mystery plant..

the mystery audrey plant, growing on!

Jack o'lantern 2

two strawberries in October

Jack O'Lantern

This is our Jack O'Lantern, carved by Sallyanne and photographed by me.I felt the urge to buy a pumpkin today at the shop.
The pagan festival of Samhain, All Hallowed eve, All saints eve.
I love this celebration, the goblins, vampires, and ghosts.Things going bump during the night.
Its suitably dark, cold, and windy outside.
We only had one lot of trick or treaters.My fav memory was when my Dad was in the Army we lived near an American base.The amount of sweets me and my sister collected astounded me.
The Americans celebrate it with more gusto than the English.The pagan overtones upsets the more straight religeous ones.
That is the great thing about the English, the public holidays have become mixture of old pagan beliefs and christian celebrations.
Its hard to know where one begins and one ends...
I worked today a normal tuesday.The buses ran smooth finally after a few days of wierdness.I have two days off to tidy the windswept garden, and sort out my seedlings!
I read Halloween was the old festival to celebrate the end of summer, fires are lit, lanterns hung up, sweets ready for giving, children go out to collect sweets for the celebration.
If you celebrate halloween hope you are having a good one!!

Splurge of colour

The colurful euphorbia flowers with the maddest colours like a watercolour, wet in wet wash!

The sun is shining and im going to work soon.I can admire many peoples gardens and dream of next years borders.

Tomorrow I want to buy some compost to move my seedlings into individual pots.I have to make a greenhouse upstairs with my over wintering plants.

This includes busy lizzies, pansys, and the hollyhocks.I want to start off some sweet pea's too..

The Euphorbia was called Splurge on the label, though it fits with the colourful flower bracts.They have turned from green to yellow to multicoloured.

Thanks UK Bob there still is a bit to look at in the garden, the pleasure is still there walking around with camera and seeing whats growing, or starting to sleep..

I read yesterday somewhere that only 3% of Blogs are updated daily.In the summer I managed it.How often should they be updated to be called current blogs?

Back garden view

The back garden between light and shade on a sunny autumn day.The snappy shadow is on the bottom right of the pic.Can see dusty millers, the monarda, the nasturtiums, and the strawberry plants on the coffee table!!

Autumn pics of the garden today

Sunlight on the Euphorbia, love the colours of green with light yellow and green.













The trimmed Lavender plants, they still smell gorgeous.














Secret nasturtium flower hidden beneath the green canopy.the leaves are like big green umbrella's..















The Foxglove still with dark green leaves.The dry heat stopped all the flowers.Gutted!!

Clarence house's Cabbages

I read yesterday in fridays Daily Mail that Prince Charles has ripped up all his grandmothers flowers at the Clarence house garden, and replaced them with horrible ornamental cabbages.The Hollyhocks have gone.
Here is a comment from the Daily telegraph.. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?menuId=5365&menuItemId=-1&view=DISPLAYCONTENT&grid=P8&targetRule=0
Cabbages, cauliflowers, and beans replaced the perennials. They are not destined to be eaten the veg. Prince Charles has been a fan of organic farming for a long time. I feel its sad that his grandmothers fav flowers have been turfed out in favour of something ornamental.
He wont be eating them, so why grow them?
His grandmother was the Queen Mother, a royal sadly missed since her death. She loved old fashioned gardens with borders of perrenniels. Her last visit to Balmoral was to see a new greenhouse..
I am a royalist, and a gardener, so its funny to have a story linking the two.. Heres the Clarence house link explaining it uses for non British readers: http://www.royalinsight.gov.uk/output/Page2522.asp
Been having problems posting so I hope this one works!!

Autumn tree

Mushroom

Its like a blue/grey UFO that has appeared on the grass...

Back in the land of daytime

Im back awake in daylight hours after three night shifts and a late shift. I have been working in the dark, sleeping through the daylight.
The first frost has not reached us yet. Its getting chilly at night.
My monarda seeds have germinated one seedling so far. The pansys are doing well, and the hydrangea leaves look really nice growing on.
My Hello wont work now so im uploading photos via blogger which is slow. I have taken a few pics to upload soon.
The garden is running out of steam with less and less flowers.The leaves are falling, changing colour, and it has rained a lot.I have a new species of mushroom on the grass.
Im off tomorrow so i will be out in the garden.Will post more later.Hope your gardens are all growing still!

