The birth flower for October…

is the Pot Marigold, and since my birthday was yesterday that’s perhaps why it’s my favourite flower.  It is an emblem of constancy in affection, and of sympathy in joy and sorrow.  The Latin name Calendula reflects the fact that it can be found in bloom nearly every month of the year.

These four Flighty’s favourites were photographed on Friday morning.

Yesterday was damp, dull and windy so I had a quiet, relaxing day indoors mostly spent  armchair gardening or sofa flying.

Take care, and have a good week!

It’s been a long time…

since I mentioned the two plot ponds, which are now mostly out of sight having been overshadowed by grass and other plants.  Earlier in the week I made a start on partly clearing around the dustbin lid one, which is towards the shed end of the flower patch.

I won’t do much more around either of them now until the spring.

There was heavy rain for much of yesterday so I wasn’t surprised to see the blue asters were looking somewhat bedraggled this morning.  I  took this picture on Tuesday when they still looked good.

And here are the white Twinkling Stars, which as a plot neighbour said are looking frothy.

It looks like staying mostly dry through into next week which will give me time to start tidying up, and weeding through, the flower patches.

Take care, and have a good weekend!

I finished…

emptying out the compost bin on Friday, then yesterday I partly refilled it with un-composted material and cleared up all round.  The dug out and sieved compost is piled up out of the way between the rose Pretty Lady and the blackberry bush.

   

I lost count but there are at least ten barrow loads, and I also emptied two more on the ground where I’ll be growing the climbing beans next year.

A robin was around for much of the time but stayed mostly hidden in the rose bush at the back of the bin, where I heard it more often than I saw it.

That was my last major job for this year and I’ll now be mostly just ticking over pottering, tidying up and weeding.

Take care, and have a good week!

I started…

to empty out the compost bin yesterday, which was a job I had intended doing back in the spring but it was too wet.  I’m taking it steady, and it should take a couple of more days or so.  I’m completely emptying it as I want to make a few minor adjustments to the pallets which make up the sides.  I swapped these for the original ones October last year, when I did the shed area, and they need realigning slightly so that the front removable one fits properly.  There’s plenty of un-composted material to go back in, and once that’s all done I’ll be cutting the comfrey down again to add on top.  It’s not that long ago I did this but as you can see it’s already grown again.

 

This nasturtium has grown alongside the log pile, and is well away from the others.  I certainly didn’t sow any seeds in this area. I’ll leave it to self-seed and see if any appear there next year.

 

Take care, and have a good weekend!

The two asters,…

or Michaelmas daisies if you prefer, I have are the last plants to flower at this time of year.

I’ve had the blue ones for almost as long as I’ve had the plot, and were given to me in a large pot.  They’ve certainly spread since I planted them out and now form a large clump between the dogwood and the roadway where they always do well.

I was given these white ones some years ago by George, a one-time plot neighbour who much preferred growing flowers.  This smaller clump has masses of tiny white flowers which I call Twinkling Stars.

These have done well since I moved them from the middle of the plot, where it’s prone to water-logging in wet winters, to the top edge next to the roadway.

Please note that I’m not doing a Tree following post this month as both Liz’s white oak over in Lexington, Kentucky and the plum tree have shown no discernible changes since last month’s post.

Take care, and have a good week!

October surprises

Having spent three consecutive days indoors it was good to spend a few hours on the plot Monday morning in the sunshine, although the ground was too damp to do much.

It’s surprising that cosmos corner is looking better now than it did most of the summer.

There was even a white butterfly fluttering round, but it never settled long enough for me to take a photo.

The yellow primroses in the long planter have been flowering for several weeks, and the white ones have now started to appear.

All six plants, three of each colour, have now flowered which is pleasing, having lifted and split the original two plants earlier in the year.

I have a primrose at home which I repotted this week.  I don’t know what colour flowers this one has so look forward to finding out, hopefully before too long.

 

It’s also surprising that the croscosmia still has a few flowers showing.

The weather has been rather unsettled this week with plenty of rain, along with periods of sunshine, which looks set to continue into next week.

 

Take care. and have a good weekend!

 

All things bright and beautiful

I wish they were but it’s damp and dull for the third day running and I’ve gone to do this post only to find that I can now no longer use the classic editor so don’t really have a clue what I’m doing. 

This wonderful poem is The Gardener’s Hymn by Barbara Robinson.

Hopefully I’ll be able get my head round this new way of doing posts but don’t be too surprised if I don’t post as usual next Thursday.

Take care, and have a good week!

This week

The three communal woodchip bays are virtually empty at present so this week I’ve been able to reach the back of them to dig out and sieve several barrow loads of  good compost.

I’ve planted some crocuses Blue Pearl in the stone feature and  yellow/white daffodils in a large pot.  Both are covered with wire mesh to keep the pesky squirrels from digging them up.  I had to smile one morning as I arrived to see one eating a sunflower head.  Thankfully I’ve collected more than enough seeds so don’t mind too much.

The forecast is for heavy rain over most of the next two days so I guess that will finish off  the annual flowers such as the cosmos and nasturtiums, which have done so well this year.

I’ll be settling down with a cup of tea and a couple of biscuits to do some armchair gardening deciding what to grow, and where, next year.

Take care, and have a good weekend!

This time last year…

I was preparing to do a major revamp on the shed and compost bin area.  I did it early in October and a year on I’m pleased to say that I’ve not had to make any further adjustments or changes.

The blackthorn tree stump I finally cut back to just below ground level out of sight only a few weeks ago, but I’m not going to attempt to dig it out.

In case anyone is wondering the shed isn’t leaning as it looks like it is and is fairly level.

 

It was damp and dull for much of Thursday and Friday so I stayed at home.  Since then it’s been mostly sunny but breezy and chilly.

Yesterday I cleared the remaining rhubarb stems and leaves which went on the compost heap.  I then covered the crowns with a few inches of compost to keep them protected over the winter.

This morning I planted some crocuses in the stone feature and daffodils in a large pot.  The sedum is starting to die-back in the middle of the clump so needs to be lifted, split and replanted which I’ll do next spring.

Take care, and have a good week!

Autumn has arrived

At home on the windowsill the pot marigold Oopsy Daisy has been flowering continuously since early summer, and a week or so ago had a handful of flowers rather than just one or two. I’ll certainly be growing one again next year which I’ll pinch out and dead-head, which I didn’t do this year, to hopefully keep the plant rather more compact.

   

 

Most of the fifty or so tomatoes Golden Sunrise that I bought home from blight affected plants have now ripened and all been okay.   These six are on a 7″/18 cm plate to give an indication of size.

This is a variety I grow always grow as they generally do well and I like the taste, so it’s already on the list for next year.

 

The rose Pretty Lady has been flowering almost constantly since May much to my delight.

It rained yesterday and earlier today so I’m not plotting today.  Tomorrow onwards it looks like being dry with temperatures down to around 15 C/60 F over the weekend and much cooler nights, a sure indication that autumn has arrived.

Take care, and have a good weekend!