Aurore tidy up
Hello m' stormy teacups,
Seems like I've been working too hard lately. As my old kindly boss used to say each day at elevenses "Let's get our priorities right and put the kettle on"
...and get out into the garden!
(I added that last bit)
Long Mizzle is recovering from Storm Aurore. She whipped up the English Channel with a reported tornado and 60 mph winds. At one point, the Trachycarpus Palm was bent right over, the leaves almost touching the ground. A tree surgeon friend of ours tells us these were some of the only trees to survive the hurricane of 1987 (the one Michael Fish famously dismissed), on the estate he manages in Sussex.
The lower leaves get incredibly scraggly looking, so I trimmed them off. Soon our ladder will be too short to manage this though.
Spot the new addition to the upper terrace? Give us the netball and move aside kids, watch and learn!
We were lucky - the only damage really was some battered sunflowers and one toppled Aeonium pot.
The sunflowers have been cut back, leaving just the nasturtiums scrambling over the support frame.
The very last greenhouse tomatoes were picked, the plants thrown on the compost heap and the spent compost spread out across the old vege / dahlia bed. The hazel stakes will be re-used.
Time for the autumn greenhouse shuffle -
The dahlia tubers are staying in situ this year, so they'll appreciate the thick mulch to help keep their cockles warm over winter. The old florist buckets, relieved of the tomatoes, will be used to store the cannas in the greenhouse.
Dahlia 'Pooh' - not one to poo poo the party!
River Lillies (Hesperantha coccinea), Geranium Rozanne and Verbena Bonariensis
What's in the box? Some happy bulbs from the jolly Mr Ron Scamp.
It has become a bit of an annual tradition to receive a phone call from Ron, saying he's up to his eyeballs in
bulbs, but giving me the arrival date and expert knowledge on the
varieties. Top class service and always fun to have a natter with Cornwall's Daffodil King.
(2022's Daffodils and Tulips selection to be revealed...)
More recent posts can be found here -
your colour coordinating skills are magnificent!!
ReplyDeletethanx goodness no heavy harms in your pretty garden - and you have still a lot of lovely flowers. did turn down the bean poles and the corn yesterday, spreaded out over the bed to compost over the winter together with the huge zucchini plants..... made a yougurt smoothie from the last nasturtium leaves.
never would dare to leave the dahlias in the bed/planter - our winters are way to harsh here, only a few miles from siberia ;-D
xxxxx
Thank you Beate :) Oooh, nasturtium leaf and yogurt smoothie, that sounds a bit healthy!...never thought about blending them up. I can only eat nasturtiums sparingly and when the leaves are ever so tiny. Siberia, brrrr, just the name gets me reaching for my winter woollies. Luckily (/ un-luckily for the kids - they LOVE snow) our winters are mild - but I will have to watch out for the spring mollusks! :0 Lulu xXx
DeleteHi Lulu, I think you should be in charge of naming new flower varieties - Love lies knackered and needing a cigarette is inspired! Glad you weren’t too badly affected by the storm. Some accounts made it sound like something out of the Wizard of Oz. Scary. Love that your dahlias are still looking lovely and the washing/flower bed coordination looks like an art installation - you could be onto something there. xxx Claire
ReplyDeleteThank you Claire, I would be happy to be chief plant variety namer ;) The storm was a strong one... we thought the house was going to take off into the air! Funny your should mention art installations - back in my art school wanker days, I did an installation involving suspended long red dresses, inspired by Twin Peaks the French artist Louise Bourgeois' 'Red Room'. Lulu xXx
DeleteYou swept the leaves with a witchy cackle.. A broom would have been easier :-) Love that colour co ordinated laundry.
ReplyDeleteOh drat, that would have been easier Cherie ;) Where is my Nimbus 2000 when I need it!!! Thank you for the laundry appreciation. Lulu xXx
DeleteLovely laundry and flower combo - the love lies a bleeding looks like I feel this week and I don't smoke any more or would join it for a ciggie. Hope you enjoy your halloween night as much as I intend to :)
ReplyDeleteHaha, yes Betty , it is a plant that really works that 'start-of-Novemeber-clocks-have-gone-back-head-mash-cold-weather-assault-nights-drawing-in' look, isn't it. Makes me want to reach for a cigarette too, and I don't smoke.
DeleteHope you have a lovely Halloween. Lulu xXx
I echo the other comments about the colour co-ordinated washing and garden - impressive! I'm pleased to hear there wasn't too much damage. Still lots to enjoy in your garden. Getting bulbs for next year is so exciting - I have my tulip bulbs waiting to be planted in November.
