Six on Saturday - 29 October 2022

It is still really warm, with night time temperatures more like the day time temperatures we would expect at this time of the year.  We have also had plenty of rain, but the soil is still manageable and gardening possible.  Over at SOS group headquarters manned by Jim, other gardeners are joining in, with their six.  Here are mine:

1. Helpful members of  Cyclamen Society on Facebook  helped  identified of this one flowering on the edge of the gravel garden.  Part of the test was going out to smell it, and yes there is a honey like scent. Looking back I realise  seed bought at the same time as when I bought  the white Cyclamen cilicium have turned up pink, and were moved to this spot a couple of years ago. They are smaller and daintier than Cyclamen hederifolium, with a leaf more akin to the Cyclamen coum..

Cyclamen cilicium

2. A few months ago, I was delighted to receive a piece of Persicaria amplexicaulis Golden Arrow  from a WI gardening group friend. With some rain, it is starting to made some lovely foliage. It is lighting up this patch now the Cosmos have been removed. I'm not sure that the surrounding plants quite complement it, so it may get moved to another position.

3. When the Alpine Group visited Avon Bulbs last year, we were invited to take home a pot of  Narcissus New Baby, which were destined for scrap, as they were surplus to requirement.  I came across the muddied nursery label which the squirrels must have unearthed.  The label reads: small scented jonquil hybrid one foot high with several small pale blooms on each stem.  As I clear the garden of top growth from the perennials I keep treading on labels from spring bulbs.  I just hope I haven't planted a miss mash one on top of others. Next spring will tell, and that is why I need to practice patience regarding getting new bulbs planted.

4.  Growing houseplant begonias is something quite new to be.  This leafy one bought at the HPS stall, with no name has been perfect on a high window sill with the light shining through.  It grew and grew and was ready for a trim.  The leaves did not go to waste and ended in a bouquet for IAVOM this week, and I'm not sure now the little cuttings will come on.  Nothing ventured. I shall report back whether they were a success or not in a few months time.

The cuttings on a shady window sill and the begonia, repotted and trimmed back is back looking lovely on its windowsill with the low sun shining through its leaves showing up that rich mahogany border.  Does anyone know its name?  You'll probably also tell me that I ought to have waited till next spring, but the plant really needed cutting back, so if the cuttings are a failure, I shall try again.

In the future Jim mentioned a database of Begonias, since I wrote about my little begonia in the past, I have used the edit button to add this here.

5. Early spring I felt in my bones that the days of the Salix Mount Aso were numbered.  It was right in the middle of the bed by the conservatory, and although it was lovely to see its fluffy pink spring time show, it was short lived, and was not a real asset at other times of the year.  Half of me said leave it till the spring when I could enjoy another season.

After quite some effort of digging it out, there is now a big space......

6. It is the end of the beetroot, and what a success it has been.  It was beetroot chutney making day on Thursday, following my favourite recipe but this time using seed from the garden grown dill and fresh ginger.  This makes a bright colourful chutney to go with winter lunches. There wasn't quite a kg of beetroot, so I added a little more apple and red onion.

That's my lot this week.

Northern slope Mendip Field Trip

 It is no secret that we have plenty of 'geology' where I live, which is on the southern flanks of the Mendips.  I am a member of the Wells U3A Geology group, and enjoy the regular lectures and field trips.  Recently we visited Burrington Combe which is on the northern flanks of the Mendips close to Cheddar Gorge. On the northern slope of the Mendips,  the strata of limestones dip more steeply than those on the southern slopes.  You can read all about the Geology on line, 

Here are some of my pictures taken on the visit.

On the other side of the road is Aveline's cave which was home to some very old human remains dating back some 10 thousand years.

 

Further up Burrington Combe we turned to walk along East Twin Brook. which had very little water in it. I choose to walk along the stream bed, as it proved far easier compared to the very muddy path.

Candle Snuff Fungi were in evidence on the sodden dead wood littering the bed. 

Neither I nor fellow members were inclined to go beyond the various swallot hole openings.

East Twin Swallet

I picked up this rock section from the bed of the stream, and only when I had a close look at home found that it contained numerous fish scales, it could be either the the Avon Group/Lower Limestone Shale. 

