April 25 2012, Garden no 9

Garden 2012 no 9

My cactus is flowering AGAIN, this is the first time it has EVER flowered twice in one year.

I think there was torrential rain for the whole of the three weeks I was away. Wetlands are a precious natural environment but not one I  expected to find in my garden.
By the time I arrived home, the water barrel was actually overflowing,
 my early potatoes had black and damaged leaves,
some of the pots were more suitable for aquatic life than seedlings
and the geraniums, which I grow as a pest deterrent and had put out  the day before I left, looked dead.
But on the plus side, the pond is doing well. There are tadpoles a plenty
and mother frog can be seen sitting at the bottom of the pond keeping an eye on things.
The wild area behind the pond has thrived in the wet weather. This is the area I intend to cultivate and use for more veg plus raspberry canes. Raspberry is the only soft fruit I don’t have and I’m running out of space which is why I’m reclaiming this little bit of land. I’m going to wait until all the bulbs have finished and relocate them before I dig this small corner of the garden. I love the way it’s so wild and does its own thing, but I need the space.
Not every thing suffered in the rain, the radishes are great,
delicious in fact and all the vegetables seem to be doing well.
The rosemary is in bloom,
you can smell it as soon as you enter the garden,
and the strawberry plants already have lots of flowers.
This plant, which I think is a Heuchera, is bigger brighter and all together better than when I left.
I missed most of these little guys ( fritillaria)
but looks like I’m in time for these  bigger guys (Allium).
In fact most of the spring flowers seem to be doing well,
some of the bluebells are out already,
the first forgetmenots have appeared, and the
primroses are still flowering. The London Pride is looks better already than it did during the whole of last year.
When I took this the honey bee was happily gathering pollen, it wasn’t until I saw it on the computer that I realised she had taken off and was heading for the next available pollen when I clicked.
Now all I need is a couple of dry hours over the weekend to sort those waterlogged pots and put some more bark around my soft fruit canes.

Tags: garden, garden 2012, plants, pond

Prev: Art Sunday; Herve Loilier, French contemporary painter
Next: Song Saturday; Crosby Stills Nash and Young

reply edit delete

14 Comments

Add a Comment

delete reply aaranaardvark wrote on Apr 28 It looks great, things are developing nicely in your little ecosystem loretta, its a credit to your hard work.

delete reply rabbitfriendhere wrote on Apr 28 I really like the mid air shot of the bee! You're probably lucky that it wasn't too dry while you were gone. I have a wild spot in my backyard as well. I had put raspberries there, but they got choked out by weeds. I'm thinking of putting in some Concord grape vines and I will try to keep the weeds to a manageable minimum in future. Like you, I am sorry to say farewell to the wild bits, but I am running out of space as well. I will miss seeing the goldfinches eat the seeds of these weeds.

delete reply pestep55 wrote on Apr 28 Lovely garden, enjoyed seeing it /:-)

delete reply djdx wrote on Apr 26 Thanks for the visit of your garden. What you think is a heuchera looks like one to me too. The schlumbergera on the window sill here has made a couple extra flowers recently. It usually blooms in November. It feels like it's been raining for 3 weeks here and our garden is quite waterlogged also, with peas I put in small pots swimming in their tray. I have bailed them out twice already.

delete reply veryfrank wrote on Apr 26 All things considered, it appears that the rain did more good than damage. So many of your plants look great and are doing well. I plant marigolds and geraniums for pest control, insects, rabbits and deer. The marigolds, like geraniums, smell and taste awful, but marigolds seem to be near indestructible.

delete reply greenwytch wrote on Apr 26 a beautiful photographic essay as always, my dear. gardening can be quite a mixed bag, but it looks like most things fared well. looks like there was quite a substantial rainfall while you were on holiday.

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Apr 26 I love seeing your garden grow. Have you given your pond a name?

delete reply wendyj59 wrote on Apr 26 Your garden must keep you busy :) We certainly needed rain but we have had loads since they declared the hosepipe ban! Who needs to raindance lol

delete reply nemo4sun wrote on Apr 25 that she is :)

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Apr 25 but your honey bee is a very special honey bee...............we don't all have honey bees like yours. :-)

delete reply nemo4sun wrote on Apr 25 those honeybees have a way of ducking out of the shot my does lol :)

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Apr 25 yes I planted the columbines but ( and considering the weather I'm glad I thought to do this), I sowed the seeds in a seed tray indoors which is where they still are. lol the bee was an accident, I thought I'd taken him in the flower collecting pollen.