Yellow flower close up 

Flowers on the tomato plant.. 

Stain glass window effect, the volunteer tomato plant 

Whats on your windowsill?

The brightness of the Nasturtium flower contrasts to everything else that is slowing down.We are still waiting for the first frost, its getting nippy at night, but not freezing.

The windowsill has the most going on with baby mother in laws tongues, winter pansy seedlings, hollyhock seedlings, the Amaryllis plant, the leaf grown african violet, an easter cactus, a kalancoe in a pot, the big mother in laws tongue, my hydrangea cutting, and a volunteer tomato plant from the frontwindow border..

Cara says miow for all her comments.She feels hungary all the time but she is in no danger of dissapearing.

Im back on night shifts for next three nights.I will take some photos soon off whats growing today and post them.

The tree's are slowly turning into browns, reds, and yellows.The change has been gradual due to the warm temperature i think.More post soon!

Magpies and Stawberries

This is a photofit of the magpie I saw today flying around the rooftops with his soul mates.My mission is to get a close up photo when they come to my garden.There are bird feeders up and water for them.

I looked them up on the RSPB website( http://www.rspb.org.uk/ ) , the Royal Society for the protection of birds. http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/guide/m/magpie/index.asp

I think that the British generally love song birds and do not mind helping make their gardens bird friendy,They are like original free spirits, that give me enormous pleasure when they visit the garden, and hop around.Their songs are sweet and make you remember childhood memories.

I know the magpie has had a bad reputation but i think they look so regal.Their is a pair even within my hospitals grounds and i see them hopping along the grass with wings folded back, like old generals.

I want to photograph a strawberry nearly ripened.Angela from work gave me about fifteen strawberry plants, perpeptual strawberries hence the fruit in October.They are very juicy but she said they would be sweeter if they were in a greenhouse..

I hope next year to eat plenty of strawberries and cream, and to make home made strawberry jam.Yum yum!!

I was also reading about wild strawberries which I could plant along my hedgerow, a natural British fruiting plant..

The photo is on the left.mmmmmmm strawberry...

I have just brought in the self seeded tomato plant to see if it can over winter and see what tomato's it actually grows.The house is warm and the windowsill a good greenhouse effect.

I have four tomatos now ready for eating off my two experimental plants.They were both planted maybe six weeks later than they should have.The experiment worked you can grow tomatos from seeds obtained from store bought tomatos.The resulting toms were lovely, delicious and juicy, like their parent.

I have got some seeds from the tomato pictured earlier with the evil cat.I have a supply for growing them next year.Cant wait.I may do some experiment store tomato obtained seed versus proper tomato seeds from a reputable seed merchant.See which one produces the best fruit.

I want some onion seeds and kale so i can plant something in my veg patch because the weeds are loving the cleared soil.Sigh, they never sleep the weeds!!

im soooooooooo hungary..the mad under gardener trys to get my attention outside the kitchen window 

Hollyhocks on the windowsill, so far so good! 

Mioww ,is it breakfast time? 8.30 am this morning 

African violet grown from a cut leaf.. 

Autumn sunshine yesterday after early shift 

Waiting for the bus...dappled sunlight dancing through the trees 

Autumn trees at the hospital 

I saw a pair of magpies today, this one was sat on a chimney five hundred yards away... 

From the front and stood up properly this time... 

Anemone flopped over, like a gone with the wind skirt 

Busy lizzies great balls of fire 

Nasturtium leaves, flower buds, and seeds 

My little succulent, it had to be removed from the big pot because the succulents bullied it out of the way,the sedums and sempervivums.. 

Not a strawberry i ate today..its a bit pinker now!! 

Working hard..

The garden is growing as i have been at work. I brought more strawberry plants back home from Angela. I ate a few today that were ripened. They were lovely..
I have to bring in the self seeded tomato plant and put it onto the windowsill.
The pansy are developing on the kitchen windowsill.The monarda seeds have done nothing yet..
Im closely watching the hydrangea for progress of the new growing tips..
I have just been watching the leaves change colour, and fall off the tree's. Looking at flowers in peoples gardens. Dreaming about next years borders. Have a day off monday before nights so posts might get a bit thin!!

