Veg Plotting

Like many gardeners I've been evaluating the plant casualties in my garden resulting from last year's drought/cold winter/this year's record rain spring. Mine include some winter flowering clematis, dahlias, and some - but not all - of the Mexican fleabane. I also thought the hardy fuchsias in the front garden had gone, unlike their cousins in the back. I naturally assumed this was down to the front garden facing north not quite giving them the conditions they need to thrive. I even bought a replacement ' Hawkshead ' at Malvern show recently as I'm particularly fond of its more delicate, pure white blooms. And then, I saw last week the stems I'd cut down to the ground in the spring have sprouted lots of lush, new growth as shown in the top photo, so my latest 'Hawkshead' has a new spot in the back garden instead. I shall bear in mind the top tip I was given in Malvern and give all my fuchsias a thick layer of mulch in late autumn to help them through...

I'm back from a fabulous week spent in Denver at this year's Garden Bloggers Fling . The gardens - as usual - were amazing, but many of us found other stars of the show in the shape of the ever present mountain views and huge skies over the plains we passed through. It's a deceptive landscape because the flatter looking land hides the fact we were at an altitude of over 5,000 feet. Now I'm back I can understand the benefits of living that high: my regular Zumba class yesterday felt much easier and I could work harder without getting puffed! This is a view from one of the private gardens we visited in the Boulder area and illustrates perfectly the importance of using the borrowed view in garden design. The owners of this property and many more we saw ensured they made the best of their natural resources, both in terms of scenery and local geology. You can see the clouds building up over the mountains which brought rumbles of thunder in the afternoon and just...

Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. ~ Robert Frost in Fire and Ice Frost went on to say he favoured fire. I wonder what he'd make of today's frosted VP Gardens and the reports of the polar vortex with numbing low temperatures in the USA? We have snow forecast for later on today. Stay warm everyone.

For the first day of the winter months, here's a poem* which acknowledges how spectacular the sky can be at this time of the year. This was the scene from my bedroom window early one morning last week. I was struck by how much the sun moves around the sky according to the season. For us it currently rises straight ahead, rather than at summer's extreme left of the picture. * = you can read the whole poem called  Winter-time   here .

I spent a fascinating study morning at Jekka McVicar's Herb Farm last week, where at last I had the chance to see what's changed since she converted her nursery to a Herbetum in 2013. The presence of herbs with their stories and uses was as strong as ever, with some unexpected additions. It was a showery day, which turned Jekka's attention to our changeable weather. "We no longer have showers, we have deluges", she said as a particularly sharp one forced us to shelter for a little longer (and eat more delicious cake) before going outside. Jekka's husband, Mac cheerfully fetched a bundle of large umbrellas, so we could continue on our way. Once outside, "How many of you sharpen your secateurs every week?", was our first and most unexpected question. We shuffled our feet guiltily, and most of us admitted we didn't. "How many of you sharpen your kitchen knives every week?" Now on a surer footing, most of us admitted that we did. ...

With the cold winds and frosty nights we've had lately, I've had to have words with my apples. I've told them their blossom should stay snug and warm for a little while longer. It seems I've given them the more painful option. Fingers crossed for the apple harvest... How's spring faring in your neighbourhood?

Winter returned to VP Gardens over the weekend in the form of two sharp frosts, which means these 'St George' tulips won't be standing proud on their name day next week. Yesterday's sunshine allowed me to capture their sparkle with my camera, so I can at least admire them for a while longer here on the blog. Frosted plants often look their worst - or prettiest depending on which way you look at it - at first light, owing to the additional physiological drought the frost brings. A few hours of warm sunshine can bring a remarkable recovery, as it did with the daffodils, violas and hellebores elsewhere in the garden. Alas, it was not to be with these tulips and the opened flowers on my neighbours magnolia tree. Luckily we both have flowers waiting in the wings. The magnolia has plenty more to come from the buds still protected by their furry coats. I have a couple more pots of these tulips, whose noses are just beginning to peer above the soil. I planted them up...

Things are returning to normal at VP Gardens this month, where most of the blooms are flowering at their allotted time. I'm relieved most of the summer flowers I found in January have started their winter slumbers. Crocuses are making a fine show for February and I have several spots where the same [unknown] variety are clumping up nicely. A walk around the garden revealed they're a good sunshine indicator; the above photo was taken in the front garden, which faces north. What a difference position can make! This photo was taken a few minutes later, in my south facing back garden. Here the crocuses were thoroughly enjoying the sunshine in readiness for any foraging bee who just happens to pass by. Are there any good sunshine indicators in your garden? Garden Bloggers Blooms Day is hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens .

