tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3195250117547891992024-02-18T19:01:05.548-08:00A little slice of Edenfor the obsessive, compulsive, gardeners ..... with a few cycle posts sneaking in.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13091251754467950290noreply@blogger.comBlogger156125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319525011754789199.post-11659134599490173502016-02-17T01:51:00.003-08:002016-02-17T05:54:41.280-08:00Adventures with tandems - The right tandem for us.I love cycling, but I prefer not to do it on my own. There are only so many times that I can be seriously impressed by the dark oily fingers of winter trees against a watercolour sky with no-one to share it with. Cycling with friends helps. There are some country lanes near Hassocks where you can share the road with another bike, but generally they are twisty turny affairs that call for cycling one behind the other, and that means that conversations are shouted and strained and only half heard.<br />
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So I have known for decades that when I could afford one I would want a tandem. But my husband has been much less keen. Something to do with not wanting to drag me up hills whilst I look at the scenery and don't get out of puff. It is a fair concern. There are few things more annoying than being used to the responsiveness of a single bicycle and finding instead that you have a free-loader to contend with.<br />
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For us there was a way of finding out whether or not we were tandem-compatible. A little shop in the back streets of Lancing called 'Discover Tandeming' provides a hire service. They have tandems there which are infinitely adaptable and can easily accommodate me at 5'6" and David at 6'4". Last summer we parted company with £75 for a day's hire and set off, first along the sea-front and then up the river Adur to Steyning.<br />
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I was having a great time, but when I asked David after twenty minutes he said that it was like cycling through treacle. After some discussion (which we could have with ease, this being a tandem) we found that there was a good reason for the treacle problem. We were cycling along a busy seafront on a cycle lane shared with strollers, children, dogs, and kites. Every time a small child dashed in front of us David applied brakes and then started again, whilst I - not really knowing whether the sea-front was now clear or another child was about to die horribly - started peddling only half-heartedly. We had not talked but not communicated.<br />
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Tandem riding requires a lot of communicating. The captain (front) must let the stoker (back) know about road-conditions and what they are going to do pretty constantly. This includes gear-changes, dogs, horses, obstacles, pot-holes and sleeping policemen.... When you go over a sleeping policeman you probably brace your leg and lift your bottom. Do that without warning the stoker to do the same and they may well curse. In return it is the stoker's responsibility to look out for traffic and ensure that the captain knows which way to go.<br />
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After we had had this somewhat salutary chat we changed our approach. David learnt when to ask me for full or only partial effort and I learnt to enquire if I wasn't sure. Things got better. In fact they got good.<br />
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So now I knew for certain that I wanted to get a tandem and that David would ride it if I did. I didn't under-estimate the importance of this last point. For every cycling duo made in heaven there are several marginally unhappy couples where one is passionate to have a go and the other would rather watch telly or race solo. I believe that there are may be plenty of garages with unridden tandems in them, where the problems were not ironed out before the bike was bought. Luckily I had an insurance card. My daughter Cathy is also tall and very keen to tandem.<br />
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But we still had a problem. David is too tall for a large Dawes frame so a good cheap tandem was out of the question. In fact, we would have had to get a tandem custom built at astronomical cost. So I just kept on pining.<br />
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Then last summer JD Tandems started making a new frame size suitable for people up to 6'5". Bingo.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EGJAaFvf9BA/VsRAJdJ8m7I/AAAAAAAAJY8/xY-8VEtbJ0E/s1600/IMG_1295.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EGJAaFvf9BA/VsRAJdJ8m7I/AAAAAAAAJY8/xY-8VEtbJ0E/s320/IMG_1295.JPG" width="320" /></a>Our next dilemma was deciding what type of tandem we wanted. We knew that we needed a tourer for long days out and roads that have plenty of pot-holes. But left to my own devices I would probably have got as cheap a tandem as possible. David on the other hand is happy to pore over specifications, and prefers to save up and buy well. He won and on this occasion I am glad.<br />
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Our tandem weighs somewhat over 20kg which compares well with two separate bikes - useful for hills. Getting really good wheels/brakes/tyres is necessary for safety because there is so much pressure on tandem wheels. It's not just a question of reality but also of perception. As stoker it was only when I first went hurtling down a wooded hill at 30mph, and I could see nothing at all over David's shoulder that I realised how much I adored disc brakes. They are things of beauty.<br />
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Coming back up the hill on the other side made me start thinking about gearing too. When I change gears on my single bike I slack off a touch, but on a tandem, with Dave in control of the gears I wasn't yet judging it that well and could hear the difference. So with two of us powering the gears, and long chains it seems to me pretty important that they are up to the job.<br />
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Much of the rest is a matter of taste, but I will put in a word for decent suspension. Sleeping policemen are frankly enough to break a marriage on a bad tandem. But add in a bit of give to the stoker's seat post (and warning!) and the problem goes away. <br />
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One rather strange feature is that there is a parking brake, which can be put on and left on. It's a bit odd, but quite useful at times, when waiting at junctions on steep hills. It means that I can sit with both feet on the pedals, without David taking the strain for both of us. Definitely a nice to have rather than a necessary, but still...<br />
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So we ended up with an Orbit Velocity Sport Disc which sounds nearly as impressive as it looks. It arrived in a van in what is possibly the longest cardboard box I have ever seen. The van driver looked distinctly pissed off until I offered to help carry it in. I think he may well have cried otherwise.<br />
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The bike arrives in a state best described as partially assembled. Gears and brakes are on but the front wheel is packed separately as are the seat posts. The front handlebars hang disconcertingly down to one side looking horribly like a goose with a wrung neck. I have no particular mechanical skills but JD Tandems had assured me that I could do the necessary myself. Luckily I had a friend over who made tea and offered encouragement as I popped in wheels and handle-bars and seat-posts. For once I even read the instructions first. It all went together well until the end when the bike made an ominous grinding noise and the back wheel would not spin.<br />
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After a few minutes panic, more tea and plenty of wheel spins I decided to ring the shop. The staff had been very calm and helpful when I rang to buy the bike. They had asked for a lot of measurements from our own bikes so that they could be certain of the sizing, and had taken time to help me make the right decision, even sending me a photo of the bike with the seats put at our height. I figured perhaps their aftercare was good too. I'm glad I did.<br />
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They talked me through a diagnostic, told me how to adjust the back disc brake and said to ring back if it didn't work. We even discussed the possibility of a skype call so that I could show them any problems. Thankfully adjusting the brake was easy and did the ticket. It also means that I am no longer scared of disc brakes. Result.<br />
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My only remaining problem for the day was how to get a now assembled tandem out of my living room...<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13091251754467950290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319525011754789199.post-17537299048874880872014-07-20T13:05:00.001-07:002014-07-20T13:05:43.423-07:00High SummerHave you been staking your garden recently? Weeding it? Watering it? Deadheading? Or have you, like me, just been letting it happen?<br />
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I have been running around like a headless chicken, stopping to admire the garden for a snatched half hour here and there before rushing off again. So I need a July garden that can look after itself a bit. Here are some of my favourites.<br />
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Hemerocallis is great for this type of relaxed gardening in all its many manifestations. Once the first clump is established, the great big strappy leaves will push out wherever they feel comfortable. Getting a clump established can be a little tricky if your sparrows find it - an upturned hanging basket helps.<br />
Deadheading helps - but only for cosmetic reasons in the UK - they are essentially sterile here.<br />
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My Monarda doesn't need staking either, though it does benefit from a good drink if the weather is really dry, and I wouldn't grow it on sand. Monarda can be eaten by slugs - eggshells are generally good enough though, or you could let your first plant establish in a well watered pot before planting it out.<br />
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It's my first year of growing Lysimachia Clethroides and it is romping away. The flowers are all over the place but I rather like that - no wonder it's called the Gooseneck Loosestrife. My plant is in a shady spot and still it is rather invasive. I wouldn't plant it without a spade handy to chop it down again if it escapes.</div>
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The other roses are "resting", but this one - Gentle Hermione - is back in flower this week. I'm more than happy to see her.<br />
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And another new entry this month is my Hydrangea Aspera. The showy white flowers are sterile and no use for the insects, but the purple fuzz is lovely for hovver flies. It's also pretty maintenance free which is a joy.</div>
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Don't get carried away though with the idea of a maintenance free garden. Can you see the paving slabs in there? No me neither, and somehow I will have to cut a path back to the house. Happy gardening.</div>
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</script>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13091251754467950290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319525011754789199.post-32540836523202939312014-07-11T00:36:00.001-07:002014-07-11T05:52:17.438-07:00Gardening in the Shade during JulyWe all have at least a little shade in the garden, and the trick is to garden happily with it, rather than pretending to live in a prairie.<br />
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In July the large trees that surround much of the garden are luxuriant and full. The shade they cast falls in deep welcome blocks providing a cool respite from the sun. As the day progresses, so these dark fingers move across the garden like competing sun-dials.<br />
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The Anglo-saxons of us burn to a crisp in anything more than dappled sunlight, so I put seats around the garden so that they can follow the shadows.<br />
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Aconitum and Hardy Geraniums are great shade flowers for July, and the Pelagoniums are very happy providing additional colour in the shade once they've been started off in the sun.<br />
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The Cercis Canadensis won't provide any flowers in this much shade, but those fantastic heart-shaped plum leaves do well at jazzing up an otherwise peacefully verdant scene.<br />
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The foreground here is full of spring flowers, but inevitably we use this area most during the summer months so the three largish patches at the back are Lysimachia Clethroides, Persicaria Superbum and Eupatorium Cannabinoids, all waiting to burst forth with more flowers. July has been a little low on colour here, but I've planted a Geranium Orion and then cut it back hard to establish: there's every sign that it is taking well so I'm pleased. It has even provided the odd bloom or two.<br />
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There is a swamp at the bottom of the garden which I fill with ferns and snowdrops and it fills itself with ivy, nettles, giant hogweeds and dog mercury. It often floods in the winter and all summer long there is a small puddle in the middle where there is a spring. The soil has the texture of a chocolate brownie and any attempt to weed is rewarded by deep footprints and the promise of a soaking. I often wonder what would happen if I fell in.<br />
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This area is best thought of as woodland glade. It is populated with persicaria and hellebores, violets and geraniums, gillyflowers and bog irises, pulmonaria and lysimachia: a mish-mash of everything and anything that will thrive or survive.<br />
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This is the area where I took out a large laurel hedge and I'm not yet happy with it at all. The soil still lacks life and fertility, despite my many forays to the compost heap, and the relative heights of the plants reflect whatever height they happened to grow to, rather than a plan.<br />
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But when I have got on top of it, it will be a great area though, because it is so wet - dry shade is much harder. So I shall be shaping it up over the next year, moving plants around to give the area more shape and taking cuttings from a honeysuckle - to cover the odd bits of fence and wall.<br />
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The shady areas of the garden will never have the zing of the sunnier parts, but they still offer plenty of scope for fun.<br />
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</script>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13091251754467950290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319525011754789199.post-59606381693771554692014-07-04T00:32:00.000-07:002014-07-05T09:57:59.015-07:00Fab flowers: Poppies
My recent hike across the South Downs was full to busting with the field poppy, Papaver Rhoeas.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Field Poppy</td></tr>
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So I thought I would take a canter through the poppies on offer to us as gardeners. The name poppy covers flowers from at least four different genus that I can think of: Papaver, Meconopsis, Escholtzia, and Macleaya. But Macleaya Cordata - the Plume Poppy - is a very different type of flower, so let's stick with the other three.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Welsh Poppy</td></tr>
