SoS 15/1/21
Gosh, after a busy Christmas, a dry and hot week or so of the New Year and a tumultuous international affair, I’ve finally got back into my garden. We welcomed a full day of rain yesterday and showers today.
I’ve come to the realisation that our big garden is difficult.
It’s mostly clay and has 50-60 year old trees with roots spread right across the garden. So digging space for new plants is not hard, it’s awful! I’ve also realised as I age, that what we have now is more than enough. Of course I’d love beds and more beds but time and energy is the thing and I’ve just had months with a demanding knee so the big garden is big enough.
Anyway – here we go.
Mea culpa because I snuck in two pics here.
Agapanthus – called aggies here. Held in disrepsect by true plantsmen but loved by those who own big dry gardens that are almost impossible to dig over.
That said, those that surround our cottage are ready to be dug up (with mattocks, ditchdiggers and explosives!) and divided.
This is one small section of the long border to show how well cosmos, lobelia and petunia have broken up the mostly green theme of summer (not counting the nepeta).
I have to include this one – the scabiosa is breathtaking this year. It’s grown to a height of six feet and is covered in buds that will eventually look like this.
The veggie garden has finally picked up. After a very unusual winter of rain and then heat from November on, it literally stalled in its tracks. But somehow its turned the corner and everything is beginning to produce. We have blank spaces to plant successive carrots and greens. In the past, potatoes have filled a quarter of our veggie garden but this year, as an experiment, we grew them in potato bags. The crop wasn’t good – a minimal result. One lives and learns…
The tomatoes are doing well – a bit of yellowing here and there, but they have good sized fruit and I might just get some chutney made this year.
And finally, we’ve netted an apple, a pear, a quince and a nectarine to keep what I call the Messerschmitt parrots off the fruit. Once upon a time, our garden had 28 pear and apple trees but climate change has taken its toll and we only have five of the original trees left. We’ve planted the quince, nectarine and an apricot, but in order to change the orchard and try and create a little microclimate, have added three olives, three almonds, an oak, a silver birch, a lillypilly, a variegated pittosporum, a weeping gum, a flowering gum, and double hedge of small leafed pittosporums and olives. Time will tell if they can cope with the tough conditions. I do hope they can as we can then add their number to the hundreds of trees we planted on the farm this year.
And that’s it from me. Hop off to The Propagator and take a global tour of gardens, with thanks to Jon.
Cheers all.
Oh good luck getting rid of the aggies! The Botanic Gardens here did an experiment over a few years to find some that didn’t spread as much. I am not sure of the result, but noticed a small clump the other day. Interesting to read how much you have noticed the change in climate.
Hi Barbara. i don’t want to get rid of them, only dig them up, divide and thin. They’re so strong through all the climate oddities – drought, flood, snow, frost etc, that I need them around the house.
They’re also amazingly fire retardant. But that’s another story.
I know it’s possible to buy sterile varieties at nurseries, but I’d rather spend money on other plants – sooo many other plants. 😉
The vegetable patch is looking perfectly beautiful and productive and the agapanthus are to die for!
Paddy, I shall probably be dead from trying to dig them up and divide them in winter!
How pretty these Agapanthes are! This mix of the two colors is really successful.I also find that the vegetable garden is very clean and well grown: bravo
They are gorgeous, Fred. There’s no doubt. And to be honest, the mix is nature, not me.
Your veggie plot looks so neat and tidy and delicious! Love the cooling nepeta, lobelia and petunia combo, very pretty.
Thank you, Gill. See above about husband’s straight-row fetish!
Lovely summer pictures, beautiful vegetable garden and, yes, I grew my potatoes in the ground in heavy clay with very little compost this year. The yield was amazing unlike the last several years when I grew them in compost filled potato sacks.
Yes, never again, Granny. Our yields normally keep us going well into winter but this year we’ll be lucky to get 2 weeks hence. The potato bags will be consigned to tree guards.
Your garden looking fabulous Prue, we have had rain most days for weeks, not just a little rain many nights its rained continuously. The ground is completely sodden. I am getting Cabin fever. I adore your agapanthus they look stunning. Hopefully for us the better weather might come soon. We did have a smattering of snow the other day.Poor Heather had 4″ of it. Keep safe xxx
Thanks Libby. Our summer is very grey, thanks to La Nina and quite cold on the cool days. But on the hot days, its very warm – warmer than I can handle. Don’t sail away on the rain and snow melt. And stay safe.
The Agapanthus are stunning – and definitely not regarded as weeds over here. I wonder what we regard as a bit common over here that is a garden treasure where you are?
These are tough old biddies, and you see them any and everywhere growing wild which is why they are listed as a plant pest. The old varieties seed readily and spread through our native environments. I tend to cut the stalks and flowerheads off once the flowering has finished to avoid seeding. One can of course replace them with the new sterile hybrids but these are okay if I manage them. Like I say, they’re due for digging up and dividing and in clay, it is not going to be easy.
Prue – your Veg patch is simply delightful. Pretty and productive. I love your marigolds – they look a picture there.
Hi Katharine. Thank you. I read somewhere that marigolds are good for soil health and getting rid of nematodes. I have to say that the tomatoes have benefited from the companion planting. Husband likes veggie garden planted in orderly rows and has tools with measures marked upon. Have to say I like it too – very Peter Rabbit!
Your vegetable garden is so ordered and well regulated. Despite my best efforts, mine never communicates that air of calm competence that one looks for in a vegetable garden. So sad about your orchard, but I am pleased to hear that you are replanting to meet the changing conditions. It is all we can do. I wish you much success with your new additions.
It’s my husband, Erin. He loves straight rows. When I do my bit in the veggie garden, mine are a bit iffy. I’m better in the borders which need that higgledy piggledy planting.
How lovely to see more of your garden. The Scabious is beautiful
Ann, I think the scabiosa has to the winning plant for this summer. I’m thrilled!