Long Mizzle Garden

Hello, how are you this week? I'm trying to keep the summer going by wearing my brightest attire and staying gaudy. (Dress made by my mam, 2006 ish) The sun is noticeably dropping in the sky and the garden is taking on new, elongated morning shadows. This means I don't have to be out quite so early to attend to the cut flower patch and more tea drinking duties can be honored. [Airplant in chazza shop swan pot. Succulents and cacti in shells] Very little outdoor gardening work has happened this week due to the tail end of Storm Frances. I have been busy doing some houseplant loving and revision for my upcoming RHS exams (ahhh, just two weeks away now).  Once the wind had calmed, the littlest one and I managed some beach time. Following a torrential downpour, Falmouth seafront was gloriously empty.     [Gylly Beach, Falmouth] We made the most of it, by having a lovely walk and barefoot splash in the sea. By chance we saw a couple of nursery friends, so what was meant to ...

      Hello there, got your cuppa? Do come in...    In my last post, I mentioned I needed a potting shed ... well what about this handsome one? Alas, it is not mine. It can be found at Trevince Garden, Gwenap, Cornwall. When I found out this garden had two of my favourite things, a walled kitchen garden and a woodland garden AND was only a twelve minute drive away, I just had to visit. Large wooden orb On entering the garden, we were greeted with the heavenly smell of a Crepe Myrtle tree in flower. I  should have got a close up photo of its beautiful red peeling bark. Armed with a picnic, we opted for the 'Wilderness Walk' and followed the red arrows. There's a one way system in place due to Covid, but luckily my kids absolutely love a trail and a map. Woodland thrones - Wouldn't this be a great place to sit with a pipe, wild beard and sandals on a summer's solstice? After some action time tree climbing, we stopped to collect acorns under the majestic oaks....

Hello, hope you had a good weekend. Aren't zinnias just lovely, especially with croissants and home made jam. What you can't see, just out of shot, is the most important element...a big pot of drinkable tea! I love to put Zinnias in a simple tin can (as below), but I've been a bit keen with the recycling.   So into the posh teapot they went: Zinnias, Calendula, Verbena Bonariensis, Cosmo, Californian Poppies, Verbena Bonariensis and the possibly the last of the Anemones. Plus, a new flush of self-seeded Cerinth Major 'Purpurascens' has magically appeared in the cutting patch. Having battened down the hatches for some wild, stormy days, we awoke this morning to light wind and sunshine. Wearing our very best rabbit teeth, we ventured out into the garden as today's mission was carrots. Previously, my best attempt at growing baby carrots was in an old toddler's sandpit. As our vegie beds are predominantly no-dig, I am reluctant to sow carrots in the ground as...

  Danger danger, my pots have erupted! I'm calling them Mount Vesuvius Pot #1 and Mount Vesuvius Pot #2. Both pots contain Cannas, which I removed from the greenhouse and split up in spring. This is the first year they have flowered for me and so they should, as I have spoiled them with with lashings of water and a weekly liquid tomato feed. I think they were too squished where they were previously. [Penstemon Volcano 'Etna', Canna lost label, Cosmos bipinnatus 'Sonata'] The Penstemon flower buds were ready to pop when I purchased them from Falmouth Garden Center in early summer. Being a thrifty tight arse, I sliced them clean in two and trimmed them right back.  It seems this rough treatment worked, as now I have two lovely plants as opposed to one, albeit flowering a bit later.    [Penstemon Volcano 'Etna', Canna lost label, Gypsophila muralis 'Tenny Deep Rose] Mount Vesuvius Pot #1 has pink Cosmos in it, purchased not long after the start of lockdown ...