All of a buzz

Whenever we go out or come in at this time of year, we stop at the oregano growing in the front garden. Why, you might ask. What’s so intriguing? We’ve discovered oregano is a great bee attractant. There’s rarely less than three bees going around the flowers, even though it’s a fairly small clump. They’re usually big fat bumble bees with white backside, though there is the occasional slim-line honey bee visiting. The little white rumps wriggle around in ecstasy as they gorge themselves.

In the back garden it is undoubtedly the lavender that is the main attractant, though a fair number can be seen amid the mint at the moment.

It is wonderful to see so many busy buzzing bees. Our next door neighbour was complaining only the other day about the shortage of bees coming to pollinate his runner beans. I couldn’t help thinking I knew where they all were - in our garden. Even the lobelia & primulas growing in the pots in the walled garden have striped behinds sticking out of their flowers.

The new garden certainly is doing a grand job of attracting the insects. We’ve even had some butterflies, species never previously seen in our garden. Admittedly that does mean a few holey leaved plants as caterpillars eat their way through the leaves - a small price to pay for the beautiful insects that finally appear.

On the up

The sun is shining. The world is looking bright.

Undoubtedly part of my up mood is that when I checked the account the money has finally gone out to pay for my care. Now I’m just hoping it will be easier when the next bill arrives at the end of the month.

I’m hoping Carol, our gardener will be coming today. She’s been coming on Sunday the last couple of weeks. She’s been too busy during the week with having a new kitchen installed. However Sunday is not the best day of the week for me. If it’s dry I like the chance to go to church - though it has rained the last two weeks & often I go to church via BBC Radio 4. And regardless of anything else Sunday is the day I change the bed & get the week’s washing under way – always a physically taxing, & pain-inducing, activity. The extra physical demand involved in sorting her out, is just getting a bit too much.

I myself have managed to do a bit in the garden this last week. On Monday the Fox mowed the lawns & I cut round the edges, neatening them off. Then yesterday I had a go at topiary. Our privet lollipops were beginning to get a bit straggly. We’re not entirely convinced we want to keep them but until we decide we want to keep them in shape. There is something to be said for the height of the lollipops, even their formality. The lavender hedging, or soon to be lavender hedging, broken only be the lollipops do give a linking theme up the garden, a unity of flow that takes you up & around the garden.

Hairy lollipops in the midst of the lavender...

... leading you up the garden path

Dreams

The sun is shining warmly. We sit outside. It's early for dinner. Earlier on we had ventured of to the jewellers to collect the Fox's now expanded wedding ring. It's gleaming, just like new. We had contemplated going down to our local village pub. When we got there, the car park was heaving & loud music blared. We remembered it was the last weekend of the month which is when they have live music. We didn't stop. We hastened home instead to sit out in the peace of the garden.

This is so much more civilised. A cool drink or two, good conversation, & the twitter of the birds. Sheer indulgence. 

After a while we get up to cook the dinner which we eat outside. It's been a while since it's been warm enough for such a treat.

We contemplate what ideally we would do to transform the garden. Certain aspects we wouldn't change. We love the amount of wildlife it attracts & wouldn't want to do anything to deter these visitors. The bog garden is looking so much better, better than it has been since we moved here nearly 11 years ago. The ligularia is a blaze of gold shining in the shaded end. The hydrangea shyly shows its pink pompoms of colour. The privacy we love, that sense of not being overlooked, of being in a different other world of peace & tranquility. Oh yes, we want to keep that.

The crazy paving which half the time sprouts patches of green weeds can go. The Fox contemplates getting rid of the shed. We don't use it much - too damp - & there's plenty of room in the garage for the shed's contents. 

We contemplate a veranda. We've thought of adding on a conservatory before now but to our mind it's not worth it. We don't actually need an extra room. To attach it to, & between, the kitchen and the laundry room would mean it would be facing due south, far too hot to sit in during the summer. The more we think about it, the more we like the idea of a veranda, an area to give us a bit of shelter when the sun is too hot for comfort, to stop us getting wet when we go to get stuff from the freezer in the laundry room or to enable us to eat out on a warm but damp day. The more we think about it, that would suit us better.

