Rain Delay And Gorgeous Goldfinches

The Clematis continues to flower in the pot on the decking area. The soft lilac flowers keep on opening. I need to make a frame for the Clematis to grow up. It needs tying on in places as it does not grip surfaces like Honeysuckle or Ivy. It is opening more flower buds daily, so it seems to have good flowering potential. A lot of plants look great when you buy them but then keel over or never repeat flower again. This Clematis looks like it has stamina. I have the pot next to my white Lady statue. I think I will keep photographing her next to whatever is best in bloom. A photographic project for this year?

The juvenile Squirrel is still doing his best to decimate my pots. He just starts digging, then moves onto the next pot. I do not think he is burying anything. I wander if it's learnt behaviour, or if he is copying the adult squirrels? He is lightning fast and very athletic. Scaling sheer walls, pergolas, fences, and trees. Leaping between them. Running along the left hand fence like an Olympic sprinter, jumping up between sections. I do not know what people do to discourage Squirrel damage in the garden. I have never known one to dig in pots. I know American gardeners have suffered more damage from these cute animals.

Finally these gorgeous Goldfinches came to our garden for the first time yesterday. We have heard them singing in the trees. I played them the song from my Goldfinch toy and it finally brought them down from the Tree's. I bought a new Niger Feeder yesterday with four poles for the Goldfinches to alight on. They have been back today and fed on the Blue feeder (photographed above) and the new green feeder. They are such pretty birds with their cute little faces. I'm glad it only took a month for these to find us. The old garden took more than six months to entice them in. A collection of Goldfinches is called a Charm. I'm always charmed by them. They are lovely to watch. I have also planted six Teasel plants in the raised border. These architectural plants have lovely thistley flowers, and great seedheads in the Autumn. I want to see if the Goldfinches will feed on their natural wild food source, if it is available in our garden.
The weather is wet, grey, and cool today. The allotment trip has been put back to either tomorrow or Saturday. I need it to be dry so the allotment is not a muddy quagmire. so i have been watching the birds and enjoying the flowers in the garden. A perfect day off plan when its raining.

First Roses Of Summer

Moving house meant that I had to transplant all my Roses into pots. They seemed to have survived being dug up and put into pots. They are sat on the concrete path and alongside it to form a Rose barrier to stop me falling down the one and half foot drop. This first photo shows a David Austin Wisley flower bud. It is light pink in colour. I'm waiting for it to open fully so I can smell the scent.
My Mum sent this to me for Xmas as a bare root Rose. It survived being totally frozen with the cold winter. The entire plant was encased in ice from buds, branches, and stems. Even the soil was a frozen block. The pot was stuck to the paving slab at the old house.
This shows the toughness of the Rose plant. My Fuschias died in the cold.

The most eager Rose to flower was this David Austin Getrude Jekyll rose. She is deep pink, with multiple petals, and a lovely old fashioned Rose scent. I have sniffed the blooms almost daily on my daily walks around the garden. She is in a much too small pot but is putting on a floral show. I had problems with dry soil before so the rose never bloomed to her potential.

The last photo of the Early blooming Roses is either Golden Celebration or Arthur Bell. The labels got wet and the blue paint peeled away taking the name of the Rose with it. They are both yellow Roses, but one is more stronger scented. This is a beautiful Rose to smell. Its petals are very soft and delicate. I sniffed this a lot too on my daily walks.
Roses are some of my favourite flowers in the garden. I think every garden should have at least one. I have six varieties at the moment but I'm sure once the garden is restructured that I will buy more.
The weather here has turned grey and wet. It makes everything look gloomy. The garden birds continue to amuse and fascinate me with their antics and feeding.
My Lupins and Foxgloves are beginning to flower too. The early Bee's are making their way into the garden for the Oriental Poppy, and the Purple flowered Salvias.
I'm hoping to get to the allotment tomorrow. The warm temperature and rain makes everything grow. Especially weeds!