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Escholtzia - or Californian Poppy - is a sun-shine flower. It likes wide open places and plenty of drainage - even a sandy slope. That means of course that it's not suitable for my garden at all where there's far too much shade. But if you have a light soil and you want quite small plants then go for it - a lovely choice.<br />
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Meconopsis, and in particular the Welsh Poppy, Meconopsis Cambrica, is far far easier to grow in shade. There are two basic shades - yellow or orange - and they are both equally good at taking care of themselves. In this garden it is the yellow which seeds itself around, whilst in our last garden it was the orange. I don't know though if you can have both co-existing. They are fragile-looking but with a surprisingly tough constitution and are at home exactly where you would expect - in little damp niches where ferns and mosses grow. Every year I sprinkle their seed around but it takes wherever it feels like and I never grumble. Welsh poppies turn up in early spring and carry on providing flowers through until June. I noticed the last bloom just a few days ago. They aren't particularly large or showy but they make a lovely break to a green spot.<br />
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The other Meconopsis that turns up from time to time in garden centres is the Himalayan Poppy - a most refined affair in true blue and much larger. Some years it is a Chelsea Flower Show favourite, but it never quite catches on in gardens and I have a feeling that Himalayan Poppies are as hard to grow as Welsh Poppies are easy. I've only tried once when it flowered and then promptly died. They appear to need deep, acidic, fertile, well-draining, well-watered soil in partial shade. I bet they don't like being crowded either. Sounds like a faff.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zWNB7EW5UFs/U7ZQipuZWLI/AAAAAAAAHoE/GCFg4sCm6VM/s1600/IMG_7066.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zWNB7EW5UFs/U7ZQipuZWLI/AAAAAAAAHoE/GCFg4sCm6VM/s1600/IMG_7066.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Opium Poppy</td></tr>
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The Papaver family are growable in my garden too. The annuals such as the field poppy, or opium poppy (Papaver Somniferum) like sunshine, cultivated well-draining soil, and no slugs but, being annuals, you don't have to be able to provide these conditions in winter. And luckily the poppy itself provides the answer to these seemingly difficult conditions in the form of myriads of seedlings. If only you can get a colony of poppies established then the sheer number of seeds should be enough to keep it going. The Somme was a thick mass of clay, but once it was churned up by the shells the quantities of dormant seed was enough to turn the fields red. As close as you can get to nature mourning.<br />
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We have a family of frilly opium poppies in this garden. Many are really pretty, but some simply have a fringe of frills and nothing more - most disappointing. I try to strike down the ones I don't like before they have a chance to set seed, but I'm also going to introduce more of a range. My first new opium poppy is the red one you see above which came from seed from my mother's garden. At Chelsea this year I fell in love with a new one called Black Peony so I bought some seed and, since it was already perilously close to the end of the sowing season, I just sowed a few seeds in pots. I tended them properly up to the day I planted them out. I walked away to get my crushed egg-shells, made a cup of tea and forgot all about them. Disaster - my poppies were slugged and grew no more.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Opium Poppy</td></tr>
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Even a packet full of seeds does not necessarily provide sufficient seed to prevent it all turning to slug food, but one answer is to grow the first batch of flowers in pots for the whole season, out of harms way. There should then be sufficient seed to keep the flowers going. I did this in the last garden to a poppy known as Angels Choir which has a fantastically diverse range of different colours and patterns. Otherwise it's helpful to seed them in amongst crushed egg-shell or other physical slug barrier - and provide a barrage of twigs to keep the birds off. Don't use slug bait it wrecks the balance in too many ways. Slowly the poppy generations will revert to the red, but in the meantime they will really keep you guessing. I'm talking myself into having another go - and perhaps picking up a packet of Iceland poppies at the same time.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oriental poppy</td></tr>
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Opium poppies are wonderfully tall and will battle it out in a summer border quite happily, providing great flowers and then those wonderfully iconic seed heads like pepper pots. They are also very happy in gravel gardens and are one of those flowers that likes to root in between flag-stones. Let it. There is nothing better for making a cottage garden look authentic.<br />
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The prize for star of show surely has to go to the Oriental poppies. These poppies are so fleeting and leave such a mess of die-ing leaves that every year I go through about a week when I vow I will never grow them again. But, like Japanese cherry blossom and babies first steps, they provide wonderful high-lights and I know that next year I will be willing each one on as it bursts forth.<br />
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My darling is the Beauty of Livermere, which won't surprise you as it is red, red, red: not a hint of orange at all. If I had space though I would grow a much wider selection. Superficially similar to the opium poppy flower it has a much deeper gloss and is altogether a more substantial plant. Beautiful!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o3NfKFW7MTo/U4zakThIxTI/AAAAAAAAHHw/UYJIYuIgTMk/s1600/IMG_6860.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o3NfKFW7MTo/U4zakThIxTI/AAAAAAAAHHw/UYJIYuIgTMk/s1600/IMG_6860.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beauty of Livermere - seen with cow parsley and aquilegias</td></tr>
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</script>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13091251754467950290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319525011754789199.post-32605887823463391962014-06-29T02:33:00.001-07:002014-07-11T05:55:49.492-07:00Walking the South Downs Way - Part 2 - from Eastbourne to Hassocks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gU8IBYAjrhw/U68X2beziNI/AAAAAAAAHl4/caidUXVPwqw/s1600/IMG_20140627_100500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gU8IBYAjrhw/U68X2beziNI/AAAAAAAAHl4/caidUXVPwqw/s1600/IMG_20140627_100500.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<a href="http://alittlesliceofeden.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/walking-south-downs-way-part-1-planning.html" target="_blank">Back in May I decided to put my dream to walk the South Downs Way into practice</a>. So Friday morning bright and early saw me and my friend Kate Bliss and daughter Catherine Wooller on the train to Eastbourne.<br />
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By the way, if you are used to reading this blog for a weekly dose of flowers then don't be put off. There will be plenty of flowers to go round.<br />
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Finding the time and fitness to walk 100 miles in one go was a bit beyond us, so this stretch is from Eastbourne back home to Hassocks a distance of about 35 miles.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iGrBFq8eEbA/U68XD16FMZI/AAAAAAAAHlA/dCqTljGvj40/s1600/IMG_20140627_104202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iGrBFq8eEbA/U68XD16FMZI/AAAAAAAAHlA/dCqTljGvj40/s1600/IMG_20140627_104202.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a>Kate looks tired already, propping up the post but don't believe it: she has the constitution of an ox.<br />
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There is a choice in the first section of the walk. Either you turn inland immediately and walk through Friston Forest taking about 3 miles off your overall journey (and a considerable number of bumps and lumps), or you walk over the Seven Sisters. These are a series of cliffs which have been allowed to remain in their natural state. The cliff face erodes naturally and the chalk downland on the top is occasionally mown but otherwise left to diversify. It is all very beautiful.<br />
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So, having never considered the issue before we made a quick decision on the train to go via the Seven Sisters: the right choice.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vipers Bugloss (blue) and Rough Hawksbit (yellow) dominate in places</td></tr>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NY3TJYcjN-o/U68WNCSD2aI/AAAAAAAAHkc/unVLBlGuXFI/s1600/IMG_20140627_113712.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NY3TJYcjN-o/U68WNCSD2aI/AAAAAAAAHkc/unVLBlGuXFI/s1600/IMG_20140627_113712.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><br />
The very pretty seafront of Eastbourne gives way abruptly to the downs with a fearsome climb at the start up onto the cliffs. I made the mistake of thinking that we had managed our ascent quite easily, only to realise that we then had to go down and up each of the next seven sisters.<br />
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Luckily this stage of the walk is very accessible without being awash with car parks, so there are places to rest. This old light-house is now a hostel with an outdoor cafe attached. It's pretty tiny but functional as long as it's not raining.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wild Thyme (foot at top left hand gives an indication of scale)</td></tr>
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It is difficult to explain the joy of walking over a tapestry of flowers if you have never done it. To begin with you try not to stand on any, but quickly you realise that this is a complete impossibility and all you can really do is keep exclaiming "Wow isn't that beautiful". This is what chalk downland should look like, without the addition of fertilisers. I should imagine that it is a very herby diet for a sheep lucky enough to graze on it. I doubt they ever fancy going back to grass.<br />
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After about four hours of beautiful sea views and flower tapestries we had made seven miles which by anyone's reckoning is fairly rubbish, but after the final cliff we were greeted by this view - Cuckmere Haven. It can be awash with water birds but today the tally was quite small - one little egret and a flock of Canada Geese. It is pretty though and at the head of the haven there is a pub. Hurrah!<br />
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We had assumed that getting off the train at Eastbourne at 9am we would make it through to Alfriston for lunch. In practice the walking was so hilly, and we were so laid back that we only got as far as Exceat. It's only ginger beer we are drinking, but I'm afraid that a good walk makes us giggly.<br />
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The remainder of the walk through to our youth hostel at Southease was much more typical downland walking. Alfriston is very beautiful and normally we would have detoured to the excellent <a href="http://alittlesliceofeden.blogspot.com/2012/03/alfriston.html" target="_blank">Alfriston Clergy House</a> which I've blogged about before, but by the time we got there we were running quite late.<br />
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The South Downs is a farmed countryside full of sheep and cows and later on horses. Kate and Catherine are good at walking straight through any number of cows, but I'm much more timid. You do find the occasional bull standing on the path and at that point, if like me your insides turn to jelly, you have to remember that this is a very well walked footpath. All of the animals are used to people so do not panic. They are unlikely to be interested in you.<br />
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I find that very difficult to remember and take a very wide berth whilst chanting the thirteen times table for comfort. We reached Southease by 6.45pm.<br />
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And so to the south downs YHA which I cannot recommend highly enough. It cost us £66 for the three of us to stay the night in a family room. Rooms are really small with bunk beds, but they are also very clean, very smart, and the beds are very comfortable. All the linen is provided and there are very good self-catering facilities and a common room. We ate at the cafe (proper hikers food - sausage and mash with apple pie and icecream), showered and lay down on our bunks to read. By nine o'clock there were some distinctly snuffly sleepy noises so we gave in and slept.<br />
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The hamlet of Southease is so tiny that I had never before realised that it actually exists, but here it is. They even have their own railway station though when I have used the station before the guard asked why I was getting off there.<br />
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We came across this rather fab home-made egg transporter. Have a good look at it, the joints are great and it really fits with the scene. Secretly though I was really pleased that they had not yet put out the day's eggs as I knew that I would have bought a box and who wants to hike all day with a fragile cargo of eggs?<br />
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The second day's walking from Southease to Hassocks is much easier than the first, which is just as well as by this time I had developed an infected blister. There is a lot to be said for a decent pair of walking socks and I could kick myself for not having spent a bit longer before we left finding some good ones. As it was I laced my boots a little tighter than I would normally to keep the swelling in my foot down and got on with it.<br />
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Kate, Cath and I have all walked this stretch before as part of various Scout hikes, but we have never walked it in summer before.<br />
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Much of the Downs around here has been turned to arable crops, and it breaks my heart to see the over-fertilised wheat pushing through broken chalk where the fragile soil has been washed away. I have no idea how long it would take to restore the ecology back to the tapestry of wild flowers that we saw earlier on in the walk.<br />
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In places though a farmer will leave a portion of the field without weed-killer and the results are stunning.<br />
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Poppies and Rye with Hawksbit</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioQVkAevx_6KWVCIRaCSMji11gQOgmk2T5hv1ka_dcfuKykMOeZkOpOgNSrxg5OudFLuGlCAWAr1cn_cnOFCCc2A7Pu188X_hWGSrTqg4VsC8FtoukxfXCNXRC-LBuFLxdBrTOtkZFse8/s1600/IMG_20140628_134428.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioQVkAevx_6KWVCIRaCSMji11gQOgmk2T5hv1ka_dcfuKykMOeZkOpOgNSrxg5OudFLuGlCAWAr1cn_cnOFCCc2A7Pu188X_hWGSrTqg4VsC8FtoukxfXCNXRC-LBuFLxdBrTOtkZFse8/s1600/IMG_20140628_134428.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a>These fields have a "pinch me, I must be dreaming" quality. This is not far off what I imagine heaven looking like as both the rye and poppies are constantly on the move in any small breeze. There are panoramic views with Brighton sufficiently in the background to provide an interesting contrast and a rather surreal Amex football stadium in grey metal whose contours mimic the downs around. You can just see it in the middle of the picture below if you stare closely. If you are a football fanatic you will want to do that. Otherwise feel free to imagine that it is a reflection of the clouds in a small lake. That works for me.<br />
