The Late Companian

The Nasturtiums I sowed have flowered at last. I grew them to be a companion plant to protect the Cabbages.
They have grown too late, and the Cabbages have been eaten by the White Butterfly caterpillars.
Today is the first dry day this week. It has rained for most of July. The third wettest in a row...
I need to tidy the garden, and continue digging the allotment.
The birds and butterflys are flying around the garden. The Gladiolus are forming flower spikes.
Geraniums, Verbenas, Snapdragons, Clivias, and the Crocosmia are all in bloom. There are splashes of colour around the garden.
I hope we have some sunshine soon for our two week holiday. Its been wet since Tatton.
I love the colours of the Nasturtiums and they are so easy to grow from seed...

RHS Tatton Park 3

The RHS/ Ball-Colegrave bedding plant competition takes part at Tatton Park every year. Local authority's, communities, and colleges make floral displays with a story behind each one. They are arranged along the central axis of the show ground, where people can walk up and down admiring the amount of work put into constructing them, and the overall masses of colours. All the competitors use bedding plants from the sponsors catalogue...
This entry was from Lancaster city council called 23.. remembering 23 Chinese migrant workers died in 2004 as they picked Cockles in Morecombe Bay. Two bags of cockles sit on the right of the display.


This was Manchester City Councils Time For Change. Manchester is planning on becoming the greenest city in the UK. It showed the world, penguins, and piles of rubbish...

Sheffield City Council's display was called Sheffield, Forging the Future. The figure pours molten metal into the cast. The city is famous throughout the world for its steel (think cutlery).

This display was called Noah's Ark, and was from Cheshire West and Chester Borough council. Chester zoo is one of its most visited tourist attractions there. I love the wooden carved animals.

The Darlington Borough Council and Woodburn nursery entry was called Small Beginnings. The Woodburn Nursery opened in 1982 and now supplies councils around the country with quality bedding plants. The bed represents a tunnel of finished bedding plants awaiting transportation.

I love this giant honey bee, the entry from Newcastle-Under-Lyme. The Honey Bee has been in decline in the Uk, and it is well documented, this display was called The Plight Of The Honey Bee. I do like the blue flower, and the white Bee hive behind it.

My hometowns entry (Cheltenham Borough Council) was back at Tatton this year with A Big Shoplifter Caught. This display celebrates the act of pachyderm crime in 1934..

A Circus was parading through the town centre when three Elephants broke free. They went into a shop to steal potatoes. One went inside to feed, and the other got stuck in the doorway. They are banned to this day from the shop.

Dumfries And Galloway council's was called JM Barries Peter Pan. He wrote in the garden at Montbrae house in Dumfries. I love the Crocodile with his tongue hanging out ready to eat Captain Hook..

Mansfield District Councils entry was called Gold A Tribute To Mansfields Golden Duo. These were Rebecca Addlington, and Sam Hynd who herald from there. You can just about see Beijing 2008 in the photo above.

Stoke On Trent's City council entry was called Potteries To Patagonia. This remembers the ship HMS Swift that sank off Patagonia in 1770 laden with pottery from Stoke On Trent. It was discovered in 1982 with a lot of the pottery still intact. The display shows the ships hull on the sea bed with the pottery immersed in the sea floor sand. This won best Bedding plant display..

The Metropolitan Borough Of Bury's entry was called Who Was Brian Gamlin? The man who invented the numbers on the modern dartboard, mixing high numbers next to low numbers. I loved the giant darts and the dartboard in the background.

This was Partington Town Councils entry called Partington Past. There is a viking ship arriving on the river Mersey, and the rural farming area it used to be.

This colourful display was not part of the bedding plant competition. It was called Whole In One, a representation of a crazy golf course. It said that everybody has holiday memories of playing Crazy Golf and that they just added some flowers. The Ornamental Protected Association always come up with big displays at Tatton. I liked the windmill that turned.

