SoS – 15/12/18
It’s raining here.
Part of the re-emergence of a weather-system off a cyclone. Because it’s a ’rebirth’, meteorologists call it a zombie storm. It’s been gloomy and the air has been heavy since yesterday and about thirty minutes ago the rain began. In our case, it’s a soaking wet drizzle, wafting in sheets across the garden and driven by a north-easterly wind off the sea. It’s not at all cold but it’s what we call ‘wet rain’, a mist that sinks into coats, coverings and skin as if storm-driven.
We’ve known this weather has been likely for a week – farmers and gardeners getting quite excited by a good drop before summer really exerts itself. With that in mind, I took the camera while the weather was finer earlier in the week, so that I’d be prepared for SoS.
I had of course been shopping and bought two salvias and a euphorbia. Plus a quazillion seeds for the veggie garden.
Salvia Leucantha Alba. What a drama for this poor little velvet thing. I upended the pot ready to decant into the hole and the fragile thing broke off. I planted what was left. Yikes!!!
And with the two ends left over that seemed to have roots, I dropped them into a pot of friable soil. I know I have to cut them back very hard to give them the best chance of striking and that was meant to be this weekend. Who knows? I might get out to do it if the weather backs off. There’s also a broken French lavender piece that has gone into the hospital pot. Same thing, I guess. Cut back and pray.
I also planted Salvia Greggii Alba and it’s looking quite happy, thank you.
There’s also an enchanting, delicate euphorbia. It doesn’t say which, only naming it as Euphorbia Diamond Frost. This is the third one I’ve had. One of the Matchbox ones passed away. The other died back to green stems but after nurturing, it’s now returned to full health. This latest is in the Coast garden in a pot and because this garden is frost-prone in winter, the pot will have to go into the cold frame. This little euphorbia reminds me of sparkling tree lights or the glitter of a sequin on tulle. It’s fairylike.
Another of my clematis is in flower. Unidentified because planted before I thought of noting such things, but pictures will help as all came from the same clematis nursery and they will all be named in due course with the nurseryman’s help.
This climbing rose is an oldie on a fence of one of the old holiday houses as we walk the dog. It’s really beautiful and has an age-old scent – the kind perfumiers would use. I have no idea of the name and one evening in late autumn/early winter, I’ll walk in the dark with my secateurs and take a cutting as it hangs over the fence into the street. I’m not a rose enthusiast, except for Mme. Alfred Carriere (my favourite and which graces my veggie garden fence) and Just Joey (my mother’s).
My veggie garden is planted out and since this pic was taken, all the legumes are up out of the soil. We’re also picking very young zucchini with their flowers for the kitchen.
And in addition, the berry house is beginning to ripen. I’ve frozen three bags of silvanberries and loganberries to date. The raspberries may be light on this year because they are old and I cut them back really hard. The boysenberry canes are loaded and my ‘special’ strawberries are actually giving us a couple of fruit a day now. Hopefully that will improve.
And that’s my lot for the week for SoS. Although counting back – maybe the berry house and the veggie garden are two separate entries. But then could I argue it’s all part of the ‘potager’? If not, I apologise…
To wander through gardening minds across the globe, go to The Propagator and click on all the links. It’s a wonderful weekend’s reading.
I know exactly what you mean about wet rain. We call it that here tooit soaks you through all the layers its damp with it. Strangely enough I took cuttings of roses this year. They are in compost in the garage and a couple have tiny shoots sprouting from the side. Hope they will “take and I can repot when ready.Nothing ventured nothing gained.
I hope my cuttings strike, Libby. I wouldn’t know what the white rose is and the house itself has probably had a dozen owners in its life so it will prbably have to have a fictional name from me. Rather like creating a character for one of my books. I shall think on it. 😉
I didn’t know the ” zombie storm” . I had to read your last post to understand and see more pics.
Lovely clematis flowers this week !
Fred, it was new to me too, this week. It’s bad enough having to worry about the strengthening of storms with climate change without having to worry about the zombie effect as well. Meanwhile, the garden is getting a nice dampening down which should make summer easier to bear. Only thing is, I have punnets of annuals and summer salads to plant and I hate getting wet in the rain.
It seems almost surreal seeing pretty flowers and sunshine in your Six-on-Saturday! We did have a good summer but we forget it all too quickly. Your fruit cages remind me that I must get mine organised before the spring to stop pigeons and butterflies getting at next year’s harvest! I have bought the chicken wire but need to order the wood for the frames. A job for after Christmas, I think.
I love summer but I really don’t mind winter at all. Mind you, ours are mild by comparison with the northern hemisphere.
Golly gosh! Butterflies? What do they do to berries?
We have to protect our berries against birds of all kinds and blue-tongued lizards!
Love (slightly fear) the zombie storm! I am a big fan of salvia and didn’t know there was a white version of S. leucantha, one to look out for. We all have little oopsies, plants are very forgiving!
I’ve only just begun to appreciate salvias. It will be interesting to see if it’s a mutually congenial relationship as time moves on. With me being an ingenue gardener and all!
We enjoyed rain this week too, Prue, and are so thankful for it. Now we stagger through to the next event! Don’t worry about your Salvia. I’m sure it will grow as they are so tough and also easy to grow from cuttings. Your veg garden looks so orderly and productive and I’m interested in your berry house. No worries about bird damage for you!
It bucketed down last night, Jane. The garden is thankful. But I think the system may be weakening now. I don’t think we in Tasmania have had anything like the mainland from the rebirth of ‘Owen’. Perhaps also, thankfully. The grey sky has breaks in it today, but we have thunderstorms and 24 degrees expected.
I hope you’re right re the Salvia. The flowers feel like velvet.
The berry house was marvellous in its prime, but the wood has shrunk and moved and there are gaps that need tightening. The door is shielded by a net because birds and bluetongues can fit through the gaps. Maybe one day, OH can give me some time… faint hope won fair maidens! 😉
Wet rain! Know exactly what you mean. Nice to see your veggie garden revving up. Barring a few lonely parsnips, mine is barren now until early spring. Actually I lie, I do also have garlic in the ground.
The rain has atomized the veggie garden and what’s really amazing is that after 2 go’s at sewing parsnip seed very carefully one by one, nothing ever came up. Finally I lost my temper, convinced that some nasty bug was eating my seed, so I formed rows, sprayed the rows with white vinegar and soapy water, laid super-fine white sand along the rows and then went berserk with two packets of parsnips, just scattering heaps of them. I didn’t expect any joy at all. Of course my garden’s middle name is perversity and every seed has struck, I’m sure. We’ll be eating parsnips through the winter till the cows come home!
Great post with lots of new concepts for me: zombie storms and hospital pots. I love that clematis, whatever it is, it has very beautiful markings. Good luck with the salvia salvage!
Thanks, Alison. I checked the hospital pot yesterday and even without cutting back, the cuttings look quite well. But I think I’ll nip the tops off for safety.
I had and lost Euphorbia Diamond Frost too! It was lovely while alive, but a frost took it. Parsnips are great ornamental umbellifers if you leave some ( one or two?) to the next year. Then you can get your own seed too.
Hi Tim. I do hope I can protect the euphorbia in our winter. It was only courtesy of the nurseryman that I found out about its frost-tender nature. There was nothing on the label.
And re the parsnips, now that they’ve taken and I will have thousands of them, I will try and collect seed. One of our radio gardeners said that parsnip seed has to be as fresh as you can get it, to be successful.