Late September sunflowers

 Hello there, I hope you have been enjoying the last days of September.

Don't let this sun deceive you, it has officially turned cold here in Cornwall! No sooner than our late planted sunflowers finally flowered, storm Aiden wreaked its havoc with  high winds and waves of freezing rain and hail. Today the sun emerged. We tentatively ventured out... and the surviving sunflowers greeted us with their big smiling faces.


Here is the view from my favourite spot to sit on a cold but sunny day... like a cat... curled up on the sofa... taking in the sun's rays...drinking hot chocolate.

The Verbena Bonariensis, Californina Poppies, Calendula and Dahlias are still going strong. It is amazing how well the Verbena stands up to strong winds.

The pink River Lilies popped out this week (above, top right) and a self-seeded purple Candytuft appeared (above, bottom left).


It will be soon time to top up the birds' peanuts...

... and put the succulents in the greenhouse for the winter. The cold they can deal with, the wet they cannot.

The sedum (below) will stay outside.

*** And now the official winners of the 2020 storm battered sunflower competition: ***

Tallest standing sunflower (trophy): The littlest child

Most flowers on one plant (medal): The largest child

Most improved sunflower, after getting the shortest one dealt to them (certificate): Monsieur

Fattest Head award (chocolate bar): Moi!

The bottles at the base may not be very glam, but they did help the sunflowers get off to a no-slug start. I must remember to remove them earlier next time!

We are still enjoying tomatoes from the greenhouse, but I did follow Monty Don's advise, and pinched off the flowers and small berries, to allow the formed fruits chance to ripen.

 Have I introduced you to Big Bay Bird? She is one of the crazy pieces of topiary I have been experimenting with for the past four years or so. Here she is before and after her trim. For a while she was going to be a dinosaur. I strapped down a long branch to a neighbouring bush (using stretchy old t-shirt fabric) to get the curved shape on her neck. This shaping strap will be removed once the wood has hardened.
 
Other jobs this week have included potting up this little self-seeded oak tree ...  and sweeping up all the helicopters that have flown in from a distant sycamore tree.


On the day we got the dramatic hail storms, the little one and I hunkered down and made 'September soup'. Now, I'm not one for strictly following recipes, so this is mostly made up: 4 x homegrown courgettes, 7 x carrots, 2 x small apples, 1 x onion.

Vague instructions: Chop, honey roast, add x2 vegetable cubes dissolved in 1 lt of hot water, blend & serve. 

Optional: top with a crumble of the stinkiest cheese you can bear (e.g Blue Danish Strand Strength 6 is a good,  hallucinogenic one!) and milled linseed or toasted sunflower seeds.

Future modification notes: one apple would have be enough and the stinky cheese was too much!

The verdict: super charged rocket fuel for an otherwise cold, miserable day .

 

What's your favourite soup recipe? All recommendations welcomed.

Finally, I wanted to wait until nightfall to share this post with you.  This is what I have been up to today - wrapping the Trachycarpus palm in solar lights and installing a new 'allium' solar light. Just what we need to lift our spirits now the nights are drawing in. These phone camera pictures do not really capture it very well, but the scene looked magical with the moon dipping in and out of the clouds.

That's all for today. Please drop me a message if you have visited. I love mail!

Take care and catch you soon,

Lulu xXx

 

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

 


 



Comments

  1. Jess 25 September 2020 at 23:49

    Lulu, I love seeing your garden photos. And of course I adore the sunflowers! I'm growing some myself and am SO excited about it. I might try your tip of adding a bottle to the base of the plant. X

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lulu26 September 2020 at 03:42

      Thanks Jess :) I saw your post about the sunflower field - gorgeous! I must visit one next summer. We have mutant slugs & snails here, so I put copper tape round the bottles and fill them with sharp sand. If they're sunk in too, it makes for easier watering. Problem is, I'm always so fearful of the slugs I don't ever plant them out on time! x

      Delete
  2. Jess 25 September 2020 at 23:51

    Oh and your soup looks interesting!

    I alway love vegetable soup and chicken soup. In fact, I think I'll make some soup for dinner with the greens from the garden. X

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lulu26 September 2020 at 03:46

      Interesting it was, don't think I'll be winning any Masterchef awards just yet ;) Enjoy your greens, let me know how it goes! x

      Delete
    2. Allie jane27 September 2020 at 05:28

      Hi started reading your vlog as it was in one of vix’s recommendations. I love gardening, but me and my family have lived in japan for the past 16 years. My eldest only came back in 2017 to do his forestry degree in Cumbria. Which he totally loved. But he got saddened how old trees are treat in the UK.
      In japan they are treat with respect and are often seen with bamboo supporting their weary limbs so that they can live on for longer. Of course I live in the middle of Tokyo but you are never far away from a park or a shrine. You will always find somewhere quiet to sit.
      Someone asked me if I would return to the UK one day and I told them the honest answer no . I think that country has lost the plot. Which is sad. But when I read blogs like yours and VIXs I feel like there might be a spark of hope there.

      Delete
    3. Lulu27 September 2020 at 14:15

      Hello Allie Jane, thank you so much for your message, and how kind of Vix to put a link on her blog. I haven’t done any traveling in recent years. An old school friend & I joke that I am dutifully carbon-offsetting her glamorous, jet setting lifestyle! But Japan … now there’s one place I would love to visit, especially when the cherry blossom is out.

      I watched Monty Don’s TV programme on Japanese Gardens and was amazed at the attention to detail spent cloud pruning and tweaking moss. I can understand how you son would be disheartened at our attitude towards trees. I saw the bamboo supporting structures you mention…just incredible! What a feat of a garden, to provide stillness in the centre of Tokyo.

      Lulu xXx

      Delete
  3. Catmac28 September 2020 at 02:48

    Hello Lulu. Sorry I'm late in replying - I haven't found where to subscribe to your blog so I found the link on Vix's blog again! Your garden is still looking fabulous and the lights are just a lovely, glamorous way of bringing bling to the garden! One of my favourite soups is Spiced Carrot and Lentil (the recipe is on the BBC Food site). It is super easy - especially for me as I don't grow veg and instead use frozen baby carrots: no peeling, they go straight in! It's a recipe you can play with. Very amused at your sunflower competition. Well done everyone for winning a prize!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lulu28 September 2020 at 13:54

      Hello Catmac, thanks for visiting again! [I think I need to add a ‘Subscribe’ tab – will look into this… plus links to other sites. How funny, I use Vix’s blog to navigate to other blogs too!]

      Yes, I think we all did pretty well in the sunflower competition, but my prize may have been the best ;) I will check out the spiced carrot and lentil soup. I do like the combo of heat and lentils. It turns out the solar lights have an annoying disco, strobe mode. The kids have been fiddling with it and my neighbour said it was party central in our garden at four in the morning!!! x

      Delete

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