It’s still only 7:30 and I’ve been out taking pictures in the garden. I usually have it all wrapped up by Friday but I was busy building a new shed instead and nothing may come between a man and his shed.
It was a weird day, I popped out to buy some timber first thing and came back to find the area behind the house where I was working buzzing with bees. My first thought was that they were swarming but there was no sign of them congregating around a queen. Most of them found their way into the conservatory and many of them are now lying dead on the floor or caught in the many spiders webs. There must have been hundreds of them in there. They weren’t interested in me so I carried on with them buzzing around me.
Then yesterday evening I was sitting here at the computer when something flashed past in the hallway. I thought it was a moth but after a couple more flypasts revised that to small bird then bat. I had a bat flying around inside the house, my second wildlife novelty of the day. With a little assistance it was returned to the world outside and flew away.
So, to a Saturday six. Better include the shed.
One.
Shed. My existing shed is falling to pieces and time has been called on it. Since it is mostly full of junk I have decided to replace it with a greenhouse. My reasoning was that it was not much more expensive, that it would last much longer and that it would be much more useful. Some of the stuff in the old shed could go into it, all I needed was a small new shed mainly for tools. So I built a shed, tucked at the back of my shady area. I had to leave space for the hedgehog run and couldn’t go behind the camellia so it’s quite small. A small shed is just as complicated to build as a larger shed and gives a poor return in square feet per pound spent. Must put my lucky horseshoe above its door.
Two.
Codonopsis clematidea. At least that’s what I think it is. I got seed of Codonopsis thalictrifolia from the Hardy Plant Society seed distribution and this is what it turned out to be. Perhaps I shouldn’t have sown it on April 1st. Codonopsis are half hearted herbaceous climbers so I put several small plants into this tall pot so they could hang over the side. It should produce tubers to overwinter and hopefully flower more freely next year. The pale blue bells are beautifully marked on the inside where you can’t see it unless you take the trouble to stop and look. I like that.
Three.
Begonia luxurians. I wasn’t thinking to include this but at 7:30 it was catching the early sun and not including it would have been too unfair. We may lift these to overwinter them indoors or we may just take cuttings, which are very easy. They’re 3 feet tall from cuttings taken a year ago; if we overwintered them perhaps they’d be double that this time next year. Now that would be something.
Four.
Salvia confertiflora. When you grow tender perennials like the Begonia or Salvias, Impatiens and so on, you take a few cuttings in autumn as insurance then wonder what to do with them in the spring if they all survive. Use them as bedding, plug all the gaps that inevitably appear because things die or get removed or cut down. In the spring we had seven or eight badly potbound and hungry Salvia confertifloras in 2 litre pots. I think the cuttings were taken in autumn 2017. I cleared an out of control patch of Geranium oxonianum, dug out a pathetic Hydrangea and some rampaging Zingiber mioga. Into the space went the Salvias, just a temporary filler. They’d have been about two feet tall when planted and are now six feet and have been flowering since June. I cut a couple at the front down and they’re shorter but are only just forming flower buds now.
Five.
Fuchsia of the week. ‘Lady in Black’. Like ‘Lady Boothby’ this would qualify as a “climbing” Fuchsia. Fuchsias are not designed as climbers, they don’t have tendrils, twining stems or backward curved spines. Even so, given a suitable support, some can get pretty big. Tresco garden had what I took to be ‘Lady Boothby’ at least 30 feet up a tree. I planted it on an arch and its about 9 feet high, waving around three feet in the air above its support. I’ve planted another on my new trellis and it’s going mad. I could probably forget all about the roses and clematis I’d planned. It seems a little hardier than ‘Lady Boothby’ but is otherwise quite similar.
Six.
Anemone x hybrid ‘Loreley’ or ‘Lorelei’, it seems to go under both. Japanese anemones are synonymous with autumn, so it must be autumn. It’s only just started flowering so perhaps it’s still late summer.
There’s no space in my garden. Making space for even a small shed means the garden is strewn with stuff that was moved out of the way. Todays impossible task is to find somewhere to put it. That’ll be fun.