The RHS ran another Schools competition this year called The Wonderful World Of Veg. Primary and Junior schools around Cheshire grew Vegetables from Seeds, and found some recycled containers to display them at Tatton. the public got to vote for their favourite Schools container. This was mine and cats favourite with the wellington boots used as pots on a dresser
..
I loved this Rabbit in a red jacket. The schools took photos of their pupils doing the gardening and laminated the pictures. They were on display near their entry's..

This was a recycled bathroom set, bath, toilet and sink used as plant holders. I think the Schools had to use something recycled for a container, for this years green theme.

I love the bicycle too festooned with plants. The idea behind the competition was too show children where vegetables come from. A seed company supplied them with the seeds for the pupils to start dabbling in growing. some of the plants were beautifully grown despite being left in the elements. Hand painted and hand made containers adorned all the displays.

I enjoyed this use of pop bottle tops to decorate plant pots. I have a weakness for Sunflowers too..

A groovy push cart with Salad leafs growing in it, and on the roof...

This tin man was made from recycled coke cans, cut into small bits and stapled together. The figures were like scarecrows, but just as inventive as the containers, and colouring.

I have scoured the RHS Tatton Park website to find which school won the competition. If anybody knows can they tell me, so I can blog it!

The last two photos are from the Schools gardens. Three local schools got to make gardens at the show. It was designed to show the children's creativity and interest in gardening.

This was our favourite garden with the plants and figures representing nursery rhymes. We stood for ages trying to work out where each rhyme was explained, like Little Bo Peep, Oranges and Lemons, Humpty Dumpty, and so on.
That concludes my snapshot of the 2009 RHS show at Tatton Park.I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I hope to be there next year again.

RHS Tatton Park 2

The second days posts of Tatton start with a show garden I forgot I photographed. The gardens were arranged around rows and avenues, and some were harder to find than others.This was the BBC Northwest Tonight garden called Edible Trends.

It was a mixture of Abstract art, some groovy metal structures that looked like Dandelion seed heads, perennials, and fruit and veg. Cabbages were planted amongst the perennials that flowed along the outside of the garden.

This was designed by the Reaseheath College Garden and landscape design students. I looked at it twice, and kept seeing new things at every visit. The circular outline of the garden meant it was very hard to photograph. The submitted plan in the brochure looks nothing like this. The plan was flat with swirling colours. The garden was three dimensional, but I liked this a lot.

A new type of garden was at this years show. It was called Visionary gardens. I have shown some photos of the strangeness of them. Its like abstract gardening, its okay if you get it. This first one is called Cubed3 by Alan Burns and Philip Dugdale.

The second visionary garden was called Glyndwrs Vision by Peter Styles for the Welsh College of Horticulture. The program guide says this is a structural work designed to be viewed from all angles. The content is all related to Wales.

The third Visionary garden is called Time And the Bell, a line from a poem by T.S.Elliot. It is a mixture of Bamboos and grasses in limited pallet of colours. I did not understand any of the visionary gardens. It was a new category for me to photograph at Tatton this year.

The back to back gardens were good this year at Tatton. They are smaller than the show gardens but packed with ideas, plants, and structures. They are the heart of the show. This first one is called A Shared Space by Graham Bodle. It shows a garden shared between two households.

This garden looks like it has been around for years. Its Tim Fowlers Forgotten But Not Overlooked. It shows how a neglected shady area can be planted. I liked the use of reclaimed and recycled material. The shed has a down pipe catching water in a barrel. It rained a lot when we were there too so it did not need topping up much. This won the gold medal and best back to back garden in show.

Another garden that used reclaimed materials (an old snooker table for example) was the Finchdale Training College a load of old rubbish. It had solar panels for wifi for the open air studying in the corner.

Finchale training college trains people with disabilities for full time employment. The blurb in the book says "As with discarded items in the garden, they reshape marginalised and overlooked individuals into valuable and fully functioning members of society".
I loved the black tiles that reflected the densely planted borders. I like lots of colours.The mirror at the end reflected all the people stood looking at the garden. It got a silver medal..