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At this point the Downs begin to break up. There is a strange saddle-shaped lump behind Lewes and the main Downs become two ridges rather than one, with the South Downs Way taking you between the two.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-51LMkVCjZKg/U68S7DLnbuI/AAAAAAAAHgA/4oSAMU_4Kd0/s1600/IMG_20140628_114814.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-51LMkVCjZKg/U68S7DLnbuI/AAAAAAAAHgA/4oSAMU_4Kd0/s1600/IMG_20140628_114814.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a>The Downs are almost pure chalk with a really thin layer of soil on top, so it always surprises me how quickly the sides become wooded. Anywhere that the sheep and cows can't get to quickly becomes covered in scrub and then trees. This is easy going right now, but during the winter the combination of wet chalk and clay makes these paths really slippery. A tree trunk to hold onto is a blessing.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UPwoVqtbeb4/U68TJ_oo1uI/AAAAAAAAHgg/jOFFNiWZAII/s1600/IMG_20140628_105154.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-intPzSnOYMA/U68SohLBWqI/AAAAAAAAHfg/Zw3kkujWdeY/s1600/IMG_20140628_121005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><br />It was about at this stage that we noticed the only problem with this stretch of the walk and thatis that there are no facilities at all on it except for a water tap where you cross the main road and an ice-cream van on top of Ditchling Beacon. It really is an ice-cream van too. Even during the middle of winter you can see it and it still sells ice-cream. Have they never heard of soup?<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-intPzSnOYMA/U68SohLBWqI/AAAAAAAAHfg/Zw3kkujWdeY/s1600/IMG_20140628_121005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-intPzSnOYMA/U68SohLBWqI/AAAAAAAAHfg/Zw3kkujWdeY/s1600/IMG_20140628_121005.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a>Luckily Kate was carrying vast quantities of snacks so we had an impromptu picnic and watched a pile of runners and cyclists go by. I have tried running on the Downs and my efforts are very funny so I am all admiration for those who can do it.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mrq44UrRRlE/U68SeGmXzVI/AAAAAAAAHfQ/sCvEFBJr8Uw/s1600/IMG_20140628_150707.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mrq44UrRRlE/U68SeGmXzVI/AAAAAAAAHfQ/sCvEFBJr8Uw/s1600/IMG_20140628_150707.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a>If you are not carrying food your best option for lunch is to take a detour to Stanmer Park. The detour is reasonably quick if you are happy to walk along a cycle route by the side of the main road and then through the university campus. Otherwise it is a larger detour than you might think as the farmer at Ridge farm is distinctly anti-hikers. It looks on the map like there might be a way to make two close footpaths join by hopping across a field. There isn't so don't rely on it!<br />
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Sated on chocolate and other naughtinesses we pushed on North to take us to the escarpment on the other side by Plumpton and then dashed down the hill to Westmeston to see if we could find a loo. There are no public facilities but I was getting a bit desperate so it seemed worth a punt.<br />
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The parish hall was getting ready for what must be the prettiest wedding breakfast I've seen. Each chair wore its own wedding dress and had a bone china setting. Utterly beautiful.<br />
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The caterers were kind though and let us use the loo. We ran out quickly so that the bride would never know we had been. Whoever you were I am sure you had a lovely day and thank you!<br />
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We have all done the remaining section of the South Downs Way more times than we've had hot breakfasts so we played fast and loose at this point and came back across a bit of the Weald through the pretty village of Ditchling, which has amazing figures decorating it at this time of year as part of a competition for the village fete.<br />
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What did I learn in preparation for our later, longer, stage?<br />
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Firstly - get rid of athlete's foot before starting a long hike, wear comfortable shoes and socks and carry a full first aid kit. The complications are not worth describing here, but my foot is very very swollen.<br />
Secondly - allow more time than you think you need. The Downs are very bumpy in places which makes the going slow.<br />
Thirdly - pack plenty of snacks and water. Although civilisation is never far away at times you need a lot of calories for long hikes.<br />
Fourthly - pack a hiking pole. They are really good for steep inclines. The Downs are not high but they are very steep in places.<br />
Fifthly - prepare for all weather. The forecast was for never-ending rain, but in the end it stayed dry, windy and sunny. Without suntan lotion we would have burnt to a crisp.<br />
Sixthly - do not put your map and compass by the door and then forget all about it.<br />
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So thank you very much Kate and Catherine for remembering everything while I bumbled around leaving my kit behind and not bringing essentials. It was a great couple of days and I'm really looking forward to the next stage.<br />
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</script>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13091251754467950290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319525011754789199.post-40816175696814038852014-06-24T11:42:00.001-07:002014-07-11T05:56:03.933-07:00Adding height to the all year garden : June<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-YsU4SzPjcXeN7UfKsKYt0YA5Frn1_wTewdHDGWPcOI4Fpw5oeKNhyphenhyphencCK2-OgsBH78JnYYbo-A7IHkRjq3plKieTwGNZ-xNkdEaT4XhIl3Azj1o8CzTybJbDfB2AAjJObvZDPp6JOHkg/s1600/24+June+-+3" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-YsU4SzPjcXeN7UfKsKYt0YA5Frn1_wTewdHDGWPcOI4Fpw5oeKNhyphenhyphencCK2-OgsBH78JnYYbo-A7IHkRjq3plKieTwGNZ-xNkdEaT4XhIl3Azj1o8CzTybJbDfB2AAjJObvZDPp6JOHkg/s1600/24+June+-+3" height="400" width="300" /></a>This post is of course the latest instalment in my <a href="http://alittlesliceofeden.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/the-all-year-garden.html?view=magazine" target="_blank">guide to creating an all year garden</a>. To begin with last year I suggested 12 plants, one for each month of the year, that would create a garden with something to offer all year round.<br />
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This year I came back to the idea to add in some flowering shrubs. So we had Kerria in <a href="http://alittlesliceofeden.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/adding-height-to-all-year-garden-glory.html?view=magazine" target="_blank">March</a>, a crab apple in <a href="http://alittlesliceofeden.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/adding-height-to-garden-april-choicest.html?view=magazine" target="_blank">April</a>, and a Cistus in <a href="http://alittlesliceofeden.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/adding-height-to-all-year-garden.html?view=magazine" target="_blank">May</a>, which brings us up to now and I had better get on with this post or there will be nothing left to June at all.<br />
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One of the reasons for including shrubs in the garden is that they provide height when there is little else going on, but over the last month the whole garden has shot up around my ears, so really there is no need for shrubs to give us height. In the very smallest gardens I might be tempted to dispense with a special shrub for June, but if you have the space then make it work really hard for its place.<br />
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The archetypal June shrub has got to be Lavender - the classic addition to court yard gardens everywhere. A Lavender hedge can be the most discrete of affairs - not more than a couple of feet high and the same wide. Yet they conjure up French holidays in the sun, and they look wonderful against cheap concrete paving which has to be a plus.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ljNyHrU0Ms4/U6kQrrZ8DQI/AAAAAAAAHYM/h26zKyN4CQM/s1600/24+June+-+8" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ljNyHrU0Ms4/U6kQrrZ8DQI/AAAAAAAAHYM/h26zKyN4CQM/s1600/24+June+-+8" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kpB8aB-f1Ig/U6kQrn8rHVI/AAAAAAAAHXU/Rg_xgnEToik/s1600/24+June+-+1" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kpB8aB-f1Ig/U6kQrn8rHVI/AAAAAAAAHXU/Rg_xgnEToik/s1600/24+June+-+1" height="400" width="300" /></a>Lavender is so easy to grow badly that I feel the need to throw in a few warnings. Please do buy a variety you actually like. Many of the butterfly-headed ones have very watery colours and that may be what you prefer, but do check out your chosen plant whilst it is in flower. My own Lavenders are "Munstead" which is very traditional for that "<i>made in Provence</i>" feeling.<br />
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Once you have your Lavender be mean to it. This is difficult for me with my lush wet clay soil, but Lavenders really do prefer a sandy/stony soil and plenty of sunshine. That way they grow nice and compact and the scent is better. I grow mine at the top of a small wall with added grit and even so I have to keep weeding out the foxgloves that would rather grow there.<br />
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Lastly please give them a good haircut when they finish flowering. Whilst the dead-heads look good for ages they will grow all leggy if you let them and you will need to start again. I talk from experience!<br />
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Another good small hedger is a Hebe and some of them are very decorative. But the larger the flowers the more tender they are. Last winter was great, but the two before were very good at killing off bits of my large Hebes. That's not a good look, particularly if your approach to it is simply to cut off the dead bits. Ugh.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RvBz3hsTgLA/U6kQrgWaisI/AAAAAAAAHXs/dV5UwfNKEzo/s1600/24+June+-+4" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RvBz3hsTgLA/U6kQrgWaisI/AAAAAAAAHXs/dV5UwfNKEzo/s1600/24+June+-+4" height="320" width="240" /></a>If you want wildlife then you may be attracted towards a Buddleia for the butterflies (though I understand they are frowned on in the US as pushing out more native shrubs). I grow Black Night for the strength of colour in the flowers but also for the fine form of the bush in the winter when the leaves are almost silver. Buddleia are very tolerant of different forms of pruning so you can try out different approaches to get the right size bush for your garden.<br />
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I found this amazing beasty on my way home from work last night. It must be at least 12 foot if not more and showed what can be done if you feel like ignoring the pleas of the hard-pruning lobby.<br />
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Then there is Spirea (why not grow Filipendula and use the same space in winter for snowdrops?). Or if you fancy something mind-blowingly bright why not try one of the many Hypericum. Again this is a shrub that is very tolerant of your pruning habits and can take up some nice forms if you let it - brightening up many a municipal passageway. For myself though I have gone off it a bit this year as mine developed a viral disease and got cut to the ground just when I wanted flowers from it instead.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--c8f4h10Nqk/U6kQrtC0pwI/AAAAAAAAHX0/F8y-S-OFtBE/s1600/24+June+-+5" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--c8f4h10Nqk/U6kQrtC0pwI/AAAAAAAAHX0/F8y-S-OFtBE/s1600/24+June+-+5" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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None of these are quite the right shrub for me for the simple reason that I adore the smell of Mock Orange (Philadelphus). I can be sitting at the bottom of the garden and suddenly feel as though someone has put a Cointreau in my hand. Or gently doing a bit of deadheading and find that my mind has drifted to India because of the scent of Jasmine. I don't know why the smell is variable but both are amazing and help me orientate myself on the way home. The family is comfortable in shade as well which is a blessing. My first Philadelphus in the garden was a Coronaria Aureus or Golden Mockorange. This is a lovely bush all year round with bright lime or sometimes golden leaves. But its not what I had in mind for the flowers because they get lost in amongst all that gold. What I really love is the double Virginal with blossoms the colour of icing sugar. So that is my choice for this month. It will grow very tall if you let it - but is controllable and if you need something a lot smaller there are others around. Mine is only little as yet but it is still fab.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Za1Lj4rNuCw/U6nCb96YLtI/AAAAAAAAHYs/QFRuRedl8_Y/s1600/IMG_20140624_070334.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Za1Lj4rNuCw/U6nCb96YLtI/AAAAAAAAHYs/QFRuRedl8_Y/s1600/IMG_20140624_070334.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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I find it quite astonishing how much the garden has changed in the last month or so. Last month the area below was full of cow parsley interspersed with poppies. Now the geraniums have crowded out the remains of the poppies and the Maltese Cross has completely taken over the role of the Prima Donna.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xfLYFLetkIs/U6SS79_kw8I/AAAAAAAAHUs/TNNR-DcXkHs/s1600/IMG_7029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xfLYFLetkIs/U6SS79_kw8I/AAAAAAAAHUs/TNNR-DcXkHs/s1600/IMG_7029.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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I love this colour combination. As a child I was taught that pink and red together were quite vulgar. I didn't agree then and I still don't. Now I can flaunt it!<br />
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The garden will be at its peak now for the next six weeks if we are lucky and we don't have a drought.<br />
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I don't plan to plant anything at all now this summer - apart from a few biennial seeds of course. Anything perennial planted from now on will find it harder to get established as the soil gradually dries out and the light levels start to drop.</div>
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I'm not going to do much watering either unless the weather gets really hot. Some years we can almost do without it at all. I do have a water butt which fills quickly if there is a cloud burst. That generally is enough for the odd pot or two, and perhaps a bit of bedding that I sneak in to take care of August gaps.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigm95pdebC9scJS1__awnbkl7niay9roWFq4AixT2dGrwhIpjrWfDDdfgk1RkEyW0woGQnHt6pVG95O93AZUfF9-aAhHVsVnYtUbBJ8md5WxHzRjlk2ksKifMHiGFrbIyK-IuQJMRFgCo/s1600/IMG_7032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigm95pdebC9scJS1__awnbkl7niay9roWFq4AixT2dGrwhIpjrWfDDdfgk1RkEyW0woGQnHt6pVG95O93AZUfF9-aAhHVsVnYtUbBJ8md5WxHzRjlk2ksKifMHiGFrbIyK-IuQJMRFgCo/s1600/IMG_7032.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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My main aim in the summer is just to keep on top of the weeding. I pull about three wheelbarrow loads of weeds out of the garden every week. Sometimes I still can't see a bare patch even after I've finished weeding. </div>