Unexpected Guests

The most enjoyable photos are suprise ones you never expected to take. The garden has had a run of interesting guests visiting it. After I wrote the blog post about the holes that had appeared in my planter boxes and pots along the concrete path Cat found the suspect.
She caught this juvenile Squirrel in the act of digging in pots. Whether he was secreting nuts away, or digging for bulbs I don't know. Young plants are thrown out of the way as the Squirrel continued in its digging frenzy. I scared him off once but he has since returned. Here he was looking so cute stood on the Bird station water bowl.

The Squirrel was involved in a smash and grab. He had been on the feeder getting a peanut or a bulb. He ran for cover along the decking. His tail is like a furry question mark, and the more excited he gets the more movement his tail gets.

One night I went out to look for the mystery planter digger when I saw something leap across the path to the fence. I used my mobile phone to back light and it was this rather dashing Toad. He was the Toad of Kettlethorpe (where we are living now) Hall..like Wind In The Willows. I have never seen a Toad here in the UK.
http://www.herpetofauna.co.uk/common_toad.htm
I got the camera, then struggled to find four AA batteries as mine had died. I took this photo of him in the pitch darkness. The illumination comes from my flash. I took many photos to get this.
He was thick olive green skinned and had yellow eyes. He hopped down the path, through the gate, and over the gravel. There is a small Lake and Stream behind the houses over the road from us. If he managed to dodge all the Cars Frogger style he would have a garden to cross before reaching the cool waters. I do not know where he was hiding in our garden..maybe under the decking. I let him continue his night time journey undisturbed.

The final unexpected guest is a Feline variety. I bought a Catnip Six Hills Giant as it was a Butterfly magnet, and flowered spectacularly at Trilby Street. I was sat at the dining room table when i saw this grey and white moggy walk over the patio and start eating the new growth of the Catnip. I knew it would bring the Cats in. Black spot used to love chewing the plant. I think it helps relax Cats.
I have been working today. I have another long day tomorrow before four garden days off.I cannot wait.

Walton Plant Stall 2010

The time is nearly four pm and the 2010 Walton plant stall is over. I went there at half past eight this morning. Cat dropped me off, and as I arrived the rain had already started. I helped out putting the tables up, and bringing the plants out onto the tables. This French Marigold showed the after effects of the pouring rain. It got harder the rain as the morning went on.

We set up outside the village hall under the shade of some Tree's. It stopped some of the rain to start. Eventually though the rain was dripping on us as it dripped off the leaves. The only protection we had was from Jeans gazebo. One end of the tables had Vegetables, then Perennials, Annuals, Bedding Plants, and hanging basket plants. People arrived from quarter past nine until we packed up at one pm.

The plant stall is one event in three. There is a Flower/Produce/Craft show in August, followed by an auction of Vegetables and Cakes the following night. All the proceeds go to the local community groups and charities.

I kept us going in the rain with coffee and Hil's brought her biscuits. The total we raised was £546.10. Hils even seemed to enjoy it this year.I cant wait for next years. I will hopefully have grown some plants for the plant stall.

WildFlowers And Walton Plant Stall day

The grass outside the front door has a small selection of interesting wild flowers growing. I wanted to photograph all the plants that were within ten steps of the door. Closest to the door is this Buttercup. Much loved in childhood as you held the buttercup under your chin to see if you liked butter. If it reflected yellow you did..

These are the most unusual flowers I have seen. These are about five steps from the front door. The front is covered in these Orange Dandelions? I could not find them in my Wildflower book. They are a striking orange colour and at the moment the grass is covered in an orange haze, as they are flowering en masse.

This photo shows the mystery wildflower. If anyone knows what these are called I would be grateful to know.
Its amazing how simple wildflowers (or weeds if you don't like them) can grow naturally in man made environments. I am always amazed at the complexity of ordinary flowers, and how well adapted they are to surviving adverse conditions, and propagating themselves by making seeds.
Its the plant stall today. All the hard work of Hils and her friends tending plants culminate today. I enjoy selling the plants on a stall.It looks grey this morning, and I hope it does not rain too much. I'm just waiting for Cat to come back from work to take me to Walton.
I hope we raise lots of money for the Walton Charity's Committee. The proceeds of this and a Vegetable/Jam/Cake auction in August helped pay for xmas meals for the Elderly and other younger groups. Its amazing how the simple act of raising plants can benefit others. I will do another post later today...

