In a Vase on Monday - End of November 2022

The Iceberg Rose against the end wall still had a couple of stems with buds on and are now forming the central floral element in today's vase.  Three leaves from a silver leaved hederifolium and a couple of stems of the still flowering Fuchsia 'Silver Linings' which had a few bees visiting this morning in the clear bright sunshine, make up the rest. 

I've only just started my new book: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus.  I ought to really get it finished but I am reading several books at the same time! Non of the others are fiction.

The weeks slip by at this time of the year, and I am trying to take full advantage of all the day light hours, and have seemed to have separated activities into day time and and those that can be done when it is dark.  I love light, and this way the darkness is not just a period of doing nothing, I look forward to enjoying those activities that I can do when it is not light, and hence the darkness is not so hard to bear.  I have just realised that I have picked the flowers and arranged them this morning in the light, which has been lovely, but then I am now doing an activity which I could be doing when the light has faded.  Flower picking on Sunday morning and writing up the post in the evening, may be a more favourable method until the days are longer late February when the days are noticeably longer.

I'm joining in with Cathy this Monday morning as usual, and hopefully there will be others joining in too.

Six on Saturday - 26 November 2022

 It has rained and rained, and winds blew off bowls and dustbin lids onto the garden on Thursday, but yesterday we had sunshine.  The garden continues to wind down, and meanwhile when I can get out, the garden is being prepared ready for the spring bulbs, with sprawling growth of spent perennials removed. I am going with others for this weekly rendezvous under the hospitality of Jim's Garden Ruminations.

1,  A little sunshine casts light and shade across the gravel garden, and good light showed up this little crane bronze nicely.  I followed its line of sight towards the yellow flowered Allium flavum.  This allium had cast its seeds around its base, as now they are lots of little seedlings coming up. This summer I'll collect seed from this to share.

2. I am determined to look after my hands and avoid the tips cracking this winter.  I treated myself to to a barrier cream to use before going into the garden barrier, and everything else needed for when I come back into the house, and they are parked by the sink by the back door. All the gardening gloves too are ready inside the shed door so there are fewer excuses.  Mr S is still doing all the washing up etc.

3.  The garden shelf on the side of the shed really needs painting too frequently.  It takes far too much of my precious time, and paint and paint brushes.  After the few months of our lovely new bench and table, we have decided to go the easier route.  Dear Mr S has sourced similar planking that will never require paining, and making me a new shelf is now on his to do list.  All we  he needs is a free day which is not wet and not too cold, for him to work outside.  Meanwhile the old shelf has been removed in readiness.

4.  Often I am beguiled by smaller younger plants, but was 'miffed' when the recently purchased succulent Cotyledon orbiculata undulata, was showing signs of growing up, a sort of etiolation.  I had not looked into how it would grow as it matured.

With all the rain making outside gardening impracticable, I had time to look up some pictures of mature plants.  Realising that they made attractive multiheaded plants,  it wasn't long before this led to a little pruning, which of course yielded some cuttings which will be potted up later today, after about three days 'drying off'.

5.  Mixing compost is a little like making pastry I found this week.  Neither the John Innes No 2 nor the All Purpose Compost seemed quite right for planting some bulbs.  There were lumps in the JI and even when the two composts were mixed and worked with fingers, clad by gloves of course, I didn't feel the drainage was sufficient.  In went some grit, sand, and a little slow release fertilizer pellets.  I was happy with the final mix and it was ready for planting bulbs in pots.

Gifted bulbs from the Narcissi Society: Narcissus Chanson have now been planted. I can't find anything about this variety on line, so I may drop a line to the Society and ask about this.

One lot of the tulips too is now planted up, and today will hopefully see the balance of Tulipa Amazing Parrot and Parrot King all in pots. I put a layer of sand within the pots to lay the tulip bulbs on.

As we have squirrels and lots of rain at the moment, after watering I have covered the planted pots but will need to keep a check on them from time to time.