Autumn Mosaic

"Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all. " ~Stanley Horowitz

I collected some things from the garden for an autumn mosaic of whats in the garden in October.
Dandelion flowers, some gorgeous blackberries, mushrooms growing in the grass, and leaves from the silver birch tree...
Inspired by Nature girl and her live displays outside her house.
http://nature-trail.blogspot.com/

Im back to work tomorrow.Two days off have flown bye!!

Baby mother in laws tongues.There are five plants now.The mother plant, a teenage plant, and three babys..All from the big one that flowered. 

The neighbours tree's, the red one is cascading down the green leaved one, and blowing in the wind. 

Amaryllis on the kitchen windowsill greenhouse! 

Hollyhock seedlings, engeneer leaves... 

Silver birch tree, leafs are changing slowly.... 

Pink flower bud, like an Indian Minarette 

Fuschia berry, its squishy when pressed apart, and is full of dainty little seeds... 

Trailing fuschias, didnt know they grew berrys?? 

Tia outside looking at the garden 

Cara doing her fav thing...eating!! 

A new spider, by the long border fence 

cant remember if i posted this pic?? 

Evil cat with my first homegrown tomato.It was sliced and put into a cheese sandwich.It tasted awesome,I still cant believe I grew it from seeds from a store bought tomato.How good does it taste when you have grown it? 

Smoke bush 

Container garden 

Autumnal stawberry plant 

Nasturium leave with jewels 

Making a quick get away, common garden snail crawled off my monarda flower heads. 

Rising sun?, a lovely dandelion flower today.some colour as everything else fades.. 

Monarda to the left.I collected a few more seeds today to try and grow some new plants on the windowsill over the winter.They were one of my best new flowers in the garden, fragrant foliage and flowers, wedding cake (like the one UK Bob photographed in his blog) flowers, layer upon layer.

The dried flower heads had an unexpected visitor who crawled away into the garden.

The roses have disintegrated, and everything looks ropey now.I will cut the lavender back tomorrow.Plant the strawberry plants in the herb border.Opportunistic weeds have already parachuted into my dug borders.

When its payday again I want to go plant shopping for some Autumn/Winter colour.Maybe pansys, primula's, maybe a pyracantha...hee hee dont tell Sallyanne!!

She thinks im plant/seed/garden mad...as i think i am too.I have to look at the seed packets i got.Someone told me you can grow sweet peas indoors over winter.I have the busy lizzies upstairs eight little plants and a bigger cajun balls of fire one.They can chill untill late spring when the frosts have gone.

Hope all your gardens are growing well!!Few photo's to follow.....

Fall Leaves

Here are some nice colours, opposite where my bus stop is outside the hospital that i work in.
All the horse chestnut tree's are bright now in yellows and browns, conkers lie on the floor, beneath a soft bed of leaves.There is not enough to kick through yet, thats my favourite time in Autumn..
I have worked past seven out of nine days hence blog output has slowed.I have two days off to reaquaint myself with the garden and take some arty pictures!!
The house has quiet, Kelly and Baby Jess have moved back to Leeds.The birthday party stuff has been cleaned up.My seeds are growing nicely on the windowsill.I ran out of money for greenhouse, due to violin lessons!!
Im happy with what i have got for plants and seedlings.The tomato's are ripening slowly.The hydrangea looks perky in the window.Im happy the cutting has finally developed.They are best taken in spring not summer.It has been a slow developer but at least i kept it alive for all these weeks!!I can dream about blue flowers now in the summer...
I have to photograph my seed packets I got from work.A lovely selection.Ooops I left my strawberry plants at work.I have about 12 by the backdoor.What to do with them to over
the winter??
More posts tomorrow, im on days off, yipeee!!

Hyndrangea growing..

The pic shows my Hydrangea cutting that i took eight weeks ago has finally got some new growth.The base of the cutting now has brand new leaves rising from the loose soil.The top leaves have done their work creating a root system and making another plant food to develop.

