Photos from the Past

I wrote that Frans Dad had emailed me, and he sent some photos that show the garden in the 1950's, 1970's, and i of course have photographed it as it is now.

The landscape has altered with houses, and football pitches, the pig farm has gone (goodbye pigs), and a beck has been filled in I guess.

The garden holds the secrets and stories from the past.As we dug we saw the work that had ben done before. The stories flowed about what it had been like in the past.

A garden renovation and tidying up, became a history lesson. The ghosts of the past were still there in old coins, marbles, escaped pigs, scarlet fever, and flowers grown. Its cool Fran bought her family home, with all the attached memories and remembrances. Her family are still around to fill in the memory gaps, and to make the past part of the present.

The post about Garden treasures was about the connectedness of life, of people, of things lost in the soil to be found.

Coins, marbles, lost toys, mason jars, girls handprints in concrete.

Through the miracle of the internet, and a time machine lets see how it looked in various years :)

1957: The end of the garden with the concrete washer post as the maker of where the garden ends, and the field ends.There were still tree'd though....

1972: The concrete washing post is there.I see the Fence is there now, as are the tree's...

Frans Grandad i guess, with mountains of wall flowers and a cactus.He liked to grow massed bedding plants for the front garden borders..

Bless her, Fran and her brother by a Quince tree.The grass was lush back then.This must be in the late sixtys or early seventys.I can see an arbour on the side near to the shed, which also doubled as a carpenters woodworking area.

The old vice is still there today...

2007, from yesterday.The concrete washer post is still there, and the fence from 1972.It is the only thing I think left.

I wander how long the Lilac tree and gooseberry bush have been there.They are the oldest things after the washing post, and the fence.

Through talking, and photos we have travelled through time to see how gardens change with generations, yet the common passion links all the people. Gardening in the blood.

Frans Garden Third day

I went back yesterday and helped Fran finish the jobs we wanted to do.The Hydrangea and Callicarpa were dug up from the bermuda triangle.A rectangle at the bottom right of the back garden where nothing grows on except couch grass.

We removed three trugs (pictured left with the newly dug in Hydrangea) of the devils grass.

It is like a carpet of roots spread under the stone chippings and black plastic.It had come through both layers and was happily growing on top.

The stones are more visible, and the grass has retreated to lick its wounds.

We planted the two Honey Suckles up against the fence with some canes to support them whilst they find their bearings.

I got some Crocosmia bulbs which are now in pots.Every bit of soil Fran dug was chocked full of summer bulbs.

The Callicarpa moved to the front, it is still waking up so it will start regrowing soon.Some bulbs were randomly added to the front garden border.

I have some photos of the garden as it used to look.Thanks to Frans dad, who read the posts and emailed me.

I will have to wait for Fran to come around before she can see her photo of a few years ago.

I got sunburnt on the face yesterday, even though it never felt that hot.Red cheekbones and nose!

I rescued Frans Nana's Peace Lilly yesterday, and hope to nurse it back to health.I am back to work and the usual hospital stuff tomorrow.

I can look at my tanned skin, cuts and grazes, and smile remembering my three garden days.I am sure I will go bakc to help Fran garden, or go plant shopping.

Some Flowers from yesterday

Lovely Pink/red flowers Dicentra's in the Front garden border.I love the silvery tear drops...

Saxifrage flower in the sunlight, with gold and yellow centre. This is growing in an old belfast sink now turned into an Alpine garden.You can see the crushed green glass beneath...

I call these cowslips.Primula Veris, my mum used to see these walking around rural Cirencester in Gloucestershire.

Perfect nodding yellow flowers!

Frans free bulbs.A nursery gave her eight free plants that still smell sweet.I cant remember the name Doh, but you plant the bulbs in September to force them, to flower and scent in time for Xmas.

The flowers are very lilly-ish, but quite strong looking.I will alter the post when i remember what they are called :)

Added on Friday the 13th...They are Hyacinths and they smell loveloy.Im going to get some in September as these free specimins have won me over.For Xmas colour and scents!

Frans Garden Again

I was back again to help Fran with the back garden.It has an area of grass which we thought would be good to reseed and try to grow some new grass over the bald patches.