Another man who knows well the joys of trying to put a quart into a pint pot is The Propagator, who founded and hosts this meme. Be sure to check out his six post where you’ll find links to a whole lot of us who like to share a bit of our gardens on a weekend.
garden ruminations 
Good shed. A man needs a good shed. But you wont be able to bang stuff or leave big piles of thing for “later” in that little thing! I should take some cuttings of salvia, penstemon, gaura blah blah. I still have cuttings of last years salvia implanted…
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Stopping myself leaving things for “later” is part of the plan. The old shed is part dismantled and loaded in the car; can’t deny I’m just a little wistful. And it’s raining too.
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Is that anemone slightly blushed? There is a pale pink single anemone at work, but it is not very healthy. Nor it is very pretty. The flowers are neither very pink, nor white, but just sort of dingy white. It is as if they are sort of very pale tan. I know it sounds weird. I would not mind if they were just blushed with simple pink. I really want a single white! That would be rad.
What is that building behind the shed? It looks like a house. That fence does not look so new, and seems to be fitting in nicely.
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Love the ‘climbing’ fuchsia! Now tell me which direction is this growing in? And that is a nice shed. Mine has a rotten floor and a leaky roof, despite being recovered three years ago. The walls are decent though so I am wondering if there is a ‘man that can’ fix sheds, rather than having to buy an entirely new one.
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The Fuchsia goes straight up, then starts to lean under its own weight if it doesn’t have support. The side shoots then come out at a bit of an angle but still heading upwards. Shame about your shed, mine has a good roof and the floor, which I haven’t seen in many years until today, looks sound, but the walls are rotting out in places. Between us we have one good shed; shame you’re not closer.
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I wish I could grow a Fuchsia like that. Although I’m not a million miles from you even the hardy ones get cut to the ground here most winters. Good luck fitting everything into the shed!
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The way things are going you soon will be able to grow it, and that’s not a good thing.
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Some very astute shed observations there. The begonia looks great, I look forward to seeing the six foot colossus next year!
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I think when I start putting stuff in it that I’m going to find I have a garden cupboard, not a shed. It imposes a kind of discipline.
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Your new shed is almost the size of a small apartment in downtown Toronto! Love the hinges. Also love the foliage on that Begonia…I’ll have to look for it!
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I love this begonia luxurians. You take cuttings in the automne I guess and how do you manage the wintering of these?
Nice wall of fuchsias and so healthy foliage !
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We did cuttings of the begonia a couple of weeks back, they’ll get potted in a week or two, in 9cm pots, then stay in the conservatory through the winter, just let frost free. They’d prefer it just a bit warmer.
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Good to know your procedure. Thanks.
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I envy your ability to keep fuchsia alive; I bought some at the store this year and they didn’t survive… Oh well. At least they were beautiful while I had them!
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Which set me to wondering where you were to so I looked at your blog and read about Celtic Festivals in Ireland(I have an (unread) book on the Festivals of Cornwall, a different part of the Celtic fringe) but then figured it was Oklahoma. Fuchsia growing in Oklahoma would not be my chosen specialist subject on Mastermind.
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You’d be spot on. I’m in Oklahoma! It’s funny you say that, though, because it’s weirdly popular in the stores here as a hanging plant for your porch…. Then again… Stores aren’t exactly known for carrying plants that actually do WELL in their respective zones.
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Retailers stock what’s going to sell, which usually means something pretty with flowers. Most customers don’t know whether it’s suitable or not and in most cases nor do the retail buyers, but they do know what sells. At least that’s the situation here most of the time.
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I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the same situation here, too.
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This week two of your choice plants hit me between the eyes…in the best sense. That Begonia is magnificent and is giving your garden a real tropical look. You know what the other plant is: the Fuchsia Lady in Black…I didn’t even know there were ‘climbing’ fuchsias…your posts are certainly eye opening. Will have to consider where I could place this one.
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The Fuchsia is positively glowing with pride at being described as a ‘choice plant’. My target for next year for the Begonia is six feet. I’ve said it, now I have to do it.
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Did you design and build the shed from scratch? I wouldn’t have a clue where to begin. Looks good.
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Not just a pretty face me!
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