November and December 2022

November

This has been a quiet month really, as I have not had the energy to do a great deal in the garden. To be fair, not very much needs doing either! The weather has been variable with torrential rain mid month leading to flooding of the lower parts of the garden and flood alerts and warnings from the environment agency. Nothing like a paddle in the middle of the night! Luckily, the worst we had was temporary puddles on the path, but it is good to know that the Environment Agency alert system works.

The broad beans that I sowed last month have germinated and are now about 8 inches tall; I may have a glut of beans next year. The plants that I have transplanted appear to have settled in too, so should bring some cheer to the borders next year. Of the two cheap plants bought at Morrisons, only the Clematis has survived. I may have to get another Cistus. I bought a reduced price Penstemon at a local garden centre, as well as a Camellia sasanqua; the latter was to remind me of my late sister who died at this time of year, and who liked pretty flowers. I have also planted snowdrops and fritillaries into pots for the spring.

After the storms the Gingko biloba has lost most of its leaves, so there is a carpet of butter-yellow leaves around the garden. Lovely! I also bought a min-max thermometer for the garden and have been tracking the daily temperature for the last couple of weeks; the temperatures have been unseasonably warm but are gradually dropping, although we haven't got anywhere near a freeze yet. It will be interesting to see the results over the coming year.

Jobs for this month may include building a log pile for wildlife, and seeing what else I can do to encourage wildlife into the garden - I have quite a good range in the garden already but it is always good to have more. I watched a presentation online about Creative Use of Rainwater in the Garden through Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trusts, and have come away thinking about rainwater planters and leaky waterbutts. Sounds mad, but actually makes ecological sense. A leaky waterbutt was easy to implement by knocking the chewing gum plug off the hole in ours! I need to improve this a little but it is a start.

Flowers this month have included:

Camellia sasanqua, Berberis darwinii, Daisy, Evening Primrose, Fuchsia, wild grasses, green Hellebores, Lavender, Toadflax, English Marigold, Rosemary, Spurge, Strawberry, Teucrium, Geranium endressii, Salvia 'Amethyst Lips', Verbena bonariensis, Penstemon, Rosa 'Brother Cadfael', Groundsel, and Dandelion.

December

I have done very little this month as the weather has either been pouring rain or solid frost when I have been free. The broad beans have severe frost damage so probably won't make it. Ah well, worth a try! I planted two varieties of garlic on Christmas Eve (Lautrec Wight and Carcassonne Wight) so hopefully they will do well. There's very little in flower now, just green hellebore, purple toadflax and a dandelion. I must add to the winter planting.

October 2022

Goodness, what a busy gardening month for me! The month started by pruning the blackberry and wineberry bushes and tying in new growth. I have had a fantastic crop of blackberries this year and there are many in the freezer along with apple and blackberry crumble.

I attended a talk locally by Charles Dowding, of 'No Dig' fame; this was very interesting as although I had heard of his system I had not read up on it and had it muddled in my head with permaculture, which is a different system altogether. Anyway, I left the talk all fired up and spent the following weekend covering the path in my vegetable garden (as was) with a thick layer of newspaper topped with a thick layer of bark chips. One of the vegetable patches was cleared of flowers and shrub cuttings -  these were all transplanted - and then topped with a thick layer of garden compost. All that was left was a rhubarb plant, which may not have survived the drought, and some English Marigolds which were still flowering profusely. They will be removed in due course. I also sowed some Broad Bean 'Aquadulce' into the bed, some of which are already germinating. 

 

The wildflower bed next to the vegetable patch was a mess, so I have weeded it, transplanted the Verbena bonariensis plants, cut back the Eupatorium, and tidied a few plants. I think I am going to build a wood pile there to further encourage beetles, frogs and toads, and perhaps hedgehogs, in the desperate hope that they will eat more of the flipping slugs! The Gingko biloba is also there and is turning a beautiful buttery yellow as it always does in autumn.

