Tree Following With Lucy ~ June 2015.

All was looking most promising with my 'Doyenne du Comice' pear tree until towards the end of May/beginning of June. Firstly the rough weather at that time scattered a good number of would be pears to the ground. I presumed that was the phenomenon known as the 'June Drop' so just muttered to myself. What followed though has been more traumatic when closer inspection the other day revealed that some of the remaining fruits have the pear equivalent of the 'Black Death'. Not a pretty sight as you can see from above! Research revealed that the pear has been affected by pear midge. This is a pest which causes the fruitlets to turn black and fall prematurely. Apparently though I've not done this yet but if I cut up open one of the afflicted fruits it will reveal lots of tiny white grubs. The advice is to remove affected fruitlets before they fall to the ground or to spray with some nasty sounding chemical just before the blossom opens.

So it looks as if this year's crop will be counted on two hands that is presuming all the other so far healthy fruits mature. I'm happy to report that the neighbouring pear has not been touched by the midge and although not exactly groaning with fruits it bears a couple of promising clusters one of which you can glimpse above.  This fruit growing lark seems to be full of challenges but I remain optimistic that I will consume at least one of my own pears this year. 

Thanks as always to Lucy over at 'Loose and Leafy', who enables us to share the ups and downs of a fascinating and diverse range of trees each month.

Wordless Wednesday ~ In The Pink

In A Vase On Monday ~ Watering Cans

Today's 'In A Vase On Monday' is not quite as intended as a senior moment was responsible for me not picking a couple of planty bits and pieces at the allotment. I blame it on the heat. The larger watering can of the two belonged to my mother-in-law. It's been in a cupboard for some time but I've now realised that it's got vase potential so out it has come. The little watering can you can see in the second photo is usually resident on the Welsh dresser in the kitchen. The rabbit is supposed to Peter Rabbit hiding from Mr McGregor but those ears are a giveaway if ever there was one.

In the watering can are :

• Mathiasella bupleuroides 'Green Dream', which has really put on great growth this year and is after five years is probably getting too big for its allotted spot. The green bracts slowly flush pink as the season progresses. This umbellifer is native to Mexico but seems quite happy growing in north west England. 
• Alchemilla mollis or 'Lady's Mantle' a favourite of mine despite its self-seeding habit.
• Scutelleria altisimma - I'm not sure where this plant came from and wonder if it arrived on its own accord. It has small blue and white hooded flowers just on one side of the stem. It beats alchemilla hands down for self-seeding so much so that I would not offer it to anybody. This plant or should I say colony of plants is in for the boot.
• Luzula - well I think it is anyway - it is a definite gatecrasher turning up uninvited some time ago but it is well behaved and considerate so has stayed.

It's raining softly now so planned weeding is on hold. Instead a welcome cup of coffee calls and then a virtual voyage of discovery to see what other folk have in their vases this week, all thanks to Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden'. 

In A Vase On Monday ~ Bluebonnets and Company

The flowers for this vase were mainly picked this morning before the predicted rain and gale force winds had the chance to materialise. It also gave me the opportunity to play about with the creative auto function on my camera.  However the anticipated blurred background has not materialised as I imagined so it's back to the drawing board ..... yet again.

       The contents of the vase are as follows :

• Astrantia 'Gill Richardson', which is a deep red blood colour and decidedly more vigorous than 'Hadspen Blood' or 'Ruby Wedding' in my experience.
• An unamed astrantia major that's been in the garden for some considerable time.
• Aquilegia or 'Granny's Bonnet' - this is a descendant of the one of the very first flowers I grew from seed. If memory serves me well I obtained some seeds of aquilegia 'Hensol Harebell' from The Cottage Garden Society seed exchange. They have reliably reproduced every year since, some with purple rather than blue flowers and some doubles rather than the single form of the original plants.
• Polemonium caeruleum or 'Jacob's Ladder' which was also obtained from the seed exchange probably around the same time. It's later than usual this year with the flowers still to open properly. Like the aquilegia it seeds itself gently about. I also have a couple of named polemoniums "Lambrook Mauve' and 'Sonia's Bluebell' but this form is my favourite.

• Cerinthe major purpurescens - a self seeder in this case which appeared in the gravel last autumn just below the flower bed, where one or two plants had flowered in the summer. 
• The fluffy pink spikes are persicaria bistorta 'superba', formerly known by the slightly naughty but most memorable name of polygonum bistortum 'Superbum'.
• Anthriscus sylvestris or cow parsley - I picked some errant stems from the gabion border where a couple of plants have seeded themselves. They are due for removal imminently.This plant dominates both sides of the lane leading to where we live in May as well as the uncultivated land behind us. As pretty and ethereal as it is cow parsley is becoming a bit of a thug. This article which describes it as 'a countryside killer' makes for thought provoking reading. 
  
