End of Month – August

For the first time in a long time I’m actually prepared! Wooo go me. Perhaps it’s because I’m so acutely aware of the date at the moment (I’ve just no idea what day it is! The Bank Holiday on Monday was quite a shock and I’m now a day off.)

Judging by photos from other people’s gardens I still have a long way to go to keep the interest going throughout the season. It’s been a strange old year, with spring starting exceptionally early – Snowdrops in Jan, crocus end of Feb and so on. That I think everything is just worn out now.
Planning for next year has begun; even though I’ve no real idea if I’ll still be living here… Almost doesn’t seem worth it, but at the same time I want to at least enjoy myself when I am here!

Most of the problems with the garden this year are my own fault, as I've had to pretty much ignore it since around April. I have done small jobs occasionally, but there's lots of rubbish left around, piles of cuttings and such which add to the over-all feeling that it's a mess. It's amazing just how much the garden needs us to regularly do things to keep it looking good; all those small jobs I must normally do really do add up.
As a result I have a massive list to do once the dissertation is handed in... First on the list is power cleaning the decking, steps and walls. Then paint doors and skirting boards inside. After that it'll be a case of moving plants and hopefully getting the many plants in pots planted.

The Buddleja border continues to be an annoyance, I just can’t ever seem to have lots of colour in it, and I think this year is especially bad. So I am gearing toward planting mainly hostas and ferns. Its problem is the Buddleja, which every year takes over and casts lots of shade, then as the blooms die I cut it back and the border is once again opened up.

This is the view from the other side of the border… such a sorry sight.

The right border from the house (never know what to call this one…)
There have been gaps in this one this year, so unfortunately it isn’t looking so great now and many of the seedling plants I put in took too long to grow thanks to the dry weather.

A plant that Cheryl gave me, it’s doing well but I’ve still no idea what it’s meant to be as it hasn’t bloomed…

The Thistle continues to grow… Looking forward to its blooms!

Next year I need to remove a lot of the Aster because it’s grown too large and the rest of the border has suffered. Compared to last year it’s been very bare.

The Monkshood on the left will be moved onto the upper tier to open up the border against the fence which I have been unable see/get to for months now. Instead, I have some nice whispy Burnet that can replace it, and plan to also plant some Dierama.

Pyracantha’s berries are near ripe now

The cherry border is looking very bare now the Foxgloves and such have finished blooming.

However, these spurge do tend to pop up, at least they’re adding a bit of green; even if I don’t like them.

I also added a few more Pulmonaria last week sometime, these will be Blue and should like quite nice contrasting with ‘sissinghurst white’.

The upper tier remains rather bare and boring, but hopefully next year it will be much better. I’ve had to pretty much ignore it for the past couple of months whilst I’ve been doing my work.

So far there are Veronicastrum, Flat-topped Aster and Black Elder. There are also some Clematis on the fence, but both are looking a little worse for wear… I’m hoping they bounce back.

The small Acer’s leaves are turning…

And ragwort is ensuring I have more blooms next year to keep the Gatekeepers happy.

And let’s finish off with this… An odd juxtaposition.
A foxglove (?!!) at the end of August, blooming and the Fuji Cherry’s leaves have already began to turn. The other (original) Fuji cherry behind it, which was almost totally destroyed by workmen remains green.

And just because we’ve had some amazing sunsets over the past few days…

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

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.

A Quick Breather

Those days really are creeping by at the moment… Who’d have thought the last week would’ve gone so quickly?

Miscanthus sinesis ‘flamingo’ is a new addition, and once the ground is soft enough for me to work I’ll attempt to find it a home.

Gaillardia is also new, it was cheap as it’s somewhat damaged – I initially assumed it had bloomed and was dying. But actually there are buds beginning to flower.

The Geranium given to me in July (?) seems to be happy and is already expanding with some leaves growing a good distance away from the crown.

A forget-me-not has a few blooms on it… brightens up and otherwise shady area.

Chives have another flush of blooms

Gatekeepers are still out and about, although not quite in such high numbers as a few weeks ago.

Dianthus bought so long ago now it’s a hazy memory continue to bloom. Very nice!

The Gaura on the bottom appears to have too many petals… Seems like it’s two blooms in one…

The chopped Salvia is also on its second flush, sadly the other plants are not doing quite so well and I don’t think they'll put on another show for me.

I checked up on the caterpillars… One’s disappeared, I assume it’s gone off to pupate.

And this is the most exciting of the moment…

It’s the Tuberous Thistle, I had assumed I’d missed the blooms for this year as I didn’t plant it until quite late. But both plants now have buds on them… I’m hoping they’ll be out when the Commas emerge!

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