I have been looking at the growing tip between the leaves at the top.A small triangular point has been there for ages with no development...

I have cut off the first tomato from the plant ready for a sandwich.It has been photographed with the evil cat for posterity!!

I added more sugar to the plum and dandelion wine.Six months is a long time before you can taste the wine...

I am back to work tomorrow, but its been a nice weekend off even if i was not as productive as i thought..Manana...

October Shades

The colours in the garden are so lovely, the contrast between the flowers and the foliage. As Autumn moves in Natures pallette changes to hues of reds, browns, and oranges. The season has changed gradually between summer to Autumn. The Cottinus looks very smokey, the Nasturtium very green, and the rose's are still beautiful!!

Jewel in the Sempervivum crown? 

Rose sunshine that Sallyanne caught a glimpse of out of our side kitchen window 

Anemone De Caen Hollandia, the petals newly opened look frilly, like an elizebethan Ruff collar! 

Evening primrose flowered even after being moved into the long border 

Anemone chewed by garden bugs... 

Monarda today 

Party dress for Birthday girl.. 

I made the Cakes, Sallyanne decorated it..teamwork 

Boing, boing, boing, Tiggers bouncing 

Who's Roll was this?? 

Kelly and Jessica (she is now one) 

Party Buns 

Table set for Jessica's first birthday party 

Tomato, Seeds, and Cakes

Here is my first picture of a tomato grown from store bought tomato ,seeds scooped from a big beefsteak Tom. It is nearly as big as its parent tomato!!!

Another one is changing colour too. I think I will make a BLT to celebrate, my windowsill ripened tom's..

I finished five days of work today. I had a violin lesson, then I baked fourty eight little cakes and a victoria sponge cake. Jessica (chopper noppers) is one year old today.

The house will be full and there is enough food to feed a small army. I have retreated from baking, its nearly 2am...

I got some FREE seeds today from a lady at work. I now have packets of sweet pea's, poppies, cornflowers, nicotiana, and best of all Heuchera Sioux falls, I was eyeing up the Heuchera's in the garden centre as plants for the long border. Dual purpose with flowers and great foliage.

I will reply to all the comments tomorrow (in a few hours really). My pansys have started to germinate and one solitary hollyhock.Im determined to grow a few Hollyhocks but have been dogged with bad seedlings so far. As the saying goes if you dont succede at first try and try again... Failing that go to the garden centre and buy a small plant ha ha..

Two days off bliss, to recharge my batteries, take lots of pics, and see what needs doing in the garden. The amount of day light is lessening so i need to be organised. The colder nights have started, the frost will be soon upon us. Bad for summery plants but good for dormant bulbs to start yawning before they wake up.

Autumn Muses

The tree's are still green really, so im waiting for the leaves to turn the colour on.
I worked early, took Sallyanne to the Doctors for a bloodtest, power napped for two hours, then got up.
I answered all the comments.I changed settings so Anonynous users can post comments (people who use type pad blogs etc) as
well as blogger users.
I collected the final seeds from the monarda for their air trip to Ireland. My fraggle flowers are going places. I hope they grow well in the Emerald Isle...
I am working two more days, then its violin lesson, cake making for Jess's first birthday party on Saturday. Gardening all day on Sunday!
I have brought the little shop of horrors plant inside so i can monitor its growth.I moved all the Strawberry plants outside to clear the kitchen.
The largest tomato on the indoor plants has changed colour from green to a pale orange. The light was too poor for a photo though, tomorrow!!
My first ever tomato..as UK Bob said sometimes you just got to try things. like growing tomatos from the pips on one you have bought.
Im quite happy at the thought of trying to grow more next year...
The garden still has flashes of colour with late flowering roses, nasturtiums, lavender, some carnations, and the volunteer violas that i have left.Need some winter pansys and primroses.I saw the cutest primrose like a cowslip on the way to work...
More posts tomorrow if im energetic.hope all your gardens are growing well...

Last pic for today, love the colours 

My own Audrey 

Orange flower 

Nasturtiums in the rain 

A not ripe strawberry.. 

fried egg?, no a strawberry plant flower 

Angela's strawberry plant 

Lavender Query?

