December wander.

Posted on December 3, 2019 by Pauline

We are having some beautifully sunny days, frosty, cold and crisp but at least it isn’t raining! We had so much rain in November, I just want the garden to dry out so that we can cut the grass once more, dig up a tree roots and finish 101 other jobs that I couldn’t do with the daily rain. A wander round the garden proved to me that there are plants that have carried on in spite of being soaked.

Viburnum bodnantense Dawn was looking good yesterday when this photo was taken, I must go and see what the frost overnight has done to it.

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The first for this winter.

Posted on November 30, 2019 by Pauline

I’m still raking and sweeping, but now I can see an end to the leaves that are keeping me so busy. Having a little wander in the woodland, but really to have a rest, I found Galanthus Faringdon Double already in flower, this is a week earlier than last year.

G. Faringdon Double

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The Big Sweep.

Posted on November 20, 2019 by Pauline

As fast as I am sweeping up the leaves, they are still falling, but I feel I have to get out there every few days to at least try to stay on top of them. Thank goodness we have had a few days without any rain, it makes it so much easier if the leaves are dry.

I keep telling myself that sweeping up is good for the waistline, but I haven’t seen any improvement so far!

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From green to yellow to red then black gold.

Posted on November 3, 2019 by Pauline

Looking out of the windows, there is gold everywhere, the views that stayed green all summer, are now changing rapidly to yellow/gold. There are a few splashes of red and purple which form a contrast, making the month of November a very colourful month in the garden.

Field Maple, Acer campestre, one of our native acers, which forms part of the boundary of the garden.

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Ten Blooms for October

Posted on October 23, 2019 by Pauline

Flowers are getting harder to find in the garden as it is winding down, ready for a rest, but there are flowers still opening at this time of year. Some plants actually choose to start flowering at this time of year and they are more than welcome.

Starting with Mahonia Charity, this is the time of year when it is at its best.

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Two that got away.

Posted on October 2, 2019 by Pauline

When photographing my flowers for the last post, my Colchicums and Clematis hid their blooms for another couple of days. I could see the colchicum buds developing, but they weren’t open in time, I have also been waiting for my Clematis to flower all summer and thought it wasn’t going to manage it this year.

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Ten blooming families for September

Posted on September 25, 2019 by Pauline

Flowers are still putting in an appearance even though the weather is decidedly autumnal now.The heat and the sunshine of last week has been replaced by rain and much cooler temperatures, there are fewer butterfly and bee visitors this week, which I suppose is to be expected. Certain families of plants are continuing to flower, making a really good show of all their blooms. You have seen a lot of them before in other posts, but then, I like plants that flower for a long time! I’ll start in the front and then flollow my usual path round the garden.

Making a big impact in the front border are masses of seedling Asters which have spread each year. I keep meaning to pull them out but the all bees love them, so many varieties are to be found feeding whenever the sun shines, unfortunately the sun wasn’t shining when I took my photos!.

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Butterflies and Berries.

Posted on September 15, 2019 by Pauline

September is the time when butterflies are frantically feeding on the flowers in the garden and the berries are forming which will keep the birds fed through the first half of the winter and gradually changing colour now that the cooler temperatures are with us at night time.

Painted Lady on Eupatorium maculatum atropurpureum, which I think is the best flower for butterfly food, it beats the buddlia next to it every time.

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September’s little treasures.

Posted on September 8, 2019 by Pauline

Starting to flower in August and making me feel that autumn is rushing in far too soon are beautiful little Cyclamen hederifolium. All of a sudden the woodland, which has been quiet for the summer months,  is sprinkled with the white, deep pink and pale pink of their dainty little flowers. I don’t have quite as many cyclamen as snowdrops yet but the effect is getting there, they pop up in all sorts of places that I wouldn’t think of putting them, all thanks to my ants who spread the seed.

Seedlings come up in both colours.

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Ten blooms for Saturday in August.

Posted on August 24, 2019 by Pauline

Looking round the garden this morning, there are still plenty of flowers everywhere, but nothing that says Wow! I have been making plans for a late summer border for a long time, but so far nothing has been done about it, I think the time has come so that I have something special to look at at this time of year. In the meantime I’ll show you what is flowering at the moment.

I’ve been told that Eupatorium purpureum atropurpureum has changed it’s name, but I’ve forgotten it already! This is much smaller than it normally is, usually over 6ft tall, but only about 5 ft this year, probably due to our drought earlier.

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