The slopes of the combe were devoid of most of the vegetation we see today before myxomatosis devasted the rabbit population.  In this old 1931 silent film of a gathering the contrast is easily seen.

  

In the autumn sunshine we could see how the slopes in places had been colonised by invasive species of shrubs such as this Cotoneaster. Along the outcrops of Burrington Combe were groups of goats foraging on the most inaccessible areas.  These free roaming cashmere goats have been here for nearly two decades and form part of the team of the Langford estate that help to maintain a rich biodiversity in the area. 

We have had some excellent lectures from David Rowley who is head of Geology at Wells Cathedral School, and I am hoping that some of his students or the school may just take up my idea of producing a video regarding the Combe, with geology and a good rendition of the Hymn Rock of Ages.  I have searched but YouTube come up with American Choirs with American Scenery, which is all very beautiful but I think the actual place which inspired Rev Toplady to write the popular hymn would be more appropriate. 

Here is a close up of the crinoid rich limestones.

I'll be taking Mr S to explore this area and Burrington Ham again at a later date. Only a few weeks ago, we explored the area from Burrington Combe westwards and across Dolebury Warren and Iron age Fort.

In a Vase on Monday - October

 Last year as part of the HPS Conservation Scheme I took two plants to grow, observe, nurture, etc.  One was a diminutive iris which was overwhelmed by slugs etc., and a second was  Chrysanthemum Picasso.  It has been in flower for a couple of weeks, and now all the blooms are open.

It was time to cut a few stems from just one of the three plants,  From this I selected and cut down a stem, and split that into smaller pieces,  which here are joined by some begonia leaves and a few stems of Pittosporum Tom Thumb. 

Here are the stems I cut yesterday and put into a large pottery tankard, which my sister gave me as a gift on her return from her placement year in France.  Thes tankard full is  now in the dinning room, and will have its water changed every couple of days, and I'll be able to check how the blooms age.  There are so many Chrysanthemum cultivars around, and I am continuing to enjoy this one's splash of colour in the garden. To think just one cutting early in the year can give about three times this amount of flowers, a real gift for flower arrangers.

I am joining Cathy for this weekly in a Vase on Monday showing flowers and material from our gardens.

Six on Saturday - 22 October 2022

It has been a very varied week weather wise, starting dry, sunny and very warm, but with a change to rain during the last two days.  All very good for the garden.  

We have a change this week in that Jim has taken over the 'guardianship' of Six on Saturday and I can't better this in the opening of his Six on Saturday this week:

'The trick is selective vision, walk around and see the flowers that are hanging on, the autumn tints, the evergreens coming to the fore; while being blind to the decay and chaos. I’m very good at it, I’ve had a lifetime’s practice.' Jim Stephens.

Here are my Six on Saturday:-

1. The Cyclamens that used to be in pots, which they 'outgrew' have settled in nicely in the garden. 

The various leaf shapes in silver will light up the garden during the gloomier days.

2. Just beyond the gravel garden the Chrysanthemum Picasso is looking stunning.  I love the neat shape and will be cutting it for a vase this coming Monday to guage its quality in a vase over a number of days.

3. Sorting out some of the smaller bulbs ready to plant out, and writing labels is the start of bulb planting this autumn. Crocus Chrysanthus Advance, Crocus Chrysanthus Goldilocks, and Crocus Versicolor Picturatus were planted this week, half in nice pots to have on the show shelf, and also in old plastic pots ready to plant out in the garden in the spring when I can tell where there are gaps and where the colour will work best. 

4.  Anemone Blanda 'Blue Shades, and White Splendour needed soaking. All these small bulbs were purchased from Pottertons when they visited the Bishop's Palace.

The larger corms  were A. blanda 'White Splendour'.  With space a premium, dormant but potted up bulbs are being stacked.

Even the little Chionodoxa Sardensis are all in pots now.

5. I thought that was all the bulbs potted, except for the tulips which will wait till cooler weather.  However I went and won some 'Narcissus Pebble Mill'.  Some special bulbs were donated to our club from the Narcissus Society, for whose show our club helps each April.

These were bred by Clive Postles and described as

"A rare large white trumpet - 115mm - from Clive Postles with a double triangle perianth which is balanced with a flared and cylindrical corona."