  
  

• Finally some foliage interest from last week's discarded vase. Foeniculum vulgare or fennel both the green leaved and bronze forms, which were plunged into water did perk up the next day although they still remained on the floppy side. I came to the conclusion that that's perhaps just the nature of the beast. It's one of the most tactile plants I know and emits a delicious aniseedy fragrance when you stroke the leaves.

As usual my vase followed me around the house as I snipped. I'm getting more and more pleasure from this meme as the weeks go on. I will probably remain a 'plonker' rather than an arranger as I'm quite ham fisted and impatient when it comes to completing fiddly tasks with my hands but you never know! Thanks to the lovely Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for hosting so encouragingly each Monday.

End Of Month View ~ May 2015

My word for this month is "froth" which is what May has done despite the wet, the below average temperatures and those bitterly cold winds. May has seemed more like March at time but despite all this there has still been the frothing and fizzing I associate with the month. The cow parsley that lines both sides of our lane up to the main road was fabulous, the chestnut candles have shimmered and as the month ends the elder opposite the kitchen window is just coming into flower. In the garden the usual May suspects have been in full flow. I've very few photos to share this month as my camera woes continue. I'm still struggling with my relatively new camera whilst the lens of its predecessor is refusing point blank to open. Himself has offered me the use of his camera but with no dedicated viewfinder I'm floundering.

I did manage to use it to capture one or two photos of our little garden outside the caravan which for this year is a voyage of discovery. Primroses and daffodils were the order of the day in March/April but as May unfolded the unidentified shoots have revealed their true colours. So far we have bright yellow Welsh poppies, bluebells, an unknown euphorbia, a little white flower which I think is stitchwort, 'Solomon's Seal' and still to flower 'Jacob's Ladder' whilst at the back of the caravan we have our very own glade of bluebells.  I'm planning on a little tweaking here and there. There will definitely be some snowdrops sneaking their way in and maybe the odd pulmonaria and fern. We have just had some decking installed which makes getting in and out of the van so much easier and where we will be able to sit out comfortably come better weather. There is room for a couple of containers so thought is now going on to what to plant them up with.

The allotment planting is slowly coming together. If only I could get on top of the weeds! The strawberry bed has been strawed and it looks as if there will be a good crop this year. The goosegogs are swelling along with currants - red, white and black. Mange-tout peas 'Carouby de Maussane' and the climbing French bean 'Cobra' have been planted. Potatoes and shallots are making progress. Broad beans, more French beans, borlotti beans, courgettes, pumpkins and sweetcorn will be in transit in the next few days from home to allotment so that they can be planted. I'm late with planting my sweet peas this year. The wigwams are assembled in readiness so that task is a priority this week.

The greenhouse is now at that full stage although some residents are spending more and more time outside in readiness for planting. The tomatoes are still in full time residence along with various pots of seedlings which seem to have remained in a state of suspended animation for most of the month. I'm hoping that the predicted rise in temperatures for later this week is going to prompt them to get a move on. I've just started sowing some biennials in readiness for next spring.

The wren's nest just outside the back door that I mentioned last month met with a sad end. Some unknown creature possibly a magpie demolished it. Prior to that though we had enjoyed much coming and going and we just hope that mother and babes did not come to harm and escaped in time. Our moorhen is still perching on the same branch most evenings from where it makes most distinctive squawks.  Last night saw a slight change of scenery as the top of a bird feeder hanger was the viewing point of preference. We wonder whether he saw the same young fox that padded past our dining room window yesterday evening.

After April's plant buying splurge I've been more restrained this month. I bought an unidentified russety coloured heuchera, a white flowering hesperis and a campanula 'Octopus' at our garden club plant sale last weekend. Our meeting this week saw another purchase in the shape of geranium 'Elke', which had been on my wish list for ages or so it seems. I was so pleased that our speaker included this in the selection of plants she bought with her. By the time our speaker had finished her talk I had added a couple more plants to that list. I also ordered a chrysanthemum collection for some autumn colour and some cuttings of dianthus 'Green Trick' online via Sarah Raven. This was the first time I've bought plants from this company and I was most impressed with both quality and speed of delivery.

More end of month views from far and wide can be enjoyed over at 'The Patient Gardener's Weblog'. Thanks as always to Helen for hosting.

Wordless Wednesday ~ "Who Lives In A House Like This?"

In A Vase On Monday ~ 'Mark 2'

Weather permitting bank holidays are usually spent at the allotment as himself refuses point blank to take to the roads. Today was no exception and a most productive day was spent planting French beans and mange tout peas as well as topping up some of the raised beds. There was the odd bit of weeding, the odd chat or two and I picked a handful of herbs for a vase. However the herbs I hit on, with one exception, did not like being snipped in their prime and went into full sulk mode back at base. Even being plunged into water did not do the trick - they have remained floppy and uncooperative so this necessitated a change of plan.