Work is crazy as usual. Back up tomorrow at 5am! Will reply to all the comments after my early shift.
Can check out the little shop of horrors plant. My fuschia cuttings have keeled over. The seeds are not germinating..
Its been raining heavily and is cold. Maybe a frost tonight.Wander how cold it will be at 5am?
Pictured is Lavender fllowers.
When do you gardeners cut lavender back?In the Autumn after flowering or spring time after the winter?
Did your plants regrow with lots of vigour?I have seen one that has been cut back. Any answers gratefully received.More posts tomorrow!!

End of Holiday

Its been nine days since I have been at work.I am back there tomorrow. I had one last day of gardening. The grass has had its wintercut, the three types of fuschia's have had cuttings done.
I discovered a new mystery plant growing in the long border. I removed a woody Dusty miller, and planted a well rooted rosemary into the ground.
In the summer I split the rosemary into four sections. Tasha got a nice section. I waited to see if it would recover. I dont think summer is the best time to split them, ie during growing season.
However they are recovered now. I took some Monarda flower heads for seed collecting for Ireland...
I found Tia sleeping on the job, in the kitchen window border beneath the Cottinus and Euonymus.
Its October. I have already outposted myself compared to last year. The house smells of delicious roast pork. The house is full again.
As im back at work I can remember the weeks of gardening, and dream on the bus about my plans for next year. The Anemone flower above is at the end of its season, chewed by unknown beastie. Its colours are still amazing though, a light blue and lilac shade.
None of my seeds have germinated yet. The pansys and Hollyhocks in the windowsill.I repotted my volunteer tomato plant. It needs to come inside. I would love that greenhouse to keep my tomatos growing...
Does anyone know what the mystery plant is? kind of like a houseleek with the rosette leaves, and mini off shoots growing at the side of it.It is potted up now on the coffee table outside...

Anemone De Caen Mr Fokker, violet/purple bud 

Same variety, but in flower, love the blue sweets centre,like the blue coloured liquorice all sorts. 

Anemone De Caen Hollandia, the bud has amazing colours 

Monarda Lambarda in flower, still sage smelling. 

Where is my under gardener?I cannot see her.She must be sleeping on the job somewhere.... 

Another mystery plant growing in long border, between self seeded Viola's.Its like a houseleek shaped plant with rosette leaves, and one off shoot growing. does anyone know what it is? 

Full House/Green house

Its Saturday evening now. The house is full of noisy kids, baby, and adults. I had the sweetest visitor come into the house. I loved the cute kitten, but Cara hissed at it. I left kitty some food and water, and hope he/she finds their way back home. Sallyanne said not another cat!!
Mat has fixed Sallyannes laptop so i can download my pics to it. Hence twelve pics today.
The greenhouse i found is still for Sale. I am hopefully going to see it next week, dismantle it, then bring it back to Castleford. It was Peggys idea in a comment to look for a second hand greenhouse, as the new ones are way beyond our means.Fingers crossed...
Thanks for the comments on proud bird. Sallyanne will read it later.
One day of holiday left before im back to work. Its been a gardening week, revamping the borders, moving compost to add soil height, and planning for next year.
Does anyone know what the monarda seeds look like? I have several drying flowerheads on the plant.They will be winging their way to Ireland, the emerald isle...
Thats what pictured. The original mystery plant, named, and flowering beautifully when everything else is running out of steam.

Nasturtium, love the face make up, like an indian 

Last of the roses 

Erysimum 

Nasturtium flower 

Euphorbia SPLURGE 

Dandelion having last flourish 

Tomato plants on stairwell 

A drink of water, then he ran out... 

A bit of a stroke off everyone.. 

He had a walk around, sniffing around the room corners.. 

An unexpected visitor came into the house.The sweetest looking kitten with long fur, a muddy face, and no collar.. 