From what I can gather it is an early miniature daffodil.  I am hoping to swap a few with members who picked up other cultivars which were separated as different prizes in the raffle.

6. My friend  Kay originally gave me Pulmonaria Sissinghurst White, as well as the Primula Wanda, which grow very well here and are a delight early in the year. Having moved and having laid out her new garden, Kay has reserved an area for plants given by friends, and asked for a particular plant that I featured recently in a vase.  It was a pale delicate white scabious, and being the very stylish designer that she is, is using a palette of white, yellow or blue of course with lots of greens. I am afraid it will have to wait till seed time next year, to sow and develop new plants.

In the meantime the Pulmonaria was duly dug up, sections separated, a piece put back, and together with pieces of other select plants they got posted off Tuesday.  

Further to that the clumps of Tiarella Spring symphony, and Astilbe Chinensis var, pumila in the same bed were also tackled, with bare root divisions being passed on to local gardening friends.  I didn't want the faff of potting them up in the 'rubbish' stuff that now passes as peat free compost, and I delighted to hear they are already planted in gardens. 

That's my lot for this week.  Its looks as if it is going to be fine here today: hurrah!

In a Vase on Monday - Lost and found

The vase again is very similar to the one I posted last week, and yet there are many differences.  Last week's vase was a similar shape but this one is green, and the flowers are brighter and more cheerful.  There were some of the flowers I clipped off one of my cherished plants a  Potentilla nepalensis 'Miss Willmott'. This is a seedling from the plant originally given to me by Alison, who even had one back this year as she had lost hers. I love the little seed heads which look like a strawberry which has not filled out with its pink flesh and with just the seeds left behind. 

Posed by the old apothecary bottle aka 'the vase' are three little stem ends with acorns still attached.  The squirrels are  pruning the end of the oak branches, and the garden is littered with these little clumps, as well as acorns loosed from their cups in the trees. I was picking them up, but have decided to leave the acorns on the surface as those naughty squirrels just keep digging holes to bury the acorns, with a return no doubt in a few weeks to unbury them.  Hopefully they will just find the loose acorns on the surface and forget that they had buried them.

Now to the Lost and Found title thread.  I thought my lovely blue apothecary bottle was lost, but following several emails I am relieved to report that it is found.  I had taken it to display a stem of the Chrysanthemum Picasso at the HPS show, and had left it behind.  We shall be reunited at the next HPS meeting when Fergus Garrett from Great Dixter will be coming to talk to us. You cannot believe has delighted I am.

Yesterday I went to a talk which was part of the Wells Festival of Literature where we met author Claire Fuller who gave us an insight into her inspiration and how she goes about writing her books.  Our book club have just read Unsettled Group by Claire Fuller.  The book is a good read, and I had no problem reading almost half the book in three days in time for our visit this excellent Festival. I'll be reading some of her other novels for sure. 

There is loss, lies, deceit and deception.....

Cathy's lead post has sea spray and poetry and well worth a visit.

Six on Saturday - 15 October 2022

It has been perfect gardening weather, and all is well. Except that I am plagued for several of those rats with big furry tails burying acorns amongst my plants: daily picking up of acorns and unburrying of plants is required.

1. It is mid October so Allium thunbergii Ozawa is all the more special with its fresh deep mauve blooms.  It has fine leaves so is inconspicuous for all the time it is up, and then the blooms open late Autumn to bring a little spot of colour to the gravel garden.

2. With its deep green leaves and short stemmed blue flowers, Globularia cordifolia or heart leaved globe daisy is a plant that graces the edge of the gravel garden.  It seems to be one of those 'silly flowers' that has been fooled by the strange weather we are having, and is coming into flower in the autumn for a change to its normal spring/early summer slot.

3. Last  week a few book club friends were admiring the Salvia African Sky, and I gave an impromptu cuttings demonstration to Maggie.  I've since set a few cuttings and hopefully we shall have rooted cuttings to overwinter and pot up next spring and into the garden for flowering next year.   Two plastic fruit punnets are an easy temporary propagator, though it would be better if the cuttings didn't touch the top, I shall look for a deeper punnet. I suggested a large plastic bottle sectioned into two, our tonic comes in glass bottles, so this had to do.

