Category: Garden

Pic of the week 3/3/24

Thursday was Feb 29th – making this a leap year – and Friday, 1st of March, was the first day of metrological spring …

Thursday night into Friday into poured with rain. It has been a wet February, one of the wettest on record, although (supposedly) warm. March began damp and grey, yesterday I did the line for the 1st XI and I’ve never known pitch one so wet. But by the time we kicked off it had, thankfully, stopped raining and one the couple of occasions the sun came out it actually felt quite pleasant.

This morning we woke to a frost, and it was cold as I went for my run (7K) but the sun was shining, the sky was blue and the air was still; it has been a beautiful day and I have spent quite a bit of it outside doing some garden jobs.  I cut the Miscanthus back – the swishy swashy brown stems and seed heads have been a boon in the barren winter landscape, but everything is now starting to green up, so it was time to cut it back and look forward to lush green growth in spring and summer.

The daffodils in the lawns and pots look magnificent, bursts of yellow that brighten the day and generate a sense of optimism whenever you see them. The magnolia tree out the front is in flower, the days are longer, it just makes everything so much better.

I have performed major surgery on the big box bush out front – in late August Maureen told us that she had lost a number of plants to box blight, and feared ours had succumbed too. It did look to have taken hold and I began cutting out some of the affected stems. But then it started raining, and whilst rain stopped play I did some research and Monty (Don – the BBC gardening guru) suggested that you might be better waiting until the new growing season to cut it back, so that’s what I did.  The other day, walking home, I noticed some new green tips on the plant, today I had a good look: a mixed bag – some areas pretty badly infected, but plenty of new green shoots. So today I took out quite a bit of the plant – hopefully the increased light and air will mean the good will win out over the bad … We’ll just have to wait and see.

Pic of the week 18/2/24

So half term has come and gone – its been a busy but enjoyable week which all began with a Cornish adventure …

On Sunday, we drove down to Cornwall and went to the Eden project en-route. I must say I loved the Tropical Rainforest Biome: the warmth, the humidity, the lush planting – the sense of being in another world. I am definitely going through a “plant phase” at the moment, enjoying my garden and getting into houseplants, and the rainforest biome really tapped into this. It was spectacular, particularly ascending the steps to the ceiling of the biome. We were some 30 metres up – with apparently, another 20 metres to the roof – looking down on all the planting.  It was hot – 32 degrees, with circa 82% humidity – we were lucky, they shut access to the stairs whilst we were on them: 5 mins later we wouldn’t have been able to go above the canopy. (We were up there at about 1.30pm , when asked, staff said access would reopen if the temperature fell a little, possibly around 3pm)

The Mediterranean biome was good, but not as good as the rain forest biome – it didn’t seem to contain so much, it didn’t have the same “wow” factor, but perhaps that’s because we’ve seen the real thing?

On Monday we went to the Lost Gardens of Heligan – impressive, peaceful (when we escaped the families and kids!) and inspirational.

I particularly liked the mass of tree ferns – it did feel like you would see a pterodactyl swooping through the value at one point .

And the formal gardens were beautifully presented as well

On Tuesday we came home, via IKEA, where, inspired by our visits, I bought some house plants. Our garden didn’t match those we’d seen but the daffodils in the lawn are giving a much needed burst of colour.

This photo doesn’t do it justice – it already looks better than that, but I include for future reference.

Wednesday I was at the dentist and they have recommended a filling (one of my current fillings – back right) is cracked and needs replacing. Have booked it in for May half term for the princely sum of £192! Shocking!

Thursday saw the Corsa – the red shed – taken away. I got £150 quid for it. On the Saturday I got it to start by taking off and refitting the battery, but that was the last time I was able to get it started. So the 205 is now my daily runner!  It had been a nice day on Thursday, but by late afternoon, when he arrived to take the Cosa away, a mizzle had set in, giving a somewhat melancholic feel to the sad farewell to a loyal servant who had led a tough life. Three and a half years we’d had the car – it was not the best I have ever bought and I did save it from extinction on s few occasions (exhaust, jumping teeth on the timing chain, water pump, rust in a sill) but this was its time.

