June and July 2021

The weather over the last two months has been extremely variable, ranging from extreme heat to severe thunderstorms and downpours. It has on occasion also been unseasonably chilly too. The plants seem to have survived the weather, although not so much the onslaught of slugs, snails and cats for some of them. The Nerines have not reappeared, the French beans, parsley, tomatillos, perennial cornflower, Echinacea and sunflowers were munched to oblivion, as was the flower stalk of Eryngium agavifolium.

On the plus side, plenty of plants survived and the garden looks lovely! I decided to keep the centre of the lawn longer to allow the wildflowers to blossom, and was rewarded with a tiny meadow of cats ears, self-heal, white clover, buttercups, daisies and dandelions. Not sure what the neighbours thought, but the insects were happy. The list of flowers by the end of July was exceeding 60, and the garden buzzed with hoverflies, several species of bees and bumblebees, flies, aphids, wasps, beetles and ladybirds (I know they are also beetles!). 

The weather encouraged everything to grow well, including the blessed bindweed so I have been continually uprooting that. Not that that makes the slightest bit of difference. Good job the flowers are pretty. 

My nephew came over for a day and built me an amazing bench out of an old bedframe and random bits of wood from around the place; we had a lovely time building it, but sadly the weather didn't agree with indoor wood, and the whole thing fell apart after a few weeks. It was comfy while it lasted! 

I have given up on growing vegetables as everything I tried to grow this year, except the broad beans, has been annihilated by the slugs and snails. I will keep the soft fruit as the wineberry has had lots of fruit, the blackberry is laden and the tomatoes are OK, but everything else will be shop bought. The herbs are doing really well and I have more oregano than I know what to do with.

Flowering plants:

Common Daisy                    Dandelion                   Columbine                  Herb Robert

Forget-me-not                      Hardy geranium          Bidens                         Euphorbia

Broad Beans                        Purple Allium              Nectoscordum            Chives

Rosemary                             Climbing rose             Foxglove                     Red Verbena

Buttercups                            Sisyrinchium              Sweet William             Pink deadnettle

Swiss Chard                         Hellebore                    Penstemon (red)          Penstemon (purple)

Sedum                                  Ivy Broomrape (42 stems!)                            Creeping Jenny

Japanese Wineberry             White Clover              Nasturtium                  Lavender 'Munstead'

Libertia grandiflora              Campanula                 Helenium                    Achillea 'Cerise Queen'

Purple toadflax                     Sweet Pea                   Oriental Poppy           Fuchsia 'Genii'

Nepeta 'Six Hills Giant'       Potentilla                     Privet                          Purple Sage

Common Thyme                 Salvia 'Amythyst Lips'                                     English Marigold

Passion flower                     Scabious                      Feverfew                     Groundsel

Nigella                                 Cornflower                  Selfheal                       Lemon Geranium

Peas                                     Grasses                        Honeysuckle                Thornless bramble

Alchemilla mollis                Cephalaria gigantea    Verbena bonariensis     Shrubby mallow

Annual Poppy                      Gypsophila                  Sow thistle                   Scarlet Pimpernel

Speedwell                           Spiraea                          Achillea  'Gold Plate'   Wallflower

Red deadnettle                    Lemon Balm                Geum urbanum            Tomatoes

Nettles                                 Dock                            Willowherb                   Bindweed

Spurge                                 French Bean                 Soapwort                      Oregano

Agapanthus                         Purple Lily                    Lantana                        Butterfly Bush

Sempervivum                      Rosa 'Brother Cadfael'    Eryngium planum      Teucrium

Eupatorium                         Agastache 'Liquorice Blue'    

May flowers and wildlife 2021

 Violets

Euphorbia

Dandelions

Bugle

Forget-me-nots

Lungwort

Berberis darwinii

Primroses

Three cornered leek

Broad beans

Daisies

Rosemary

Hardy geraniums

Herb Robert

Aquilegia (purple and pink)

Allium

Nectoscordum

Sow thistle

Buttercup

Strawberries

Chives

Sedum

Bacopa

May 2021

May was fairly busy with reasonable weather most of the time. In the vegetable patch the broad beans have been in full flower and started producing pods. The broccoli produced a good and tasty crop, and has now been uprooted and composted. The broccoli patch was then weeded and split into 15 'squares' (not very geometrically accurate!) and sown with lettuce, carrots, beetroot, Swiss Chard, land cress, spinach and other greens. The strawberry plants were left in and are flowering, and the chard from last year left to flower.