4. The Chrysanthemum Picasso is starting to open: 

5. This is picture of items bought at Wells Food festival last Sunday, and a chiili plant and Murraya koenigii aka Curry Leaf plant was snapped up but held at the stall for us.  A couple of hours later we arrived back to  claim my plants, and all the rest had been sold.

 Curry Leaf Plant : those who have never used it, will not appreciate just what a few leaflets can do to elevate a curry or spicy lentil or bean stew, or a spicy tomato sauce.  In Mauritian gardens, where cooking is taken seriously,   a curry leaf plant is de rigeur in the garden. However each morning paniers of fresh dew covered leaves find their ways to the morning markets.  Winter care in the UK requires warmth and care with watering.  I felt it was overpotted and could succumb over winter, so I repotted it in a very tall large longtom, which just happened to be empty.

 6. Salvia Amistad is recovering from heat exhaustion and drought, and I am pleased to report that two good rooted cuttings have been potted out singularly ready to bulk up for planting out next spring.

I'm off the county HPS meeting and will sure to take a stem of Chrysanthemum Picasso for everyone to admire and add to their want lists.  We are having Andrew Ward from Norwell Nurseries come to give us a talk, and I am hoping I can get him interested in propagating and selling this.

Linking in as usual with many others under 'The Propagator's' Protection.  I read this week that Jon is passing the baton so to speak to Jim.  In the weekly team SOS, Jim is a very worthy lead as he has been in this SOS from the start five years ago, on his Blog: Garden Ruminations.

Looking ahead to the snowdrop season which if you grow the early ones, it already has, the HPS Galanthus talks start the year with a Zoom talk.  I am sure the Prop won't mind me adding this to the notice board of which SOS really is. I have heard Paddy talk about snowdrops before, and £7.50 is well worth paying, or if you are a member of HPS it is £3.00, the annual membership of the Galanthus Group is only a little more, and the talk is free to members.

From Lyn Miles:

Re;  Paddy Tobin’s zoom on Wednesday October 26th, 7.30pm

Many of you will know how good Paddy’s last zoom was!!

This is just to say in order to bring in some extra funds into the bank account we are opening some spaces to this first zoom of the season to anyone for a cost of £7.50.

All  members receiving this email will get the free advance link sent to them about one week before the day… and for HPS members not in our group the charge is as before, £3 per zoom, they just need to email me for payment details.

So if you have any ‘galanthophile’ friends not in the HPS you can give them my email and they can request details from me as to how to pay the £7.50.

It is also a perfect time to join the HPS and Galanthus Group as, if you joined now you would be paid up until the end of Dec ’23… and with 4 free zooms and 3 newsletters between now and then what better time to join! (Not to mention everything going on mid-Feb!)

lynmiles@icloud.com 

In a Vase on Monday - Simplicity

Colour and complexity has its place, but sometimes I like a calm and simple outlook. The weather has been ideal of gardening and I've been moving plants or cutting back herbaceous plants.  This scabious has been wonderful this year and offering up its blooms to any passing insect to feed from its small individual flowers.

I salvaged a few stems of Scabiosa columbaria subsp. ochroleuca and here they are on the edge of the mantleshelf in the low autumn light.

I recently read two books which may have influenced today's offering.  Mr Mac and Me is a fictional book, which amongst others featured Charles Rennie Mackintosh, which led me to revisiting some of his interiors and art on line. I wrote a post about the book recently.  The second book which our WI book group were reading was The Glass Room by Simon Mawer which featured The Landauer House.

We are going off to Stourhead sometime this week to marvel at their landscape in its autumn colours, which are now coming to their peak, following a few much cooler nights.  For colour I am sure Cathy and others will have plenty this week, as they also show their Vases on Monday. 

Wells Food Festival - Bringing home goodies

 Just how fortunate are we?  We live in a county reknown for its food producers, so it is not surprising that the Wells Food Festival brings together artisan producers with a wonderful array of goodies.

We bought a bottle of Pear and Apple Juice pressed from fruit harvested from the Bishop's Palace from this year's harvest, a lovely Turk's Turban pumpkin to add to my collection for feasting on in the coming months, a colourful chilli plant call Prairie Fire, a pot with two seedlings of Curry leaf plant, a couple of cheeses and some large Toulouse sausages from The Thoroughly Wild Meat Company.