On Friday we went to the cinema, at Strode, to see the Holdovers

A little sad, and not the greatest of movies, but I’m glad we went.

And now its Sunday, time to gear up for the return to school for six weeks until the Easter break.  The weather is improving, days are getting longer, I often think the first half of the Spring term is the toughest of the year – I hope it was the case this year and the next half of term is not so exhausting.

 

Pics of the week 4/2/24

Last night was cinema night.  Becky and I went to see the film “Next Goal Wins” at Strode studio we both really enjoyed the film. Based on a true story, it was about the American Samoa football team – the worst in the world – who were still licking there wounds after a record 31-0 defeat by Australia. They hired a new coach to try and turn around their fortunes, and it was a film about him, rather than football, all set against a back drop of green mountains, blue sea and even bluer sky (I think I could be happy living on that island!) The film was light hearted, funny at times and suitably uplifting to have made it worth dragging ones tired body out of the house on a Saturday evening, when a comfy sofa on which to snooze was the alternative!

Also this week, Becky came home on Tuesday saying that her car had made a “pffft” noise – not unlike me, asleep, she said – and then produced a lot of smoke.  My initial diagnosis that a coolant pipe had burst or come loose was correct, I found that one of the pipes from the thermostat had broken – the plastic insert that joins the body of the thermostat to the pipe had broken, necessitating removal and replacement of the thermostat.  As ever, the trickiest part was getting access – in the end I removed the battery and battery bay, I also removed the ecu, but probably didn’t need to, replaced the thermostat (£20) and the job was done.  Did rather enjoy the whole process.  This is the offending part (the black plastic insert had sheared at the joint with the body):

Sophie came home on Tuesday – fed up with the noise of the railway repair work going on outside her flat at night and it was nice to see her, although she was not feeling 100%  I think I’ve got over my cold, but am tired – I need half term to come in four and a half days ….

Not one that I planted, but the first daffodil is flowering – in the stone trugg outside my room, I don’t think it will be too long before a number of others are in flower as well. I hope so!

Pic of the week 19/11/23

This year, I have really enjoyed the garden and, in particular, watching plants grow (obviously over a period of time, rather than as an instantaneous spectator sport!) It started in the spring with the bulbs in the lawn, bringing a sense of hope when all was brown, grey and drab; moved through the summer with as the sunflowers reached for the sky, then the pumpkins, large and small, and still the nasturtiums and cosmos valiantly burst forth in colour, continuing to flower into mid-November.

But despite the best efforts of those plants that refuse to give up despite the falling levels of light, incessant rain and howling winds, winter is coming and soon there will be little cheer outside. The best we can hope for is the frozen  form of white frost covered seed-heads against a brilliant blue sky, but days like that are few and far between. (We’ve yet to have anything close to a frost – hence the nasturtiums soldiering on.)

So I decided to bring the outside in, and try my hand at over-wintering some geraniums and also nurturing a collection of spider plants – the latter in part inspired by my Mediterranean travels where they can be seen as part of normal outdoor planting. My hope/plan is that mine will spend the summer outdoors reminding me of sunnier climes.

So I put up a new shelf in my room, and also moved an Ikea shelf, and have filled them with six geraniums taken from outside that I hope to over winter, my four cacti, and twelve baby spider plants that I bought of ebay and have potted up.

I look forward to watching them all grow over the coming months, (hopefully) providing an oasis of green and a source of interest over the dark months to come.

 

 

Pic of the week

I have been enjoying the colours of the trees this week. They have been a lovely range of colours and, when its not been raining*, I have been deliberately drinking in their beauty, full in the knowledge that before too long they will be gone and we will be left with a barren brown-grey vista for a few months to come.