In the flower garden plenty of plants started coming into bud, and growing vigorously. The weeds joined in, so weeding has also begun! The mature compost bin was emptied and spread under some of the shrubs. The compost had a lively population of ants so hopefully they have relocated themselves. Some of the shrubs have been pruned back, and I had a fun time deadheading Dandelions - I love the way that the stems go pop when snapped!

In the lean-to I potted up lots of lavender seedlings, split up and repotted the parsley, and sowed French Beans, Honesty, Hollyhocks, English Marigolds, Hellebores and sunflowers. I also obtained some cuttings of Lampranthus and potted them in gritty compost, as well as some geranium cuttings. While weeding I uprooted a couple of rooted cuttings of Salvia 'Amethyst Lips' and potted those up to. The lean-to is overflowing with seedlings, plants and cuttings now!

The old tin bath was replanted with Lantana, two types of Bidens, red Verbena and nasturtium, with the existing foxglove seedling. The Nepeta cuttings from last month were planted in a hanging basket out of reach of the cats and have settled in and are flourishing. 

The neighbours cats are up to their usual tricks, but I am slowly becoming sanguine about it. Still swearing loudly, but progressing.

April 2021

I have done a fair amount in the garden this month; I began by spending a couple of days clearing the weeds from the long border by the fence and have been gradually replanting it since. By the short fence near the brick patio I planted six Rosa rugosa seedlings; these grew from seed scavenged from a white flowered parent plant up the road and appear to be growing well. They are currently about six inches high with vivid lime green foliage. They should eventually form a low hedge covered in flowers and then large rose hips. Moving along the border, I have planted Teucrium, Achillea 'Cerise Queen', Berberis darwinii, Cephalaria gigantea, Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm', Bergenia 'Rotblum', Euporbia amygdaloides Purpurea, Patio rose, Salvia atropurpurea, Primula vulgaris, Acer palmatum 'Emerald Lace', Rostrincula dependens, Helleborus, Acanthus mollis, Libertia grandiflora, Nerine bowdenii and probably other things too! Oh yes, foxglove (Digitalis) seedlings in the gaps!

The side border by the washing line also got some attention, with the bulk of the fern removed (I'm sure I missed a bit), and the ornamental grass which wasn't very interesting to look at. In their place have been planted Penstemon, Rosa 'Brother Cadfael', Achillea 'Cloth of Gold', and Papaver. I have done quite a lot of weeding further down but have yet to make a decision with how to shape the planting here.

Unfortunately the neighbourhood cats realised there was fresh earth so have been digging and pooing liberally; this resulted in me covering part of the side border in a netting tunnel, and putting chicken wire, pots and other obstacles in as many gaps as possible or over new plantings. I like cats really, but these ones are a nuisance. I bought a Nepeta 'Six Hills Giant' forgetting that it's common name is Catnip. The cats discovered it and nearly destroyed it in their excitement, so it is now growing in a hanging basket and appears to be recovering slowly. I managed to rescue some stems so took some cuttings too.

In the vegetable garden the broad beans are flowering prolifically. Slugs are still an issue, so I made a beer trap out of a takeaway tub which caught a few. I have been harvesting purple-sprouting broccoli for a few weeks, and it tastes delicious. The strawberry plants are putting on nice fresh foliage, and the Swiss chard is growing still. I have sown some French Beans in pots in the lean-to but nothing has appeared yet.