Although we buy Goat's Cheese direct from Sarah at Wookey Farm, or Sheep's cheese from the market, it is always nice to see what other local producers have on offer.  

We enjoyed chatting at the Pennard stand and have had an invitation to visit, we came away with a lovely nutty golden Pennard Red Goats Cheese.  I hadn't noticed at the time, but they make a hard buffalo cheese, one not to miss on our visit.

From White Lake Cheese, we brought back a Katherine all in its little salt glaze pot to fit, at £5 together a bargain!

This year we arrived early, and was able to walk around and chat to producers, but just before lunch we diverted into the Palace gardens, and bought a drink from the café and went to sit within the garden itself and enjoyed that with some pastries we had also bought from a stall.  

All in all a very pleasant morning.  

Next week we have the Literary Festival!

Six on Saturday - 7 October 2022

 A few more cooler nights mean Autumn colours are coming out, and with a little rain, the garden is a joy.  Nice time to move plants, and generally garden, but Saturday morning is the time for selecting and posting for SOS, hosted by The Propagator. 

1. Japanese grass Hakonechloa Macra Aureola as ever a delight, catching the breeze or glowing in the autumn sun.

2. Autumn Colour from the Amelanchier Trees is about on time compared to the previous years.  Sitting in the living room, looking out through the bay window,  we can see wonderful colour highlighted by the branches, which appear dark against the afternoon sun.

Most of you Six on Saturday members will have read with anticipation Gill Heaven's posts over on 'Off the Edge Gardening'.  For me, her word 'Synchronicity', from her comment to mine, on the topic of Apple Crumble is the word of the week.  Stay with me: 'Synchronicity' has replaced 'Loquacious' as word of the week. Gill has such a way with words and posts will make anyone smile.

An example of Synchronicity or maybe the pleasure I take in finding it, was also enjoyed  in reading articles in magazines, which leads me on to a couple of quotes from Garden Illustrated 318, which hit the mat this week.

"Where trees are a focal point, it pays to choose specimens that have been grown next to each other to create a sense of cohesion", 

" Deciduous tress with beautiful blossom, late-season colour and a dense tracery of winter branches form the backbone of the garden." Screen Time by Natasha Goodfellow. 

The article and these quotes were showing Amelanchiers.

3. The second plash of autumn colour is in the back garden from the golden leaves of   Cornus sanguinea 'Midwinter Fire'. 

4. Alstromeria Indian Summer is living up to its name.

5. The flowers on this plant are very small but still delight arriving late in the season.

Serratula tinctoria var. seoanei

6. Anticipation as I wait to see what the blooms on this Chrysanthemum will look like, how it will perform etc. It is the Chrysanthemum Picasso, a plant that I acquired last year as part of the Conservation Scheme.  I have already given three plants back, and hopefully will be able to propagate far more next year, given how sturdy and healthy the plants are now. Growth is strong and healthy and the plants nicely domed and compact not requiring any staking, just about perfect for the small garden or front of the border.

Just thought I would mention that this week, we saw a very yellow butterfly with black borders, flitting around far too fast to picture it: it was a Clouded Yellow.

That's your lot, I'm off to enjoy gardening....

Reading still - another book by Esther Freud

 Yes I am still reading and just by coincidence perhaps another example of serendipity, Anna just commented on the post for our last holiday.  I replied that Noss Mayo had a similar effect as did Walberswick, and I went over to see if I visited since I started my blog. Yes I had, and that post mentioned the first book I read by Esther Freud set very much against the countryside around Walberswick. Now I do recommend Mr Mac and Me.  It is a historical novel set in Walberwick featuring an iconic architect and designer Charles Rennie MacIntoch.  As I read, I could follow in their meanderings around the village.

Mr Mac and Me is quite special and found  mmerching some of the pictures mentioned in the novel, such as his Fritillary painting. 

I found an excellent site describing MacIntoch's home in Florentine Terrace, Glasgow and its reconstruction. It is over ten years since we visited 78, Derngate, Northampton, a house remodelled in 1916 by MacIntosh. There are some excellent videos for me to revist and learn more about its refurbishment.

