ruminate vb. to chew (the cud)
It's all still growing! The garden is becoming impenetrable, the paths disappearing under lush vegetation. Will it get stopped abruptly by cold or storm, or collapse under its own soggy weight? I'm tidying the bits that have really had it, but so far that's not much. The glasshouse tomatoes copped it yesterday but those in…
October, and the summer heatwave is a distant memory. Not that it's really cold and so far the garden is holding up well; he says as the rain comes down and the wind builds. No more than a fleeting shower in a breeze, by the standard set by Florida this week. Why we in this…
Here we go again, six on Saturday episode 280. Things just keep on happening in this garden of mine, which is just as well, that being the point of The Propagator's excellent Saturday soiree. One.Amaryllis belladonna. Again; not quite a repeat of last week as it's a different clump of them, in the back garden…
Even though the weather has returned to normal the fallout from the dryness and hot spell is still playing out. Some things are growing like it's spring; ferns that had shrivelled and gone dormant are greening up, Fuchsias are making new growth and flowering profusely, Corydalis flexuosa is re-emerging in fresh greenery. Winter may be…
They're gonna put me in the moviesThey're gonna make a big star out of meWe'll make a film about a man that's sad and lonelyAnd all I gotta do is act naturally Back in mid July I received an email from someone called Joe Driver, from Cornwall Stress Free Television. They explained that they were…
Last weekend we went down to the plant fair at Tremenheere, which netted me Begonia koelzii. On the way back we called in at Trevenna Cross Nursery where I found a reasonable plant of Begonia 'Garden Angel Silver'. There were other purchases, mostly for Sue. I came home significantly poorer. Since then it seems mostly…
The switch from summer to autumn happened rather abruptly but since summer ended in blazing heat and parched soil, there is a sense in which autumn represents an upturn in the garden's fortunes rather than the beginning of a steady decline. A lot of things have perked up greatly and late flowerers like Fuchsias and…
It is very frustrating that I have so many problems with direct sowing on my allotment. Most things seem to germinate then disappear, presumably due to nocturnal predation by slugs. I dare say there are other culprits too, voles, snails maybe, but it hardly matters. I managed to grow carrots successfully this year by direct…
Fuchsias are really easy to grow and trouble free except for Fuchsia rust, Fuchsia gall mite, Fuchsia flea beetle, capsid bug, apple moth, vine weevil and whitefly. They also don't enjoy being very hot and dry. There was a time when the only concern anyone ever had about them was whether they were hardy; no…
Almost at the end of another month. I received some Erythronium bulbs today and was re-acquainted with how dry the ground is below the surface when it came to planting them. It's no wonder most things look jaded. It took longer than usual to assemble six things, another sign of the turning seasons. One.Hedychium 'Tara'.…
garden ruminations 