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Apart from that I just intend to kick back and enjoy the show.</div>
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</script>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13091251754467950290noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319525011754789199.post-46687007799048784182014-06-09T13:31:00.001-07:002014-06-09T13:31:57.548-07:00Going Organic - Feeding the soilI'm lucky. I went organic because I started out that way. I've never put down a slug pellet or opened up a box of fertiliser. It's just never been part of my mind-set. But I can quite see that going organic could be a hard decision for people who are used to popping a spray into the trolley along with the plants. So I'm starting what I hope will be a series of posts on how to kick the pesticide and fertiliser fix.<br />
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I decided to write the post whilst out on a run the other day. I ran past a house which had lumps of concrete scattered about the front garden. At least that's what I first thought. I later realised that the lumps were garden clay that had been dug out and then left around to harden.<br />
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I feel very sorry for any plant that gets planted in that lot. It's difficult to see how it could stand a chance. If you are lucky and your garden was once part of a flood plain you may get lucky and have wonderful soil.<br />
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But any earth which grows herbaceous perennials year in year out without ever being fed will get exhausted after a while. In the wild (bit of a mythical concept in England but bear with me) the plants will either be eaten and fertilised with poo, or they will collapse in the winter giving rise to a form of mulch. In comparison, taking away all the stalks and stems each year and putting nothing back is pretty cruel treatment.<br />
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Instead our compost heap eats all our fruit and veg left overs as well as all the grass clippings and almost all of the prunings and weedings. Bits of soggy paper or card egg trays go on too though anything which is clean can be recycled instead.<br />
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I don't think that composting has to be a dark art - though it certainly can be if you want. I have two piles - one for woody stuff and perennial weed roots and one for other green stuff as it mounts up. I bury the kitchen waste, putting garden waste on top. The green stuff I cut up with my secateurs into lengths that won't irritate me if I get them wrapped around my fork, but the woody stuff I mainly forget about. Some of it gets reused as plant-props, but occasionally I take large branches to be composted at the local tip.<br />
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I could make biochar from this woody waste, but beware instructions on the internet that suggest burying your fires. There are plenty of places now where a garden bonfire can quickly turn into a wildfire and even start burning roots underground.<br />
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I <i>do </i>turn the compost from time to time, but mostly I mine it as if it were coal. This is a great art which consists of making horizontal inroads into the enriched soil beneath the pile until the tunnel can no longer stand its own weight. When that happens I either a) give up having got enough or b) get over-enthusiastic and turn the compost completely whilst telling myself that it's cheaper than gym membership. There is no unpleasant smell and the number of flies is quite acceptable. I don't mind a few little flies as they are quality-assured bird food.<br />
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Personally I never worry about the resulting quality of the compost. Mine is certainly not sterile - it is packed full of weed and other seeds - but then I have the type of garden that will always need weeding. That's part of the interest. Nor do I ask for my compost to be finished - it just needs to be good enough to improve our soil structure. When I spread it around, the compost will still be bursting with micro-creatures and that's fine. What I don't want to do is leave the compost till it's so old that all the nutrients have leached away again.<br />
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Compost is strange stuff - and I mean really strange stuff. It has a texture which is like a sponge. It hangs on to water and minerals but then gives them up again easily. So having a lot of compost helps prevent both drought and flash flood. It can feed your plants even if the amount of minerals in the soil is quite low. That's because the compost will have a high fungal spore count. Where the microrhizal fungi are compatible with your plants they actually invade the cells forming a secondary root system that helps forage out new nutrients. How cool is that?<br />
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If you aren't convinced yet (which makes you a tough cookie) can I just mention that it is way easier to weed a clay garden if your soil is full of compost too, and perhaps the very best thing about compost is that it stores carbon in your soil for hundreds of years.<br />
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We are really lucky to have a garden which is large enough to be able to have a compost heap without worrying too much about the room it takes up. If room is an issue you can reduce it by cutting up the bits smaller, turning it more, or getting it hotter by making a pile in the sunshine or covering it will black plastic or old carpet. If you are really stuck for space you can also dig trenches and bury compost if you still have areas yet to be cultivated. That approach does work eventually but I wouldn't want to do it with just lawn clippings as they go horribly rank and slimy.<br />
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If you can't cope with composting by all means send it off to the local tip to be professionally composted, but then do buy back the resulting compost which is excellent stuff. It's just a more expensive option than diy.<br />
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Composting is great once you get into the swing of it - it's like having a lock down on the flower garden with none of the nutrients being allowed to escape. But there may have been times when I desperately needed to improve the structure of the soil but had not yet built up a pile I could mine into. That's when horse manure comes in so handy. Around us there are huge piles of the stuff, steaming away and topped with a delicious assortment of perennial weeds. If you can find out who is responsible for them, they are almost always happy to have some of it escorted off the premises. I've never been asked to pay though I have raised one or two eyebrows at my obsession with dung!<br />
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There are loads of other possibilities if you don't have local horses, including mushroom compost and spent hops. Coffee grinds are a good one. In England Costa Coffee is more than happy to bag up their remains and give it away free. The grinds can be applied directly and they are acidic which is useful for Azaleas and roses etc. There is only one problem and that is the smell! It breaks my heart to wait all year for a particular scent and then catch the over-tone of stale cappucino over it. Two weeks seems to be enough to make it go though, and as an added bonus the slugs don't like it. <br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13091251754467950290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319525011754789199.post-75480116941896627262014-06-08T14:26:00.002-07:002014-06-09T13:14:01.007-07:00Colours in the garden: the pale tribe<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A garden composed entirely of white and green is a very soothing option. They often turn up at Chelsea which has given me a chance to gawp at them - and then of course there is Sissinghurst which is world famous for the creation of a its white garden.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gu0RaT-NsU4/U4zaphF7TdI/AAAAAAAAHH4/Ub3JePFdJQM/s1600/IMG_6870.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gu0RaT-NsU4/U4zaphF7TdI/AAAAAAAAHH4/Ub3JePFdJQM/s1600/IMG_6870.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a>The lack of colour makes me look at the form of the plants instead of being bowled away by the hues. And in doing so it allows the creation of gardens which rely for their appeal on the strong architectural lines of patios, steps, and pools, rather than the techni-colour approach I take in my own garden.<br />
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That's a vision which is particularly useful for urban gardens hemmed in by other buildings. White gardens help people make an architectural feature even out of concrete.<br />
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During the day, white acts as a great foil for stronger reds and blues. But a garden by moonlight -at a summer party for example-is another thing entirely. A patch of cow-parsley or palest pink Aquilegias dancing in a barely perceptible breeze is enough to add a ghost-like element to any garden. The stately presence of Irises is a particular favourite - they almost seem to glimmer in the dark.<br />
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A white garden may well have moths as well, as they often pollinate white flowers. And for gardeners lucky enough to have philadelphus or a white syringa then there is the added glory of scent in early summer.<br />
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So this would be my recipe for a white garden. How about a carpet of snowdrops in the winter, followed by any of the white multi-headed daffodils. I personally would skip white Tulips which appear too waxy to me, but I would include solomon's seal and white forget-me-nots in spring.</div>
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I would definitely include both the white Cistus and double Syringa shown above and I would want piles of fluffy white roses. In a small garden it would have to be an Iceberg I think - but imagine having the space for a Rambling Rector! I would also want lots of large ferns and fennel for their fantastic form.</div>
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The Cosmos known as 'Purity' and a white Cleome would be my real stars over the summer. This year I've gone for a mix of colours in my Cosmos and the Cleome got eaten by slugs, but a couple of years ago it flowered all summer. Such a strange, exciting plant, sticky and thorny and smelling of lemons!</div>
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Perhaps I will see if I can find some plug plants before it is all too late. Autumn would be dominated by the Japanese Anemones of course, and then we would come full circle with the Christmas Rose.</div>
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I'm not sure I could pull it off. Sooner or later the odd splash of mauve would find its way in, and the vision would become diluted, but it might be nice to try.</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13091251754467950290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319525011754789199.post-54761931304454064472014-06-05T11:18:00.002-07:002014-07-11T05:56:36.073-07:00Growing Roses without pesticidesI've been letting this blog post stew a little while, trying to decide whether or not I have anything to say about Roses that hasn't already been said a zillion times this week.<br />
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And during that time I've been looking out for roses in gardens in the neighbourhood. There aren't nearly as many as I expected. Perhaps that's because of all the complicated instructions that come with roses by way of pruning, dead-heading, and avoiding caterpillars, blackspot and mildew. You don't have any of that with a Cistus or a Lilac. But luckily before I could become maudlin I walked around the corner and was knocked away by this rambler.<br />
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The rose is larger than the house <i>and </i>it has a lovely scent <i>and </i>it appears disease free. I doubt anyone gets on a ladder to spray up there. I have never spotted anyone doing more than cutting the grass. </div>
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So why don't all roses look as healthy as this without sprays? It's hardly surprising when you consider the life of a top-performance hybrid tea. Grown on a diet of mineral fertilisers, on bare soil, and then cut back dramatically every year these roses are often treated as if they were race horses. They perform magnificently but at the cost of their health and our environment.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uWAQkRjeA2s/U5CXknGvo2I/AAAAAAAAHI0/pDPABvD2-Ds/s1600/IMG_6941.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uWAQkRjeA2s/U5CXknGvo2I/AAAAAAAAHI0/pDPABvD2-Ds/s1600/IMG_6941.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a>There are plenty of things that we can do to give roses a fighting chance in a more relaxed way. The first is to buy a decent variety that suits the conditions we plan to grow them in. For example the English Roses are meant to have superior disease resistance to earlier shrub roses and the hybrid teas. I definitely agree with that. I grow a fair few English Roses in my garden. Gentle Hermione and James Galway are completely free from blackpot and the levels on Lady Emma Hamilton are perfectly acceptable. Compare that with the roses in Nymans Gardens. Those are much older roses, and they really suffer in late summer - with or without sprays.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v1wqZO4ndo0/U5CxpsoGU0I/AAAAAAAAHKs/nBzuYnEWqHA/s1600/IMG_6946.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v1wqZO4ndo0/U5CxpsoGU0I/AAAAAAAAHKs/nBzuYnEWqHA/s1600/IMG_6946.jpg" height="200" width="133" /></a>Nevertheless variety is not everything. Even some of my English roses do have serious blackspot and increasingly I am realising that that is because they have been planted in areas that are less than ideal - crowded, shaded or both. Getting them growing strongly will give them the resistance they need. With that in mind I dug up Crown Princess Margareta during the winter and replanted her in another bed where she will get more sunshine. She is still suffering as you can see, but now that she is growing properly I hope things will improve. Hopefully Graham Thomas will also benefit from having less competition - if not I will move him too. I don't want to move the roses around too much because the ground can suffer from rose-sickness, but if needs be I can always dig out the soil and replace with home-made compost. </div>
