What is this life if full of care

We have no time to stand and stare.

So wrote W.H. Davies of Autobiography of a Supertramp fame.

Time to stand and stare

The remainder of the poem is very much doggerel but the first two lines have always strongly appealed to me, so much so that when I ordered my garden bench from Blue Gentian Crafts, and realised I could have a phrase or saying engraved on to the back , I knew instantly what to  choose (complete with book and wine glass!)

After a wonderfully inspiring break on Holy Island, thanks to friends Anne an d Erica from Alnwick, followed by a lovely weekend with lots of sun and thus the opportunity to catch up on autumnal allotment digging and home garden tasks – including weather proofing the garden furniture again – the horrid wet and windy weather today has prompted me to catch up on blogging and soup making to use up over-ripe greenhouse tomatoes and some of the home-grown basil – yummy!

Sun rising over Holy Island

Today’s weather prompts a perfect opportunity to think about drying hydrangea heads as the flowers have just begun to change colour and the stamens are beginning to wither.  Mine are pink and blue fading to a turquoise green. My cousin has glorious deep red hydrangea and I usually manage to acquire a few to add variety. Pop the flowers in an upright vase, add a couple of inches of water. Once this water has been used up, the flowers can then be left to dry naturally. They look wonderful piled into straw baskets and can also be sprayed silver or gold and used in Christmas flower arrangements.

Golden rod and bronze fennel

The golden rod is still in flower and its distinctive yellow colour is a welcome addition to the bottom border. It was believed that secret treasure could be found where golden rod grew and that, in a diviner’s hands, it had the power to uncover hidden underground springs.

 

Sadly neither fortune nor water have revealed themselves in Pablo’s garden, but the golden glory of this flower at this time of year is treasure indeed.

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness

Shasta daisies with greenhouse in the background

Gardeners throughout the North East would agree that 2012 has been one of the worse years ever for vegetable growers. On the allotment rabbits ate the early peas and broad beans then pigeons nibbled most of the brassicas. The sweet corn refused to swell and the beetroot is almost non-existent.

Sadly, slugs ate every one of my glorious sunflower plants which usually stand guard at the entrance to my plot, charming all visitors with their happy,smiley  faces, yet the insistent Jerusalem artichokes are rampaging determinedly across the allotment landscape.

In the greenhouse tomatoes are desperately in need of sunshine to ripen their trusses and peppers and chillies are sulking and refusing to ripen. Cucumbers have resisted mildew but haven’t produced as many fruits as in previous years, even so, nothing beats the tasty crunch of freshly harvested cucumbers eaten with home-baked bread and greenhouse tomatoes – delicious.

All-female cucumbers

Despite the difficult year, the Bishop Auckland Hospital Garden Club held its inaugural show. Some classes were poorly represented – especially onions, both those grown from seed and from sets – but participants put on a wonderful show regardless. The room was bedecked with splendid tied bunches of dahlias in a myriad of colours, autumnal flower arrangements, delicate button holes and gleaming jars of fruit jams and chutneys.

£200 was raised for The Stroke Unit at Bishop Auckland Hospital so well done and sincere thanks to both those who took part and the staff of the Hospital Club who hosted the show at no charge.

Chilli peppers

Thanks also to the judge who awarded me first prize for my greengage summer jam!

Evening red and morning grey are the sure signs of a fine day

Sunset over Bishop Auckland roof tops

Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight,

Red sky in the morning, shepherd’s warning

Shepherd's delight

The old saying proved correct last week. The fantastic sunset over Bishop Auckland last Tuesday evening certainly did predict a period of fine weather.

Fuchsia and crocosmia

The welcome sunshine reinforced the autumnal tones of the borders and it was surprising just how colourful the garden looked – a veritable kaleidoscope.

Pink cosmos

The acanthus is a particular favourite of mine. Last year was a disappointing one as lots of glorious leaf colour was evident but no flowers appeared. I have kept an anxious eye on it for some weeks and my vigilance has been rewarded – what a stunningly elegant plant it is.

Acanthus flowers in the shady border

Said to cure gout and soothe burns and scalds, the leaf of the acanthus has been the inspiration for many decorative designs – especially on the columns of Greek temples - and it was a favourite motif of William Morris.

And the days go short when we reach September

So sang Sinatra in September Song and it’s certainly true.

The long light nights giving opportunities for reading or working in Pablo’s garden until late evening have now gone, compensated for by the ethereal light cast by the  harvest moon – which always reminds me of late artist and friend, Tom McGuinness, whose night time scenes were always illuminated by the glow from a McGuinness Moon.