The problems were the kids kicking the seed off and the dog digging in the grass looking for stomes to chew...

The solution was to construct a temporary fence to keep the animals/kids off it whilst the grass seed germinates and hopefullyinto beautiful green grass.

We used chicken wire that had been fixed to the back fence to keep the puppy dog from getting out through the picket fence.

It had been stapled on, and than overrun with brambles and couch grass.

My hands are still slashed from the brambles, the devils own plant with its piercing thorns that stick into your flesh on contact and wont let go.

It took an hour to take off the chicken wire from the back fence and cut back the brambles so

they were on the park side.

The next mission with bleeding hands from the brambles/barbed wire was to get some bamboo canes as fence supports, and some grass seed to sow on the prepared grass.

We visited THREE nurserys in the search for some grass seed.It took a few hours as we looked at all the lovely plants that we could see.

The picture on the left was the Third Nursery. I have never seen so many plants.Its like a colourful massed planting scheme.All the plants on tables outside, all the way around, to the vast indoor spaces.

We finally got the grass seed, a patching one with rye grass in it.Its for kids and dogs to run across so it wont be used for playing lawn bowls :)

On our travels we collected Five tomato plants, Two Honeysuckles, A dicentra Spectablis Alba for me, six geraniumplants as i could not find the seeds in Sainsburys yesterday, and a massive bunch of Daffodils for Frans vase.

The grasses bald patches were watered, then stabbed with a fork to break the desert like consistancy up. It will need watering but hopefully the grass will take.Then in 3 weeks or so the temporary fenc can come down.

The photos show our handywork, canes pushed into the ground, and chicken wire tied with string, with deft handiwork, the grass seed have been sown.It took all day but it was beautiful and sunny. My gardeners tan is coming along...

Photos from yesterday part two

The Woodmans weather stick.If its pointing up it will be fair day.If its pointing down its a wet day.

I dont know how it works.It stayed pointing up and it was a lovely hot sunny day yesterday.

Frans doggy.She followed us around everywhere yesterday, even over the back fence for the bark chippings, around the sides of the houses, through a green metal fence to get back to Frans house. Three times we filled up with bark, and three times she joined us.

She was interested in chewing sticks and stones..

Dicentra with Red hearts, still want one of these to grow.I love the leaves and the flower buds.The dangling hearts look wanderful too.

Another Dicentra,This one i guess is Alba.White flowered, a perfect companion plant to the red flowered one.

Mystery plant number two.With its pink flowers held over small leaves. Losing plant labels is obviously not just a gardeners trait.Even garden centres lose them.

You begin to call it by its physical charecteristics.ie the pink flowered plant...

Iceland Poppy.I loved the flower buds on these.They remind me of Cavemen.Green velvety pods with fine downy black hair.

The flowers on the label were spectacular orange and yellow poppies like flying saucers.

Photos from yesterday part one

The Pieris we rescued from the back garden.It was surrounded by couch grass which i have never heard of.It was everywhere, choking the plants and getting into every pot around.

A large goosberry bush which Fran said was maybe twenty years old.It fruits prodigiously and is turned into pies, jams, and given away to her friends and family.It was maybe ten foot wide and about three foot back.An old friend left by her grandparents.

One of the mystery plants.It has small light green leaves, and masses of a small oval shaped white flower.It smelt like Jasmine, very sweet but not overpowering.It came from a garden centre but had lost its label.

Help who am I?

Nestled under the front room window Pyrocanthus, was this lonely primula. The only survivor of many plants.The Pyrocanthus has jasmine growing through it and alongside it snaking up a drainpipe.

The Front garden right border with A fir tree from a hanging basket display (its about seven feet tall now), two Dicentras one red heart flowers one white heart flowered.A lavender that is regrowing on.Aqualegias (Fran is the Aqualegia queen, when i sent her a pic of purple empereor she said i've had that before!)

A purple Heuchera, some Sedum, some Daffodils.

I thought it only needed tidying up.The flow of plant colours and textures works.

It was a collection of grown on plants and freebys from family.When you get a bed that works its better to leave it.The soil is almost totally covered.