Shopping

Today I went shopping in Ledbury, adding to the supplies, getting some hen and cat food, stocking up on toiletries from The Apothecary Shop and on food from Handley Organics and The Co op. 

The Co op had a rather sad looking reduced bunch of flowers, so I bought them as a little treat for myself. 

After I'd unpacked all the shopping and put it away I went for a walk and also picked some Snowdrops. 

And here are the results 😊

Some flowers, to cheer us up

It's STILL raining here! I feel maybe I should start building an Ark?

I went on a very soggy walk around Moors Wood today, so here are some Snowdrops.

Plant Me Now creative blogger challenge.

Back in October I was contacted  by Plant Me Now - one of the UK’s leading plant and gardening suppliers -  to join in an invitation only, creative blogger challenge. The challenge was to design a virtual concept for a mixed summer hanging basket, creating a blog post to talk about my flower and colour choices and how I would plant it up in a 30 cm rattan hanging basket.

I must admit I was taken with the idea, not least because, after the pleasure I took from the patio pots I planted up this year, I actually do want to have some hanging baskets around. It also sounded like a bit of  fun, so I told the nice man at Plant Me Now I would have a go:)

I started off looking for plants on line as well as searching through a lot of books. I wanted to make my hanging basket both beautiful to look at AND very attractive to butterflies, bees and other insects. I wanted strong colours of pink and purple, with trailing foliage. I also wanted some scent!  So not much to ask for :)

Normally I would have a good idea which plants I wanted to use because I would have some to look at, but as it is Nov and this is a virtual hanging basket I have to use my imagination. I had a good look at various websites selling plants and seeds and I also had a look at various hanging basket displays on line to get a feel for what could be achieved. I printed off some images of  plants and then tore them into strips to play around with the arrangement.

At times like this I wish I had a super duper graphic design package on my computer! But my torn up strips did give me a feel for the layout I was after.

Next I drew my design on paper and coloured it in so I had a rough idea what it would look like.

I normally plant up containers by eye, judging how many plants to put in from experience of their growing habit but for this I am going to put in a few more "virtual plants" that I would normally - when I make the basket up for real I can always trim them back or even remove one or two later if the hanging basket looks too crowded.

I have gone for a mauve and a pink  Trailing Verbena

 and Nasturtiums in jewel shades of pinks and gold flowers as contrast, this is Summer Carousel

 
along with trailing Nepeta Hederacea as an added foliage backdrop to set off the rich colours of the flowers. The leaves are scented so I am really pleased to have both colour, scent and movement in my basket.

  

I have a Fuchsia as a fantastic centre piece, which has an unusual deep burgundy corolla and deep pink sepals.
  

I also am deliberating about adding in another trailing fuchsia (Buds of May)  in different shades of mauve and pink. I love these colours and as it will be hanging in *my* patio I can please myself, but I am finding it difficult to decide if the planting will be too crowded if I have three fuchsias in the middle  :) In the end I decided to have several as I can always take them out if they are too crowded.

All of these flowers are rated highly as bee/butterfly/insect attracting flowers so I am hoping my hanging basket will be humming with activity next summer.

Next I have to think about how to plant up my hanging basket. It is easier to plant them if you place the basket in a bucket to keep it steady. The rattan basket I have to use is already lined to provide a water reservoir so I will  line the bottom of the basket with a circle cut from an old wool jumper to retain more moisture. I will then half fill it up with peat free growing medium and some of my worm compost.

I will plant the centre fuchsia first, and then arrange the other plants a pattern, filling the basket after to near the rim with my growing medium/work cast mix.

I will then carefully hang the basket on a securely fixed wall mounted bracket which was designed to take the weight of a hanging basket - they can be heavy when the soil is moist!

The basket will then be given a very good drink of water and I will make sure I water it regularly. One tip to save water - have other pots or troughs underneath to use the water which drips out from the bottom of the basket so it does not go to waste.

It is also important to feed a hanging basket regularly - I will use my home made worm and comfrey tea  and add it to the watering can as a regular liquid feed. It is also important to regularly deadhead plants to prolong the flowering season - making sure all the dead flowers and foliage go into the compost, of course!

I am looking forward to being able to make my design a reality in 2015. Plant Me Now will shortlist two of the designs,  which their Facebook fans will then vote on to decide on their favourite to go into production for Summer 2015. I will let you know how my design gets on :)


Written in association with PlantMeNow

Summer Colour Givaway!

The nice people at Spalding Bulbs contacted me recently to ask me if I would like to run a competition/ givaway on my blog. Being a kind sort and liking to give you little presents from time to time, I said yes please.

All I had to do, was to select an item I wanted from the website and then they would send me two of it. One for me and one for you :-)
 
Bearing in mind I have to post this item onwards to the winner,  I selected some summer flowering montbrecia bulbs   athough the Spalding Bulbs website had seeds and all sorts of other tempting gardening items on display. As they only post out the very best, the bulbs are available at certain times of the year only.

I picked Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora ‘Lucifer’ the more well known variety with beautiful red flowers. Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora ‘Emily Mckenzie’ has orange flowers which look more like a lily flower.
 

I have a place earmarked for them and hopefully they will be a beautiful display in a few months.

So...leave me a comment and in a couple of days I will pick a name out of a hat and send the lucky winner some bulbs. Due to postage and customs I am afraid UK readers only, please.

Sunny Saturday

Today was a busy day. I felt a little more human today so after getting up, having breakfast, shower etc I did the Ginger Hen Gang, put on a load of washing and stripped our bed. Compostgirl did her bed and tidied and vacuumed her room and cleaned the bathroom (these are her regular jobs, along with her guinea pigs and feeding the birds)
 
I cut Compostman's hair - he looked much tidier after! I also deep cleaned one of the hen houses and put new fresh bedding inside ( more on that, later) while Compostman did some more work to the Pink Bedroom.