 

Lucifer crocosmia

There is still lots of colour both to be seen and to look forward to in the autumn garden as, ironically, the hot area of the colour wheel is in the ascendancy – oranges, yellows and flaming red – Nature’s own bonfire which, with perfect timing, will burn itself out around 5^th November.

My song is half a sigh

Because my green leaves die;

Sweet are my fruits, but all my leaves are dying;

And well may Autumn sigh…

   From September by Christina Rossetti (1830 – 1894)

Don’t be too downhearted by Christina’s usual doleful verse. 

Bronze fennel and  apple mint

In Pablo’s garden we’ve still got Nature’s fruitful bounty to look forward to – the harvesting of apples and pears; the gathering of seeds for drying and growing on next year; dividing and replanting  perennials ; indulging in the produce from the greenhouse including the delights of jam and chutney making and the optimistic buying and planting of spring bulbs.

Keep gardening but, more importantly, as my grandfather always signed off his letters to me -

Keep smiling!

Sing a song of seasons!

Sing a song of seasons!

Something bright in all!

Flowers in the Summer

Fires in the fall.

                      R.L. Stevenson

The wettest summer since 1912 and as I write, the coldest August night on record. I went to open the greenhouse first thing and the lawn was sparkling in the early morning sun. It appeared almost as if there had been a frost overnight – perhaps there had. Anything seems to be possible in this quirky summer.

Some plants are thriving – see the gunnera in Durham’s Botanic Gardens for example. Originally from Brazil, it thrives in damp conditions and the huge, umbrella-like leaves, followed by large flower spikes, are a potential wonder to behold, whereas, sadly, the leaves on some of the trees there are already beginning to turn a lighter green - signalling an early autumn. 

Passion flower

But, amazingly, the passion flower in Pablo’s garden is still in flower, despite being of a delicate disposition. Curiously also hailing from Brazil, it is so named because discoverers of this exotic plant likened its parts to representations of the crucifixion, particularly the central column resembling the pillar of the cross. The flower was said to remain in bloom for three days to symbolise the three years of Christ’s ministry, but in reality each flower only lasts for one day.

Shade under the old apple tree

The left hand side of the garden still has gaps for yet more and different plants but is showing pleasing colour. Even my despised geraniums are welcomed now for they add pleasing daubs to the back of the shady border. 

Pablo disgruntled at waiting forever for the sun to shine

A massive autumn garden tidy is called for but as the weather people are predicting an Indian summer, prior to the worst winter since the Thames froze over in the 1600s, I plan to decamp to the summer house and enjoy the autumn sunshine - glass of wine in hand and Pablo on knee of course.

Cheers!

Painting with flowers

Playing with colour and form in the garden is the nearest that most of us will get to painting.

                                                                     Mary Keen 1991

Prairie planting at the Floriade

Hanging basket with gloriously harmonious colours

Garden designer, writer and painter, Gertrude Jekyll was a phenomenon. A dumpy little woman, she towered over other garden writers of the twentieth century. Though her eyesight was poor, she was able to distinguish between different shades of colour in borders and knew exactly which plants would give the exact result she wanted in the 150 or so gardens she designed during her lifetime.

 

Using specialist garden books – especially those of the Royal Horticultural Society – it is relatively easy today to find a plant of the exact shade and habit that would suit the prevailing conditions, but inspirational gardeners, like true artists,  understand the conventions yet instinctively break the rules to achieve a particular effect. 

Grasses in Pablo's garden appear almost ghostly in the evening light

Christopher Lloyd of Great Dixter fame was such an artist/gardener. His planting schemes, with their outrageous use of controversial colours, revolutionised planting schemes in the 80s and 90s and his ideas continue to influence many of today’s garden designers and plantsmen and women. 

Do visit Great Dixter if you get the opportunity.

I guarantee you will be both delighted and inspired. 

V.I.P.

Today is Pablo’s ‘coming of age’ – his 18^th birthday!

Glynn and Pablo

He arrived here in a cardboard box, having been abandoned near my husband’s school at Ferryhill. The schoolchildren who discovered the black and white kitten promised to return to collect him at the end of the school day but failed to do so.

Throughout the day I’d had regular bulletins as to his misdemeanours which included disgracing himself on a then very expensive Adidas sweatshirt. Said shirt had been confiscated as being ‘non-uniform’ and left in a heap on the floor of my headmaster husband’s office.

The domestic science staff helpfully laundered the offending sweatshirt but failed to return it to its pristine state, so much so that the next day an irate parent demanded full reimbursement. The school had to make a claim via Durham County Council’s insurance and, for the first time ever, a cat was named as the perpetrator of an ‘offence against property'.

Pablo has informed me that he is sure his many fans will be interested to hear more of his adventures and he promises further tails to follow…

Happy Birthday Pablo Cat.