The Fox suggests we maybe ought to get some ideas from some landscape gardeners. But, in all honesty, I don't think this is the time to contemplate the stress of workmen. Next year maybe.

Certainly the garden will be the next focus for our attention. All that remains inside is the routine redecoration & repairs. The major work is complete now, for a while at least. I know the workmen would be outside so should be less stressful than having them in the house, but I am sure there will be stress &, at the moment, I think that should be avoided if possible. 

Still it's nice to dream....

Garden update

Several years ago we planted an acer tree. It is supposed to be a copper coloured one, but has always remained resolutely a green one. One of the changes that has really caught my eye after our brief sojourn in Harrogate is that this small tree is now a vivid red. It has never turned such a glowing autumnal colour before. From our kitchen door, looking up the garden, behind the bird bath, is this glorious blaze of brilliant scarlet. I think the tree is suddenly coming into a maturity, ready to show its full colours. Wonderful.

Last night must have been very cold. It wouldn't surprise me if there wasn't a touch of frost even. I ventured out to get some herbs for dinner - mince & potato patties, an old favourite - to discover many of them were rather limp. The first sign of their dying down for winter I wonder. Certainly they were covered with a fine mist of dampness, of condensation. The car was positively dripping with wet.

Sunflowers

In the pot of sweet peas near the back door, a huge sunflower has appeared, self-seeded of course. It has been a source of great frustration to me. I've often fancied growing some sunflowers. They're big, bold and cheery. They also would provide plenty of free seeds for the birds. But, and this is a big but, whenever I've planted some seeds, the birds have as quickly dug them out & eaten them then & there. So it is with great amazement I view this specimen. It stands several feet tall. The flower is just opening up. It will be several inches across, cheery indeed.

Sunflowers I associate with two places above all. The first time I really appreciated them was when we were staying in the Loire valley. We drove up a hill to gain a view of the river below & of Chinon. Up there there were fields of sunflowers. It was autumn so they were starting to turn brown & dry, ready for harvesting for their oil. This was clearly a farmed field. The lines of flowers were just too regular for anything else. In French, we learnt, sunflowers are called "tournesol", because they turn (tourne) to the sun (le sol) throughout the day.

My next memory of them was at Gouda in the Netherlands. They have regular colourful markets there. One of the most spectacular stalls sold flowers. The sunflowers were splendid. Everyone seemed to be buying them. Homes throughout the area must have been decorated with them.

More joyous things

The time has come to turn my attention to more joyous things, you'll be relieved to hear.

Last night, in the midst of eating the excellent Kipper & Egg Kedgeree the Fox had made, I suddenly noticed the sweet peas in the vase on the table move. I thought at first I was seeing things. But no, there was a bright green caterpillar looping its way from under the petals. Dinner was briefly adjourned as he was helped out of the door.

Even more marvellous, the ligularia has opened out its first flower. A hint of gold has been emerging from the chocolate leaves for some time now. When I planted it last year, the flowers were already over so this is the first time I've seen it come into bloom. The rich gold is stunning. It echoes the rather yellower gold of the troilus (globeflower) which has also decided to have a second bloom this year.

In the midst is the hydrangea. It, too, has decided to flower. Admittedly I planted a deep blue one & it is now a bright pink one. I'm not complaining. I'm just glad it's survived the winter. For a long time it continued to look a gonner, & even now it is a considerably smaller plant than it was last year when I planted it.

I did venture briefly down to the rockery. There I nearly stood on a small frog just a couple of inches big. He hastily hopped away.

Out in the front garden the echinacea is doing well. We now have 3 pink flowers. The petals are beginning to bend back. It amazes me how hard, rather dry feeling & sharp, the central cone is - a bit like a teasel. I'm glad I left that "weed" in. The bees are still buzzing around the oregano, though they are moving their interest a bit to the fennel.

I've just had a phone call from the tree surgeon, suggesting coming around tonight to look at the trees that need some trimming. We're hoping to get a bit more light in, while placating one of our neighbour at the same time.