6.  Buddha is soaking in the sun....

The Acer is still in full leaf as are the apple trees, but the pear trees have now shed their leaves.  We still haven't had a frost on the back garden, with nasturtiums still in leaf, and bumble bees etc out when it is not raining.  

In a Vase on Monday - The Indian Summer is over and it now feels like Winter

It feels like winter, with rain and a cold wind. I've been waiting for a break to bare the cold and go and choose some material for my Vase on Monday, which Cathy hosts on her blog: Rambling in the Garden.

This arrangement was quickly assembled and positioned on the corner of the mantlepiece.

The Alstroemeria 'Indian Summer' still has more blooms ready to open, and here two stems are accompanied by some greenery or green and purple in the form of a sprig of Pittosporum Tom Thumb, and leaves of Persicaria Purple Fantasy: all surrounded by some large ivy leaves.  These larger leaves grow on the part of the ivy which is about to flower.

My new book has arrived, and this afternoon I shall be snuggling up under a warm wool throw and will report back next week on that.

In a Vase on Monday - Anniversary Reunion posy

To mark the ninth anniversary of this meme, Cathy who started this off, arranged a zoom meeting yesterday, when some of us met in person.  The challenge for this anniversary was a hand tied bouquet. This post will be linked to hers on her blog: Rambling in the Garden.

I only joined the group in the summer of 2015 some eighteen months after it started, and it has been a delight to have, for much of the intervening time, shared the posies which I had been posting on my blog with a group of gardeners, several of whom I have had the pleasure of meeting in person.  This time distance and time zones were overcome, and Cathy made for a delightful zoom host.

In the UK the autumn has been extremely mild, with some very wet days but also some sunny ones.  On Sunday morning we went for one of our long walks straight from our front door, and as we walked along the hedgerows I was able to pick come material using my folding secateurs which I just happened to have on me.

The idea was to use the material to supplement garden grown flowers.  However when I assembled the pieces it would seem to be an odd blend, so I stayed with local wild flowers/seed heads and tied the bouquet with some green raffia.

Here the bouquet rests on the circular table with the low winter sun catching the detail, and particularly the structure of the seed heads.  The small round seed heads now all dried are Burdock, and indeed they stick even to Demin. Burdock seed heads were the starting point inspiring the invention of Velcro.

Teasels grow abundantly, but I had to hang over one of the dykes on the levels to reach these.  I had not realised that there was a different teasel grown for the fulling industry and many were grown within Somerset.  I came across an interesting article on this topic and have put a link here for future reference.

 

On another side of the posy, the rose hips, and ivy flowers and seed heads can be seen more clearly.  You may wonder why I put in that clunky pieces of tree.  They may become a very rare thing in years to come.  The Ash tree is an iconic tree on the Mendips and along the levels, but is sadly disappearing at an alarming rate, and you cannot walk far but hear the sound of chain saws as the trees are being felled on an industrial scale.  Without their favourite roost and nesting trees we have been inundated with jackdaws, wood pigeons and many other birds, who seek the few remaining trees for shelter etc.

Although a sparse branched shrub at this time of the year the wild spindle tree really stands out with its split berries.  There are a couple of small wooded areas we pass, which I first noticed when we moved here. Spindle wood was used to make spindles again used in the woollen industry.

When I used to visit my grandma she would take me on country walks and point out the special wild flowers, but that was usually in the summer, some we would bring back home to arrange in posies, or press between the pages in a heavy book.  I mostly take pictures now of wild flowers, and this time I had no compunction about picking this material as many of the hedges had been severely trimmed back and these pieces would have been subjected to flaying blades within the next week or so.

 

Six on Saturday - 12 November 2022

 This week I am joining Jim who is now the lead and anchor of our weekly Six on Saturday.  I do hope The Prop is enjoying his well earned rest.