Holiday in Noss Mayo

 A week's holiday in Noss Mayo has left us fit and thoroughly relaxed.  What a charming place it is, situated as it is on the Yealm Estuary but within easy walking distance of the main sea coast.  I was inspired by pictures posted on Facebook by my friends Debs and Keith Bennett.  They seem to have more holidays and days out that can seem possible for two people working full time, with great walks and stops for tea etc.  

When I asked what Noss Mayo was like, they said very quiet, and very few shops.  In fact Noss has no shops as such, and a walk round the top of Newton Creek takes you to Newton Ferrers, where there is a small COOP, a butcher's, a Post Office, and a Chemist.

These are some of the views across the Newton Creek towards Newton Ferrers

This is the view towards the River Yealm Harbour Authority.  On one of the occasion when we were walking on the other side, we popped in there to view some people launching their canoes.  From three points one on each side,  you can catch a small foot ferry, by signalling which you do by lowering down half the circular sign to reveal a big white circle.

We did this once to go across to Warren Point where we walked along the coast to Wembury Beach.  The return walk we took up through Wembury and down across fields for the return ferry journey.  Each time we only had to wait a few minutes for the ferryman to respond to our call.  

We found the ancient church dedicated to St Werburgh very interesting on the inside, with its ancient tombs.  

Just on the edge of the beach, but high up with good vantage points yet a good walk from the village it held our interest for quite some time.  

Down on Wembury Beach where there was sand as well as some interesting rock pools,  we found this fine sand castle.

I do like rocks and there were some lovely ones small and large.

Had we known that The Old Mill Cafe served excellent lunches, we would not have made up some sandwiches, but we did have room for one of their excellent ice creams.  Sometimes places are closed, so we always like to take something for that eventuality, but I have since realised that all these places have Facebook pages, and advise of closures etc.  

What I found pleasing on this holiday were the short conversations we had with total strangers, for example talking to the person on Wembury beach would was using his mobile phone and a borescope for cameras which he bought on ebay for very little to try and capture some underwater pictures in the rockpools.  I guess this is a sort of rock pooling for techies on holiday.

At the same time something a little more irksome was going on in a prime spot:  a food vlogger. was pictched and talking loudly.  I felt it restricted people from a whole and pretty part of the beach feeling they may be photobombing or intruding, but in the end I decided to take the more positive view, and my irritation passed.  First this young couple were exploring their talents, second it taught me just how many takes are required, but maybe they just had not prepared sufficiently.  Yes I must practice the talk I shall be giving next spring, and I also learnt that there is the possibility of making a toasted sandwich in a pan.

With lots of coastal walks

Only the one pub was open this week in the Village: The Ship was completely to our liking, and apart from a Sunday Roast again excellent, we often stopped by and sat on the very outside of their terrace a beer in hand, and on our last night, they very gladly made this double starter for my mains, and followed by a delicious Lemon Posset, I would say the holiday was perfect!  

Another place we popped in a couple of times was The Deli on the Green in Newton Ferrers, where we had lunch, and Mr S declared his hot chocolate was the best he had ever had.

A favourite shortish walk, about 30 minutes,  was to Cellar Beach where we enjoyed a few hours on the last day.  We checked the tides and we would be able to get onto the beach, but it is so peaceful as there is no road access and with a steep decent, is often accessed by boat or canoe. Two beautiful boats were floating a hundred yards away, one an old sailing affair and the other more modern.  A handful only arrived on the beach during our few hours. The water was crystal clear and there were oysters, and all sorts on the lowest rocks exposed. When I say beach, don't imagine sand, but small particles of the local stone...bliss, I sifted through and found a few pocket full of small pieces which will be used to top dress some of my succulents or maybe some choice alpines.

Bird spotting was great, and looking down through the woods to the waders just below, we were able for instance to observe really closely a little egret use its feet to flush out fish from the estuary mud and see it in its beak before swallowing it.  Of course there were other birds, binoculars and book at the ready!

We enjoyed popping into the local churches as well as this very old building of The Church of St Peter the Poor,

and the more recent Church of St Peter in Noss Mayo is unchanged and has interesting Arts and Crafts Style decorations, carvings etc, as well as hangings.

A holiday is not a holiday without a little souvenir. We found local artist Penny Carter who makes all sorts of things in coloured glass.  I was temped and chose a pretty necklace.