Around the rest of the garden I have been busy weeding and planting/ transplanting. I really haven't done much gardening until recently so the borders are all rather overgrown. I have planted a Cercis siliquastrum ("Judas Tree"), and a Sambucus nigra ("Elderflower") from pots, and have transplanted Verbena bonariensis, Phygelius capensis ("Cape Figwort"), Helleborus ("Hellebore"), Digitalis purpurea ("Foxglove"), and Prunella vulgaris ("Selfheal") to the side border, and a hebe to the border near the top patio. 

In the lean-to I have sown seeds of Papaver orientalis ("Oriental Poppy") and have hundreds germinating, Hollyhocks, Primula veris ("Cowslip") and Fritillaria. I also potted up a Cistus and a Clematis that I bought for 50p each at a local supermarket.

The month is ending with high winds and torrential rain (Storm Claudio), and the possible loss of the roof of my lean-to. The neighbour's fence is down.

Flowers this month included: 

Berberis darwinii, dandelions, evening primrose, Fuchsia, Fuchsia ' Bella Soila', Fuchsia magellanica alba, Geranium nodosum, groundsel, lavender, taodflax, English marigold, passion flower, penstemon, ragwort, rosemary, Sedum spectabile, strawberry, Teucrium, Verbena bonariensis, buttercups, Californian Poppy, fennel, Rosa rugosa alba, Cyclamen, hawkbit, lemon balm, Salvia 'Amethyst Lips', Scarlet pimpernel, Sow thistle, wood sorrel. 

My Garden Plants

My garden is a relatively small townhouse garden, perhaps the size of two allotments. There is quite a lot squeezed in and more will be added! I am sure I have missed things off this list.

Trees and Shrubs

1. Gingko biloba ("Maidenhair Tree")
2. Acer japonica ("Japanese Maple")
3. Ligustrum ("Privet Hedge")
4. Sambucus nigra ("Elderflower")
5. Berberis darwinii ("Barberry")
6. Cercis siliquastrum ("Judas Tree")
7. Crataegus monogyna ("Hawthorn")
8. Rosa rugosa alba ("Japanese Rose")
9. Rosa, climbing (Climbing rose, mauve flowers)
10. Rosa 'Brother Cadfael' (Shrub rose)
11. Rosa (pink patio rose)
12. Fuchsia magellanica alba 
13. Fuchsia 'Bella Soila'
14. Fuchsia 'Winston Churchill'
15. Fuchsia 'Mrs Popple' (possibly!)
16. Spiraea
17. Lavandula 'Munstead' ("Lavender")
18. Teucrium
19. Rosmarinus officionalis ("Rosemary")
20. Lonicera ("Climbing Honeysuckle")
21. Passiflora caerulea ("Passion Flower")
22. Hebe
23. Hydrangea
24. "Mallow"
25. Phygelius capensis ("Cape Figwort")
26. Hedera helix ("Common Ivy")