1. Sunshine on Salvia Amistad in November attracting pollinators and looking superb at the back of the border.

2.. Not only have I been thinking that a choisya would go very nicely in the garden for some time, last week Cathy featured some late blooms in her vase, so when I saw a plant for sale on a mooch around Castle Cary this week, the dice were already cast.

Choisya ‘Aztec Pearl’ was the first hybrid of the genus developed by Peter Moore.

2. The old Weigela, at least five years old, had suffered dreadfully during the summer.  I had given it a rather severed pruning just after flowering, and it had been hobbling along.  I have a couple of good rooted cuttings in the wings should I decide to grow it again in another part of the garden. It was good to come across a couple of young slowworms in the leaf litter,  Really the whole bed needs a revamp, and since I have some roses on order, I may well prepare it in readiness over the next few days. Is it too late to lift/move bulbs which will surely be sending down roots?  Advice appreciated, there are snowdrops, narcissi etc.

3. I am late this week both collecting pictures, and thinking what I would write about.  After a lot of rain and some very gloomy days, the sun came out today, and we had bees and butterflies.  The late flowering Chrysanthemum Hillside Apricot was buzzing with bees and I managed to catch this Red Admiral.

4.  Silver leaved Centaurea 'Silver Feather'. although not in flower for a good leafy plant reflecting the sun, and adds a bit of drama now everything around it has been trimmed.

I have a couple of good plants started from cuttings early in the year.  One I shall keep as a standby to overwinter in the shed, and the other I shall take to our HPS meeting.  I also have four other cuttings smaller ones which appear to have rooted and may be easy to carry forward to the spring in the shed.

5. Geranium Rozanne too is loving the late autumn warmth.

6. The low growing Rosemary too is covered with flowers.  

Him inside will probably want to go out tomorrow if it is as nice as today, and since he did a good job on cleaning the conservatory today, I think that is what we shall do, even though I am itching to get out on the garden and sort out that bed.  

In a Vase on Monday - Early November

Today's vase is a beautiful black Japanese Vase which my father bought when he visited his friend there over 50 years ago.  It is a raku vase and seeps or rather gently perspires around its bottom rim, which is why it is standing on this lovely oriental inspired trivet which Angela Morley made a few years ago.

A pretty pink daisy shaped ie single chrysanthemum is joined by golden lonicera and dark red Persicaria Red Dragon, as dragons are a favourite Japanese motif and red in Japanese culture is said to represent protection, strength, peace and power and to scare away evil spirits. The Persicaria is a great garden plant here and was a gift from Cathy herself.  Cathy is the host of this weekly get together, and I shall be joining her as usual together with an armful of other flowers contributors to show an arrangement of plants from their gardens. 

The Japanese from early times cultivated and loved Chrysanthemums, and even have a charming legend, which I shall share with my grand-daughter as she is interested in Japanese culture. 

A few weeks ago when the flower at the apex was opening, I could not tell whether Chrysanthemum Hillside Apricot would make the grade as far as my tastes were concerned. How would it look when it opened fully and how would the plant look like in the garden?  Growing a plant a in my own garden and observing it at a number of stages is what I find particularly interesting.

I've already been able to cut and share stems with friends, and have used the side flowers for smaller posies such as this one.  The Pittosporum Garnettii and a few leaves of the evergreen Epimedium join the single flowered pink chrysanthemum. 

My thanks go to my dear gardening friend Brenda for giving me me this plant.  We met on AGS Zooms, and at the Somerset HPS, and enjoy continuing our friendship through emails during which we exchange all manner of tips and not just on things gardening.  

 

Sourdough freestyle

 I had part of a bag of Allinson's blended Einkorn flour left which went part way to making this week's bread baking event. It got further blended with some plain strong flour and also some golden linseeds which were part ground in the 'coffee grinder'.  Sadly no notes were taken at the time, and no repeats of this delicious loaf is possible. The Allinson's flour worked very well both neat and blended, but it is no longer available at my local Morrisons, I feel that either a bag from Shipton Mill or Dove's Farm Einkorn flour blended at home with some strong flour would do just as well. The flavour of Einkorn bread is rich and delicious. 

