That is a very handsome pot, but I think Mme Alfred Carrière is too big for a pot. I have The Pilgrim in a large pot NE facing, which has been OK, so Crown Princess Margareta may be all right.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
Thanks Lizzie, choosing a new rose is always a tricky decision. The part of the wall I want it to grow up does get some afternoon sun but it also takes a battering from the wind. I think it will be a case of picking one and waiting to see what happens.
Elsewhere in the garden the fuchsias are starting to come into their own. They seem a bit later this year although that could be my imagination. This one was in place before I arrived. I gave it a good mulch last autumn and it seems to have picked up this year. This photo doesn't really do it justice.
This is a close up showing the flowers.
The hawkshead fuchsia I grew from plugs have also recently come into flower.
There is a lot of self-seeding going on in the garden. Some of it more welcome than others. There has recently been an outbreak of verbascum thapsus after a gap of a few months. They often get devastated by mullein moth caterpillars but they seem to have grown up after the caterpillars had gone this year. You can see some of them putting on a bit of growth for next year in this photo. This is supposed to be a path...
I encourage foxgloves to spread around. This one is growing in a crevice on a small old tree trunk. It looks healthy now but I'm not sure it will have the roots to support a tall plant being blown around.
The mullein caterpillars did a job chomping through nasturtiums this year as there wasn't the verbascums at the time. Now the caterpillars have become moths the nasturtiums have gone crazy growing masses of foliage.
With a bit of luck we'll get a few flowers before the weather gets too cold.
It has been 5 months since my lost post on this thread, mostly because the garden's gradual decline into winter doesn't make for the most interesting photos. We've had more snow than usual this last winter and had some fairly substantial branches come down. One thankfully narrowly missed the greenhouse. Over the last couple of weeks I've got going again and started planning for the summer. Snapdragon seeds have germinated and been pricked out into modules and moved into the unheated greenhouse. I've got 60 of them so if they all survive I maybe giving some away. I've also been pinching back the sweetpeas I sowed last autumn. I think I've still got some seed left from what I saved last summer so I may also try a spring sowing.
A new addition is 5 Raspberry 'Joan J' plants. I put up a support around them, cut them back to the ground and crossed my fingers! The supplier sent an extra one so I've put it in a pot so I have a reserve if any fail.
I'm also going to use the frame for hardening off hanging baskets and perhaps growing strawberries in hanging baskets.
In addition to the raspberries I've also planted a Blackberry 'Karaka black' and a Rubus occidentalis 'Jewel'. This is commonly called a black raspberry but apparently is neither a raspberry or a blackberry. These fruit on last year's canes so I'm going to have to wait patiently!
A job that I did today was to reshape a flower bed where there had been two small ones previously.
These had always been a pain to mow around and the plants in it were well past their best. I've tried to save the aster by putting bits into pots so we'll see what happens. It now looks like this...
Final picture for now is one of our cat on the prowl for mice.
She hasn't been out much for the last week or so as she became very ill and was diagnosed with heart disease. Thankfully the medication is working and she is helping out in the garden again.
I wish the best for your cat Slum. I have lots of Autumn sown sweetpeas with the roots hanging out everywhere! I sense a disaster as they can't go in the ground up here.
However, today under instruction, my 5 year old grandaughter planted her blue sweetpeas in tubes. I might use the ones "I made earlier" if they fail ?
Thanks both for your kind thoughts re: our cat. She's under 4 years old so very unlucky on having a dodgy heart this young. However on the bright side she is in no pain and happy enough and though she won't be a long-lived cat, we should have her for a few more years.
Good thinking on having back-up sweet peas, Purplerain. And don't worry about roots sticking out the bottom. They'll air prune and do the plants no harm.
Sorry to hear about your cat slum but good to hear the meds seem to be working. Nice to see your garden at any time of the year. We have been busy here gathering all of the leaves from our mini forest. We need all of the help we can get from where ever with this heavy clay soil to cultivate. Managed to plant lots of bulbs late last year and chipped lots of prunings from our trees. Can't wait for the 10cm of snow to clear so we can crack on with putting the greenhouse up and constructing the raised beds. Can't wait. Keep up with the inspirational posts slum - have a feeling they will keep me going when the going gets tough here.
Posts
You have a treasure of a garden. Very inspirational Slum.