Herbaceous Annuals and Perennials

1. Bergenia 'Rotblum' ("Elephants Ears")
2. Agapanthus
3. Saponaria officionalis ("Soapwort")
4. Echinacea
5. Eupatorium
6. Linum ("Purple Toadflax")
7. Scabiosa ("Scabious")
8. "Wood Sorrel"
9. Astrantia
10. Osteospermum ("Cape Daisy")
11. Urtica dioica ("Stinging Nettle")
12. "Creeping Jenny"
13. Nepeta 'Six Hills Giant' ("Catnip")
14. Dianthus ("Pinks")
15. Orobanche hederacae (Ivy Broomrape)
16. Lampranthus
17. Convulvulus ("Hedge Bindweed")
18. "Selfheal"
19. "Enchanters Nightshade"
20. "Golden Rod"
21. Alchemilla mollis ("Ladies Mantle")
22. "Feverfew"
23. Eryngium 'Magical Blue Lagoon'
24. "Nipplewort"
25. "Evening Primrose"
26. Penstemon
27. Cephalaria gigantica ("Giant Scabious")
28. Hemerocallis ("Day Lily")
29. Potentilla
30. Senecio "Ragwort"
31. "Hawkweed"
32. Trifolium repens ("White Clover")
33. "Dock"
34. Various species of grass
35. Geranium (purple perennial)
36. Knautia macedonica
37. Plantago ("Narrow Leaved Plantain")
38. Salvia 'Amethyst Lips'
39. Verbena bonariensis
40. Papaver orientalis ("Oriental Poppy")
41. Celandine
42. Primula veris ("Cowslip")
43. Taraxacum officionale ("Dandelion")
44. Euphorbia (purple variety)
45. Myosotis ("Forget-me-not")
46. Cardamine hirsuta ("Hairy Bittercress")
47. Helleborus (green flowers)
48. Lunaria annua ("Honesty")
49. Lamium galeobdelon ("Variegated Deadnettle")
50. Pulmonaria vulgaris ("Lungwort")
51. Primula vulgaris ("Primrose")
52. Ajuga reptans ("Bugle")
53. Geranium, annual sp.
54. Lamium purpureum ("Red Deadnettle")
55. Anagalis arvensis ("Scarlet Pimpernel")
56. Ranunculus repens ("Creeping Buttercup")
57. Viola riviniana ("Dog Violet")
58. Bellis perennis ("Common Daisy")
59. Euphorbia, yellow flowers
60. Sedum, yellow flowers ("Stonecrop")
61. Aquilegia vulgaris ("Granny's Bonnets")
62. Erigeron karvinskianus ("Mexican Fleabane")
63. Iris germanica 'Oklahoma Bandit' ("Bearded Iris")
64. Veronica chamaedrys ("Speedwell")
65. Tiarella 'Iron Butterfly' (May have succombed to the drought)
66. Geranium robertianum ("Herb Robert")
67. Iris germanica 'Indian Chief' ("Bearded Iris")
68. Sonchus ("Sow Thistle")
69. Digitalis purpurea ("Foxglove")
70. Geranium macrorrhizum
71. Geranium endressii
72. Geum urbanum 
73. Heuchera
74. Geranium nodosum
75. Helianthemum ("Rock Rose")
76. Dianthus ("Sweet William")
77. Sisyrinchium alpinum
78. Sisyrinchium striatum
79. Campanula
80. Nigella ("Love-in-a-Mist")
81. Pelargonium
82. Euphorbia ("Spurge")
83. "Willowherb"
84. Sedum spectabile ("Ice Plant")
85. "Californian Poppy"
86. Sedum spectabile purpurea ("Purple Ice Plant")
87. "Perennial Sweet Pea"
88. Senecio vulgaris ("Groundsel")
89. "Hart's Tongue Fern"
90. Other fern

Herbs

1. "Winter Savory"
2. Mentha ("Mint")
3. Calendula officionalis ("English Marigold")
4. Foeniculum vulgare ("Fennel")
5. Melissa officionalis ("Lemon Balm")
6. Hyssopus officionalis ("Hyssop"
7. Chives
8. Oreganum ("Golden Oregano")

Bulbs

1. Bluebell
2. Allium triquitorum ("Three Cornered Leek")
3. Nectoscordum
4. Alliums (medium and large)
5. Gladiolus 'Jessica'
6. "Pineapple Lily"
7. Narcissus
8. Galanthus ("Snowdrop")
9. Crocus
10. Arum ("Lords and Ladies")

Perennial Fruit and Vegetables

1. Thornless Blackberry
2. Japanese Wineberry
3. Rhubarb
4. Strawberries
5. Wild Blackberry

Wildlife Survey 2022 - 23

I have decided to keep a log of any wildlife I find in the garden this year. It is not comprehensive, and may be poorly identified as I still have a lot to learn. I shall do my best though!