In the garden, I have still have some cosmos and nasturtiums flowering, and a couple of poppies keep popping up in the “wildflower” corner of the lawn, to provide some cheerful colour alongside the autumnal hues. My grasses (near the fig) which did so well this year are just beginning to turn, I’ll keep them in place for some structural interest until spring doesn’t seem too far away.

*its been a wet autumn so far, with wind and rain never far away. A damp, depressing winter beckons (good job we’re off to Spain (Cordoba) in 28 days time!)

Pic of the week 15/10/23

For the first time in about 20 years, I went to a barber of Friday.

Di has had a new hip so is currently out of action, and I have been growing my hair a bit longer, looking for a new style. For the last week or two it has begun to annoy me – a shapeless nest atop of my head, nut after my trip to the barber I’m happy again after he has given it some shape and style.

I’ve also had a busy couple of days in the garden ( we broke for half term on Friday. On Friday it poured with rain – really poured, Sophie had a nightmare journey home from London due to flooding in Swindon, eventually getting back to Cardiff at around midnight – Saturday and today (Sunday) have been quite bright and sunny, but cold, much colder than before. A bit of a shock going from unseasonably warm to a cold (albeit normal) autumn day)

I have taken out the sunflowers from the front bed and planted it up with tulips, daffodils and grape hyacinths. Also planted up several pots with daffodils and several others (9) with about 5 allium bulbs. Looking forward to spring already …!

And I harvested my pumpkin:

This year it weighed in at 4.2kg, with a circumference of 71 cms, so a little smaller than last years effort, but an impressive pumpkin – good shape and colour – non-the-less.

Still seems a lot to do in the garden it doesn’t seem like its fully ready to be put to bed for the winter just yet. Still have several sunflowers “shinning” in the back garden, and the cosmos plants that took so long to flower are now producing a vibrant pink and magenta display. Am going to try overwintering a few geraniums to see how that goes.

Pic of the week 8/10/23

October, the August we never had?

Its been unseasonably warm this weekend (and not too bad in the days leading up to fin de semana) with today being particularly glorious, a day in which we could sit outside and bask in the sun this afternoon.  I would suggest that temperatures have been in the low to mid-twenties.

This morning I was told to tackle the ivy by the bin – I was going to just give it a bit of a haircut, but Becky wanted more off so I gave it a good pull and it all just peeled off.

A quick trip to the tip and it was disposed off.

It has been lovely to have some warm weather – and on the weekend too – it certainly doesn’t feel like early to mid- October and a week to half-term. The garden is still very much in full growth, although I know I will have to start tidying it up over half term as this autumn sunshine can’t continue and winter will be coming.

I have been particularly pleased this year with the grasses that I planted last year at the back of the garden – the have given height and interest over the summer and in the last week or so have sprouted wonderful purple seed hands that wallow in the wind.

The sunflowers continue to provide a burst of colour, with new flowers still to come in the back. I’m still disappointed about the August we had, but October is proving a bonus.

Pic of the week 1/10/23

This has been a busy, busy week at work, but one always gets through it, and by Friday things were calming down and I was able to take a breath. I have been quite dedicated to my Spanish learning (I have been following 1001 Reasons to Learn Spanish) and doing twenty or thirty minutes each night has kept me grounded and proved to be a good distraction from work.

It has been a pleasantly warm weekend, with today in particular being sunny and you could certainly feel the warmth when outside – got me thinking of (looking forward to) our upcoming trip to Barcelona, Blanes and Girona in only two and half weeks. Although (or perhaps because) he estado muy ocupado, the term is passing muy rapido and its hard to believe its only two weeks until half term.

Today I planted a load of bulbs into the lawn – some daffs (I think!) and alliums saved from the pots earlier in the year. I used the drill bit auger I had purchased a few months ago – a great bit of kit that made this task so much easier. Hopefully the results will be reaped come spring.

(The pic of the week is Becky’s Kingsfisher that she finally got to shoot on Saturday whilst walking the Bath skyline with Jo.)