David Dixons garden was called A Place For Waste. He constructed it with off cut timbers, chippings, old wine bottles, and scrap metal. the wine bottles make decorative structures around the tree's. It has a seating area at the end of the garden. This won a gold medal.

This garden was designed by Hugh Thomas and was called The Dark Horse Venture Garden "Out The Back". It looks like the back of a terraced house, and shows what you can grow in tubs and up the wall. Everything in it was grown from seed this year, except the fruit tree's. It is beautifully planted with annual flowers, as well as the vegetables. This won a gold medal.

This is why they design, plan, and construct the gardens. The prestigious RHS gold medal.I loved how some designers left them on display. People debate why one garden gets a certain medal and the other one doesn't.I think they wait nervously on judging day for the judges to scrutinise their gardens before the awards are made.


I loved the warm colour of this garden, and the loose prairie type planting around the edges of it. Bernie Quinn's garden called Lose The Shoes. The shoes are left on the entry to the reflexology pathway with raised stones to walk on. The garden engages all five senses.

The bird of Paradise sculpture fits in with the fiery passionate colours. There is cascading water, and swaying Bamboos and grasses. Oregano, Rosemary, and Thyme offer their scents. It is a thoughtful garden, and won a Silver medal.

The University of Chester's garden was called Let Knowledge Grow. It was a line from a Tennyson poem. This is a quiet garden for reflection and study.

I liked the leaded glass panels, which celebrated the 170 years that the institution has been around for. This panel shows the University being built. This garden will be recreated in the University's grounds as the Alumni garden.

This garden was called Down Under Jennys 1950's Backyard. The designer is an Australian lady who was a volunteer at Tatton Park (the Estate house). She submitted a design and got chosen to build it this year. It is a representation of her Dads house in Australia in the 1950s. A mixture of edible plants and flowers in red, white, and blue. There is a traditional Dunny too.I actually spoke to her and asked if she would do it again. She is returning to Australia this year, but with a Silver medal.
Christies were back again this year with a garden called Closer To Home, designed by Andrew Walker. Christies are a cancer centre that treats 40,000 patients a year. They are planning to open a new Radiotherapy centre in Oldham Hospital as at the moment all the patients travel to Manchester. This garden will be rebuilt in the new Oldham centre.

It is a very calming garden with the lilac coloured walls, still water, and clipped Topiary shapes. calming pastel flowers are dotted around the garden.

The last Back to Back Garden today is the Hermits Grotto-Inspiration For Imagination. That is a real man sat in the cave. It is based on the story of John Harris, who after he was rejected by a woman lived in the cave until he was 99 years old in the Tatton estate.
That is a selection of my favourite gardens. One more post tomorrow from Tatton. There was a feast for the eyes I thought. I hope you are enjoying my tour of the flower show...

RHS Tatton Park Flower Show 1

Last Sunday me and Cat went with the girls (Hils, Angela, and Julia) to the last big RHS flower show of the year at Tatton Park. It is the final hurrah to the summer, and the equivalent of the Chelsea of the North. All the other flower shows are southern based. This was my third year of visiting, and I love the wait for the rest of the year. Its like being allowed in a sweet shop once a year, and I have a very sweet tooth!There was masses of gardens (about sixty all told), hundreds of horticulture and sundry shops, the Country Life magazine pavilion, the enormous Floral Marquee, food courts, plant society's marquee, the florist's tent, and a band stand. All children got in free this year as well, the show was quite child friendly with schools gardens, and activities around the grounds like painting and making vegetable faces..

This post will be about some of the Show gardens. There were recurrent themes throughout all the gardens. Ecology and recycling seemed high up on the designers plans. The opening photo is of the Aughton Green landscapes/Big Pond Company. I love running water, and colourful planting. People stood and looked at the waterfall at the end.I would love a big garden with a big pond like this one..

The show was packed full of colour which will become apparent with the photos. Not green like Chelsea last year. The designers listened to peoples complaints and decided to use as many colours as possible. This one exhibits a wide pallet of colours softly planting the hard edges of the ponds.