1. Bats - possibly pipistrelle
2. Woodlice - not pillbugs
3. Brown slugs - possibly Spanish slugs
4. Yellow slugs
5. Flies! Bright green, black, big, small....
6. Aphids
7. Brown moths
8. Common snail (Helix aspera)
9. Orb weaver spider (Araneus diadematus)
10. White orb spider
11. Mayfly
12. Leafcutter bees
13. Jumping spider (black and white stripy)
14. White tailed bumblebees
15. Cabbage white butterflies
16. Harvestman
17. Woodlouse spiders
18. Wolf spiders
19. Rose sawfly adults and larva
20. Common frog
21. Wasp queen (October and February)
22. Angle shades moth caterpillar
23. Earthworms
24. Slow worms
25. Tiger worms
26. Black beetles
27. Red and black true bugs (Corizus hyoscyami?)
28. Shield bugs
29. Blue tits
30. Sparrows
31. Herring gulls
32. Pigeons
33. Starlings
34. Blackbirds
35. Brown lipped snails
36. White lipped snails
37. Leopard Slugs 
38. Red ants
39. Brown ants
40. Cellar spiders
41. House spiders
42. Bee flies
43. Solitary bees
44. Honey bees
45. Blue butterflies
46. Red Admiral Butterfly
47. Peacock butterfly
48. Painted Lady butterfly
49. Comma butterfly
50. Brimstone butterfly

Slugs ID and slug control ideas

September 2022

Grass and wildflowers have burgeoned in the last few weeks with the grass turning from short and brown to long, luxurient green following cooler, wetter weather. I have cut the grass on the highest cut, just to tidy it up a bit. I also saw a frog just before I started mowing and didn't want to kill it by using a low cut setting. I did encourage it to move along but it disappeared among the lower stems. Frog camouflage is very effective. It is also great to see lots of seedlings coming up; so far I have spotted foxgloves, primula, geranium, and a lovely blue flowered annual whose name I have forgotten which probably won't survive the first frost. Fingers crossed that it does!

Brambles have been cut back by hand in the long hedge - next jobs include cutting the brambles in the high hedge back with the extending hedge trimmer.  I have cut back some perennials that have finished flowering, but not to ground level as stems may be useful for winter wildlife.

I spent an hilarious morning with a friend putting new roofing material on the shed. This involved standing on wobbly ladders, climbing on fences and ultimately climbing onto the roof itself, then sitting there enjoying the sunshine and scaring the neighbours! Great fun. Oh yes, we got to hit things with hammers too. Yay!

The thornless blackberry continued to be fruitful and I have picked and frozen several kilos of berries, made apple and blackberry crumble, and chutney. I have started cutting the fruiting stems back now and will tie in this year's canes soon. 

The compost bin needed dealing with so I emptied out the dustbin of mature compost and spread it under shrubs, then emptied the big bin. In the process I found three slow worms and lots of slugs, spiders and woodlice. Mature compost was put into the dustbin ( it has holes in) and a large bucket, and the new material was put back into the big bin. I always find compost bins fascinating.

I am slowly dealing with the paper bags full of seed heads that I have collected over the summer, and spent a very pleasant hour detaching honesty seeds from their papery seed capsules while also trying to get a photo of a high speed camera-shy woodlouse spider. I failed at the latter task. Many of the potted plants around the garden have been moved under the lean-to at the side of the shed so that they don't get too wet over the winter. I may make that area into a nursery, but not sure how as yet.

There is still plenty to do in October so I will be busy, depending on the weather and my energy levels!

Flowers this month:

Agapanthus, California Poppy, Hawkbit, Chives, White Clover, Dandelion, Echinacea, Evening Primrose, Fennel, Fuchsia, Fuchsia 'Bella Soila', Fuchsia 'Winston Churchill', Geranium nodosum, Geum urbanum, Golden Rod, Lemon Balm, Lavender, Toadflax, Mallow, Calendula officionalis, Passiflora caerulea, Pelargonium, Perennial Sweet Pea, Phygelius capensis, Penstemon, Ragwort, Red Deadnettle, Scarlet Pimpernel, Sedum spectabile, Sedum spectabile purpurea, Soapwort, Teucrium, Verbena bonariensis, Mexican Fleabane, Mint, Oregano, Willowherb, Wood Sorrel, Hyssop, Buttercup, Fuchsia magellanica alba, Sunflower.

