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In a Vase on Monday – the Enigmatic Peony

  This week’s ‘In a Vase on Monday’ is a simple affair. For more ‘In a Vase on Monday’ posts visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden Source link

Border Patrol – June 2019 – The Propagator

In this monthly series I try to assess the borders as a whole. What’s working, what’s not, what needs to come out, where are the opportunities to improve. Come and have a nose. Rear Garden

First let’s take a look from above, this photo was taken by Sputnik and personally sent to me by Vladimir Putin. The borders are all looking pretty full. But are they full of things I like?

The Patio Border –…

Five easy ways to encourage outdoor play

Collaborative post

If you’re a parent or carer, you’ll no doubt be well aware of the constant presence of screens and the internet in your children’s lives.  And you probably spend quite a bit of time and energy trying to strike a healthy balance between screen time and other activities.

One really great way to achieve that balance is to encourage outdoor play.  Getting kids active outside has…

Six on Saturday 06-07-2019 – The Propagator

Here we go again. This weekend has come around fast, a trip to Vienna for work breaking the week up nicely. It’s set to be one of those funny weekends weatherwise. It’s going to be warm, but cloudy. But not cloudy in a useful way, with rain, just cloudy. Six on Saturday then. Six things, in the garden, on a Saturday. Could be anything – a flower, a water feature, wildlife, weeds, a plan, a job…

Six on Saturday 13-07-2019 – The Propagator

Whilst not as debilitating as last summer, rain has been sparse, so watering is a daily necessity. I still haven’t got around to revamping the irrigation system, a job put off now until after the summer. This weekend I am restricted to one day of gardening as we are off to a festival all day on Sunday, an annual event now for a number of years. It’s often the case that there is cricket of some…

Six on Saturday 20-07-2019 – The Propagator

Rain!  Some nice, light but persistent rain Thursday morning. The sort of rain that doesn’t look like much, but in which you get very wet very quickly. Then yesterday there was heavy rain which will have given the garden a good soak. It will also have flattened a few plants and shown me up to be a slapdash supporter of taller plants.  Oh well, so long I don’t have to water much this weekend.

Ti…

Six on Saturday 27-07-2019 – The Propagator

Not quite the end of July but I am feeling smug. I have ordered my spring bulbs for 2020. They won’t arrive for a few months, but still, a job done. Last year I ordered bulbs from Parker’s Wholesale which was good value, and the bulbs performed well too. I was less impressed with the bareroots so haven’t ordered any this time around. Because it is wholesale, one is encouraged to buy in…

Border Patrol – July 2019 – The Propagator

This is my monthly look at the borders as a whole. My aim is to record progress, see what is working, what’s not, what changes might I need (or like) to make. Let’s take a spin.

Rear Garden

First the overhead shot, taken by Apollo 11 in 1969 using their temporal dilation camera.

The Patio Border – I am still super happy with this border. I wouldn’t change a thing, except perhaps to speed up…

New booze round-up #11: Australian plums, New Zealand coffee, Burton IPA and a Cornish lager

For this round up we’ve been kindly sent two Antipodean liqueurs, a pair of British beers and a sparkling mixer. Five very different, but very delicious, drinks…

Quick Brown Fox Coffee Liqueur, 20%

This coffee liqueur travelled half way round the world, starting its journey in Dunedin, New Zealand, before being delivered to our tasting desk in a small sample bottle with a hand-written label…

Six on Saturday 03-08-2019 – The Propagator

Cue Cliff Richard, or possibly The Young Ones, “we’re all going on a summer holiday’.  Yes, the clan is off to the sunshine and balmy weather of Southern Scotland.  Or, more accurately, the overcast and rainy Southern Scotland.  Sigh, the forecast is not terribly encouraging.  Still, as a family we clearly need a once-a-decade reminder of why we normally go abroad.  More importantly, I have…

Last call for winter pruning

We’re now enjoying more than 10 hours daylight per day here in the south-west which combined with this week’s warmer weather has brought the trees close to bud burst… or in the case of the elderberries full-blown leafage.

I’ve taken advantage of the sunny days to finish off my winter pruning this week. I reckon in another day or two it’ll be too late, so if you have pruning tasks left to do,…

Tree following – suckers

I have been following my quince trees for five years (yes five) and they have not moved one inch in all that time.  Now, suddenly, I have reason to believe that Quince Major is making a bid for freedom.

I realised whilst mowing the grass around the quince trees the other day that there were little treelets appearing.

I knelt down on the ground to look at them more closely.  They looked like…

Tempted by houseplants? Buyer beware

Houseplants are trendy. Houseplants are cool. And who wouldn’t be tempted by this spectacular Alocasia x amazonica (aka Amazonian elephant’s ear) when it’s going for a song at their local supermarket? Not I for one.

Luckily I knew what I was getting as I lust after them whenever I see them at a show or in a heated glasshouse. Why lucky? Because there was no care label anywhere to be seen and…

Garden Bloggers’ Muse Day: Daffodil Haiku

A poem by moi, for once; I must show it to my Creative Writing group. This is what happens when you’re trying desperately not to quote that poem for Muse Day 😉

If you’re not looking at vegplotting.blogspot, or your own web reader such as Bloglovin’ or Feedly, then be aware the website you’re on publishes stolen content. Why not go straight to the source instead? That’s vegplotting.blogspot.com

RHS Chatsworth Flower Show 2019

I know it has been said before and it will be said again, every RHS show has its own character.  RHS Chatsworth is the newest show being only in its third year, but I think I have decided what it is in its character that appeals to me.

Chatsworth already has an emotional tug on my heartstrings as it is a place I know when.  I have been visiting since I was a child and I have taken my…

The Watch House NGS Open Weekend 2019 – The Frustrated Gardener

And relax! After several weeks of intensive preparation, another National Gardens Scheme open weekend lies behind us. Rather like Christmas there’s an almighty build-up and then the event itself is over in the blink of an eyelid. In total we welcomed 440 visitors to The Watch House and raised just over £2000 for NGS charities. Our previous record was 300, so this is a fantastic result. Thank…

O the pleasure with trees!

O the pleasure with trees! The orchard—the forest—the oak, cedar, pine, pekan-tree, The honey-locust, black-walnut, cottonwood, and magnolia.

Walt Whitman (1819-1892) from Poem of Joys – in: Leaves of Grass

The magnolias are magnificent this year, helped by the unseasonably warm weather of the past few weeks, plus the lack of frost. Views like this one of my neighbour’s tree reaching peak…