Alaskan Iris

Today I found the seedpods from this plant Iris Setosa, all the way from Eagle River Alaska. I forgot about them. I have a lot of seeds now, the seed pods had gone soft.
I will plant two rows in the herb garden space to see if they grow. The colour looks amazing.
They are a wet loving Iris so we will see if they can stand up to a yorkshire winter!!
They were cultivated in 1972 from the wild and grown in an Alaskan garden. That makes the line of plants older than me (i was born in 1973).
I will track their progress, and send Nancy a nice xmas present. I dont know if she is online yet with her garden blog. Her garden was full of heirloom plants so it will be good when it does come online..
I have sown pansy seeds in plastic boxes, and started some Hollyhock seeds in the containers. Lets see how they grow....
It was rainy again, but the biggest problem was the wind. Its been cleared up, and tidied the garden so not too much rolled around.
The photo I borrowed from a guy with a collection of wet loving Iris plants:
http://home.pacbell.net/kenww/my_iris/water_loving/water_loving.htm
More posts tomorrow. I have some catalogues to peruse now. I have ordered two more last night, and got one today from Ken Muir: http://www.kenmuir.co.uk/
He has some awesome fruit tree's trained up on space saving rootstock, called Minarettes. The fruit all looks soooooooooo tempting....
I emailed about a secondhand greenhouse too as I looked for one last night.An eight foot by six foot one, made with Aluminium frame, and glass...
I read too much about growing vegetables. Everywhere you look is more advice. Swamped by it. Does anybody know any good books that deal with planning, making, and maintaining a health veg garden?
Love to hear from you all.keep on gardening world!

Fly on proud bird

"A brief candle; both ends burning

An endless mile, a bus wheel turning

A friend to share the lonesome times

A handshake and a sip of wine

So say it loud and let it ring

We are all part of everything

The future, present, and the past

Fly on proud bird

You are free at last"

(Charlie Daniels on the way to his friends funeral)

The poem is for the family Cockatiel who died today. She was a good age, and lived a long and happy life, after Sallyanne rescued her from people who let the kids torment her. She was loud, danced to club music up and down her perches, and loved millett as a treat. The poem is for Sallyanne and Mat, who are upset at the loss. Its funny how pets become companions and friends. Their loss is always heart felt, and the memories of them become vivid.

She is near the house now, where we can remember her. The purple perch with the two love birds is hung above her plot. Next to the Pieris fire mountain.

Rain on my rose

The Rose sunshine takes a pelting..

The magnificent seven

Here in west Yorkshire it rained, and rained. I ventured out for a few pics in the cold rain.
I wanted to see what was flowering still in October.The list has dwindled to:
1) Lavender with its purplish blue flowers.It smells gorgeous.
2) Roses, a few buds remain on the orange tea, and rose sunshine.
3)Busy lizzie cajun great balls of fire
4) Anemones the red one has been splattered by the rain, the blue ones are still developing.They were suppossed to flower in June, and here we are with anemone de caen flowering in October,strange!
5) Erysimum, still continues with candle like yellow flowers, sparse compared to the masses of flowers during the summer.
6)Gladiolus, a few late plants have flower spikes on them.I would like more glads with brighter colours.I have had peach, lilac blue, and a dark crimson/purple flower so far.The slugs have eaten a fair few too..
7)Monarda Lambada..flowering away.I read its a perennial so it should come back next year.I guess i need to cut it when the flowers have all died.
The magnificent seven holding onto the last vestiges of summer. Their are shrubs of course dotted around the borders.The grass is having one last surge of growth before i cut it.I want more bulbs to naturalise in the grass.I want some bluebells around the birch tree.Then i will have an excuse not to cut it.
I still think this plant looks straight out of fraggle rock.The pink crab claw flowers look like a wierd kind of wig!

Spring Bulbs and Sunrise Serenade...