The gardens once planted look like they have been around for years. Its amazing how the insects buzz into the gardens like this Bee. He was happy at the Lavender..

The Bridgemere nursery garden was designed by Roger Pierce, and Johnathon Tew. It has a mixture of Herbs, Herbaceous plants, Vegetables, and Fruit Trees. There was a table and chairs in the middle amongst the billowing plants of the borders.

I am a fan of mass planting and do not like bare soil. These guys packed the plants into this garden and it was spectacular..

This was one of my favourite show gardens called the Little Hen Rescue garden. It was a garden usable by people to relax, and for chickens to run about. I loved the planting of the oranges and purples along the edges of the garden. A water container was decorated with orange and yellow snooker balls..

The plants are all in raised beds to avoid the pecking attention of the Chickens. This reminded me of last years Ladies That Lunch garden. The plant sale at the end of the show went to the charity that rescues thousands of battery and barn Hens. The planting here was done to make it low maintenance. I want some chickens one day...

The show this year had a new class called young designer of the year. they chose two young designers under the age of 25, from many entrants and let them design, and build a show garden. Next years Tatton Park flower show will have three young designers exhibiting. This entry was called Revolution was by Andy Gibson and Paul Duffy.

The maddest part was the rounded decking in the centre had ropes attached to it. The two Bamboos were planted in this circle. The decking could be rotated around 360 degrees to move the shade where the sun is. I like the Chamomile bench that you can fragrantly lie on. I love this Echinaceas next to the Sambucus. These cone flowers were the flower that was in the most gardens on display.

The Thyme and Money for Cancer Research garden played on the name of the herb. It used its charity logo as the main design in the corner. The planting radiated out with soft planting along hard lines. there were a row of bay trees, and a grove of Olive Trees that ranged from young to 200 years old.

Mary Hoult designed it, and had a Mediterranean feel to it with the gravel and terracotta pots. It was full of carefully thought out symbolism. I just liked it, I do not think too hard about the inner meanings. I read the brochure to see what the designers were thinking about.

From the back corner you can see the herb planting, bay trees, and the Olive Trees that were planted from young to oldest..

I liked this garden called Revolution by Phillipa Probert. the Seating areas had these groovy yellow cubed cushions. The planting was done along the lemon yellow coloured planters, in various angles.

This was the second of the young designer garden by Lee Belgrau called Red Rhythm. It won a gold medal and him the title of Young Designer of the year. Its a garden of contrasts, and lovely planting. The Red Structures make it vertical, and there is a still water feature by the seating area. He wanted to attract Bee's into the garden with nectar rich plants.

July is the month for the Crocosmias, and he has planted them under the red pillars along with grasses, and Heucheras.

This garden was called That Awkward Corner by Clive Scott. It was sponsored by the Pathology network. A lot of the plants used have used now in medicine such as Willow for Aspirin, and Foxgloves for Digoxin. This was a garden designed for a shady corner. Strangely for this years show it had no hard surfaces, so the rain water would go down to the water table.

This garden was called the Fibonacci Numbers In Nature. Stephen Dennis designed a minimalistic garden based on the numbers. The curves of Snail shells, the whorls of Daisy's and sunflowers all follow the Fibonacci numbers. The metal structure was supposed to be like the Birds nest stadium in Beijing.

This was called Strictly Come Gardening. It was full of curves, and metal figurines dancing. A play on the dancing show here..

This is a very unusual fountain, fed by metal channels that curved around the gardens paths..

The dancing figurines spin around the mass planting. Grasses, and soft pastel flowers underneath them..

I love the Lavenders and Agapanthus. The planting follows the light blue walls around the garden. From every angle it is curves..

A sunken Seating area is just below the fountain, surrounded by masses of flowers. You'd disappear under the flowers invisible from the ground above.