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I am not going to foliar feed my roses or paint them with home-made mixtures that are meant to be better for the environment than the ones you can grow. Nor am I going to aim heavy jets of water at buds in the hope that this will dislodge greenfly. Instead I want helpers. These blue-tits are ideal. I provide lots of nesting sites, water, and cover and I feed them - intermittently. When I forget, the Jay is fighting for a place at the feeder, or they fancy a change of food, they work their way over the whole of the garden looking for greenfly. They do a fab job too, because I don't spread any strange concoctions over my plants, and there are some greenfly.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BrYaJS7jewQ/U5CxsIJSpII/AAAAAAAAHK0/bSQvVet4DEI/s1600/IMG_6945.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BrYaJS7jewQ/U5CxsIJSpII/AAAAAAAAHK0/bSQvVet4DEI/s1600/IMG_6945.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a>I don't worry about greenfly at all. They stay at reasonable levels, sometimes higher and sometimes lower. I do though worry about sawfly. Last year I had a horrible infestation that made serious inroads into a rose that I otherwise love called Irish Eyes (shown to the lef). I stayed my hand and did not pick off the caterpillars but I wish now that I had. The bush is only small yet and it is quite misshapen as a result of the insects. The problem was of my own making. I had allowed Giant Hogsweed to thrive down in the swamp because I happen to like it. So too do adult sawfly, so they were zooming back and forth across the garden between the roses and the hogsweed multiplying at every turn. Once I had done a bit of digging around on the internet and realised what the problem was I cut down the hogsweed, digging it up where I could. The sawfly have not come back, but if they do I will hand pick the caterpillars. I am hoping that eventually the bush will regain some shape but if it doesn't I'll make sure something else is planted in front. All is not lost.</div>
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I hope that you are persuaded to include some roses and no sprays. It would be a shame if one of England's favourite flowers disappeared from our gardens.</div>
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</script>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13091251754467950290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319525011754789199.post-87689761044351330092014-06-01T11:15:00.001-07:002014-06-01T11:15:22.474-07:00Avoiding the summer lull - or a guide to successional planting<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Early summer gardens are easy - it's high-summer I worry about.</td></tr>
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Spring and early summer gardens take care of themselves. Everything wants to grow in April and May. But if you aren't careful a few lulls begin to develop as the season wears on, and by the time you get down to the Garden Centre to fill in the gaps it all seems a little late.<br />
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There are loads of different ways around lulls of course so this is a very personal take on how to avoid a summer lull. And this year, as every year, I am slightly nervous that it may not work. Last year everything was so delayed that I worried summer might not arrive at all. This year everything is early: I worry that it will all be over before it has quite started.<br />
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My first suggestion is that more is not always better. A really good flower standing out in the midst of greenery is a lovely thing. You don't need to fill the bed with flowers all the time - and that gives time for the other plants to develop. At the moment, my signature flowers are the foxgloves. There aren't many of them, but then I don't think you need loads.<br />
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Behind and to the side of these foxgloves are geraniums, lysimachia, persicaria, honeysuckle, and aconitum. None are in full flower yet, but that does not matter. They all register as a harmonious green to set off the few flowers that have emerged.<br />
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So my second thought is why not plan to peak in August - or even September - rather than June or July. Late flowers normally look pretty good whilst they are emerging, but no one would give a prize to a poppy that has gone over.<br />
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You can extend the season of most plants by ensuring that conditions vary across the garden. If half the garden is in shade whilst the remainder is sunnier then the sunny half will often be early with the shady half picking up the pace later on, and hanging on to early summer flowers for just that bit longer. You can also perform the <a href="http://alittlesliceofeden.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/wind.html?q=chelsea+chop" target="_blank">Chelsea chop</a> on half of your plants whilst allowing the other half to grow naturally. The ones that get chopped will flower a little later (and need staking a little less).<br />
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Another way of extending the season is to choose the variety of plant carefully. The first geranium, shown above, is Geranium Himalayense. It is utterly beautiful, but it has no staying power at all. The second one (below right) is Geranium Brookside. I have yet to be convinced that it is quite as pretty - but it is meant to last a lot longer - flowering throughout the summer. We shall see. If it does flower well then I am prepared to sacrifice a bit of beauty for peace of mind - but not much.<br />
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The magenta Geranium (Psilostemon) poking through is also a good laster, and will slowly smother everything else in it's path.<br />
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Dead head, dead head, dead head. All day long - or whenever you venture into the garden. Concentrate on those plants where it really matters. My particular bette noire is the sweet-pea, which sets seed whenever I go away - particularly late in the season. This year though it has been the Aquilegia that caught me napping. The rain and then sun sent them all into a fury of seed-making, and I was late off the mark. Now those that are left look very stalky. <div>
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Of course you don't need to dead-head if your plants are sterile like these Erysimum Linifolium Variegatum. They still attract insects but never set seed, wasting their energy. I've had Bowles Mauve before but this is a new one on me. I have high hopes that it will be equally floriferous. It is certainly pretty - in or out of flower.<br />
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It's a good idea to think about what the leaves will look like after flowering. For the first season of course you are unlikely to know, but after you have seen the disgraceful mess that oriental poppies leave after flowering you know to plant something else in front next year. The same goes for daffodils.<br />
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Include some annuals - whether from seed or plug. Annuals tend to flower throughout August which otherwise tends to be the month of lull. I use mid-summers day as my yard-stick. Annuals given a new home by the end of June tend to settle a bit better - anything later and they have probably outgrown their plugs.<br />
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I have put in a few though I have no greenhouse and make do with window sills - marigolds, begonias, sweet peas, cosmos, lobelia and nasturtiums. The lobelia is an indulgence but the others all score highly on their longevity. Many of the packets will tell you to sow a few seeds every week or so. I'm sure it's good advice though it strikes me as being too much like hard work. Setting half to grow colder - or sending them out earlier - works well too.<br />
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My final tip is to keep a note of what flowers when in your garden so that you know you have some old faithfuls to work around each month. Those of you who read regularly will know all about the <a href="http://alittlesliceofeden.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/the-all-year-garden.html?q=all+year" target="_blank">all year garden</a> and the shrubs I've added to it in <a href="http://alittlesliceofeden.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/adding-height-to-all-year-garden-glory.html?view=flipcard" target="_blank">March</a>, <a href="http://alittlesliceofeden.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/adding-height-to-garden-april-choicest.html?view=flipcard" target="_blank">April</a> and <a href="http://alittlesliceofeden.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/adding-height-to-all-year-garden.html?view=flipcard" target="_blank">May</a> to add height. It's important to have highlights as well as old faithfuls. Just because cherry blossom is fleeting is no reason to exclude it.<br />
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I use this blog as my diary - as well as all the photos - but a notebook would do. Just don't rely on when things are in flower in the Garden Centre. They use heat and chemicals to slow things down and speed others up.<br />
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In any case your garden will be unique - and beautiful - all summer long.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13091251754467950290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319525011754789199.post-50974637492567156792014-05-26T04:44:00.000-07:002014-05-26T04:44:15.273-07:00Colours in the garden: pinks and peachesJust in case you haven't noticed, this post is one in a series dedicated to the rainbow that is our garden. I've painted the garden <a href="http://alittlesliceofeden.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/colours-in-garden-black.html" target="_blank">black</a> and <a href="http://alittlesliceofeden.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/colours-in-garden-blue.html" target="_blank">blue</a>, and it has dripped with <a href="http://alittlesliceofeden.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/colours-in-garden-red.html" target="_blank">red</a> so it's about time we turned to pinks and peaches.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pink Cistus and Aquilegias - unadulterated prettiness.</td></tr>
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Pink is such a versatile colour that gardeners have become rather diverse in the way we use it.<br />
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Myself, I treat pink as the bog standard cottage garden flower.<br />
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There are no difficult decisions to be made if you combine pink, mauve, blue and white, but it can look a little over-safe. A good trick is to throw in a dash of yellow from Irises, buttercups, or Welsh Poppies. The lime-green Euphorbia peaking through in the picture above works a treat too.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cIrxWFrAoDc/UcwrJOf6pqI/AAAAAAAADSY/knlaDgpHZco/s1600/IMG_5940.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cIrxWFrAoDc/UcwrJOf6pqI/AAAAAAAADSY/knlaDgpHZco/s1600/IMG_5940.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a>A good start to this type of gardening comes with the nursery song.<br />
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How many kinds of sweet flowers grow<br />
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<span class="s1">In an English country garden?</span></div>
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<span class="s1">We'll tell you now of some that we know</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Those we miss you'll surely pardon</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Daffodils, heart's ease and flox</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Meadowsweet and lady smocks</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Gentian, lupins and tall hollihocks</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Roses, foxgloves, snowdrops, blue forget-me-nots</span></div>
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<span class="s1">In an English country garden.</span></div>
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Many of these are available in pink - with the exception of heart's ease and snow-drops. Even the blue forget-me-nots happily spend much of their time in the pink before they become fertile. I've grown most of them too, though pink daffodils just look a little sad, and I have always suffered from hollihock rust.<br />
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The very best pink cottage garden plants though are roses, clematis and hardy geraniums. Clematis might seem like an odd choice, but they are so good for covering up ugly things and weaving round trees that may not have a full season's interest. Roses of course speak for themselves, but it's worth dwelling a little on the hardy geraniums. There are so many that you can guarantee to find the exact shade you are after. Recently though I've started looking by rather different criteria. I want my geraniums to have a decent season - so looking across the internet for suggestions for geraniums in a soft pink that go on and on I might try 'Dilys'.<br />
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If you fancy a different style of pink garden altogether why not go a little brighter, and build up a bejewelled garden, like Monty Don?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cosmos comes in a range of colours, but the very brightest pinks would be ideal for a bejewelled garden.</td></tr>
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Many Roses, Clematis, Camellias, Cosmos and Tulips have that lipstick quality pink we are looking for here, and for a hardy Geranium why not try Anne Folkard or Anne Thomas. Then there are plenty of Gladioli that fit the bill. Sit them aside some dark blue delphiniums or irises and a bright red poppy like Beauty of Livermere and your eyes will pop out.<br />
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One of the nicest ways to use pink though is altogether more subtle, and I came across it at the <a href="http://alittlesliceofeden.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/chelsea-flower-show-2012.html" target="_blank">Chelsea flower show in 2012</a> . The idea is to use pink amongst a range of flesh tones. Take out the blues and purples and replace them with mauves. Morph the whites into creams, and add in a few trees and shrubs with dark chocolatey leaves like Cotinus Coggyria, or those that go a multitude of flesh colours in autumn like my lovely Cercis Canadensis "Forest Pansy". You could even include plants like Acanthus with its elegant tubes in mauvey brown and cream.<br />
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Then to this background add in your elegant stars - Roses like Lady Emma Hamilton in pink and peach with dark leaves, any number of complicated Irises in tones of pink, peach and apricot, and small but intense orange geums or geum nivale. Again you can keep some of the standard cottage garden plants. This time I think my favourite would be any of the pink honeysuckles, but I would also bring in geranium phaeum in one of the chocolatey varieties, foxgloves in either a cream and maroon version or the pink/purple standard, and creamy pink daffodils.<br />
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I like my Sambucus Nigra, and although the pink flowers are hot - they would not be out of keeping with this type of garden. The trick here is to balance the pink, cream and brown with none of them predominating. The only real important rule would be to keep out the blues and blue/purples.<br />
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For the first time in ages I am wishing I had a larger garden - I would like to try this out. Perhaps I need to find a corner of a bed to play with.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An integral part of my front cottage-garden , a pink Variegated Weigela - don't know which type.</td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13091251754467950290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319525011754789199.post-38233571288663234242014-05-23T12:57:00.003-07:002014-05-23T12:57:51.953-07:00Chelsea: worth the money or a load of hype?For the last four years I have taken a day out of ordinary life to spend it with my mother visiting Chelsea Flower Show. It never fails to be a lovely day. Besides anything else she is a lovely warm woman, full of life and fun and we both enjoy gardening so we would enjoy ourselves whichever garden we chose to go to. Yet this year will be our last foray into the exotica that is Chelsea. Next year we will find another avenue to explore.<br />
