Saturday 10 September 2011

Sunny Saturday

After some rather windy and wet weather for a few days, the sun finally shone and I attempted some more photos. Although they’re nothing new; you’ve all seen them before, it was nice just to get outside.



A young Sea Holly plant, waiting to be planted into its final home






Tiny Forget-me-not blooms; rather late but welcome anyway

Thursday was spent power hosing the decking and walls. It’s amazing! You’d never realise just how much dirt gathers in only a year. I had planned to seal it too but Pete being lazy didn’t want to go to B&Q to get some. I’m quite annoyed actually because jobs he was meant to do have been ignored and with the anticipated winds, rain etc from Hurricane Katia I know we won’t be able to do it over the weekend and into next week.
Asters given to me by my neighbour are almost ready to bloom… The flutters and other insects love them






Friday again we could’ve sealed the decking and once again he didn’t want to go to B&Q. Instead I moved the Monkshood from the new border and planted it on the upper tier. I then planted Miscanthus ‘pink flamingo’ in its place and a few Burnetts.
I’m on a mission to get as many of the plants in pots into the ground before winter not only to clear the decking but also to allow room for the many Tulip bulbs I need to plant. Then it’ll be a case of waiting for the crocus, iris etc to come and I can plant them around the garden.



Flat-topped Aster is beginning to seed. It seems too early for it to be finishing already.

Only one Gladioli is blooming, the rest all seem to be blind…

Saturday morning we set off early to the shops, spent way too much at B&Q on hedge trimmers, lamps, and all manner of other things. However I have now managed to oil the decking at last. The house smells of a chemical factory now so all windows are open to help get rid of the smell (next time I'll try to find some 'friendly' oil, as this stuff I discovered is really bad for the environment... I've never done this type of thing before and didn't realise).
Some small Hellebore plants arrived today and I really want to get them settled before winter - very much looking forward to their blooms in a few months!
It's Pete's birthday tomorrow so hopefully the weather will be ok and we'll get out somewhere.

Harlow Carr’s blooms have been damaged by the rain, not to worry as there are plenty of buds waiting.



Crocosmia are almost finished too, few blooms are left.


Comma chrysalis shows little changes; there seems to be a strange silver-ness on the right. Is this the chrysalis breaking open and revealing the first signs of the butterfly within?

There are lots of these small yellow and black ladybirds around at the moment. They’re always on this geranium.







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

17 comments:

Pam's English Garden said...

Dear Liz, You still have a lot going on in your garden and your photographs are wonderful. What camera are you using? My flowers are going to seed very early this year. P. x

Curbstone Valley Farm said...

I'm with Pam, which camera do you use? The first rose shot is simply gorgeous, it has such an ethereal and heavenly wisp about it. Did you use a filter on that shot? They're all beautiful though, and I know from experience how difficult those little syrphid flies can be to photograph! They zip about so quickly!

Liz said...

Hi Pam,

It always seems like there'a lot when I post photos... However actually looking at the garden there's very little; it's quite depressing actually.

I'm using a Canon DSLR with macro lens for my photos :)

Liz said...

Hi CV,

All I do to my photos is crop and adjust the curves and saturation if I feel the whites/colours are too strong/blown out. Then I will do a little bit of sharpening but don't do a great deal.
Sometimes I'll use preset actions to make different effects like retro colours and so on but that's quite rare for me to do on my blog posts.

At the moment I'm using a Canon 50D but I plan to upgrade to a 60D soon so I can shoot movies too. Then I use a 100mm macro lens - sometimes a 50mm macro but the lens quality isn't as good as the 100mm.

Lona said...

Wow what gorgeous shots from your garden Liz. I love your Sedums.Still a lot going on in your garden. The seed heads and berries are so special this time of the year.

Cheryl said...

Hi Liz,

Gosh where to start. I always get to the end of your post and can't remember the beginning, so have to go back and forth. Must be my age :)

Strange you should mention your gladioli being blind this year, mine also. Only one plant managed to show flowers.
Crocrosmia finished weeks ago.....so disappointing as I really love to see them flowering with the asters.

My sedums are in full bloom. I was brave enough to give them the Chelsea chop this year. Never done it before, always back off at the last minute, coward that I am.
It has really made a difference. Last year they were toppling all over the place, this year they are absolutely perfect. Next year quite a few things will get this treatment Ha!