With the cooler weather I will need to shift the timings.  When it is warm it is possible to do a refresh the night before, and get the whole sourdough process done in one day, but this week, the bread was slower, and didn't go into the oven till 10:15 pm, and hence had to cool under a cloth as it would need a few hours to cool and I was ready for bed.  I love this old linen huckaback cloth, and here they are in the morning 'undressed'.  The larger loaf went into the bread bin, and the two smaller loaves were frozen.

It also makes excellent toast, which we shall have with pate this lunch time.

Six on Saturday 5 November 2022

 Things continue to entertain me in the garden for instance a late hummingbird hawkmoth on the abundant Rosemary flowers, squirrels getting territorial, and birds flitting in and out of plants.  We have had rain and high winds too, and a day of clear warm sunshine. I am joining the gang under Jim's careful eye in six things from our garden we may wish to share this week. 

( Jim might be interested in my experience of growing Leucantha, which because of its large size and late flowering I decided to move last year, but sadly it didn't like it, and now I have other things growing that need space!)

1. Chrysanthemum Hillside Apricot is the second  Chrysanthemum to come into flower.  This year I have two hardy herbaceous border Chrysanthemum.  It is very healthy looking, and has clear open single flowers with petals neatly arranged, looking like a pink marguerite.  There are many buds coming up along the stem. For now, I am unsure of how good a vase flower this will make because of the way the younger buds are arranged down the stem,  we shall see.

I am delighted to have this and the Chrysanthemum Picasso adding late season flowers to the garden.  I have noticed how they turn their head to face the sun, and having observed that will change their placement in the garden.  I can feel that there will one or two new cultivars of herbaceous hardy Chrysanthemums joining our patch next year.  If you grow any and can recommend good forms, why not post them on your Six on Saturday or add a recommendation in the comments section.

I have it growing in three places, and it does make a great garden plant late in the season.

For arranging, I have removed the flowers lower down the stem to arrange in a short posy, leaving the longer stems with a few bloom at the top to use in a taller arrangement. The stems are so plentiful that on both the Chrysanthemum there are plenty to give away whilst keeping a good show in the garden.

2  The first flower on Cyclamen graecum subsp. candicum is looking exquisite, growing up from the gravel where I planted it out a couple of seasons ago.   I am delighting in the leaf patterning, but also in the flower a little different from the coum and others I have grown to date.

Excellent reading on cyclamen can be found for example on John Lansdale's post, which is full of clear and easily read descriptions.

In gardening there are often ups and downs.

3. Ups: Crocus creocreticus just emerging from seed first received from the Alpine Gardening Society in 2020 and sown straight away.  Small things just three small shoots but the elation lasted hours.  I was warned this afternoon to check for slugs which love the young emerging leaves.

4. Downs: going to water a succulent but finding it falling apart.  That horrid little grub stage of the Vine weevils having devoured the roots, were eating right up the stems. It is there right in the middle surrounded by its frass. Each and hopefully everyone was crushed, and the majority of the plant binned.

With very gritty fresh compost and a deep dressing of grit, a cleaned out bowl was replanted with cuttings.  That will teach me  this outside on the ground for their outside period!

Maybe the up was such an up as it came after the down!

5. The daylight hours are shortening, and temperatures are dropping.  Soon the pelargoniums will have to be moved inside. Yesterday they looked lovely in the sunshine. I had trimmed them back a few weeks ago, and they have bounced back are in flower again.

6.  Why does a little snail choose to climb almost to the very top of a Japanese Umbrella Pine Sciadopitys Verticillata?  I chose to bring it down!

I've looked up its name and the easy one is white lipped snail aka Cepea hortensis (RIP). I'll keep my eyes open for other snails now and see how many different ones I can find whilst I am out in the garden.  Hope I don't find too many!