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.