout peas (from my own saved seed) and 'Lingua de Fuoco 2' borlotti beans, will be making their way to the allotment in the next few days to be planted. Courgettes 'Romanesco' and the yellow fruiting 'Floridor' are already in the ground. My third courgette 'Brice' did not germinate well so I made latter sowings of 'De Nice A Fruit Ronde'. The autumn planted garlic has grown well but has developed rust whilst the shallots and 'Red Baron' onions are plumping up nicely. Beetroot and chard grown in cells at home will also soon be in transit along with a pumpkin.

In the fruit department the strawberry plants have been strawed and hopefully we will be eating them before long. The plants are now in their second year so should produce well. 'Cambridge Favourite' is most floriferous but the newer on the scene plant 'Albion' is definitely not as generous with its fruit so I doubt if it will be a keeper. The gooseberries should also be ready for picking soon and look bar any natural disaster as if they will fruit well. I picked a couple today to sample but they are still too hard. Disaster with the white currants which looked as if they were going to produce in abundance - the fruits have been more or less stripped off the bush overnight! No sign of any creatures so I can only wonder. Although I prefer the red currants and black currants the white currant has been the best performing of the currant bushes so I am rather miffed. The apples are now swelling. Despite 'Katy' being described being smothered in blossom by my plot neighbours she is not fruiting well. 'James Grieve' and 'Sunset' are doing much better.

Flowering at the allotment now are chives, sage, rosa rubignosa (sweet brier), comfrey and some self seeded cerinthe. Hopefully soon the wigwam of sweet peas will be joining in and there will be bunches to pick to bring home with me.

Plant purchases this month have included a nameless sultry bearded iris, a nameless lime green hosta and a couple of nameless hardy geraniums. I have a feeling that one of them is geranium sylvaticum album although the label said it was something else. Finally a plant with a name - alchemilla erythropoda which I believe to be a better behaved relative of alchemilla mollis.
P.S. I forgot to include the three little rhodochiton atrosanguineum plants I bought on Thursday having already sown a packet with the result of not a single seedling. I've sown these several times before so was rather disappointed. All being well I shall be able to save my own seeds this year. Have always been amazed by the price the seed companies charge for this plant.

So that was May in my garden and allotment. I'm looking forward to catching up with what has been happening on your patches of earth over at The Patient Gardener's Weblog. With thanks as always to Helen for hosting this excellent meme.

A Love/Hate Relationship

With almost indecent haste the spring bulb catalogues are coming through the letter box and once more the annual saga of tulip selection will be upon us.  My brow will furrow, I will agonise and waver but no doubt will fall for them again. Tulips - what's not to like? My blogging friends sing their praises, garden writers rave about them and in the past tulip fanciers paid a king's ransom for them. I've never heard or seen anybody say a bad word about tulips. I must be in a minority though when I say that I remain to be convinced. I think that it's the foliage that I find most unattractive followed by other undesirable traits. However my lack of success in growing them consistently well is probably down to my shortcomings as a gardener. Perhaps you can tell me where I am going wrong.

This spring's offerings were all confined to containers on the premise that I can get them out of the way quickly once they've flowered. The first big pot was planted in December 2012 with 'Doll's Minuet', 'Ballerina and 'Black Hero'. I must admit did look reasonably attractive the previous spring although the leaves were an eyesore. The first two varieties of bulb flowered again but this time sadly absolutely no sign of 'Black Hero'. This made the remaining tulips stick out like a sore thumb as the latter toned down the combination. They were grew quite tall and took on a marked contorted lurch as they took the brunt of rain and wind. The ugly monster leaves completely flopped and caught my eye from the kitchen window every time I stood at the kitchen sink. Yuk! A good excuse to leave cooking and dish washing to himself for a couple of weeks.

Pot numbers two were single plantings - no fancy colour combinations here but 'Spring Green' in a couple of pots and 'Mount Tacoma' in another. Needless to say they did not flourish. The foliage was of one pot of 'Spring Green' was ravaged before it even flowered. I'm not sure who the culprit was although my suspect is a squirrel. I have to cover nearly all my pots of bulbs with chicken wire for the tulips to stand any chance of seeing spring but maybe a determined creature managed to have more than a nibble or two. The other pot simply did not flower well or last any length of time although I suppose that the weather was on the warm side. As for 'Mount Tacoma' planted in two tall ceramic pots there was a conspicuous absence of flower - maybe a couple of flowers from each pot. The remainder were blind. Maybe I did not plant them deep enough? I just don't know. Funnily enough the very first time I planted these bulbs they were stars which is why I was attracted to them again.