The last photo today is from the Lake District Bluebird garden. The dry stone wall is in a figure eight loop. This was based on the infinity symbol planted on the side of the boats attempting the water speed record. The Bluebird K7 was sat nearby, the last boat that Donald Campbell attempted in the 1960's.
I still need to blog about the Back To Back gardens, school gardens, visionary gardens, and the bedding plant displays.
More from Tatton tomorrow

Suprised Visitor

This very slim baby Cat keeps sitting on the green building at the back of the garden watching the birds. He is only a baby and is so sweet looking.

He shyly looks at me taking his photo, when he is not looking high up at the tree's watching the birds. They sit far too high for him to get at. The black cat with the bell hides in the borders trying to catch the birds. He runs if I come into the garden.

We have made a bird sanctuary, with all the feeders, bird table, plants for insects, and the water bowl and birdbath. The concentration of birds obviously attracts these suprise felines from the neighbourhood.
We went to Tatton Park yesterday in the rain. The last big RHS flower show of the year. It rained most of the day, but never dampened my spirits or my camera. I have over two hundred photos to choose from for some blog posts.

Daisys

I finally finished my nights and can now enjoy two and a half weeks off. The garden is growing madly and the weeds are everywhere.
I have the RHS Tatton Park flower show on Sunday to look forward to.
The large Daisys are growing in the garden from weedy looking bases. I chopped them back in the side border, but these are flowering under the Apple tree.
They are such happy flowers..

Great Yorkshire Show

We went to the Great Yorshire Show last Thursday. This was the second time I have been there. It was sunny most of the day, and it was absolutely packed. We saw these young riders being judged in the white Rose ring near where we came in. The Show highlights country life and country pursuits, such as riding and showjumping for horsemanship.

The stables were full of grooms and owners busily washing, brushing, and preening the horses. These were my favourite Clydsdales getting their fetlocks washed clean. They stood placidly, enjoying the attention.

The Welsh Horses only had two entrants. This man sprinted around the Arena with this very feisty Horse. The Horse was trotting but the man worked up a sweat as he tried to keep up with him. They won the Rosette...

The Yorkshire eye had made a return, and the crowds queued to go up in it for a birdseye view of the Showground. The show uses the whole of the showground so its a lot of walking around it. You need flat shoes..

We looked at the Poultry, and found Ducks being shown at the back. The noise in the Poultry house was deafening. All manner of Cockerals and Hens were being displayed for judging.

Near to the Black Sheep Pub the Sheep Shearing truck was there again. The Kiwi man demonstrates Sheepshearing for the onlooking crowd. I love how he flips the sheep on its back to relax it whilst he clips off the fleece.

The highlight for the day for me was the birds of Prey display. They flew Vultures, a Golden Eagle, a Black Kite, A Kara Kara, and an Barn Owl..

These are amazing creatures, and the crowds flocked around. The flying birds can entrance people as they flew around the arena.

There were livestock too around the Showground. These Bull came out decorated with all the rosettes he had won before. The detail payed to prepare them is amazing. Washing, brushing, cleaning, and making them immaculate. The owners familys were encamped too in the cattle sheds as they were made ready for judging. Old and young busily making their animals look beautiful.

They were paraded out and the judges inspect them before giving out Rosettes..

This Goat came over to me to inspect Cats bag and tried to start eating it. I actually stroked her, and the owner (sat behind me) said she had been biting visitors who tried to pet her earlier on during the week.I loved all the animals. These were the stars of the show.

The Last photo shows the Cock O The North Show jumping.We had to leave early again so we never watched much of it. I would love to go to all three days of the show.
There were shops, farmers unions, car dealerships, agricultural machinery dealers, milking machines..
The show has run for 151 years now. It was a fun day out, despite us getting sun burnt. We'll be back next year im sure.
I hope the photos give a flavour of the show.

Stargazer Sunday

One of my favourite Lilys in flower now. The American bred 1970's style Stargazer Lily.
I love the gaudy colours of the petals, the orange stamen, and the Strawberry jam splattering in the centre of the flower.
This is the second year that this has flowered. I left the bulb in a pot, let it die back and it has resprouted the stem, leaves, and the flower buds.
I took over one hundred photos at the Great Yorkshire show on Thursday. It was so hot we got burnt. Will do a post tomorrow about the animals of the show....
We are eating Sunday dinner today with our raised veg beds Carrots, Peas, and French Beans from the grow bag.
Hope you all have good weekends, whatever the weather.