August 2022

The drought continued until nearly the end of the month. when we had a huge thunderstorm and downpour and my water-butt went from empty to overflowing in about half an hour. There was flash flooding locally as water came down too fast to be absorbed by the parched ground. There was then more gentle but prolonged rain during the remainder of the month which had a chance to soak in. We are, however, still officially in drought conditions and the hosepipe ban continues. 

At the start of the month a lot of the garden was parched and browning, and I was only watering where absolutely essential. It was interesting to see which plants were coping well with the dry conditions and which weren't/ I thought my hydrangea had had it, as all the foliage died off and the flowers shrivelled, but after the rain and cooler conditions it started to sprout again. I just hope we don't have hard frosts as those would finish it off! Plants that did well include Fuchsias, Golden Rod, Mallow, Fennel, Rosa Rugosa, Teucrium, Sempervivum, Sedum, Lavender, Oregano, Mint, Passion Flower, Rosemary, and Lemon Balm. Many of these are native to hot, dry climates anyway so no great surprises. Many of the perennials have died back, but I have hopes that they will survive and resprout in the spring and run the gauntlet of the slugs! There were still a fair amount of flowers blooming which I will list later on.

Jobs have been fairly few and far between, mostly because it has simply been too hot, and also because there was a tent in the way for a few days as it was cooler to sleep outside at night than in the house. Anyway, jobs included moving potted plants to trays to minimise water loss and water could then be absorbed from the tray at the plants' leisure, deadheading and cutting back perennials as needed, potting up some pot bound succulents, and taking a large amount of non-compostable rubbish to the tip.

Flowers include:

Agapanthus, bindweed, blackberry, Hawksbit (previously named Cats Ear by me for some reason), white clover, fennel, enchanter's nightshade, echinacea, eupatorium, evening primrose, mexican fleabane, Fuchsia, Fuchsia 'Bella Soila', Fuchsia 'Winston Churchill', Geranium nodosum, Geranium endresii, lemon balm, Gladiolus 'Jessica', Honesty, hydrangea, lavender, toadflax, mallow, mint, oregano, passion flower, pineapple lily, cape figwort, penstemon, ragwort, Salvia 'Amethyst Lips', Scabious, Sisyrinchium striatum, soapwort, sweet william, teucrium, Verbena bonariensis, willowherb, Californian poppy, fennel, golden rod, hyssop, marigold, pelargonium, Sedum (yellow), Sedum spectabile, Sedum spectabile purpurea, spurge, perennial sweet pea, winter savory, wood sorrel, climbing rose, dandelion, and red deadnettle. 54 - not bad!

July 2022

This month has continued hot and and dry, with two of the hottest days on record recorded. There has been no rain, there are cracks in the soil, and my waterbutt has finally emptied, apart from the thick layer of sludge at the bottom. From the end of the week we will very likely have a hosepipe ban.

Most gardening jobs have taken place in the evening when the weather is marginally cooler. Jobs have included deadheading foxgloves and cowslips, saving seed from the latter, cutting back perennial geraniums and brambles, as well as part of the mallow which had snapped and fallen over. I have also had to throw out several potted plants that had succumbed to the heat and erratic watering. There is a lot of rubbish to take to the tip that cannot be composted at home. I have finally emptied the dustbin of rotted compost around the blackberry and the climbing rose, so will need to turn the big bin next month.

The Japanese Wineberry bush has produced a pleasing crop - I had forgotten how sticky they are, but they are delicious. The thornless blackberry is laden with unripe fruit so I am looking forward to harvesting them soon. I picked a kilo of berries from the wild bushes up a nearby lane today. They are my favourite fruit.