The area to the side of the shed was filling with rubbish, so I managed to book a slot at the dump and got rid of several bags of garden rubbish, lots of wood from wardrobes and beds that couldn't be burned, old paint pots from the previous owner and broken garden things I had accumulated. I am considering closing in the ends of this area and turning it into a lean-to polytunnel. Perhaps.

In the lean-to by the house, seedlings of Alexanders (Smyrnium), Nasturtium, black hollyhock, sweet peas, Wisteria, lavender, hellebores and chives are emerging. Many others have been sown but are taking their time to emerge. It is still chilly though. I have rooted cuttings of Hydrangea, Honeysuckle, purple bugle, creeping jenny, daisies, dandelions and herb robert. These latter plants are from the garden and for a project; I have troughs at the front of the house on the wall, installed by a previous owner, so I thought I would turn them into an elevated verge and plant with some wildflowers. I will sprinkle some marigold seeds in too. It may or may not work, and will undoubtedly annoy someone!

Some leisure time has been spent outdoors too, sitting on the patio and watching the local birds in the sunshine; my favourite bit was discovering that a local pair of Jackdaws were pruning dead wood from the the neighbours Ash tree and flying off with twigs for their nests. I have never noticed this behaviour before. Fascinating! My inherited, rusty chimenea has had the top removed as it was gradually rusting through, and I am left with the base to use as a small firepit. It is so lovely to sit by a fire with a friend of an evening putting the world to rights.

After a suggestion by a friend, I have drilled some holes into the conifer trunk and the wooden uprights by the (now sprouting) Gingko. I don't think any bees have moved in yet but they have definitely shown interest.There is, as ever, plenty more to do, but as the days are getting gradually warmer and longer I am sure I will be out there doing it soon!

March flowers and wildlife 2021

Lungwort

Celandine

Dandelion

Speedwell

Daffodils

Crocus

Primroses

Sow thistle

Common daisy

Hairy Bittercress

red ants

Bee fly

Large red mites

Woodlice

Ladybirds (7 spot and harlequin)

Black ants

slugs (various)

Small beetle

Crab spider

Zebra spider

Jackdaws pruning an ash tree for nest material

Brown bees

Centipede

Comma butterfly (next door)

Yellow aphids

Earthworms

Tigerworms

Blackbirds

Robins

Pigeons

Ducks (above)

Herring Gulls (above)

Sparrows

Brown caterpillar on broad beans

March 2021

The weather has been improving so I have been outside as much as possible. Lots is happening - plants springing up everywhere, quite a few flowers, insects, arachnids and birds all over the place. And cats, but you can't have everything I suppose. 

This year's challenge is to sort out the borders as I have lots of plants growing nicely in pots, seedlings starting to emerge, plug plants on order, and lots of lovely birthday garden vouchers to spend! I started on the side border by taking the plunge and stripping the conifer of all it's branches. It wasn't the most pleasing conifer I've seen, and wasn't really in the right place, so after fifteen minutes with a bowsaw the garden looked considerably bigger and brighter. I have left the 8 foot high stump in place and will probably grow a climber up it - maybe transplant the honeysuckle from further up the garden. After that I weeded the border between the conifer and the hydrangea, so there is now plenty of space for the thousands of foxglove seedlings to grow. Might need to thin those out perhaps.

I have made a start on the other side of the conifer, but am waiting for the kale to flower so that there is some food for early insects. After that (it won't take long) I shall take the main border by the path in hand; this contains various well-established grasses and a fern that predate my occupancy, as well as several things I have just bunged in to keep them alive. That's April's project.

The lawn needed some attention, so I gave it a quick scarify and removed a lot of dead grass. I don't think it was cut by the previous resident so there is a lot of stuff to remove. I will repeat in the autumn as that is the best time of year for doing it. I also transplanted a few daisies into the lawn because they're pretty!