That is a very handsome pot, but I think Mme Alfred Carrière is too big for a pot. I have The Pilgrim in a large pot NE facing, which has been OK, so Crown Princess Margareta may be all right.
Thanks Lizzie, choosing a new rose is always a tricky decision. The part of the wall I want it to grow up does get some afternoon sun but it also takes a battering from the wind. I think it will be a case of picking one and waiting to see what happens.
Elsewhere in the garden the fuchsias are starting to come into their own. They seem a bit later this year although that could be my imagination. This one was in place before I arrived. I gave it a good mulch last autumn and it seems to have picked up this year. This photo doesn't really do it justice.
This is a close up showing the flowers.
The hawkshead fuchsia I grew from plugs have also recently come into flower.
There is a lot of self-seeding going on in the garden. Some of it more welcome than others. There has recently been an outbreak of verbascum thapsus after a gap of a few months. They often get devastated by mullein moth caterpillars but they seem to have grown up after the caterpillars had gone this year. You can see some of them putting on a bit of growth for next year in this photo. This is supposed to be a path...
I encourage foxgloves to spread around. This one is growing in a crevice on a small old tree trunk. It looks healthy now but I'm not sure it will have the roots to support a tall plant being blown around.
The mullein caterpillars did a job chomping through nasturtiums this year as there wasn't the verbascums at the time. Now the caterpillars have become moths the nasturtiums have gone crazy growing masses of foliage.
With a bit of luck we'll get a few flowers before the weather gets too cold.
It has been 5 months since my lost post on this thread, mostly because the garden's gradual decline into winter doesn't make for the most interesting photos. We've had more snow than usual this last winter and had some fairly substantial branches come down. One thankfully narrowly missed the greenhouse. Over the last couple of weeks I've got going again and started planning for the summer. Snapdragon seeds have germinated and been pricked out into modules and moved into the unheated greenhouse. I've got 60 of them so if they all survive I maybe giving some away. I've also been pinching back the sweetpeas I sowed last autumn. I think I've still got some seed left from what I saved last summer so I may also try a spring sowing.
A new addition is 5 Raspberry 'Joan J' plants. I put up a support around them, cut them back to the ground and crossed my fingers! The supplier sent an extra one so I've put it in a pot so I have a reserve if any fail.
I'm also going to use the frame for hardening off hanging baskets and perhaps growing strawberries in hanging baskets.
In addition to the raspberries I've also planted a Blackberry 'Karaka black' and a Rubus occidentalis 'Jewel'. This is commonly called a black raspberry but apparently is neither a raspberry or a blackberry. These fruit on last year's canes so I'm going to have to wait patiently!
A job that I did today was to reshape a flower bed where there had been two small ones previously.
These had always been a pain to mow around and the plants in it were well past their best. I've tried to save the aster by putting bits into pots so we'll see what happens. It now looks like this...
Final picture for now is one of our cat on the prowl for mice.
She hasn't been out much for the last week or so as she became very ill and was diagnosed with heart disease. Thankfully the medication is working and she is helping out in the garden again.
I wish the best for your cat Slum. I have lots of Autumn sown sweetpeas with the roots hanging out everywhere! I sense a disaster as they can't go in the ground up here.
However, today under instruction, my 5 year old grandaughter planted her blue sweetpeas in tubes. I might use the ones "I made earlier" if they fail ?
Lovely to see updates on your beautiful garden Slum. I don't mind seeing your garden in the winter at all.
Hope your cat ok.
Thanks both for your kind thoughts re: our cat. She's under 4 years old so very unlucky on having a dodgy heart this young. However on the bright side she is in no pain and happy enough and though she won't be a long-lived cat, we should have her for a few more years.
Good thinking on having back-up sweet peas, Purplerain. And don't worry about roots sticking out the bottom. They'll air prune and do the plants no harm.
Sorry to hear about your cat slum but good to hear the meds seem to be working. Nice to see your garden at any time of the year. We have been busy here gathering all of the leaves from our mini forest. We need all of the help we can get from where ever with this heavy clay soil to cultivate. Managed to plant lots of bulbs late last year and chipped lots of prunings from our trees. Can't wait for the 10cm of snow to clear so we can crack on with putting the greenhouse up and constructing the raised beds. Can't wait. Keep up with the inspirational posts slum - have a feeling they will keep me going when the going gets tough here.