Flowers have been fairly abundant this month too! Over 60 varieties in flower over the month, which is not bad going for a small, somewhat neglected and slug-ravaged patch:

Alchemilla mollis, Astrantia, Blackberry, Cat's Ears, Cephalaria gigantica, White Clover, Creeping Jenny, Bellis perennis, Enchanters Nightshade, Eryngium 'Magical Blue Lagoon', Evening Primrose, Privet, Rosa 'Brother Cadfael', pink patio rose, Rosa rugosa, Tiarella 'Iron Butterfly', Fennel, Feverfew, Digitalis purpurea, Fuchsias, Geum urbanum, Grasses, Hebes, Hydrangea, Lemon Balm, Lavender, Purple Toadflax, Mallow, Salvia 'Amethyst Lips', Sweet William, Verbena bonariensis, Geranium nodosum, Pink Perennial Geranium, Calendula officionalis, Orobanche hederae, Passiflora caerulea, Pelargonium, Penstemon, Pinks, Potentilla, Sisyrinchium striatum, Spiraea, Strawberry, Teucrium, Willowherb, Helianthemum, Bindweed, Sedums, Scabious, Nigella, Self-heal, Ssoapwort, Sow Thistle, Spurge, Sweet Pea, Oreganum, Agapanthus, Echinacea, Lunaria annua, Plantain, Eupatorium, Gladiolus 'Jessica', Knautia macedonica, and Wood Sorrel.

June 2022

June was another relatively quiet month in the garden as I was either busy elsewhere or tired! I managed a few jobs though, which were mostly restorative to my frazzled mind. These included mowing the lawn, which deliberately hadn't been done since the beginning of May to see which wildflowers grew; there were a variety of grasses (no idea which!), white clover, cats ears, daisies, dandelions and self-heal. I decided to leave a patch of clover and cats ears for the bees, and it is still flowering well. I also cut the side of the hedge between me and my neighbour back as it was starting to obstruct the path. I then bought a larger, extendable hedge trimmer so that I could attack the other neighbour's hedge where it was growing over my back gate and shed roof. That hedge has been cut back hard to the boundary!

Once I had finished playing with the machinery, I pottered about deadheading foxgloves, pulling up bindweed and other weeds, watering potted plants - I even remembered to feed them - and potting the odd plant up here and there. I also spent a reasonable amount of time on a sunlounger admiring the flowers and watching the wildlife. The garden is rich in insects, with lots of hoverflies, bees and bumblebees, flies, mosquitoes, butterflies, aphids, beetles (I particularly like the thick-legged flower beetle), grasshoppers, brown and red ants, as well as slow worms, tiger worms, slugs of several species, snails of several species, woodlice, several species of spider and birds,. And cats, but we won't go there!

Flowers this month are as follows:

Alliums, Astrantia, Campanula, Buttercup, Cats Ears, White Clover, annual Geranium, Oriental Poppy, Scarlet Pimpernel, Speedwell, Strawberry, Verbena bonariensis, Chives, Daisies, Dock, Euphorbia, Fleabane, Forget-me-not, grasses, Knautia macedonica, Passion Flower, Sedum, Sweet William, Tiarella 'Iron Butterfly', Alpine Sisyrinchium, Brambles, Foxgloves, Geranium macrorrhizum, Geranium nodosum, purple Geranium, Pink Geranium, Purple Toadflax, Pelargonium, Salvia 'Amythyst Lips', Sisyrinchium striatum, Three Cornered Leek, Lavender, Geum urbanum, Helianthemum, Heuchera, Herb Robert, Marigold, Nectoscordum, Plantain, Scabious, Sow Thistle, Spurge, Violets, Honeysuckle, Japanese Wineberry, Nepeta 'Six Hills Giant', Osteospermum, Nettles, Nigella, Climbing Rose, Cephalaria gigantica, Potentilla, Feverfew, Honesty, Lampranthus, Privet, Pink Patio Rose, Orobanche hederae, Spiraea, Blackberries, Eryngium 'Magical Blue Lagoon', Dandelion, Hemerocallis, Evening Primrose, Feverfew, Fuchsia, Hydrangea, Verbena bonariensis, Rosa 'Brother Cadfael', Pinks, Alchemilla mollis, Bindweed, Creeping Jenny, Willowherb, Penstemon, Self-heal, Rosa rugosa alba.

May 2022

The weather this month has been typically British, ranging from chilly to unseasonally hot, to damp then dry to loud, wet thunderstorms. Entertaining! However, all this has meant that the plants in the garden are growing rapidly and I am struggling to keep up with weeding. Just telling myself they are wildflowers does help!

