Sunday 28 August 2011

Sunday Safari


I’m just having a bit of a break from writing this morning; yesterday my brain was going into overdrive and had me still writing my dissertation at 11pm. To be honest though, it’s for the best because the sooner I get it finished the longer I have to tweak and also the less likely it is that something will go wrong regarding getting it printed and bound.

Once I’m finished I aim to give myself a nice holiday, I’d like a 2 week one… But know that after a few days I’ll begin to panic over getting a job so will actually probably only have a few days. What I’d really like is a special holiday somewhere, but I’d need Pete to have time off! Grrrr.

Anyway; onto the garden

White Saliva is blooming, I bought these fairly recently, but like with most other plants they’ve been sat waiting until the soil is soft enough and I have the time to plant them. It’s been so long, that I’ve had to pot them on into a large pot because they were clearly becoming pot-bound.

Sea Holly provides wonderful, late colour.

And the insects like it:

They also like the Cosmos


Cupid’s Dart is still blooming, although with relatively few blooms now. I ought to have sown some more seeds for next year.

One of the Salvia; is not doing so well, I think some sort of caterpillar is eating it.

The Dahlias add colour to pots on the decking


Oh yes, more blooms to come from ‘Harlow Carr’

Perennial wallflower is amazing and has been blooming for such a long time.

Verbena Bonariensis towers above the border; white butterflies seem to be attracted to it the most.

Anemone is hiding away… Or rather, it’s being swamped out by the Asters and Gladioli… I will have to move it.

The Asters which are taking over… Do provide plenty of food for insects though.

I planted this Sedum after some rain, the soil was easier to dig but still quite dry… The roots of the Asters are already growing, preparing to send out yet more plants next year. I will have to chop them and move them otherwise the entire border will soon be monopolised.


Copyright 2011 Liz.
All rights reserved. Content created by Liz for Gwirrel’s Garden.

12 comments:

sweetmyrtle said...

sigh! wonderful images Liz.. love the gentleness of your photos... such beauty. wishing you a lovely bank holiday weekend
Ginny x

Cheryl said...

Hi Liz,

You really should try and take a break. All work and no play.....

The rabbits have eaten my dahlias, at least I think it is the rabbits.
They only eat the buds. Grrrrrr.....

Cosmos have been great this year. Mine have been flowering for ages. Each year I say I will not grow them anymore but I always change my mind.


Love the image of the hoverfly BTW
I saw a few in the copse this afternoon. There have been so few insects around I get excited these days if I see a wasp or a fly :)

The Eryngium you saw in my Sunday safari are from the seeds you sent.....

Liz said...

Hi Ginny,

Is it bank holiday??! I keep forgetting what day it is... People keep telling me it's BH but I've no idea! Haha, the lazy life of a student, huh?

To think, in a few weeks or so when I have a job again I'll be counting down the days to the next bank holiday.

Liz said...

Hi Cheryl,

At the moment I don't really have the time to have a break. I've got a week now before the deadline and want to have the dissertation finished by Tuesday, Thursday at the very latest. So really, it's all go at the moment.
I've now hit the minimum I can submit and still have one section and some more bits to add here and there (as well as some to delete as I will be over the word count when I'm finished.) as well as other tweaks, images to add and such.

I try to have breaks but my mind is currently in overdrive and I found it very difficult to stop last night - it was past 11 when I forced myself to forget about it for the night.

Sorry to hear the Dahlias have been eaten... If only there was a way to stop the Rabbits... I think I'd be going mad having to deal with them!

The Cosmos here have also been very good; they started nice and early and have been blooming since early June. I'm guessing you also have the most recent seeds from Gardens Illustrated - White Nigella. I look forward to seeing your photos of them too next year! :D

Glad to hear you've had some Hoverflies today, I'm really going to miss all the insects once they're gone and can well understand why you get so excited when you do see them!

Also glad to hear the Sea Holly has bloomed for you! The insects really do love them and they're usually covered in Bees, Hoverflies and Butterflies.

Janet/Plantaliscious said...

That's a beautiful sea holly - and hey, wonderful cosmos, flowering earlier than last year! Love that dahlia - is it Twynings After Eights?

Janet said...

There's so much still in bloom in your garden, Liz. Perfect blooms. The Cupid's dart is on my wish list....what a clear colour.

Esther Montgomery said...

So glad there's no white Saliva in my garden!

Hope all goes well with getting the dissertation finished . . . and job hunting . . . and the materialisation of a proper holiday after all.

Liz said...

Hi Janet,

It's got to be said that free seeds from magazines aren't always duff! The Cosmos were off Garden's Illustrated and have been lovely; my other packets always seem to keep me waiting months before they finally bloom. I also sowed some from said packet as an experiment; I'll let you guess the outcome! haha.
No blooms off them yet. I wonder if it's because they're a few years old now and are gradually getting later and later to bloom.

The Dahlia is something like 'Happy Days' or similar; sorry I don't quite remember now and my notebook isn't to hand.

Liz said...

Hi Janet,

The Hoverflies will also love your Cupid's Dart, I've been a little disappointed in it tbh, but realise I need to move it as currently they're growing in some small pots which regularly dry out and I don't think they like to get too dry. I do also need to sow some more seeds to ensure I have more next year, as I hear they're short-lived perennials.

Liz said...

Hi Esther,

Thanks, I'm on the last leg of the dissertation now. Just to finish the literature review as I'd left off a couple of sections. Then I need to go through, tweaking, deleting, moving and so on; that's my aim for tomorrow and then on Thursday or Friday I'll be taking it in for it to be bound.

re:Holiday, last night I had a look at our favourite hotel in Edinburgh to pop up next week for our anniversary. There are rooms available but the cheapest rate is their business rooms... So they aren't cheap. Plus, the train tickets are extortionate because I've left it too late; I did consider driving, but once I looked more closely at the room prices I decided against it completely :(
I just wish I'd looked into it sooner, but at the time I hadn't realised just how much I would need a holiday.

Curbstone Valley Farm said...

You always have such lovely flowers in your garden. I hope you can get at least a little break once your dissertation is done.

I miss seeing Sedum in the late summer garden. I really need to remember to plant some for next year. You also reminded me that I haven't seen our native wall flowers here yet this season, I'll have to have a scout around tomorrow and see if I can see any signs of them.

Liz said...

Hi Clare,

As it happens Pete has next week off (dissertation is due on Monday which is also our anniversary but I aim to hand it in on Thursday or Friday), which at the time I didn't know. I had a look at our favourite hotel in Edinburgh but they only had Business class rooms left; too expensive just for two nights.
So I've decided against it but now still really want to do something/go somewhere.

So it looks like we'll not be going anywhere...

My sedum collection is gradually growing, and hopefully next year I'll have quite a good show.