Finally the last trio, another of Sara Raven's tulip combination suggestions, consisted of 'Havran', 'Prinses Irene' and 'Couleur Cardinal'. They were planted in an old galvanised metal container and were far the best of my tulip plantings this spring but not without fault. Now the leaves had a good habit, the colour combination was absolutely spot on but 'Havran' was much taller than the other two which really irritated me. It was also noticeably first into flower and the last to drop its petals having flowered for a good month.

So that is my tulip summary for the spring 2014. Needless to say no photographs were taken hence the above illustration by Jessie Wilcox Smith.

I've not had a good browse through the new catalogues yet but I'm sure I will be tempted by tulips again. Initial thoughts though include planting the metal container solely with 'Havran' and investigating species tulips in depth. In the meantime though the names 'Bruine Wimpel', 'Belle Epoque' and 'Merlot' are whispering in my ear. What about you?  Any foolproof recommendations? Any thoughts on what tulips you will be planting this autumn and does anybody else find them a challenge or is it just me?

Musing in May

"It would be difficult at this time of year not to see beauty in weeds. The ditches in our lane are milky with the white nettle, that exquisite flower with the form of an unsophisticated orchid. In the orchard the sequence of flowering weeds runs it course. As dandelion fades, it gives place to brown plantain with its lace ruff, speedwell, purple vetch, buttercup and cow parsley. Spikes of the beautiful wild salsify stand among the growing grasses, closing their flowers at midday : goat's beard, as some call it, or John-go-to-bed-at-noon, as it is known to others. Along the hedge-bottoms gleam the cuckoo-pints, challenging the darkness of the hedge shade with pale green staves, flapping their limp petals over themselves as their time of flowering draws to its close. Was any flower the possesor of so many names? Cuckoo-pint, priest's pintle, lords and ladies, wild arum, good King Henry *. There is as much charm in the names of our wildflowers and weeds as there is in the flowers themselves"

-  an extract from 'Four Hedges' by Clare Leighton

*Richard Mabey's book 'Flora Britannica' quotes yet more names for the cuckoo-pint including Jack in the pulpit, Devils and angels and Cows and bulls.

Wordless Wednesday ~ 21st May 2014

Playing Hooky

The seedlings in the greenhouse were shrieking to be potted up, domestic chores were piling up and himself has a major outdoor wall repair job to tackle but when the sun came out last week we played hooky. I had noticed that Cholmondeley Castle Gardens were open under the National Gardens Scheme and suggested that we visit. We have driven past many times over the years on our way up and down the A49, but had never seen the gardens, mainly because we were on our way somewhere long distance or on our way home. Cholmondeley is just about still in Cheshire although the nearest town of Whitchurch is over the border in Shropshire and not far from from the border with Wales. Cholmondeley is not the mouthful it appears to be as it is pronounced as Chumley which is much easier to get your tongue round. The Cholmondeley family have lived in this spot since 1200, although the present castle is a late comer as castles go being built in the 19th century. Although my preference is to visit smaller gardens there was still much to enjoy here including :

• A most cooling woodland walk where there were blazes of colour from rhodendrons, azaleas and camellias. 
• A fine specimen of a Davida involucrata waved its handkerchiefs at us as we walked past. 
• Great views over the Cheshire countryside.
• Farm animals and an aviary for the young and the young at heart.
• Lakes and parkland.
• A walled kitchen garden which I would like to see later in the year. It includes a well stocked small nursery. I was restrained and left with just a lemon mint as we had some way to walk back to the car.

All in all a most enjoyable interlude and well worth a visit if you find yourself in the vicinity. I had intended to write a longer post. However my thought processes have been interrupted firstly by a thunderstorm and then the trauma of a dropped mouse which took some putting back together hence the brevity. This blogger needs to recover her equilibrium!

Wordless Wednesday ~ 14th May 2014