I shall look forward to seeing your hellebores. Out of interest, what did you buy??

I am ashamed to say I have never treated my deck. It has been down ten years now....I expect one day I will just fall through it where it has rotted.

Liz said...

Hi Lona,

I've been quite lazy with the berries this year, I have blackberries in the hedge which are dropping their fruits and I really don't want yet more brambles popping up around the garden from them! Really must go pick them if only to throw them away.

Liz said...

Hi Cheryl,

Funny you should mention giving Sedums the chelsea chop; I planned to do it next year too. I don't ever do it to be honest, as I prefer to let things do their own thing, but then again if I get more blooms then I can't really complain. One year one of my Sea Holly was chopped by a slug/snail for me, I was devastated but then it put out 4 stems rather than just the one... Now that is possibly the only time I've ever been grateful for the slugs lol.

I checked on the Thistle today and suddenly it's drooping for some unknown reason?? So I'm unsure if it'll manage to bloom for me to collect seeds for you...

The Crocosmia here are on their last legs now, few blooms left sadly.

I can't remember the type of Hellebores, they were some sort of doubles; that's one thing that as yet I have not really learnt. Other than my 'nigra' I do not know the names of any of the others.

Ha, and I thought I was the only one who hasn't ever treated the wood on the decking... Seems not! I won't feel so guilty from now on then! I'm not so sure I like it oiled tbh, it's now too dark and actually looks dirty. I liked the faded silvery wood (once I'd cleaned it, that is).

Janet/Plantaliscious said...

I always love your photos Liz, makes me long for a DSLR myself, but something about the way you have captured the light really makes lots of these sing out. Love the echinacea, rudbekia and that rose in particular. I don't bother staining the decking because it is under a wooden pergola that has silvered wood, so I think it would look weird. I sometimes think about painting it though. Sounds as if you have lots of lovely things going in to your garden, looking forward to seeing it all bloom next Spring. Enjoy the birthday celebratoins!

Liz said...

Hi Janet,

Glad to hear you enjoy seeing my photos :)

I guess I was naive not to realise that the oil would change the colour/look of the wood. It just didn't dawn on me at the time that it would happen, but really it's obvious now especially since I have oak worktops in the kitchen that need oiling otherwise they begin to silver too. I just didn't quite put two and two together at the time.
All I knew was I needed something to protect the wood and went for clear oil so not to change its colour by staining it... Oh well, it'll likely wear off over time and then I'll have to decide what to do next time.

Next step is to get the walls sanded down, old paint rubbed off and then paint them again. Although I am doubtful I'll get it done this year. Priority at the moment goes to interior doors, only I forgot to get some wood knot stuff that stops the oil coming out and staining the paint... Grrrr. Another trip out tomorrow to find some!

debsgarden said...

Dear Liz, i am glad you were able to get out and enjoy the weather and take some terrific photos to share with us. I always look forward to your photography. i love the photo of the little yellow and black ladybird, but, really, all of your shots are wonderful!

RURAL said...

Hi Liz, well I am still laughing at you describing your scary age as 40 -45. LOL.

Way past that one....I always think that scary age is always 15 years hence.

Love your shots, you are very talented. But sorry the print is too small for these "older" eyes.
I will come back and visit again.

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

Patrick's Garden said...

That's quite a body of work. You should be really proud of it. My favorite?
The little red dianthus
Thanks for sharing.

GirlSprout said...

Beautiful photo journal post. I'm trying sea holly again this year. We'll see if it makes it this time.

Thanks for sharing your camera info.

Janet/Plantaliscious said...

Ah yes, the joys of DIY and endless trips out to spend yet more money on the thing you only realised you needed for the job when you got home the last time... I sympathise!

Liz said...

Hi Deb,

I'm glad you enjoyed the photos... I'm getting a bit bored of taking the same photos time and again now, so I don't think I'm able to post much over the coming weeks, well, in fact over the coming months as no doubt things are slowing down now and there's relatively few points of interest to photograph now.

Patrick's Garden said...

WOW what a beautiful garden and photography. Your macros are intense, What's the name of the red dianthus? Thanks for sharing.