Salvia 'Amistad'

The garden's enjoyed the rain we've had over the past few days and I took advantage of a brief lull over lunchtime yesterday to grab a few photos. Raindrops have a great way of accentuating the form of flowers and vegetation, and some plants like Alchemilla mollis and lupins are positively made for the vagaries of our English weather. An overcast day means there's even lighting to play with and no need to get up so early as there's a good light to be found in the middle of the day. This kind of weather is great for blooms with richer colours, or for yellows and whites to add highlights to the gloom. However, early morning or evening may be still be preferable on breezier days as the wind usually calms down at those times. I used to moan about garden visits in the rain, but a trip to the Bloedel Reserve a few years ago opened my eyes to the possibilities of wet days. I've found they help me home in on tiny details which I might otherwise have missed. The sam...

Nilufa Danis's opulent Turkish Garden of Paradise felt right at home in yesterday's heat  Phew what a scorcher! Temperatures were in the high 20s at RHS Hampton Court yesterday and are set to soar into the 30s today. Here are my tips to help you enjoy the show, instead of getting a bit grumpy in the heat like I did. Go early and/or stay late - it means you can enjoy the show at the cooler times  It was noticeably cooler under the arbour in Nilufa's garden at 1pm yesterday. There are a lot of trees at Hampton court, some with seats around them, so you can have a long sit down - including a picnic or siesta - in the really hot part of the day Wear your comfiest shoes - the show is huge, so there's a lot of walking involved I hate wearing a hat because I get 'hat hair', but I did wear one yesterday. One with a wide brim will also protect your neck  Wear comfortable, loose clothing including something to protect your neck if your hat doesn't Take p...

I'm a bit of a weather geek, so I was delighted when Oregon Scientific offered one of their Weather@Home systems for me to try. The kit comprises the pictured base unit which measures indoor temperature and humidity, plus barometric pressure and one smaller unit which is placed outdoors and measures temperature and humidity only. The base unit shows both the indoor and outdoor data and up to five outdoor sensors can connected up, as long as these are within 50 metres of the base unit. The pictured top set of results can be cycled round for the inspection of the outdoor data. The time, trending information (little arrows showing whether the readings are up, down or remaining  the same), moon phase and a 12-hour forecast complete the information on view. The unit can also be connected up via bluetooth to a tablet or mobile phone using the Weather@Home app, which downloads 7 days-worth of hourly data. An instruction booklet and 4xAA alkaline batteries complete the kit suppl...

You may have noticed my sidebar says I'm looking forward to some magical hoar frost . I'm pleased to say it arrived.

On Emley Moor , Yorkshire - late December 2014 It's a time for family, quiet reflection and garden catalogues. Happy New Year everyone.

... Residual warmth The garden has developed a definite autumnish air about it in the past week or so and last week's plentiful rain means the soil has opened up again ready to nurture new plants. As you can see I've been nursing quite a few on one of the garden walls over the summer in readiness for this moment. The lavender are earmarked to replace some woody looking specimens in one of my garden pots on the patio. They're still in flower and the bees are visiting regularly, so I haven't quite got the heart to replace them yet. The brunnera is earmarked for the front side garden, as are the self-sown aquilegia plants I rescued from the back garden's gravel path last week. September is usually a fabulous time for planting because there's plenty of residual warmth in the soil - even in a clay one like mine - plus plenty of moisture which lets the plants get settled in nicely before winter hits the garden. I've found my autumn plantings tend to do be...

Christmas is usually a time when unexpected, random things happen. Our share for this year occurred at 3.15pm yesterday afternoon when one of ash trees on the public land next door decided to hop over the fence for a visit. Ironically, it was probably the last huge gust of yesterday's storm which brought it down. I heard a loud crack and then saw what at first looked like part of the roof falling past our bedroom window. It turned out to be the top of the tree brushing against the house on its way down. We were very lucky as there's only minor damage - just a small branch stuck in the gutter, plus my apple tree in the pot next to the house is no more. The council's website says they'll respond to this within 5 working days. In view of the strength of yesterday's storm I suspect we'll be quite a way down their list of priorities, so I'm contemplating decorating it for Christmas ;) Update 30th December: After a slight hiccup (the council initially ...

Last Thursday our patio was heaving with hundreds of flying ants as they made their getaway to mate and find pastures new. I'd seen the odd ant around previously, but hadn't quite realised how many we actually have. They were pouring out of around 10 places between the slabs, plus both large containers outside the back door were transformed into writhing black from their usual terracotta. I'm wondering if we have lots of nests in our garden all co-ordinating themselves in some way, or was I witnessing an emergence from some vast subterranean network beneath our feet? Thanks to @BrotchieLight (who hails from Canada), I was alerted to this fantastic blog , contrasting Lisa Smith's experience this year with an account of 'flying ant day' written in 1707. Her post also links to the Society of Biology's flying ant survey which invites everyone to send in details of their experiences. An earlier survey of 6,000 'citizen scientists' has already di...