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If anything we had more fun this year than any other - at 2 o'clock the heavens opened and, as everyone else ran for cover, we dashed out into the rain to enjoy the gardens unadulterated with crowds. We saw the coveted show gardens: Laurent Perrier; M & G, Telegraph without another soul about, dripping with rain and bursting with colour. We felt like the queen.<br />
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And that is when the sad fact that had been creeping up on me all day finally came to the fore. I am no longer so excited by show gardens.<br />
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They are very beautiful. The planting is exquisite and the marble is polished, but there is a sameness about them that is depressing. They all have Siberian Irises in great swathes. There is the same use, again and again, of grasses and box hedging or topiary. It is as though we went to the National Theatre and found nothing but Shakespearean rip-offs, each one slightly better than the original - but more and more vacuous.<br />
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I'm not pretending I could make a show garden - far from it - but I have been looking for something that Chelsea never offered - except that I was too blind to see.<br />
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I have been looking for a way of making a beautiful space that waxes and wanes with the seasons rather than one that looks good for three weeks. I have been looking for ponds that heave with plant and animal life and are not bleached to keep the water crystal clear. I have been looking for gardens that can mosey along without the use of insecticides and pesticides - where a chewed leaf is not a sin. I have been looking for gardens that could inspire kids with a packet of seeds, and people who try to grow trees from cuttings. And I've been looking for dangerous exciting colour combinations that do not circle endlessly around the blue, the mauve and the white. Some like this one, inspired by Rothko are rather lovely - but even so I wish Chelsea was designed to bring on the next Fergus Garrett or Christopher Lloyd, instead of the next Alan Titchmarsh.<br />
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That said, the Artisan gardens are really lovely. I like the idea of sawing a boat in half, when it has rotted through in places, and giving it a more gentle second life in the garden. It is an idea I have seen played with several times before in Whitstable- but this is one of the nicest I've seen. I like too the idea of using smashed crocks to make a path. I guess few people have as many crocks to hand, but the oven is nice too. It would make an amazing working barbecue, but equally it would be a wonderful habitat for birds and insects, upcycled from bricks and pipes and with suitable holes left.<br />
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And you know my slight obsession with moss. The Japanese gardens are often delicious.<br />
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So there is still loads to see - and I will always be pleased that I have had the good luck to go in person - but I no longer want to go to a garden that is designed for the ultra-rich to sit in and quaff champagne.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13091251754467950290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319525011754789199.post-31215812766688357472014-05-18T09:09:00.001-07:002014-05-18T09:09:52.060-07:00Colours in the garden: red<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beauty of Livermere - probably the reddest red in the known universe.</td></tr>
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Look around any garden and your eyes will be drawn to any red flowers. Whether we associate a dash of the hot stuff with passion or violence the colour makes us sit up and take notice. So for an English cottage garden like mine, dominated by blues and pinks, the colour red has a really important role to play.<br />
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There are very few red wild-flowers in the UK. We have some fields that turn a blaze when the poppies come out, and tiny weeny little scarlet pimpernels that embroider many of our wheat fields in high summer, but our natives tend to wear less clothes suited more to a nursery than a boudoir. I mentioned this to a friend and he pointed out that poppies probably aren't native anyway. He's right too: they come from Eastern Europe and were introduced alongside seed-corn, which may well have brought us the pimpernels too.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s33sX3iqgCI/U1ojBKcIB-I/AAAAAAAAG04/QohLNL3t6mE/s1600/IMG_6779.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s33sX3iqgCI/U1ojBKcIB-I/AAAAAAAAG04/QohLNL3t6mE/s1600/IMG_6779.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a>The result is that red flowers in English gardens are not much use for the wildlife and often are not the type of plants that seed themselves around. I have tried a number of times to <a href="http://alittlesliceofeden.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/red-border-part-2-out-with-old.html?q=red+border" target="_blank">create a red border</a>, but each time exquisite blue and pink flowers<br />
seed themselves in and around my red flowers and need weeding out. You have to be of sterner stuff than I to go for a red border in England.<br />
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Instead I now just keep an eye out throughout the seasons for reds that zing like these wonderful tulips. I only wish that I could remember their name, they look so sexy and wicked, and quite out of keeping with their surroundings.<br />
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The most typical triumvirate of good strong reds is tulips, pelargoniums and roses. Together they brighen up even the horrid concrete car-parks that pass as gardens for so many people.<br />
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But there are so many other options. In my garden alone I grow Primulas, Anemone de Caen, Monarda, Potentilla, Chaenomeles, Poppies, Hemerocallis, Crocosmia, Persicaria, Sweet-peas, Dahlias, and of course Nasturtiums. I may have missed some: each time I think I have finished the list I remember another fail-safe that fills in the odd spot quite beautifully for a while. There - Gladioli and Maltese Cross are another two.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This photo was taken last year. I had thought till the poppies came out that I despised a certain orange red.<br />
Now I long for it.</td></tr>
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Red is a voyage of discovery. If two mauves came to clash I imagine that it would be like iced glances at a tea-party, important for the participants but not terribly noticeable for anyone else. Reds on the other hand continually make statements about our attitudes. A red Bergamot, which has just gone a shade too bright to be a pink, is very much more refined than these scarlet poppies.<br />
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I am happy to embrace all shades of red but it is well worth seeing the flowers in bloom before you commit, if you are keen on a uniform colour scheme.<br />
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Just as importantly a good red should have a decent texture - whether of silks, satins or velvets. One of my favourites are the primulas which can end up looking hand-painted. Normally I don't like primulas to have come into flower when I buy them, but for red I make an exception and stand there at the garden centre picking through them. On the other hand red Camellias and Azaleas don't cut it for me, the colour is far too blocky. You may be different - but it is worth thinking it through.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13091251754467950290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319525011754789199.post-826595900761401152014-05-18T06:42:00.003-07:002014-05-18T06:42:49.957-07:00Transition to summerTransitions between seasons are some of the most exciting times in the garden, and of these the slide from spring into summer is surely the best. The garden is still full of the froth of forget-me-nots, Tiarella and cow parsley, and the exquisite gaiety of the Aquilegia, but we are starting to see the transition to more delicate early summer flowers - that would have been torn apart by spring gales - and still could be in May is not kind.<br />
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When I see the first truly summer flowers<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"> </span>opening, I am put in mind of some floppy silk handkerchief butterfly: impossibly delicate and irresistible. Everything is changing so fast. Yesterday it was this Iris that was really making me jump for joy. The Iris was bought whilst we were still living in our old home - some five years ago. Since then it has been in and out of the ground and tried different spots around the garden but it has never been happy. More importantly it has never flowered. So this week is rather special in our garden. Proof that good things come to those who wait.<br />
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This morning I went out to admire the Iris - confident that it was the most beautiful flower ever, when I was stopped in my tracks by the poppy that goes by the name of Beauty of Livermere. Wow! It's like a contest between an ice maiden and fire queen!<br />
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The other good thing that is coming to UK gardens up and down the land is the advent of the first roses. I have even begun to think that our garden is rather late given that the blooms in many others have been out for a couple of weeks now. Sadly I think this must be global warming raising its nasty head - it used only to be Canary Bird that was out in May but now they are all at it.<br />
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My very favourite roses, the David Austin or English Roses, are now starting their summer long antics. I can't even remember what this one is called, their are so many that share these convoluted centres and relatively healthy leaves. The transition to summer is all about anticipation mingling with fruition, so I am very pleased to count the buds coming through. Being an organic gardener I do not spray against black spot - or anything else. Last year I had all types of problems with caterpillars and a number of the English Roses just had a general malaise. They looked a bit sorry for themselves. This year though they look very happy.<br />
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But not everything likes the same conditions and one of my poppies is decidedly mildewed. What to do? Ignore it. It will die or thrive in the end!<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13091251754467950290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319525011754789199.post-58019331868474231752014-05-18T06:18:00.000-07:002014-05-18T06:18:21.670-07:00Adding height to the all year garden: the Madness of MayNow that we are well into May I've started thinking more about this plan of adding 12 shrubs to my <a href="http://alittlesliceofeden.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/the-all-year-garden.html" target="_blank">"All Year Garden"</a>. I set myself the original brief last spring when I recommended twelve flowers that would provide interest all year round. The concept still holds good I think - but gardens need a bit more oomph than that. They need structure all year round, and somewhere for the birds to hide. So this year I set myself the challenge of recommending one shrub a month to bulk out those twelve flowers. So far we've had <a href="http://alittlesliceofeden.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/adding-height-to-all-year-garden-glory.html" target="_blank">Kerria in March</a> and a <a href="http://alittlesliceofeden.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/adding-height-to-garden-april-choicest.html" target="_blank">Crab Apple in April</a>. Both shrubs will provide a good season of interest and should be manageable.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ceanothus "Puget's Blue" - my own personal Ceanothus - though given space I would indulge in several.</td></tr>
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It was difficult to chose just one shrub for April but in May this task becomes close to impossible. There are seven distinct shrubs in our front garden and every single one is in bloom right now. The Azaleas zing in every acidic garden, the May blossom adorns the countryside like a non-stop wedding, the Ceanothus stands ready to powder-puff any passing babies and the Lilac perfumes along every pavement - suburban and rural alike. There are early honeysuckles, and delicious double Clematis. The chestnuts that opened their leaves in April have sent up candleabras in pinks and whites, and my Cercis Canadensis "Forest Pansy" has opened its love-heart leaves in red.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Variegated Weigela in our front garden is a lovely shrub - even for the many months when it is not in flower.</td></tr>
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If I could have any one of these delights I would think myself lucky, but my favourite is the May blossom, because it epitomises England in late spring. Thankfully though it is common as muck and I need not have it in the all year garden to enjoy it. The same goes for the Lilac, which anyway grows to be a sizeable monster if you allow it the space and sulks when you trim it.<br />
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Instead I'm going to go for a smaller shrub - well known and often grown, but uncommon enough to want one of your own. For me that narrows the choice to one of three: a Weigela, a Cistus, or a Ceanothus. I have never come across any examples of those shrubs that I didn't like, but I'm going to take out the Ceanothus straight away because it can be caught by a nasty winter, and doesn't recover from old wood.<br />
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(Even as I write this I'm getting an attack of the guilts, because Ceanothus was one of the first shrubs that my son recognised as baby powder puffs, but the making judgements is not for the faint hearted.)<br />
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I thinks I shall have to go for my Cistus Albidus "Snowfire", which is a shrub quite in its own league. The books say that it grows well in full sun-light, on sandy soils and that it is short-lived. Yet here is mine, living happily through its first decade, on clay soil with a northwest aspect. I do nothing to it - there is no dead-heading as the flowers are renewed every day, it is tough as old boots and it grows only slowly. More to the point, the large flowers are so delicate that they look like tropical butterflies landing on a plant to take a sip. Delightful. </div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13091251754467950290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319525011754789199.post-68127285257914762372014-05-04T14:26:00.004-07:002014-05-04T14:26:40.328-07:00Colours in the garden: blue<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik9VZZ15yt1x56TEnjQlH0nLTZ_sIrQC7xOINyNNXM_AO1k4t7uj4vyaGetRL85kXfWdeoFFZwVeWxLmJu6dR_UlrMF_UR6k9x12pGH5NzFFsfmamK5jmxVSFKw3fWW2ZAY9SKN7MQB88/s1600/IMG_6787.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik9VZZ15yt1x56TEnjQlH0nLTZ_sIrQC7xOINyNNXM_AO1k4t7uj4vyaGetRL85kXfWdeoFFZwVeWxLmJu6dR_UlrMF_UR6k9x12pGH5NzFFsfmamK5jmxVSFKw3fWW2ZAY9SKN7MQB88/s1600/IMG_6787.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SNncJ1Zi4yM/U2asXy_kXJI/AAAAAAAAG4I/JwJ9Z_RBu80/s1600/IMG_6795.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SNncJ1Zi4yM/U2asXy_kXJI/AAAAAAAAG4I/JwJ9Z_RBu80/s1600/IMG_6795.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a><br />
