ruminate vb. to chew (the cud)
I don't seem to be spending much time in the garden at the moment, I'm very much in a phase of planning changes then making the excuse that I want to think about it before committing. I have pages of notes, a lot of them contradictory, where I've changed my mind, or duplicated, where I've…
Deeper into autumn and it's getting trickier. Camellia sasanqua is just starting, so that helps. We've yet to have a frost, which is just as well since there's a lot of stuff still outside that shouldn't be. I was admiring someone's toasted Impatiens yesterday, just a couple of miles away but at lower altitude, so…
The rain gauge yesterday morning had accumulated 52.5mm in the prior 24hrs and it was a very soggy garden that I wandered round, looking for survivors to include here. There was more than I expected; the usual mix at this time of year of late performers and earlier performers just hanging in with a last…
The rain and wind on Wednesday night laid to rest any lingering thoughts of summer. I was out in it on Wednesday evening and it was truly vile. By Thursday morning the rain had blown through but the roads were strewn with leaves and twigs. The garden looked like it had taken something of a…
I have written two earlier posts about Begonias in the garden. I'm not referring to the usual bedding types, rather to a range of mainly fairly recently introduced new species that are on the border of hardiness as well as some that would usually be grown as house plants. My collection continues to grow and…
There is still plenty of flower in the garden, a pretty good week weather wise has even produced a bit of an improvement on my Dahlias, with Salvias, Fuchsias, Plectranthus and Begonias still going strong. I've been getting stuck into autumn jobs, essentially moving things around, getting things in for winter and chopping things down.…
Cornwall Hardy Plant Society had Fergus Garrett as their speaker on Wednesday and three days later my head is still buzzing. He talked fast and he packed in so much content, all about what he calls layering, the business of building communities of plants growing together such that a piece of ground has something interesting…
Last weekend Sue and I were at the Chelsea Flower Show on Friday and Monday. Most of the time we were helping to man the International Camellia Society stand so we didn't get to see much of the rest of the show, but talking camellias for hours on end is pretty much my idea of…
If you're reading this it's because I've managed to post it on some mobile device while away from home. Routine for many of you no doubt, but not for me. Which is not to say I created it on a mobile device, it was done a few days ago when I was still at home.…
The RHS Rhododendron, Camellia and Magnolia Group have, like everyone else, been largely unable for the past couple of seasons to have any sort of events programme. It was suggested that members post videos of their own gardens for other members to watch and enjoy. I did a couple last year and with our cycle…
garden ruminations 