Hopefully he will also be able to do something with the trees of our neighbour on the other side. He has one that's dead & one on its last legs. Both he feels are dangerous, but he's been told there's a tree preservation order on them. Hopefully something can be done to make them safe before they come crashing down into our garden.

Life's getting back to normal, more in balance.

A patch of orange

I nudged the washing machine on to the spin programme. While it did what it had to do, I looked down the garden. My eyes were caught by a patch of orange, high up, that I hadn't noticed before. I had to go & investigate.

It turned out to be the berries on our rowan tree. The colour seems particularly vibrant at the moment. The bright orange echoed the darker, browner orange of the day lilies below.

This tree has never looked very well. And yet each year it produces a froth of white flowers in the spring, then orange berries later in the year. I've tried feeding it a bit. I've tried clearing away some of the yellow loosestrife & the day lilies that surround it. No improvement. But it does just keeps persevering regardless.

In the front garden the flowers on the oregano are now fading. The bumble bees are still scrambling around them, but the honey bees have turned their attention to the newly opened yellow flowers of the fennel. I know numbers of honey bees are supposed to be on the decline. I'm coming to the conclusion they've just moved home - into our herb garden!

The weed

Looking out of the window yesterday, I noticed a tall shoot standing in the herb garden. All the rain we've had over the last few days has certainly encouraged everything to grow by the inch. Needless to say, as there was a lull between the showers, I had to go out to investigate. It turned out to be the bergamot. It looks as though it's getting ready to flower. That should be exciting - the first time we will have seen it. I only planted it this year.

What surprised me even more was the plant next to the bergamot. For some time there have been some rather large leaves that I didn't recognise. I'd asked Al, our gardener, if he knew what it was. He didn't but took the attitude that if you didn't know a thing with leaves that size, it must be a weed to be hoicked out. I'd left it in. I'm always curious to discover what has self-seeded itself & it may just have interesting flowers even if it is a weed. So you can imagine my amazement when I noticed some buds on it which showed that it was the echinacea I'd planted last year & which I'd thought had died off in the snow & ice of last winter. Soon the pink flowers will be opening up. I'm glad I'd didn't pull out that "weed".

Tiger beauty

Yesterday I tried to write a blog. Every time I did I had a problem. First I tried to put in a hyperlink & then couldn't get out to write normally. I had to scrap the sentence I'd written & start again. This time I'd barely got started when the phone rang. By the time I'd got back I'd recovered from the urge to throw something at the computer for its earlier lack of cooperation, but I'd also lost the thread of what I was going to write about - something to do with a comparison of the literary styles of PG Wodehouse & Raymond Chandler. The thought had been inspired by listening to "A Point of View" on BBC Radio 4 on Sunday. Still that is now lost.

Instead I'm going to write about the garden once more. At one point yesterday I was out in the garden when my eye wandered in the direction of the flattened yellow loosestrife. It was a bit of red-orange that caught my eye. Upon investigation I discovered it was a couple of lilies in flower. They too had been flattened.

Most of the lilies that grow in the garden are day lilies. As these flowers rarely last more than 24 hours it isn't worth cutting them. However, the flowers that had flattened in the recent strong winds were tiger lilies, a welcome self-seeded arrival. So I duly cut them & put then in a vase. Since then I've spent much time just looking at, & admiring, them.

I'd always assumed lilies, like most flowers, emerged from a sepal bud. But no. On these the bud itself is slowly turning more orange. Through the green of the buds I can just manage to distinguish the characteristic spots which make these tiger lilies so special. I'm looking forward to watching them opening out over the course of the next few days.

Meanwhile the Fox was surprised when he moved the vase. His hand accidentally brushed against the flowers. Suddenly his hand was covered with a deep orange powder. He must have brushed against the stamens & was now covered with pollen. The sheer quantity amazed him.

The herb garden

When I first thought of making the front garden into a herb garden, folk pooh-poohed it. Part of my original idea was that I was aware of just how much of the time our back garden is under water, or at least you have to paddle through it to get to drier parts. Herbs I regard as essential for any enthusiastic cook. They provide such a wide range of extra taste sensations.

I went ahead and planted the garden. Now I look out & am glad I did.