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Apr 25 I love the picture with the bee in flight!! And the radishes. Did you ever plant those columbines?

delete reply nemo4sun wrote on Apr 25 very very nice and the tadpoles are aplenty

Nov 17 2011, Garden no 17

I know I said I closed the garden down for winter………..but then I thought again. Even though I’ve not had that much success, I am determined to grow as much food as I can. So…. After consulting the ‘gardening month by month books’……..I realised there are some things you can plant in November. Some things are hardy enough to withstand the winter ground frosts and ice, providing you plant them in November before the winter begins in earnest. I’ve had a couple of days off, the weather was damp, with a drizzle of rain, but it wasn’t too cold so out I went. The ground was wet and within a short time I was covered in mud. But mud is good, it’s soft and easy to dig.
I’ve enlarged the vegetable plot, and following the advice in my books, planted broad beans, garlic and shallots. At the other side of the plot I planted a few of the runners from the strawberry plants, not sure if they will come to any thing but its worth a try.
I enlarged he rhubarb plot, split the original rhubarb into two and brought two new roots of different varieties.

I didn’t realise there are so many varieties of rhubarb, I wish I knew what the original one was, that way I could do a taste comparison.
And just to make sure I wasn’t becoming too boring in my quest to grow food, I bought three packets of spring bulbs to plant in the new corner garden in between the heather and lavender.
Finally, my native shrubs arrived. I’ve been waiting for these, it’s a pack called ‘Wild Harvest’ and it comprises, Rowan Berry, Hawthorn, Blackthawn (sloe), Elderberry, Crab Apple, Plum Cherry, Hazel, Beech and Wild Rose. These are all native species and they all bare fruit or nuts that can be either eaten raw or made into jellies and preserves.
I realise some of these can grow into tall trees and my garden is small but; I’ve planted them around the edges of the garden just inside my new fence. My reasons are varied. I wanted to plant some of the native trees and shrubs that at disappearing from our hedgerows and woodland. I also wanted to replace the old privet I dug up earlier this year with native plants, and I wanted to be able to use the  ‘wild harvest’ these plants offer. These tiny plants will cause no problem for a couple of years, but they won’t offer me any fruit either. After that I am going to have to try to manage this hedgerow, I’ll need to coppice it to prevent it getting too big while at the same time trying to harvest the natural food…………..what a challenge, I don’t even know if this is possible. But; its going to be interesting and I’m looking forward to it. If I start looking for relevant books now, I should be knowledgeable enough in a couple of years when the plants are bigger.

And now……………I think that really is it for the winter, oh except….
More good news, I managed to catch one of the gold fish I put in the pond to eat the larvae, so that’s one that will over winter in the kitchen and not freeze in the pond.

Tags: plants, garden2011

Prev: Art Sunday; Hans Dahl
Next: Bah Humbug I hate Christmas.......

reply edit delete

10 Comments

Add a Comment

delete reply skeezicks1957 wrote on Nov 18, '11 I didn't keep up with my herb/flower garden this year very well and it is put to bed for the winter. Neat to see you planting fall stuff. I have not attempted that and will look forward to seeing what luck you have with it. I did do bulbs one year a few years back but must have either gotten bad ones or planted them upside down because nothing came up.

delete reply reneenay wrote on Nov 17, '11 looks like you have a great plan & layout. hope it all grows well for you

delete reply forelithe wrote on Nov 16, '11 You shall have to let us know if you can tell the rhubarbs apart by taste next spring !

delete reply catherinearmant wrote on Nov 16, '11 Excellent Garden strategy. Positively rewarding.

delete reply mitchylr wrote on Nov 16, '11 Good luck with all your winter plantings, but particularly with the 'Wild Harvest' plants.

delete reply artprevails wrote on Nov 16, '11 Good report, this was! I love hearing about it all. The native plant research continues and hats off to you for trying to keep the natives going. The flowers look lovely in their packets and the Champagne Rhubarb sounds festive! I envy your mud playing:)

delete reply nemo4sun wrote on Nov 16, '11 bravo :)

delete reply tismek wrote on Nov 16, '11 Well done! My garden is STILL a complete mess... :o(

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Nov 16, '11 I didn't realise there were so many varities of rhubarb either. I think it grows almost wild. Alas, haven't found any in Spain and I love rhubarb crumble. Lots of luck with your garden. You can learn by doing.

delete reply greenwytch wrote on Nov 16, '11 *fingers crossed*......may all grow well, winter over happily and yield happily!