Four Week Flowers

The garden continues to develop every day. New flowers appear as old ones fade. These are a selection of photos taken in the third week since we moved in of plants in flower.
The Mexican frog planter with the Campanula Pink Octopus in it, is overlooked by the purple Aliums. These looked fantastic when they were in perfect form a week ago. The purple flowers form a complete sphere levitating over the pots below. These are now turning into seed heads as the flowers have been attracting Bee's. I want to buy more at the Autumn flower show. A mixture of white and purple Aliums will look spectacular.

These Pansys were in pristine condition a week ago before the sun scorched the plant. They are always like watercolour paintings. Each flower is slightly different from its neighbour and have a beauty inherent in their random splashes of colours. I often see faces smiling at me on the colourful petals. I love the purple, white, and yellow of these flowers. These were survivors from last years original Summer Pansys and were brought in a small three inch pot.

The Lavenders have survived the move and three out of four have upright flowers now. These will hopefully attract some Bee's and Butterflies. I love the smell of Lavender. It is relaxing, medicinal, and antiseptic all at the same time. A garden is not complete without some Lavender plants perfuming the air as you brush past them.

These Mimulus were self seeders (volunteers), and have flowered in the planter box next to my Frog watering spike. They are very attractive flowers, with a furry yellow throat down to the nectar inside the flower. There were also orange Mimulus but they did not self seed as well.

These Aquilegias were in flower when I bought them. They are such an heirloom flower with their intricate petals, and long spurs. I hope all my different Aquilegias will cross to make wonderful new colours and forms year after year. I have three different plants in the raised beds. The other two Aquilegias have not flowered yet.

My Espresso Geranium bloomed within a few weeks of planting it in the raised bed here. The coffee coloured leaves contrast to the lilac coloured blooms. The new garden has been blessed with abundant sunshine, little rain, and my green fingers.
Its the annual Walton Plant stall tomorrow, outside Walton village hall. Hilary has grown most of the plants which we will sell to raise money for the Walton local groups and Charity's. It is my third year of helping Hils set it up, sell the plants, then clearing the tables. I hope the weather forecasters are wrong. They think it will be wet.
I will have more plants when I return from Walton.

Frog Tale

We went to the allotment today and found a big green monster. It was not this glamorous Frog that I found hiding under the black weed guard. It was a large amount of weeds..
Thistles that stabbed me lots, some Bindweed, Couch Grass and Dock Leaves. The warm weather and rain has made everything grow madly. The hedgerows were full of new growth that spilled out onto the lane. Queen Annes Lace and Nettles were very abundent. I also noticed some Himalayan Balsam flowering.
The Potato rows have grown on and needed hoeing between them. I forgot that the rows are thirty feet long and with two sides to hoe that was a lot of weeding. There was a lot of weeds and grasses.
It was baking hot today so we sweated. We stopped to go to Asda to buy a parasol to give us shade. The plot is completely flat and the sun passes over it all day. Nothing casts any shadows to give us shade to sit down in.
Now we have a white parasol (complete with England Motifs) to turn around to give us shade. We also invested in a bottle of spray sun block. It was burning weather today. After several experiences of severe sunburn from the allotment its better to spray it on rather than getting burnt.
We chopped down some of the monster Rhubarb plants, and dug up the last of last years Leeks. There are Courgettes to go into the ground now. I found that the Swede plants had started to grow flowers. These bolting plants were snipped of their flowers. We did not want them going to seed.
The day flew past very quickly. I was given some of Cats Dads Tomato plants. We bought some Snapdragons and Busy Lizzies for the garden but they are just resting in their containers.
After a long day in the sun we went to Nandos for some hot Portugese Piri Piri chicken.Just time to watch Springwatch and the day is nearly over.
I have had a surprise night visitor a few days ago, and we discovered the culprit behind the masses of holes in the planter boxes and tubs. I will reveal more tomorrow.