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Even if the only blue flower you grow in your garden is the Forget-me-not, the chances are that your garden will be bright blue right now.<br />
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Forget-me-nots are growing everywhere, not just in-between plants but in cracks in the steps and paving to, as well as in any un-mown bit of grass, tucked under the hedge-rows and along the sides of the woods.<br />
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They form an innocent frothy back-drop to all the other flowers, which eyes that never fail to remind me of babies.<br />
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And they are such important plants: as biennials they cover what would otherwise be bare earth all through the winter, holding the soil together.<br />
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In April there were just as many pink flowers as blue, but a dash of sunshine and suddenly the colour broadens out, ready for the bees to do their thing.<br />
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Of course it's not just the Forget-me-nots. This next photo is actually a Brunnera. Can you spot the difference?<br />
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Brunneras are perennials and over time make a larger display than the forget-me-nots. They carry on for a bit longer too. The colour is subtly different too - and some Brunneras are superb for heavy shade, though they tend to have a less flamboyant display. <br />
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It's worth bringing Ceanothus into the picture too. This one took a bit of damage during the first winter I had it - and will never properly recover where there are bare stems, but it is too pretty to throw out. Perhaps I ought to try taking a cutting.<br />
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We have Corydalis Flexuosa too, which is perhaps my favourite blue plant - though I struggle to keep it in the winter. Again the order of the day is a bit of fluff!<br />
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As spring drifts towards its end there will be Aquilegias next and Geraniums, and many of the Anemone de Caen have come through already but these are tending towards the purple instead.<br />
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In my garden blue is a fleeting thing to be enjoyed and passed on.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13091251754467950290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319525011754789199.post-31267235286400103052014-05-04T13:45:00.003-07:002014-05-04T13:45:56.842-07:00Walking the South Downs Way - Part 1 - the planningI have been meaning to walk the South Downs Way since I first moved to Brighton 25 years ago. With the route passing within 30 minutes walk of our home now, it seems ridiculous that I've never done it.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Orchids and Cowslips on Wolstonbury Hill in the South Downs - what a great combo.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Many of the National Trust sites <br />
are free to visit for non-members too.</td></tr>
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In total the route is only 100 miles or so and the going is not too bad for a long distance walk, but it's not as easy as it might seem because of the lack of suitable accommodation en route. Two things have happened to help. The first is the <a href="http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/south-downs-way/plan" target="_blank">national trail site</a> which provides help with information about camping etc., and the second is the introduction of two new Youth Hostels, one in Truleigh Hill and one conveniently based next to Southease station. Finally it all seems possible.<br />
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I only hope that the whole route is as lovely as Wolstonbury Hill - which is the area of the South Downs that we walked in today - and where I took these photos. Yet again I think that the National Trust has come up trumps in doing such a good job of looking after it.<br />
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We will be taking six days in total: the first stretch from Eastbourne to Hassocks we'll walk over two days in June, stopping off at Southease. The second stretch going the other way from Winchester to Hassocks will take four days. We've booked camp sites at East Meon, East Dean and Washington. At around 20 miles a day each and with some steep hills it's definitely a push but should be manageable as long as we are all fit first.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hawthorns are very common on the Downs<br />in all their finery during May.</td></tr>
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Winchester, Hassocks and Eastbourne are all mainline railway stations so this feels doable without any interaction with bag-carrying services or the like. And of course living on the route helps! We will be carrying tents and sleeping bags but eating in pubs to keep the weight down and ensure that there is a welcome beer at the end of every day.<br />
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Our contingency plan comes in the shape of a few taxi numbers - and of course our mobile phones.<br />
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We can also keep the weight of the maps down - there is a special map that concatenates bits of all the relevant Ordnance Survey maps so that you don't need to carry eight separate maps. God bless the OS and all who navigate by her.<br />
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All I need to do now is check that there are enough watering holes on route to keep our bottles topped up.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifnpF9sxs8TzJzP4rbCX_-J_ROF4h8lrj781tcTFiDeBIaFtRUBlmjFHF2viRVa0ALQrsMN1TMvSwmn4icjTljh0RNyRTutLxgmOZId2IKKXQQF9Vpaqnkzo3Cd3lm9tf1UBl9q17lVG0/s1600/IMG_20140504_134323.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifnpF9sxs8TzJzP4rbCX_-J_ROF4h8lrj781tcTFiDeBIaFtRUBlmjFHF2viRVa0ALQrsMN1TMvSwmn4icjTljh0RNyRTutLxgmOZId2IKKXQQF9Vpaqnkzo3Cd3lm9tf1UBl9q17lVG0/s1600/IMG_20140504_134323.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Strictly speaking this is at the bottom of the hill, but it's so pretty I couldn't resist adding it. Wild Garlic, yum!</td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13091251754467950290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319525011754789199.post-31731607275343010222014-04-25T01:47:00.000-07:002014-04-25T01:47:17.146-07:00To make your garden sizzle, just add a dash of sunshine and drizzle with a few April showers.<br />
Somebody please press pause.<br />
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I want to enjoy the garden a while just as it is, before it races away into summer.<br />
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I am happy for there to be leaden skies if it keeps the Tulips happy.<br />
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Who needs skies of blue with these tubes of Corydalis Flexuosa?<br />
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Or the sun when you have Welsh poppies?<br />
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Who needs Champagne when you have Tiarella Spring Symphony?<br />
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And surely all bog-side plants prefer a little drizzle?<br />
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Whatever the weather an April garden is always a pleasure to wonder around.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13091251754467950290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319525011754789199.post-22504431818047052842014-04-21T22:56:00.000-07:002014-04-21T22:56:03.632-07:00National Trust days out - Nymans Gardens<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EPOd-9MtIC4/U1VmyqPEbFI/AAAAAAAAGvc/KXTixFrVTOc/s1600/IMG_20140421_132912.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EPOd-9MtIC4/U1VmyqPEbFI/AAAAAAAAGvc/KXTixFrVTOc/s1600/IMG_20140421_132912.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a>The sun was out again and it was Easter Monday, so what better idea than to go to another National Trust place after <a href="http://alittlesliceofeden.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/national-trust-days-out-scotney-castle.html" target="_blank">Scotney</a> was so nice last week. Off we trotted to Nyman's Gardens, just up the road from us in Handcross.<br />
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Nyman's has the benefit and curse of lieing on the A23. In fact it is so close to the road, that the recent (horribly delaying) road-works have cut into the land itself a little, though most of the gardens remain very quiet.<br />
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As a result the gardens are very tempting to anyone who fancies a day out of London or Croydon and hasn't thought any further than just to head south by car. If you are over on holiday and have hired a car, you could do worse yourself. By 11am when we arrived we were lucky to spot the further traffic delay as a queue for the car-park, and instead found a place to park in the village.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tzp2VcEEh0Q/U1Vnyo4r4II/AAAAAAAAGwU/lGRCghtxfgc/s1600/IMG_20140421_114442.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tzp2VcEEh0Q/U1Vnyo4r4II/AAAAAAAAGwU/lGRCghtxfgc/s1600/IMG_20140421_114442.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a>I mention all this because Nyman's is lovely, and I would hate you to go on an Easter Monday and not get in for hours, or be bothered by the fact that there are other people there. The grounds are really very large so we didn't feel hemmed in by people but if you hate crowds by all means go during the week and term-time when I can guarantee that the gardens and tea-room will be equally deserted.<br />
When you get into the gardens themselves avoid the prescribed route which takes you left on a clockwise loop around the picturesque ruins. If you go that way - particularly with children - you will be tired before you reach the really smashing bit. Instead walk through the cafe and go anti-clockwise through the magnificent rhododendrons (now), ancient rose gardens (nearly there already), formal bedding walk (July), and lush meadows full of fritillaries and daffodils (now and for the past month and more) until you wind up by the house itself.<br />
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I can guarantee that there will always be enough in flower to amuse and entertain you - and just watching the scale of staking being laid out for the formal bedding later on is an education in itself.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I6RI57ohCCk/U1VnPNA6f5I/AAAAAAAAGv0/0W2ys3F-Wps/s1600/IMG_20140421_115017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I6RI57ohCCk/U1VnPNA6f5I/AAAAAAAAGv0/0W2ys3F-Wps/s1600/IMG_20140421_115017.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a>When you get to the house go in if you like that type of thing - for myself I only like the really super National Trust houses and this is not one of them. Instead I like to hang about by the court-yards and consider what it must be like to have a huge area of grass to play with, and wonder how many under-gardeners there are. The tulips were every bit as good as they looked and somewhat better.<br />
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I can't remember what this enormous thing is, but it is huge. The non-gardener is 6'4" and looks petite next to it. Of course every decent NT place has a folly and Nymans is no exception. I like this one. It is always cold and shady even in summer, but it is still not as special as the magnificent pergola. This is distinctly off season: the Wisteria, Irises, Geraniums and Fuchsias are all shades of blue and violet later on, but it is still a great place to relax. In some years you have been able to borrow a croquet set from reception.<br />
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The last part of the circuit is either a drab (to me) walk through ever-greens and lawns or a detour through the bluebell woods replete not only with bluebells, anemones and the odd occasional pink campion, but also with orchids, which still rather thrill me.<br />
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Back to the cafe you can normally get a decent tea or acceptable lunch. Not today - the queues were horrific.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13091251754467950290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319525011754789199.post-37083229662313959472014-04-20T14:23:00.001-07:002014-04-20T14:23:19.826-07:00National Trust days out - Scotney CastleLast week I took the family to one of my favourite spots: Scotney Castle in Kent.<br />
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Scotney is one of those fairy tale castles that appears to be too good to be true. Could it really be a genuine castle? The answer is that it really is - it dates right back to the late 14th century when the French were busy sacking villages along the Kentish coast. In fact it was built so hastily that no one remembered that they needed a licence to crenellate! I wonder if you still do? </div>
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But Scotney is not quite all it appears to be. It was abandoned by its owners as a place of pestilence and disease. They decided that they wanted a far more salutary manor house and built one at the top of the hill instead, rather than next to the moat. Hygienic it may have been but it is far less pretty.</div>
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Instead of being a house to live in the owners decided that a picturesque folly was what was required and they ordered the destruction of most of the old house in 1905. It makes my blood boil to think how badly houses would have been needed at that time - but there is no doubt that it does make an interesting garden feature. Beats my bird-bath any day.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBNs5_iC8UY1mOaA-05UxfomqEatUyk8cs7vpSKc-DH4e57QsB6uIk6xlJuQPZNlI8XnN8H2ebWWZISrFN8m6fSMqYqF6-bixYUB9lysJJCciD3OqHWOLA5bl6QPDK_l7MZLxtw5zDqww/s1600/IMG_6697.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBNs5_iC8UY1mOaA-05UxfomqEatUyk8cs7vpSKc-DH4e57QsB6uIk6xlJuQPZNlI8XnN8H2ebWWZISrFN8m6fSMqYqF6-bixYUB9lysJJCciD3OqHWOLA5bl6QPDK_l7MZLxtw5zDqww/s1600/IMG_6697.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a>The gardens of course are on a grand scale as befits a proper castle. This seat for example could quite happily seat 12 without a stretch, and the wider grounds provide a decent 2 hour hike. </div>
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Most of the planting though is quite relaxed and rather lovely. It is nice to see that the gardeners have been given a fairly free hand to experiment with different styles. Some work well and some are perhaps less successful, but my overall impression is that the garden is impressive enough to be in keeping with its surrounds, without being too fastidious.</div>
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Up by the newer manor house all is large and formal, but down at the moat by the romantic ruins there is Gunnera Mannicata, tussocks of grass, and wallflowers growing where they should be - right in the wall.<br />