Plant jobs have included potting up Echinacea seedlings and struggling Iris germanica. These latter are some of my favourite plants but are also a favourite of the slugs so need to be kept in pots and raised high if they are to survive. I was given some branches of curry plant that I left in a bucket of water and forgot about; they produced some roots so I potted them up. One or two look like they might survive. I was also given some Strawberry runners and these were also potted up. Dandelion flowers have been prolific so I have been deadheading them in the vague hope that they don't take over the entire garden. Apparently you can weave the stems into things. Might give it a go. I went to a local garden fair, followed by a trip to the local botanic garden and came home with an Echium, Tiarella 'Iron Butterfly', Eryngium, and a perennial with large bronze leaves and tall yellow flowers whose name escapes me for now. These have all been planted out and the Eryngium has been attacked by the slugs. Of course.

I am trying to empty the quite frankly smelly waterbutt by watering all my pots and dry corners, but it rains heavily every time I think I am getting near. I can't really complain about that though. The water did stop coming out for a bit as there was some sludge in the tank, but a quick poke with a piece of wire through the tap soon sorted that out. 

The slugs and snails are everywhere; I have figured out that mine is the only garden in the neighbourhood with much more than lawn, so they all come to mine to eat. On two occasions I have popped out at night and filled a bucket with the pesky molluscs, and then deposited them on the other side of the local stream. This hasn't made much difference, so now I am using slug traps made from old takeaway tubs with holes cut in their lids, and partially filled with a mixture of marmite juice and oats. This seems quite effective so far.

Last night I decided to edge the garden path and cut about 6 inches of lawn off it, then did the lawn edging the patio, and then most of the stepping stones in the lawn. This looks unnaturally neat for my garden, but was satisfying to do. 

The flowers in the garden are really amazing, and my favourites so far are the foxgloves; they have flowered in a range of shades including white, lemony yellow and purple, and are towering above everything else and buzzing with bumblebees. Absolutely gorgeous! 

Flowers this month include:

Bluebells, Bugle, Buttercups, Daisies, Dandelion, Euphorbia, Fleabane, Forget-me-nots, annual geraniums, Honesty, Iris germanica 'Oklahoma Bandit', Iris germanica 'Indian Chief', Lungwort, English Marigold, Nectoscordum, Rosemary, Sedum, Speedwell, Strawberry, Tiarella 'Iron Butterfly', Violets, Three-Cornered Leek, Herb Robert, Scarlet Pimpernel, Sow Thistle, Aquilegia, Foxgloves, Geranium macrorrhizum, Allium, Chives, pink perennial Geranium, Geum urbanum, Heuchera, Geranium nodosum, Helianthmum, Sisyrinchium striatum, Sweet William, Campanula, Nigella, Pelargonium, Spurge and honeysuckle.

The climbing rose is in bud, as are oriental poppies, Knautia macedonica, Astrantia and Agapanthus.

Nectoscordum ("Honeybells")

Foxgloves

 

April 2022

This has been a fairly busy month in the garden, with good weather to boot. The shed needed a good clear out, so after a grubby afternoon it is now relatively tidy and organised. The potting bench created there last month has been well used for potting up cuttings of tarragon (taken from a reduced price pack of herbs in the supermarket), repotting many houseplants, and repotting sempervivums into small terracotta pots. I think that these will be much happier now they are in a very well drained compost in smaller pots; I half-filled the pots with grit before adding the compost which had been mixed roughly 50:50 with sharp sand. The pots were then topped with grit. Other plants to be repotted include Cercis seedlings, strawberry runners from a friends garden, Pineapple lily, Japanese Anemone, perennial hardy Geranium, perennial half-hardy Geranium, and a random bronze grass seedling I found.

Outside the shed I have cut the grass twice as it is growing well. I may well do 'No Mow May' though to encourage wildflower growth. I have weeded the area around the Hydrangea and blackberry bushes, and planted the Sarcococca 'Little Gem' nearby, then mulched it. This should then flower early next year and provide much needed winter scent. The old vegetable beds have been weeded, straw put around the strawberry plants, and a potted champagne rhubard planted out. The grass between the beds was trimmed but has grown back up again! 

