I was expecting to wake to rain this morning, but it still hasn't arrived. It's not far away but it's not moving either. Hey ho. Six things happening in the garden now, no problem. One. Not one, but two bulging packets arrived in the post yesterday, next year's seeds. I stuck with Kings for my…
Impatiens omeiana
I have three very distinct forms of the Mt Omei balsam in my garden, two planted out and one still in a pot. The one that I have had the longest is the form most often encountered here and came to the UK from America, having been introduced to cultivation by Don Jacobs of Eco Gardens…
Six on Saturday – 29/9/2018
At this time of year bad weather causes a rapid slide into chaos and good weather puts the slide on hold without reversing it. Excellent weather for getting things done though. There always seem to be a lot of takers for the idea of autumn as favourite season. I'm not one of them; I prefer…
Six on Saturday – 22/9/2018
I just looked out the window and noticed how autumnal next door's plum leaved thorn is looking; that seemed to happen overnight. It's raining and it's due to last all day. The poor old garden has been given a right thrashing this week and there's more to come. I don't like wind. Even taking pictures…
A propagation roundup
First thing this morning I popped up the allotment, then on to Trago. (Bought 350g bag Onion ‘Electric’ sets, or 102 bulbs, for £1.49; they’re £3.30 for 50 in my seed catalogue, but I digress) When I got back I emptied a quantity of Camellia seeds from my pocket, thinking roughly “you sad git, you…
Six on Saturday – 15/9/2018
I don't know how many different plants I grow, it's several, if not more. Some are rarities, some are not. Some are big and bold and brash, some so restrained they're hard to spot. I'm a gardener, I grow plants; for me, two different plants are more interesting than two the same. Each of us…
Allotment update – 12/9/2018
I meant this to be a monthly snapshot, but there has been slippage, my last allotment post being at the end of July. That was just after we'd had the first rain for ages but before anything was showing any benefit from it. My runner beans had cropped well through the hot spell, sustained by…
Six on Saturday – 8/9/2018
I was going to go and collect my onions from the allotment but it's just started raining. Today may not be the day I had planned. Tomorrow we're off down west to the rare Plant Fair at Tremenheere and a jolly round the Dahlia field at Varfell. I'm expecting it to be one of the highlights…
Dahlias
The honest truth is that I don't have much to say about Dahlias. I grow quite a lot, I love them. When I say quite a lot, I have around two dozen in the garden, almost all named varieties that I've bought, plus 56 seedlings that I've raised myself which are growing on my allotment. The…
Six on Saturday – 1/9/2018
I usually have to pretend I'm writing on a Saturday but not this week. A blizzard of a week, possibly; disorganised, certainly; bit of a sense of things slowing down, not so much changing from one week to the next, let's go with that. Six reflections on the colour red. One. I had a row of…
garden ruminations 