No gardening for me today, but we did go to our local English heritage property for a walk around the gardens. The different shades of green of the evergreen trees and shrubs and the autumn leaves in all their different colours was stunning. There were still some begonias in bloom in some of the borders and a few dahlia flowers, but I imagine they will soon be finished. I absolutely love the smell of autumn, it’s very distinct I think, and was certainly in evidence walking around the gardens. We then had to call into the cafe there for some lunch (of course) and I enjoyed some home made leek and potato soup followed by a slice of cake (naughty of me but very nice). This set me up nicely ready for preparing our evening meal when we got in - lamb tagine - which is now quietly simmering in the oven and smells delicious.
Built a bug hotel, a little lopsided on the left hand side, but l prefer to think of it as rustic 😁.
I doubt if the bugs will complain as they tuck themselves away.
I managed to walk the dog without getting soaked. Spent most of the day cooking down lbs. of tomatoes into passatta. I have a blender which I usually blitz them in before putting them through a sieve, but have had an electric light bulb moment and am going to try putting them through the electric juicer I purchased in a charity shop for £5.00. No idea why I didn't think of it before. So much easier, if it works. The forecast for today is horrendous again so clearing up is on my list of "to do" jobs.
The winter flowering honeysuckle bush I grew from a cutting over the last 4 years, which I gave to my daughter at the beginning of this year, is full of flower buds and growing well. So satisfying, it is obviously happy in its new home. My bush does not have a bud in sight. Of course!
My vermillion nerines are opening and look striking underneath the white sasquana camellia, also in flower. Hopefully, I might get outside in the next few days. Still very windy but dry. Yeah!
This morning the under gardener and I set to doing the weeding I couldn't reach before ( problems bending) in the middle of the large bed, still a bit left to do, it is a never ending job 🙄 Then planted four trays full of daffodil bulbs dug up after flowering. They were dug up in the green, put in the shed all summer, and have dried beautifully ready for replanting. Hopefully this will do them good as they had got very crowded, and now they are spread across the garden. Good job we have had quite alot of rain to make the soil easy to dig into, except in one area which has never been cultivated, under trees, and is still heavy clay. I was sad to have to cut back the salvia hot lips, but it had grown so big it would be in danger of damage in the winter winds, as it was still full of flower. ☹️
Yes busy here. Raking beech and sycamore leaves in the woodlandy bit and then chopping them with the mower and then raking it up and putting it on the leaf mould heaps. Three heaped barrow loads of chopped stuff but much more to do.
Very reluctantly I decided that the wisteria had to be pruned back to below the top of the terrace wall it had been attached to. The wall is now cracking in places and it may be subsidence - clay soil on a slope. Am keeping a watching eye on it. The wisteria was catching our strong south westerly winds and being very roughly blown about.
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I've just planted the rest of my Tete a Tete daffs in pots, very quickly done before it poured with rain again.
I managed to walk the dog without getting soaked.
Spent most of the day cooking down lbs. of tomatoes into passatta. I have a blender which I usually blitz them in before putting them through a sieve, but have had an electric light bulb moment and am going to try putting them through the electric juicer I purchased in a charity shop for £5.00. No idea why I didn't think of it before. So much easier, if it works.
The forecast for today is horrendous again so clearing up is on my list of "to do" jobs.
So satisfying, it is obviously happy in its new home.
My bush does not have a bud in sight. Of course!
My vermillion nerines are opening and look striking underneath the white sasquana camellia, also in flower.
Hopefully, I might get outside in the next few days. Still very windy but dry. Yeah!
Then planted four trays full of daffodil bulbs dug up after flowering. They were dug up in the green, put in the shed all summer, and have dried beautifully ready for replanting. Hopefully this will do them good as they had got very crowded, and now they are spread across the garden. Good job we have had quite alot of rain to make the soil easy to dig into, except in one area which has never been cultivated, under trees, and is still heavy clay.
I was sad to have to cut back the salvia hot lips, but it had grown so big it would be in danger of damage in the winter winds, as it was still full of flower. ☹️