Baby Zorro

A baby Blue Tit was sat on the feeder the other day. He is still so fluffy, with baby bird feathers. I love his Zorro mask.
I worked today, and am going tomorrow to the Great Yorkshire Show in Harrogate. The camera batterys are charging. I loved seeing all the animals last year being shown at the showgrounds.
I hope the weather holds and that it is not pouring with rain.
I looked around the garden tonight at my Yellow Roses, the Stargazer Lily, and the Blue Fuschia that was in flower.
The garden is full of flowers, and insects buzzing around during the day, and quieter ones at night. I love the natural world, and enjoy watching it at close range in the garden.

Yellow Magic

The Rose Golden Celebration in flower today. It survived being moved from the old house to here, and planted in the newly dug border.
The other Rose has grown leaves but no flowers yet.
The other transplanted Rose Margaret Merrill has also not flowered at all. It has grown leaves but was crowded by vigerous plants.
I spent three hours clearing the allotment plot today, in the hot sunshine. Only one fifth has been cleared so far.
I am working tomorrow, then going to the Great Yorkshire Show in Harrogate on Thursday.
It will be Sunday before I can get back upto the plot to continue the clearing.
This yellow Rose smells divine, a traditional old Rose smell...

The Lost Plot

We went to the allotment this morning to try and dig over a little more. The green behind me in the photo is a mixture of grasses, thistles, dock leaves, stinging nettles, bindweed, and a few other species. It was a boiling hot day and i sweated out all the coke I drank.
I am making slow progress at the end closest to the Rhubarb and Globe Artichoke plants. I will go back tomorrow to cut down the tall stuff, dig up the Raspberrys that are buried under weeds, and lay down some black tarpaulin over the ground we do not need. It can be cleared over the course of this year.
The plants I took down are Courgettes, Squash, Pumpkin, and Cabbages. There will also be Leeks to grow on down there.
Still to work out is where a shed can go with water butts, and multiple compost bins. I am generating loads of composting materials.

I founf this beastie asleep under some nettles. It was a white Moth that had little green eyes, and kept lifting its wings and turning them from side to side to catch the updrafts. He has some Condor blood in him. He flew off to sleep in some nettles.
I forgot how tiring it is clearing an allotment plot. The fun is planting, tending, and growing Vegetables. Then the best part is harvesting them and eating them.
I write this with muddy clothes, and aching muscles. I hope the rain stays away tomorrow so I can keep the allotment clearing going.

Tutu's

The Fuschia Natasha Sinton in bloom in the hanging basket. The double pink flowers look like ballerina's in pink tutu's.
The rain has been falling all night. We repaired our leaky third water butt yesterday, as the tap was loose so it dripped the collected rain out.
There are three in a row by the side of the greenhouse.
I'm working today, so no more gardening untill tomorrow. The garden birds are out in force this morning. I have seen Starlings, Goldfinches, Blue tits, and Coal Tits.
More rain is forecast today..

Butterfly Wings

The Butterfly bush lived upto its name this morning by attracting this lovely Butterfly. I have only seen Cabbage whites flying around the raised Vegetable beds. This one alighted on the musky blue flowers and was feasting on its nectar, with his long probiscus.

I moved closer and closer, and when he realised I was just a crazy gardener he continued his nectar breakfast. The colours are amazing from the top, from beneath he is black coloured. He rested a while on the Cabbage leaves, and then the paving slab by the veg patch gate.
The Buddlea has been spreading across Britain since it was brought back from China. Its wilder cousin self seeds across railway lines, waste ground, and building sites.
The masses of flower plumes always attract Bee's and Butterflys in droves. I love the Butterflys flitting in and out of the garden, wild garden spirits.

