Hot molten patio pots

 


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 for only a couple of quid from Lidl. The Cosmos has non-stop flowered its socks off all summer and it is officially Long Mizzle's star plant of the year! Mount Vesuvius Pot #2 has Gypsophila muralis, also from Lidl. Although I like its frothiness, it doesn't quite have the same high octane drama that the cosmos does.

 

I am so pleased with my blue half-barrel patio pots. The barrels were free, courtesy of Freecycle, about five years ago.  Traditionally, I go to great efforts to do a spring tulip display, but then, I usually just stick in some spent Pelargoniums for summer and neglect them. This is the first summer display that I feel I can be really proud of, even if the cannas are a little snail chewed.

 

Well the promised rain did finally come this week, but not before I managed to prune m' bushes! The above photo is during the prune . I was so eager to get them done, I forgot to do a before shot. Below is after, complete with a 'skirt lift', so I can weed out the brambles a little more easily. I was trying to make the Bay tree look like a Mr Whippy icecream, can you tell?

I also thought it'd be nice making a port hole window in the hedge so the kids can say hello to their friends on the other side. Then I realised the peep hole looked straight into our poor unsuspecting neighbours' kitchen, so I promptly covered it with a lobster pot base and turned it into a swiveling window blind! Every now and then, we stick our weird floating heads through it for a giggle. Hmmmm, it'll grow back.

Those unruly nasturtiums that were attracting the Cabbage Whites by the vege patch were also tamed...

Whilst I was bushing about, I tasked the littlest with planting out and another pumpkin. There's now one each side of the courgette plant, which should take over going into autumn.

[From left to right: Sunflower contest, beetroot, leeks, pumpkin, courgette, another pumpkin]

The jam jars and old wire racking stops the beast cats sitting their big furry behinds on the patch.

Finally, I tipped out our second to last grow bag of potatoes. These were planted at the start of lockdown (March 21st). We were eating new potatoes by the end of June and this plant died back quite some time ago, but the tubers have stored surprisingly well.  I wouldn't necessarily trust the label on this one. We had three varieties this year. Usually the littlest moves the labels about, and we don't get to do a true tatties taste test (said in a Scottish accent) Beechgrove Garden style.

Here's something else the kids are really good at, making a complete mess on the patio table, oh sorry, making 'perfume'!

Thanks for visiting. Please drop me a message if you have a blog too and I'll enjoy taking a look.

 Blogging is the new black ...again...apparently.

Take care and catch you soon,


Lulu xXx


Latest posts here - https://longmizzle.blogspot.com


 



Location: Cornwall, UK

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