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If you are interested in going there is nothing stopping you - the castle, new castle, gardens and grounds are all open to the public as part of the National Trust and there are lots of details on-line.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13091251754467950290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319525011754789199.post-2885991972182021372014-04-20T06:16:00.000-07:002014-04-20T06:16:39.231-07:00Colours in the garden: black<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Geranium Phaeum - almost ghostly at times, bobbing in the gloom</td></tr>
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There is so much colour in the garden that it may seem strange to focus on that weird non-colour black, but as I was wondering around this morning checking out the weeds (over-taking nicely) and wondering whether I will have to start watering pots (it has since started raining) I was surprised to see how many black plants have snuck under my radar to claim their rightful place in the garden.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Acer Palmatum Dissectum - layer upon layer of shadows.</td></tr>
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I never intended to give in to their exotic charms, and rather badgered my mother when she first fell under their sway.<br />
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After all there is something decidedly alien and non-cottagey about flowers and foliage that flick in and out of the shadows.<br />
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Yet it is precisely those properties that are so appealing. The depth and texture of a dark Acer is a pleasure to be lingered over, and the Geranium Phaeum, as dusk arrives, plays tricks with your eyes. Is it still there or not?<br />
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I have never seen a black plant that truly was black. Most fit somewhere in the spectrum of a burnt plum jam, though the black Elder is darker than almost anything I've seen, and some such as the Sedum and this lovely Ajuga have a purple-blue hue to them.<br />
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As with green, the colour varies a fair deal over the course of the year. The Ajuga in particular would be quite worthy of a place simply for its glossy leaves all winter. Still I am pleased to see the bee-friendly spikes arriving as well.<br />
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Black plants provide us with a greater spectrum of colours to work with in the garden. They are not for the faint-hearted - nursery tints - brigade, but they throw all the surrounding plants into bright relief.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Neither the Elder nor Lysimachia are in flower - yet together with the Geranium Phaeum they make a very dramatic statement.</td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13091251754467950290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319525011754789199.post-46932501324960950912014-04-10T12:19:00.001-07:002014-04-10T12:22:27.651-07:00Adding height to the garden - April the choicest month<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qj7GxTeB39w/U0bpKqeSFaI/AAAAAAAAGko/UDv6YTAwuHA/s1600/IMG_20140410_101133.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qj7GxTeB39w/U0bpKqeSFaI/AAAAAAAAGko/UDv6YTAwuHA/s1600/IMG_20140410_101133.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a><br />
Last year I wrote a blog about the <a href="http://alittlesliceofeden.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/the-all-year-garden.html" target="_blank">all year garden</a>. The rules were very simple: one flower for each month. A flower that would really set the garden on fire during that month but which would also hopefully add something outside the month of interest. This year I wanted to add to the concept by adding in some structure and height, and I started last month with the <a href="http://alittlesliceofeden.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/adding-height-to-all-year-garden-glory.html" target="_blank">glory of March</a>.<br />
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So now we are into April, which I confess I never expected to be difficult. But choices, choices. Every-where I look there is deliciousness waiting to engulf me. Everything but everything looks superb.<br />
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Perhaps you want the very best new leaves? In that case you could do no better than a beech hedge, so that you could watch day by day as the copper armour is sloughed off to make way for the softest, silkiest, down-right beautiful leaves. As a plus, these hedges are also alive with bird-song. Or perhaps if you wanted more colour (though green really is a colour) then what about an Acer - decked out in its spring best.<br />
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Some gardens of course are huge, and then could there be anything better than that most magnificent of trees, the horse chestnut? Watching the leaves pump up to full size is very much like watching a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis, and it's happening all around. The spring has been so mild that already the candles are starting to form.<br />
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For a cottage garden it is worth borrowing from nature: if you like a walk on the wild side you will go crazy for blackthorn this year. The whole countryside is decked out in its marital best with piles of fluffy white blossom, and the promise of a good year for sloe gin.<br />
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Still the whole point of this post is that I have to make a choice about the one shrub or tree that really epitomises April. The trade-mark of most gardens now is fruit tree blossom - mainly cherry, apple and plum. So my favourite tree in the garden as I write this has to be the crab apple: Malus Moerlandsii. This is the third year that I've had it, but frankly it's the first year that it has really performed well, and the same is true of our plum tree. I imagine that with the drought a few years ago the roots have taken that long to establish well, in my thick clay sub-soil. Look at the power of that colour though. It is really something special, which is just as well as I had to travel half way across the county to go and get it.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our front garden is tiny, so every metre has to count. I need a tree with bags of personality<br />
Crab apples have beautiful blossom, leaves and crabs.</td></tr>
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Cherries and crab apples are both stunningly beautiful trees with great wow factor. I chose the crab apple because the crabs apples provide a second season of interest in the autumn and both blossom and crabs are good for the wild-life. It is particularly enjoyable to watch a blackbird sitting on top of an apple tree in the middle of winter, perfectly contented and with a full larder. I could also add that the colour of the bark is lovely.<br />
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There is another more practical consideration too. Cherry trees don't much like being pruned. That's not a problem for a number of years, but sooner or later it becomes a nuisance. Then it is great to have an apple instead. They are <i>much</i> more forgiving, being happy to be trained and pruned and so much more suitable for a small garden, like we have in the front. Who knows though, perhaps I will just let it over power the whole street!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13091251754467950290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319525011754789199.post-56944190771419672032014-04-05T02:10:00.000-07:002014-04-05T02:12:17.434-07:00Fab flowers: Narcissus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="s1"><b>With March having drifted quietly in April I feel like I ought to pay tribute to what is an exceptional year for </b></span><b>the Asphodel, Lent lily, or Daffodil as we now call it.</b><br />
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<b>I'm sure we have all wandered lonely as clouds in the car on the way to pick up the kids or the shopping when our thoughts were brought back very firmly to terra firma by a "Please Crash Here" sign in the shape of Wordsworth's </b><b>host of golden daffodils.</b><br />
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<b>Is it really such a good idea to thoughtfully place such distractions at perilous interfaces and round-abouts? Do these people have no soul? </b><b>Perhaps even more likely to make me crash is the sight of someone in a garden then tieing all those lovely stems up into horrid little knots to make the garden look tidy when the flowers are finished. </b><b>When you see that it is only a matter of months till the tarmac comes out to finish off the job.</b><br />
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<span class="s1"><b>Luckily we have had a good year for daffodils. The weather has been mild, and if there have been storms and rain then they have not been persistent.</b></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Somehow mixed daffodils work in pots. </td></tr>
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<span class="s1"><b>I'm not a fan of mixing daffodils in random splodges in the garden, but I do grow several different types and I often mix them in pots. The theory is that that way some survive the storms, some are early, some late etc. </b></span><b>In practice the real impact is to allow me to wander around the garden (back to Wordsworth head in the clouds business) considering whether I prefer this one or that. Daft occupation of course. I like them all, changing my preferences as one or the other comes into perfection.</b><br />
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<b>I have been finding out a bit more about them recently. So for example, where my daffodils have fallen over I thought that this was due to the weight of the flowers. I read though that in fact it's because I didn't plant them deeply enough. Two, three or even four times the size of the bulb would be better. That is easy to say to people who are not trying to cram in bulbs between other plants in heavy clay, but I shall try to be a good girl.</b><br />
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<b>Where the petals have been shredded this is not the sparrows who love to shred Forsythia, but my old friend the slug. Beer traps work well (I believe the theory is that if you drink enough you won't mind the slug damage, but I've never understood why you have to drink out of grapefruit halves- ugh).</b><br />
<span class="s1"><b><br /></b></span><span class="s1"><b>I also found out that daffodils are narcotic and fairly deadly , but that they taste so bad that the danger is minimal. This last fact I can vouch for as my grandmother once mistook one for an onion, rendering the entire meal utterly inedible, and later meals at her house a curiously tense business. Even the smell can be poisonous in certain circumstances - with many people finding that Jonquils will bring on a head-ache in enclosed rooms.</b></span><br />
<span class="s1"><b><br /></b></span><span class="s1"><b>Daffodils are long-lived as long as you allow the leaves to complete their photosynthesis and die down naturally. There is no need to dig them up to over-winter, but it's difficult to grow them year after year in a pot - far easier to rest them a year in the garden, and dig up some other bulbs for potting once the leaves have died down (mark them so you know where they are). </b></span><b>Daffodils will flower very well in ridiculous quantities of shade but they will not bulk up well there and in later years you may just get leaves and no flowers so pots are a good way of sending your narcissus into battle in the gloom. The other reason that daffodils come up blind is because they have become over-crowded. Dig them up in June and pull the bulbs apart before replanting.</b><br />
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<b>I agree that it is not nice to look at a mass of dieing brown leaves slowly turning to slime, but that is easy enough to fix. You can intersperse your daffodils with other later flowers such as Hemerocallis that will have well-growing thick strappy leaves by the time that the daffodils are dieing off. Or another distraction is to plant them around a deciduous shrub which comes late into leaf. </b><b>Whatever you choose please don't forget to intersperse them with other flowers such as primroses that have more to offer the bees.</b><br />
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<b>If your bulbs are not spreading fast enough it's worth trying a different variety. Apparently tete-a-tete bulks so fast that there is no money in it for the breeders because people don't come back for more. Or how about my favourite right now - Sir Winston Churchill. It's easy to grow, thoroughly reliable and has a beautiful scent.</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sir Winston Churchill</td></tr>
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<span class="s1"><b>The BBC website reckons that you can count on 100 days of daffodils if you plan carefully. I don't think I'm going to manage quite that, but 80 days seems very straightforward. It's well worth it too, for even though the garden is now bursting with flowers it is these late narcissus that seem to me to have the best fragrance every time the sun comes out. </b></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13091251754467950290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319525011754789199.post-53014965042535627002014-03-27T15:00:00.000-07:002014-03-27T15:00:34.352-07:00Spring scents<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GEZElrPUBVA/UzSaxG7fMPI/AAAAAAAAGS8/_bDDh0aVYVg/s1600/IMG_20140323_153030.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GEZElrPUBVA/UzSaxG7fMPI/AAAAAAAAGS8/_bDDh0aVYVg/s1600/IMG_20140323_153030.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a>I'm rather sick of the mantra that there are scented flowers for every season. Really? I rather struggle with scent in the garden right now.<br />
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The last blossoms from the Daphne Bohlua have almost gone, which leaves me with only two scented shrubs that I can find, namely Magnolia Stellata and Osmanthus. My Osmanthus Delavayi is only a baby - perhaps one foot across, and its scent is very fragile as yet though definitely there.<br />
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More worryingly this photo is a few days old and those shockingly white flowers are already going brown after blooming for a scant three weeks. Perhaps that reflects Tuesday's rain storms, but that's scarcely unusual in spring! Still if Christopher Lloyd loves Osmanthus then I am happy to see what happens next year.<br />
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I am feeling more hopeful about the Magnolia Stellata. I walked past this largish shrub on my way home the other night. The air was chilly but filled with a warm aromatic spice - delicious.<br />
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Of course some heathers smell but I cannot abide the plant.<br />
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So that leaves me with perennials, and again I can think of only two that are really worth including here - dark blue Hyacinths, and a number of narcissus. I am used to thinking that the most strongly scented daffodils are those with small cups and many heads to each stem. Perhaps that's right, but many of the larger headed ones smell great too. The Gardeners World programme recommends Minnow, pheasant's eye, Hawera, Quail and Sweetness, so I shall try to remember that when next I buy bulbs.<br />
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Have I forgotten something? Please do let me know.<br />
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