Birthday And Butterflys

I have finished my night shifts this morning. The sun has been shining today. This is the first butterfly that I have been able to photograph in the new garden.
This one alighted on the Hebe bush with the fluffy purple flowers. I do not know what kind it is.
I read that the numbers of Painted Lady butterflys spotted in the UK has boomed this year.They have flown all the way from Spain.
I saw a baby House Sparrow this morning sat in our Apple tree singing to its parents to feed it!
I have a few days off now to take more photos and watch the birds..
Its Cats birthday today...Happy Birthday to you.....

Madonna Lily

This is my second Madonna Lily flower in bloom. They smell lovely (like Heather Honey I have just read).
These were grown over 3500 years ago in Crete. They are symbolic of the purity of the Virgin Mary.
I looked for years for the bulbs, before finding them for sale at the Autumn Flower Show in Harrogate.
I planted the bulb at the old house, but had to dig it up and have kept it in a pot.
I need to find some moist soil in a shaded place for it. It grows a rosette of leaves over the winter before they die back in june,before it flowers in July.
I caught some horrible green caterpillar inside where the flower buds were growing, enwrapped up in a leaf tent that the parent had sewn shut. Once I opened the leaf tent I removed the beastie. The flower bulbs have developed and bloomed. If i had not caught it, the beastie would have eaten all the Lilys flower buds.
It will be interesting to see if I can make it repeat flower. The scent is lovely, sweet, and heady when the breeze catches it.
It was well worth the wait of finding a bulb for sale of this ancient Lily..

Kakopo

I got a postcard today from my sister Jawsy, who is in New Zealand for a year. The postcard had six photos of the birds of New Zealand. My favourite one was this one called Kakapo, Maori for Night Parrot.

Jawsy said she would need to stay awake all night to see it. I did some Google research and found out she would need to become a conservation volunteer to see real live Kakapo's! They were decimated on all the main Islands of NZ, and are being kept in predator free conservation islands away from the mainland.
There are only aproximately 120 Birds alive in these enclaves. The Maori's hunted them, as did the British later. They are heavy set with sharp claws and beak, but do not fight off predators. They stay still and try to blend into the background. The introduced predators from the migrants began to decimate their numbers.
The Males hold court in Leks (like male Stags in the Scottish Highlands), hollows with good acoustics near to trees or grass banks, booming with their voices to attract females. Alas hunters could work out where they were by the noise, from upto 5km away with the wind carrying the boom.
They are flightless, and became nocturnal to avoid daytime predators like the now extinct Golden Eagle. They can live to between 95 to 120 years which is amazing levity in a bird.
From the 1980's there has been an ongoing effort to stop the species becoming extinct. It is a good study for conserving what is unique in nature, and shows how direct intervention sometimes is necesary to keep a species going (ie Handfeeding chicks when the main fruit failed, they starved to death in the first few years before the conservationist realised action was needed.)
As of April 2009 there were 125 Kakapo..


Today it has poured down with heavy rain. The waterbutts are overflowing. We need to buy another one. Once you start trying to save something (ie rainwater) you realise how much of it is not utilised. Its pure simplicity to put downpipes from roofs to catch water, for gardening and for replenishing ponds.
The photo shows the Starling baby, and a House Sparrow sharing the fatballs by the Narnia light.
Today I have seen Magpies holding court on the fatballs, a pair of loved up Collared Doves, Goldfinches, a male Greenfinch, House Sparrows, and Starlings.
Thank goodness that some New Zealanders realised how special the worlds heaviest, flightless Parrot was, and made steps to try and continue its gene pool.
It makes you appreciate the birds in your own garden, and how dull it would be without their feathered colours, and songs.

Jazz Festival

The Dianthus in the side border is in flower now. It has a slight smell of cloves about it. They were called Jazz Festival and are a mixture of these light/dark pink, magenta, and white flowers.
I went to the allotment today for about three hours before it started raining. Wet weather stopped my progress...
Its a daunting prospect the weed infested plot, but im slowly clearing it foot by foot.
I hope to plant my Vegetable plants that are sat on a table by the greenhouse.