So this is vase mark 2. Its ingredients are restricted to the allium schoenoprasum aka chive flowers from the allotment, along with just one head of allium hollandicum 'Purple Sensation' picked from the garden. They are sited on the mantelpiece above the fire in the living room. I have absolutely no idea how the vase fell in to my hands. I like its shape and feeling of chunkiness although it does not hold much.

For the record the herbs that did not make it were bronze fennel, golden marjoram, sage flower buds and comfrey. They are sitting outside in a vase but on last inspection have not perked up at all. They may well be heading in the direction of the compost heap come morning. 

Other Monday vases crammed full of fabulous flowers can be admired over at 'Rambling In The Garden' thanks as always to Cathy. 

Soothing

If feet could purr mine would be doing so now after a visit to my lovely podiatrist. Hopefully the niggling pain that has been making me draw sharp breaths for a couple of weeks or more is sorted. I've definitely been feeling rather out of sorts, even grumpy you might say, but I positively bounded home this afternoon in time to catch television coverage of the RHS Chelsea Show and then to do some potting up in the greenhouse. All most soothing.

At long last the state of affairs is moving to that crescendo of the greenhouse shuttle. Sowing started late here this year, it has been staggered and there has been less of it. This was a deliberate decision which I thought would cause me some regrets. Strangely enough I've found it rather liberating, as for the first time in twenty five years or so I feel that I have a measure of control rather than pots of seedlings shouting the odds. The greenhouse may be untidy but there are no unlabelled pots or a queue of seedlings screaming at me to move to them to a bigger home ..... well not yet anyway. I'm not sure what will happen next year yet but will decide come the autumn and the new batches of seed catalogues.

There have been the odd disappointments - four lots of seeds that have failed to germinate at all. Two lots of perennials from the same supplier and two lots of vegetable seedlings from the same source (but different to the perennials). I've come to the conclusion though that I've sowed lettuce long enough to know what I'm doing. I'm watching a tray of lunaria rediviva keeping fingers crossed that the one solitary seedling in there has some companions to keep it company soon. I'm taking some comfort in the fact that they can be slow to germinate.

I'm most excited about the appearance of hablitzia tamnoides or the Caucasian spinach vine. I've been searching for seeds since I heard a talk by Alys Fowler on unusual edibles at the 2012 Southport Flower Show. This is a shade loving deciduous climbing perennial. It can be used as an ornamental plant to cover a pergola, has heart shaped leaves and produces small green flowers. The young shoots are edible. Alys advised at the time that it could be a difficult plant to get hold of and she was quite correct.  My seed came from Thomas Etty Esq. The seedlings are much to small yet to move to the big outdoor world of the allotment and will probably stay closer to home for a year or so, before I expose them to that environment. Maybe next year I will be able to have a nibble and report back. Is there anything that you are particularly pleased to have sown from seed so far this year?

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day ~ May 2015

A spring stalwart in my garden is geraniun phaeum in various shades. These are such easy going plants that just get on and do their own thing with little need for human intervention. This plant is what is often referred to as a "good doer" and is happy to oblige in any soil in full shade, partial shade or full sun. It's one of those plants which will even grown in dry shade. They can grow quite tall but somehow or the other keep themselves upright without the need for support, attract bees but seem to repel molluscs. What more could you ask for?

There's a little catch or two as there is with many plants. The plant does spread somewhat around the girth and also seeds about a bit but I can live with that. I've several of these geraniums growing in the garden with the first appearing in early April but with others only getting into full gear now. Foliage colour varies and includes some variegated forms. My plants once had names but I've lost track over the years. The plants you see above are geranium phaeum album and the second is probably phaeum 'Lily Lovell' but I would not like to hazard a guess at any other of the others. 

They will grow under shrubs and trees and are perfect companions for a wide range of spring flowering bulbs and perennials. A good haircut after flowering will prompt fresh new foliage to emerge. Propagation is best done by division. I usually do so in very early spring but the plants can be divided any time in their dormant season. They are one perennial that I would not be without.

Thanks as always to our lovely hostess Carol over at May Dreams Gardens who enables us to share our blooms each month as the year unfolds.

In A Vase On Monday ~ "I Saw A Mouse"

The ingredients of this week's vase are geranium phaeum - one with plain leaf and one with dark blotches, anemone sylvestris, primula vulgaris 'Dawn Ansell', some foliage interest from rosa glauca prunings (which kick-started the vase) and a little mouse in the form of a flower of arisarum proboscideum, commonly known as the mouse tail plant.

The little milk jug has been aired in public before and was given to me by my mother many moons ago.

I would like to be able to say that no mice have been harmed in the making of this vase but I have a feeling that this little creature may soon wither. Thanks as always to Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for brightening up the start of the week. Do pop over there and enjoy other vases of fabulous flowers from far and wide.