The highlight at the moment are the clear bright simple daisy flowers of the chicory. Behind them is the tall feathery bright green of the fennel. Just beyond that fennel is a bronze fennel bringing with it a change of colour to a browner colour. To the right of the chicory is a mass of tiny white flowers on the coriander. In front of the chicory itself is the curry plant, full of yellow flowers & grey-green leaves. Then as you go left you come to a great stand of pink flowered chives. Peeping through the chives & curry plant are the purples of the lavender & the purple sage. Next to the purple sage is another sage, variegated this time with green & yellow leaves. Beyond that is the rosemary with their spiky leathery leaves. The sage bushes are also wrapping protectively around the bay tree. Further left still you come to the deep blue flowers of the borage and the mauvey white flowers of the yellow-green leaved oregano. Then there's the mint. Other herbs are scattered throughout - tarragon, bergamot, garlic chives, lemon thyme, chervil, lemon balm to name but a few. In places there are little patches of violas happily waving their smiling faces.

Throughout the year new things catch your eye. In the early spring there were the crocuses. Next year I'm hoping the snowdrops I transferred this spring will come up. Then came the brightly variegated leaves of the lemon balm, all yellow & green. The colour seems to be less vibrant as the summer progresses. In the early summer the reddish buds on the attractively leaved salad burnet starred. Soon the fennel will be spreading out its great umbels of golden flowers & hopefully the red flowers of the bergamot will appear. Bergamot is a new plant this year. I hope it takes & thrives. The nasturtiums will hopefully soon be cascading over the walls with their orange and red blooms.

Some plants have been casualties.The echinacea of last year doesn't seem to have survived the harsh winter. Equally the horizontal rosemary quickly gave up, not too big a disaster as the more usual bushy variety have kept growing year after year.

Some plants on the other hand have surprised me with their resilience. The tarragon plant, an annual, must have self-seeded itself. This year it not only reappeared, it is flourishing into quite a little clump. Oh, and I do love its aniseed flavour, especially with chicken. For that matter I'm surprised that the violas are still flowering even though I planted them last autumn & they've shown their faces ever since.

I am not the only appreciator of the garden. The bees are constantly buzzing around, hairy bums half sticky out of flowers.

All in all I'm pleased with my herb garden. Not only does it provide us with loads of extra flavours for our meals, they are also a visual & olfactory delight. Step outside on a hot summer's day, as we're having at the moment, & the scent of curry wafts across. Not only is there colour in the various flowers, there is colour & texture in the various leaves. Plenty of variety & interest, as well as usefulness, throughout the year.

A satisfying afternoon

We had no call from PD yesterday. This is unusual & a little worrying. We ring him. He's just decided against going the Pub. There's nothing actually amiss.

With peace of mind we hastily get into the garden . This is an unexpected chance to get a few chores done. While the Fox earths up his spuds again, I continue clearing the bog garden.

During our holiday the bog garden had become green. Unfortunately it became green with weeds rather than plants. I know, weeds are only plants growing in the wrong places, but that doesn't stop me wanting to look at the dogwoods & hydrangea rather than chickweed & grass.

By the time the spuds were topped up we were ready for a break. Off we popped to the Post Office to return some goods bought on-line. By then we were ready for a drink so we popped along to our local pub for a change.

After a couple of drinks, and still not 5 pm, we set off to buy some bark to cover the largely cleared bog garden before the weeds start reappearing again.

We've pondered long & hard about what is the best mulch for this area. We put bark down last year. The disadvantage we discovered, is that when the bog flooded into a pond, the bark floated off the soil all over the paved area. How about gravel or slate instead? In many ways that appeals. The problem is we suspect the weight of the stone would mean it would just sink into the bog. At least you can sweep the bark back over the garden. On this basis we've bought some more bark this year.

I've still not cleared the entire bog garden, but at least two thirds is done & covered with bark. Hopefully I'll get the rest done soon and we've still got one bag of compost to put all over the ground the moment it's cleared.

All in all it was a satisfying afternoon. We both felt we'd achieved something worthwhile as well as enjoying our drink out. We duly celebrated our efforts with a bottle of pinot grigio & some jazz in the evening.