Then after lunch we went out on a trip out, to do with my birthday present. We went to Malvern and on the way we passed signs for a Wildlife Trust Bluebell Day. I thought about how none of our Bluebells were anywhere near flowering

We did our birthday shopping, went to a Supermarket  and then came home


Compostman and I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening doing lots of outside work, I mowed some grass and moved hen runs and houses around and watered the polytunnel plants. Compostman dug some of the veg patch and also did a bit of this, watched by bemused members of the Ginger Gang ( Marjoram and Titch, here)

(can you guess what my Birthday present is, yet?)

In the late afternoon sunshine we had a cup of tea outside and I went and had a look around the garden. And concluded that yes, Spring was finally here!

The Magnolias are in full bloom and unusually they are flowering at the same time as the Damson, Rivers Early Plum AND the Victoria Plum!

Lots of Cowslips and Daffodils including Pheasants Eye which I love.

And finally! Finally the Fritillaries are in bloom :-)

No apple blossom out yet so I do not know if we will have a good display for the May Bank Holiday "Blossomtime" event here, but at least we have blossom on the plum trees and have had no night frosts - so maybe this year we will see some plums on the trees.

 And when I walked in the wood at dusk what did I see but - the first of the Bluebells flowering :-)

Saturday - wet morning, sunny afternoon in Newent.

Saturday morning here was appallingly wet! This is the view from my Study window - can you make out the "stair rod" type rain?

It also went very dark and very gloomy.

The rain stopped eventually and as the ground was so wet I decided to give up on Plan "A" ( veg patch digging) and go for Plan "B" ( go to Newent with a friend and her children, with Compostgirl)


Which left Compostman to do more DIY, helped by Cassi Cat. Don't worry, he wasn't actually up a ladder while we were out - this was after we came back home!

Newent is a lovely little Market town about 8 miles away from us, much like Ledbury but over the county border into Gloucestershire and with a different mix of small shops and a very lovely park and Lake. We had a look in the Patchwork /Quilting shop  :-) where I bought a few bits and bobs, we went into a couple of "new to us" charity shops - the children all found " finds" in them and then we had an excellent lunch in "The George" a very old Coaching Inn on the High Street. 

After lunch we walked around Newent Lake and it was then I realised - Spring has finally Sprung!  I spotted Daisies and Celendines in the grass, the first Ransoms were out and the green shoots of the Bluebells were cuite clealy there. The Ducks, Coots and Moorhens were all pairing off and nest building  - it was warm and the air smelt of that green, earthy, "alive" smell which is ...SPRING!

We came home and later, when I checked on my Potatoes in the Polytunnel, I found...this!

Can you see the green shoots poking through the compost :-)


Have you seen more signs of spring, where you are?

what is growing at the moment in the garden

Seeing as so many of you mentioned my Snowdrops, I thought I would take you on a little walk around the garden and show you what is growing at the moment...

 Snowdrops along the edge of the gravel

Cassi Cat sniffing the flowers

Out on the front road and more snowdrops along our verge

Back inside our garden and I heard buzzing...and spotted this lovely bumble bee on the honeysuckle.

She was moving purposefully from flower to flower, getting valuable nectar to fill her tummy and give her energy

Leaving the bee behind, here is an old cider mill, again surrounded by Snowdrops

Corner of the garden looking out of our front boundary hedge onto the lane. More Snowdrops, and lots of Daffodils popping up now. And a Primrose in the bottom right corner.

A splendid Hellebore under a tree

 Turning away from the lane now and heading across the garden towards the veg plot and wood.

The remains of a Silver Birch carries some interesting fungi.

 More Snowdrops - it has been a really good year for them I think.

I hope you all enjoyed the look around my garden.

A wander in the garden...

 Ok, so it FINALLY has stopped raining , here!

So I went for a wander around, to see what everything looked like.

 First stop is a very special patch of grass next to the polytunnel...any idea what might make it so special? I will tell you later on, if you can't already guess :-)



Out into the wood,to look at the compost bins

and to let out the hens (hello, girls, )


I spotted this as I wandered around the top of the wood - an Early Purple Orchid, with Bumblebee feeding.

 I went down into the wood where it was cool and very damp - raindrops fell from the trees overhead and the Jays chattered at me.

Back up to the garden, to check on the veg patch - all very soggy! I have loads of plants waiting to be put into their final positions but it has been SO wet I have not been able to put them out - am hoping that the weather improves enough in the next few days to do something about the plant backlog

The Broad bean flowers are very pretty

 

And finally, back to that patch by the polytunnel - have you guessed, yet? Here is a clue.

Can you see? In the middle? 

Yes! it is our very own four ( or five, or even six) leaved clover patch. Very handy to have around before exams :-)

A wander around my garden

 I think our garden looks at its best at this time of year - lots of early summer flowers are in bloom and everything looks lush and green

Finally the rain stopped and I could mow the grass!

I love this north facing boarder, it is full of aquilegias, iris, tree paeonies and all sorts of lovely flowers

I am in the middlle of digging out and restocking this east facing boarder, lots of new plants waiting to go in - when I have a few spare moments!

Still have patches of wild flowers in the lawn, so I do not mow them but leave them be.

I love Honesty :-)

Another tree paeony - they seem to do really well in our garden, such exotic looking blooms!

The last of the bluebells, still bravely flowering in the wood

And I couldn't resist bringing some of the flowers inside