Today I planted my two hundred spring bulbs. My fingernails have dirt under them. I have a vague recollection of where i planted them.
Daffodils and Narcissus, Crocus, Aliums, Snowdrops, and Hyacinth's..
It was hard trying to imagine the garden bare in winter to see where the spring bulbs will grow It was windy too so the labels kept blowing down the garden.
They are like magic beans. Jack planted them and grew a huge beanstalk in popular legend. I now have another reason to look forward to spring. To see how my 200 bulbs perform. Each one will be a suprise. I told Angela i have lost my notebook with plant list and position somewhere upstairs.
I can barely remember what i planted where.I hope they are obvious when they start pushing up from the soil.
Today the morning glory said farewell. I was concerned how dark it was under the arch. I trimmed a bit, then noticed hundreds of seed pods. The slow starting morning glory turned into a monster. It climbed up seven foot, wrapped every inch of metal with tendrils, sucked the soil dry of moisture where it was planted.
I saved some seeds but next year I want something dainty to grow up the arch, that lets the light through .Im thinking of honeysuckle on one side, and a clematis on the other. The seeds will be dried and packaged, then labelled.
Roy from Queensland said it is a vigerous weed in Australia. Seeing how long it took to take down from the arch I can see why. It has a creeping root that goes horizontally, and a vertical taproot. It held onto everything it could grasp. The cold yorkshire winter should end its dreams of world dominance. Its creeping cousin the bindweed still exists here. On GQT they said it was impossible to get rid of it. I know that after two years living with it. I just keep taking the top leafs off. Next doors garden is bindweed/nettle heaven and each year they invade through the fence. Each year I cut it down. But, its like a many headed hydra. You cut one off and thirty grow back!!
The rose bushes need spacing apart and turning because of the way they have grown. For £5 a bush they have been great performers.
The grass needs cutting, thats the only job left.Its getting colder outside now.I needed a jumper today as i was chilly.
Blogger wont let me add a picture of my busy lizzies chilling in the windowsill.They were grown from seeds but only 50% germinated.They are very colourful though for over wintering!!

A link to San Fransisco Bay area

The orange tea rose, the one bloom that is perfect.

I wanted to link Jeanne's blog Uncle Toms Garden. She is the most inspiring blogger for growing herbs, veg, and flowers using the method by the namesake.

http://uncletomsgarden.blogspot.com/

Her pictures show how well the method works for germinating seeds.

I will try it out en masse next year for the herbs, veg, and border plants...

Garden Alchemy

Here is the newly dug, composted herb border next to the bird bath/feeder. I finally took the green bin up and separated the compost into ready and not ready piles.
The front window border (soon to be Vegetable garden) has been dug up, and a good four inches added to the top of the soil. It is dark, sticky, and quite cloggy the compost. It should supress any enterprising weeds from getting a foothold. The only plant left growing is some love in the mist. It has self seeded back into the border from where it came.
The magic of compost is that you make it yourself. From garden waste, plonked into a bin, wetted, squashed, and stirred. Months later, gardening alchemy has transformed it from waste to new earth. At the bottom was the most gorgeous soil. It even had worms which are now back in the soil. My own natural earth engineers. Who cant be charmed by worms when you find them? They may be small but they are industrious, churning through the earth.Pushing old soil up, and new soil down.

To the left is the kitchen window border, also newly covered with compost. The forsythia is enormous to the left, the cottinus with its rich colours of red and burgundy is in the centre. On the right hand side is the euonymus green and gold. The newly planted pinks are by the cottinus. The pieris fire mountain is next to the pink.
My two japenese maples are sat in the pots. I need a sheltered place for them. I love the tree's but they are totally unsuited to a yorkshire garden on a hillside. They need peace, and tranquility in a zen garden..
Tomorrows garden jobs will be cut the grass before it gets too long. Plant two hundred spring bulbs. Drink lots of coffee whilst doing that. After shoveling compost and transporting it I need a bath. Ha,ha its a smelly job, but i loved it.

Clay,Veg and Herbs

I got out today into the garden late.however I was quite industrious..

It seems strange preparing beds for next year now.I guess when i go back to work it will be less easy to get out.If i sort as much out now i can relax later.

The bulbs are not yet planted.I wanted to sort out the front window border for revamping.

The square border has been weeded and dug, and looks reasonable with hosta's, busy lizzies, and late blooming anemones.Im thinking of some winter pansys or primroses in here.When the frost strikes the border will be thinned out.The soil is nice now, cloddy but moist.Everything is growing well.This years lesson: Mulch!The sun dried out the top three inches of soil so it was more desert than yorkshire.