The curved border has been weeded and old stems cut down. Fuchsias have been pruned too. The Euphorbia that usually comes up has not reappeared unfortunately. I have weeded and tidied the border under the bathroom window and planted three evening primrose plants I had lying around.

The garden is looking really lush and green right now, with the majority of plants throwing out new shoots and growing well. The foxglove plants have thrown up flower spikes, and these are getting taller by the day - they will look fabulous in a few weeks when in full bloom. The Gingko is breaking into leaf, as are the roses, Fuchsias, and Cercis. There is plenty of wildlife too, with the compost bin brimming with woodlice, as well as slugs and snails and at least two slow worms. So exciting to see them! There are blackbirds, robins, blue tits, sparrows and pigeons too, as well as the flipping cats. I have seen wolf spiders and zebra spiders, bumblebees, honey bees, other bees, butterflies, red ants and brown ants, and aphids. 

Plants in flower include:

Berberis darwinii, Bergenia, Bluebells, Celandine, Cowslip, Dandelions, Euphorbia, Forget-me-not, Hairy bittercress, green Hellebore, Honesty, Lamium galeobdolon, Lungwort, Primroses, Rosemary, bugle, violets, daisies, English marigold, annual Geranium, red deadnettle, scarlet pimpernel, three-cornered leek, yellow-flowered Sedum, strawberry, Aquilegia.

March 2022

After what has felt like a long winter, the lighter evenings and slightly better weather of March allowed me to get back outside and start doing some jobs.  There was no reason not to get out there earlier, but there wasn't actually much that needed doing!

I have begun weeding the side borders, mostly removing hairy bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta) and annual geraniums. The climbing rose has been pruned back hard, as has the mallow although this was mostly dead stems. New stems are now sprouting up. The dead stems of fennel flowers have been removed too and composted. When I pruned the Spiraea I discovered some branches had rooted where they touched the soil, so these have been removed and potted up, to plant elsewhere or give away. I continue to dig out self seeded brambles wherever I see them, as they are a little irritating! I do have a large, thornless blackberry though which is now trained in great loops against the fence. Next to this is a Japanese Wineberry; there is only one stem on it at the moment, but it is very long, so I have trained it up and around a bamboo tripod and hope to get some fruit this year, with more stems for next year.

Other jobs included cutting back Verbena bonariensis, and taking cuttings from the prunings, cutting back the oregano, gritting around Iris germanica to try and dissuade the slugs from eating them (not a hope!), sowing seeds of sunflower and nasturtium, and moving my pots of cuttings and seedlings to the bottom of the garden where they currently reside on a four tier greenhouse frame by the shed. I might have popped to a garden centre and bought a couple more Irises too! Oops.

I have decided to make the lean-to by the house less of a workshop, so to this end I removed a couple of shelves in the shed and now have a potting bench there. I think that this will work better as all the pots, compost and grit will be in one place.

Quite a lot of wildlife is around, and I have seen a queen wasp in the shed (removed), a few bumblebees, bee flies, brown ants, slugs, hundreds of woodlice in the compost bin and wolf spiders on sunny days. The temperature got very warm for a week, then plummeted back down and snow flakes were seen briefly. There are birds of course; blackbirds, sparrows, starlings, herring gulls in the skies above, and pigeons (one of whom appears to have had a scrap with the neighbours cat - feathers everywhere). 

There have been a lot of flowers! I am quite impressed for this early in the year. The flowers are:

Dandelions, English Marigolds, Primroses wild and cultivated, Hairy Bittercress, Berberis darwinii, Cowslip, Sarcococca 'Little Gem', purple Crocus, Lungwort (Pulmonaria), green Helleborus, Rosemary, lesser Celandine, Scabious, Forget-me-nots, Bergenia 'Rotblum', Euphorbia purpurea, Bluebells, Lamium galeobdelon, Selfheal, and Honesty (Lunaria annua).

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!