In the lean-to I have been sowing various seeds: flat-leaved parsley, chives, garlic chives, Wisteria, nasturtiums, geraniums, Cercis, and Alexanders. Some are starting to germinate now, but it is still quite early. I have no idea which variety of Wisteria I took the seeds from, and they certainly won't come true, but it is a fun experiment.  Six of the Pink-spotted Hellebore seeds germinated and these have been successfully potted on. The remaining seed tray has been left outside to see if any more germinate - there are purple spotted too - so fingers crossed that they do as they are from beautiful varieties. I have also been taking cuttings of Hebes, Nepeta 'Six Hill's Giant', and a purple Tradescantia that has been failing indoors. Wrong compost I suspect. I bought the Nepeta completely forgetting that it was actually catnip, and left it outside the back door. Next morning I discovered it knocked over and damaged, so took cuttings from the damaged parts and moved the plant to a table top where it has been unmolested since.

In the flower garden, the primroses, crocuses, miniature daffodils and lungwort have been superb, and I have spotted huge bumblebees on the lungwort. Daisies, dandelions, hairy bittercress and sowthistle are also flowering. Not a great deal going on in the vegetable garden yet, although the autumn planted broad beans are flowering, and I have begun to harvest the purple-sprouting broccoli.

Another project is to create a beetle hedge out of dead wood, so will use the stripped branches from the conifer and the hydrangea prunings to get started. I will probably put it at the back of the wild flower border.

My friends have continued to be generous, and have given me a large rooted cutting of Rosa 'Brother Cadfael', a champagne rhubarb, Euphorbia seedlings, and an enormous (I can barely lift it now it's potted) Sanseveria for the house. Fantastic!

February Flowers and wildlife2021

Primroses

Yellow and purple crocuses

Dandelions

Daisies

Celandine

Lungwort

Rosemary

Hairy bittercress

Miniature daffodils

Snowdrop

Euphorbia x2 species

Red deadnettle

Wildlife:

Robins, sparrows, pigeons, blackbirds, starlings

Buzzards, mallards, herring gulls, and crows flying overhead

Slow-worm

Red ants and black ants

Woodlice

Yellow aphids

Slugs and snails (not many yet)

Wolf spiders

February 2021

 The garden has kept me going during the last six months during the ever-changing rules and regulations of Covid-19, giving me a bit of daily sanity whether weeding, deadheading, planting and sowing, or just sitting and listening to the birds and insects around me. I feel very lucky to have this resource.

It is looking a little drab out there now, but there is hope for the spring; my singular snowdrop has flowered, as have the many yellow and purple crocuses, and the dandelions. Pulmonaria is in bud, as are miniature daffodils, and the foliage of primroses, celandines and cyclamen is fresh and green. The borders are full of seedlings of foxgloves, hairy bittercress, daisies, sedge (grrrrr - removed as soon as spotted), and the foliage of chives and other alliums is appearing. 

The vegetable garden has provided delicious parsnips and carrots over the winter, as well as Cavolo Nero and chard. The cabbages are still growing, but are mostly being used as a decoy for snails as I'm not really very fond of cabbage as a food! The rhubarb is starting to shoot, and is covered with a Victorian forcing pot, although the top is open to the sky at the moment. I planted broad bean plants in the autumn; they are a bit leggy but have survived so far so hopefully they will flower and produce plenty of beans. There are also a few leeks but they're a bit skinny so I haven't harvested them yet.

I have plenty of ornamental plants potted up and waiting to be planted out when the weather improves, so I am looking forward to improving the side border and the border by the path this year. Plants include hellebores, doronicum, primula, and eryngium. There's plenty more but I can't recall the names off the top of my head!

This morning I sowed Nasturtiums, Alexanders, Sweet Peas and Geraniums in modules and put them in the lean-to to germinate. It's a bit early for everything else, but I have plenty to sow in the next couple of months.

I have also enjoyed watching the birdlife in the garden and surrounding area over the winter and have seen many species such as sparrows, blackbirds, robins, starlings, crows, mallards, gulls, buzzards, terns, bluetits, swans, white egret, and, on one memorable occasion at very close quarters, a grey heron - it exploded up from a stream as I looked over the bridge! They are huge. Wow!

The outdoors is awesome.