The front window border has been transformed.Out come the evening primrose, summer bulbs like glads but smaller, pink plant, and goodbye to the ratty snapdragons and Oxalis.The light faded so i left the digging and adding compost untill tomorrow.I think I will also layer the top with cardboard to stop the weeds getting in.I need to work out how to raise the level of the soil.The water must go straight down, leaving the clay soil hard and not very good.No matter what i put in there it has struggled.This will be the eight foot by four foot veggie border.I want something to stick in the ground so the soil is raised.It will have loads of organic matter mixed in to try to retain the moisture.Once the veg are planted and growing i could mulch it.I read in Blackberry wine the guy laid old carpet between veggie rows to keep the weeds out.

The Chaenomeles has been dug up and potted.I have not see one quince fruit.Other tree's i have seen have got loads on.I will replant it somewhere...

The space vacated by that has been dug up.I want to extend it sideways so i can have a herb garden by the fence, near to the kitchen.I will try uncle toms method to grow seedlings then plant them in the newly dug area.I found a huge BRICK which was embedded in the clay.This needs lots of organic matter to try to retain moisture.The quince tree has not done very well there at all.

The cactus have been repotted and brought inside.It was too wet, and i threw some away that had rotted.They are in the bedroom now.

I will take pics tomorrow.Pictured is my peach flowered Gladiolus before it keeled over in the rain.All my glads are at sixty degree angles to the soil.Will sort out more garden tomorrow.

Pyracantha, GQT, and Apple Strudel

I made Sallyanne traditional scottish short bread, and today I made an apple strudel. Home made filo pastry. It has just come out of the oven and smells divine. It just needs to cool down slightly, and be dusted with icing sugar.
It rained loads today. Everything is looking lush and green. When I went out shopping I noticed loads of Pyracantha, or firethorn. (lifted pic left!)
Last night I actually listened to an episode of Gardeners question time. It even had the famous Bob Flowerdew. His voice does not match his photo at all!!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/gqt/
One of the questions was about Pyracantha. I googled the plant names as they mentioned them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyracantha
Its been running for fifty years, but the podcast was the first time i listened to it. Sallyanne has real player which my now defunct laptop did not have...
Whenever you find a name of a plant you suddenly see it everywhere! I also saw a smokebush with the wispy flowers outside a fastfood place when i was shopping.
http://hcs.osu.edu/hort/plantlisting/C/Cotinus604.html ,I checked mine but alas no flowers!
Tomorrow will be a good gardening day.If its dry I will trim the grass.If its wet I will do the other chores.Moving plants from the front window border to the back.That needs digging and compost added to it.That is next years veggie patch!
I have two hundred spring bulbs to plant. The daffodils are enormous, the others were small. The only spring bulbs i want to shop for tomorrow are bluebells and tulips. The range was limited at the shop. Or quicker gardeners have already bought them all. At least i have broken my spring bulb duck, as long as they get planted...
My silver birch tree's leaves are turning yellow. The summer is drawing to a close, and Autumn is creeping upon us. I wander if there is a set date that summer ends and autumn begins?
More musings, and garden reports tomorrow.

Long border Shot.Abysinnian glads, Nasturtium second coming, and Lavender.Three of seven dwarfs looking on. 

Anemone on October Sunday 

Sunday shopping and dinner

I finally went bulb shopping. Light bulbs for our house, and spring bulbs for me. Its been a grey, windy, rainy kind of day.
I went to B&Q today, about five months since my April visit. Oh my gosh, its like a sweet shop for plant lovers. Everywhere you turn there are gorgeous plants. House plants and cactus, multi colored heathers, chrysanthenums, Heucheras (gottta go back to buy these!!!!), winter primula's, Pyracanthus, late flowering roses, bare root roses like my sunshine and frosty morning, Dusty millers...Thats the ones i can remember...
I searched for some spring bulbs, and searched, and searched. Finally i found some bulbs. Daffodils and Narcissus, large crocus, Aliums, and some Hyacinth's which are scented.
I bought Sallyanne a small house rose plant, with peach/orange flowers. Alas they are not scented but it looks divine!

Pictured is Sallyanne's rose. I have over two hundred bulbs to plant. Eeek, they were supposed to be easy gardening.Once they are planted they are i guess.Then i will have something to look forward to, and bloggers can expect flowering pics earlier than this year.As i said before i normally miss the bulb boat and remember about November..