ruminate vb. to chew (the cud)
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…
Lordy, where did that month go? It's deep into the time of preparing for next season, this one being dead and gone. I've been planting, digging up and potting, moving and chucking out. I write myself lists, the current one still has less things done than not.It being the weird year it is, on Tuesday…
It's been a dreary old week where very little gardening has been done. I did manage to get up to Mt Edgcumbe and Antony House on Thursday, trying to identify a recalcitrant Camellia or two, with limited success. At least I was outdoors and away from the house, which feels the more liberating for being…
Summer holiday season in Cornwall is always manic and I tend to hunker down and steer well clear of the busy bits. Sue was down in Looe during the week and said it was heaving. If you know where to go you can avoid the crowds completely. It's a safe bet that you could sit…
There's a mini-digger parked up on next doors drive, shortly to go into action to remove most of the soil from their front garden, to be replaced by gravel so they can park their vehicles. I'm finding it hard to see it as progress but maybe I'm just a grumpy old codger. Hey ho, where…
31°C Thursday, 19°C Friday, 17°C the forecast for today. It's raining too. You have to admire the way most plants cope; they can't put on a sun hat or don coat and gloves, they just have to put up with it. We've had more rain overnight, I don't know how much until I check the…
Looks like we may be back to more familiar weather for a while, frontal systems coming in off the Atlantic, an hour or two of rain then back to dry. The garden seems to be in transition, I've done nearly all the planting I have planned and am waiting for things to start flowering. In…
They do say you should be careful what you wish for. My water storage is brim full, 3400 litres of lovely rainwater. I'd prefer it to stop raining now for a bit. It's brought out the slugs in force. Thursday evening I found 36 on one foot tall Dahlia. (best not to ask) Before that…
Keeping a garden interesting gets more difficult as autumn slips into winter. The climate here is not warm enough to have nearly as wide a choice of material for winter display as for summer, nor is it cold enough to force me to shut up shop altogether. I have a choice, I can give up…
Oh dear, more rain. It was supposed to be dry today. Friday rained all day. At this time of year a rainy day can be an expensive day. I sat at my computer, browsing Parkers catalogue, Peter Nyssen's catalogue, then Potterton's, Avon Bulbs and Ron Scamp's Daffodils, just to mention the ones with whom I…