Colours And Cream

One of the hanging baskets on the side fence near the kitchen door. I love the Lotus Flowers, and Petunias. The innocent white flowers, contrasting to the flame coloured claws of the Lotus Flower. I bought them from the Spring Flower show. The dark Lilac Petunias are double flowered and called Priscilla.

A Magpie is inspecting the water Buts closely. I restocked the food the other day, but the birds have been slow in visiting today. The heat is non stop, with only one days rain in the past few weeks. The problem I have is the soil had not been managed well before we came. I need to add my compost once it has rotted down. The extra organic matter will help retain moisture in the very dry soil. At the moment the water runs through it to the clay underneath.
The only additional watering has been of the hanging baskets, and the Vegetable containers. The Tomato plants, the French Beans, the Runner Beans, and the New Potatoes are all growing beautifully.
The raised beds had a layer of manure dug into them before I planted them. They are only dry on top, but retain water below the dried out surface. Everything is growing spectacularly...

I did not get to the allotment today, because I watched the Mens singles final at Wimbledon on BBC 1. Roger Federer won an epic match against the gutsy Andy Roddick. Thats it for another year of tennis at Wimbledon. Even Pete Sampras flew in to watch the final. The Strawberrys and Cream, and Pims were flowing. They are iconic of a British summer.

Sunflower Race Update

The Sunflowers continue to grow by the fence. I planted the seeds in three pots with the names marked on sticks.
They are giant single Sunflowers, and are outgrowing the Sunflower Moulin Rouge I planted in Hils greenhouse.
They are towering over the Lady Emma Hamilton Rose, the Madonna Lilly, the Leopards Bane, and the Camellia.
The garden Gnomes and Pink Flamingo look on. The garden birds seem to plant lots of Sunflower seeds wherever they drop them!
I love Sunflowers. They are such artistic flowers, and remind me of Summer.
Sunflower races are fun for kids and adults alike, and for the birds afterwards to eat them.

Sea Holly

My first day off, and the rain has poured down. I love the architectural qualitys of the Sea Holly photographed here. They never grew very much last year. This year they have grown and are growing nicely.
I wanted to find some Teasels, as they were quite spectacular last year at the old house. The Goldfinches are supposed to love the dried seedheads.
The new garden will be perfect to see if they are attracted to the Teasels.
Its the mens semi final at Wimbledon today. The two Andys are playing now (Murray, and Roddick).
I am planning on going to the plot over the weekend if its not pouring down with rain.
Its still humid today. We need a thunderstorm to reduce the humidity.
I went out today and bought lots of bird food, to replenish the dwindling garden feeders. Seed mix, Niger seed, and Sunflower hearts.
We have three Sunflowers in a race to grow the biggest flower. I am trailing in third place, behind Tom and Cat.
The Sunflower Moulin Rouge have not grown as well as the Asda Sunflower seeds.Giant Singles I think.
The birds will love the sunflower seeds in the Autumn. I saw Blue Tits hanging upside down at Cats house eating them off the dried flower head.
I hope you all have good weekends..

Floral Art And Tennis

This beautiful pink flower was growing at Hils the other day. When we stopped for lunch I took a few photos of her flowers. I think this is a Chrysanthenum. The structure and colours are so intricate. You could paint a picture just of the concentric flower petals and the inner stamens stained with yellow.

I am off work today, but the temperature outside is soaring around 26 degrees centigrade. Sweat pours off you even just standing still. I am staying indoors away from the searing heat.
I went to have my eyes tested, and new glasses made. I want to be able to see the garden birds from the window without resorting to the binoculars.
I am typing this and watching Andy Murray play his Wimbledon quarter final. It has been good for British tennis having a player who can compete with other world class players.
The Strawberrys will be flowing at the old England club in south west London. Im working tomorrow then I have three days to goto the new Allotment to continue the slow transformation from wilderness to productive plot.
I may grow Chrysanthenums at the allotment, as well as traditional Vegetables.