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely weekend
Best wishes
Ellie
Thank you Ellie luv. Tulips, gotta love 'em. I can't think of anything more 'high drama', other than 'Married at First Sight - Australia', along with a white wine spritzer of course ;) Happy bulb planting. Lulu xXx
DeleteI'm pleased to hear pesky Aurore didn't do any more damage. You might have a backlog of washing - full marks for your colour coordinated washing line - but at least you're on top of your gardening chores! I am hopelessly behind, even if Dove Cottage's garden is only tiny. Last time I made it to the end of the garden, both Geranium Rozanne and Verbena Rigida (a more compact version of Bonariensis) were still in full swing. But I haven't even bought any Spring bulbs yet. Oh dear! For some reason, I am feelings knackered as your 'Love Lies Bleeding', which fits its new name brilliantly! xxx
ReplyDeleteHello Ann, thank you m' luverly. I think it's natural for energy levels to take a dip at this time of year. I personally embrace it with copious amounts of tea. Sometimes, when I am lying down on the sofa like Jabba the Hut, I send reconnaissance troopers out into the garden to gather detailed reports. Only then can missions be plotted, for when energy and light levels are restored. Lulu xXx
DeleteLOVE, love, love your washing photo! And I'm feeling very nosy about which bulbs are in your box. I'm going to plant mine today and shall post my choice.
ReplyDeleteOooh, I shall come across shortly to have a nosy at your bulb choice! :) Lulu xXx
DeleteI started to read your post, while finishing a boring phone call and I thought I wonder what battered sunflowers taste like ... then, of course, I realised they were battered by the winds.
ReplyDeleteMust say your coordinated washing is something special. As always loved you post, take care don't work too hard.
Haha, battered sunflowers, brilliant :) Might be worth a try?
DeleteThank you Mike, very kind of you.
Lulu xXx
You always make me giggle- you have a very nice, chatty, witty way of putting things!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear Aurore didn't do TOO much damage! (I'm just laughing at Mike Perry's Battered Sunflowers above! Just caught sight of that!)
The coordinating washing and flowers is a really gorgeous and clever photo! You ARE coordinated!
I've got to do something about my Dahlias, and spent tomato plants and everything else!!! So behind and now depressed about school and all t he work I haven't done.xx
Thank you Kezzie, you can come again!
DeleteNow, that is about the only time I am coordinated (you should see my sock collection).
Hope the post half-term return to work wasn't too much of a shock and that you are keeping well. Lulu xXx
What a magnificent washing line.
ReplyDeleteWhy thank you Jenny. It is my aim for astronauts to be able to see it from space.
DeleteLulu xXx
Glad you survived the storm. Love Lies Knackered is a great descrption! Have a lovely week Lulu. X
ReplyDeleteThank you Jane, good to cyber see you and hope you are well :)
DeleteLulu xXx
I love the colour co ordinated washing very cool. Sadly my garden my very small garden is erm of got neglected. After Paul’s dad died in august and I couldn’t attend as I was here. I just lost my mojo and my mood. I went to see a Japanese doctor who told me to stop being silly.
ReplyDeleteOf course I ended up going to the US air base to see their shrink as I have bpd and he gave me my 6 monthly meds and shook his head and told me they don’t like people who have mental health problems in Japan . Sad isn’t it. I have low serotonin hence the way I am so I have to go there.
And pay I don’t mind . You mentioned the sleeping pods they are capsules and are all over were I live as are love hotels which are also very popular and yes we have used a love hotel as they are fun! They can rented by the hour for about £6.00 or for the night for about £35.00 and are very basic the love hotels aren’t well depending on the class of hotel lol.
Type in sleeping capsule japan and love hotel and you will get a giggle. But we are fighting fit and awaiting for the gates to open or for my husbands company to send us back to the UK take care and keep safe 👹
Hello Allie Jane, so sorry to hear of Paul's dad - I remember you saying you had both come over to say goodbye. How frustrating that your doctor told you to stop being silly. Grief is a complex thing, one I believe must be supported to run its natural course, but depression can be helped. The 'just getting on with it' mentality does not always help. I imagine that's the kind of thing that would have been said years ago in the UK, but thankfully there is a greater awareness of mental health now.
DeleteThe Japanese love hotels are quite something aren't they! The pictures of the themed rooms are very funny - found one that looks like a mermaid palace. I fear if they existed in the UK, the would be given an entirely different name :0 ;)
Stay safe and big cyber hugs to you, Lulu xXx
Your garden is such a source of joy and colour and surprise - you clever thing! And very glad it wasn't decimated by the high winds. Just love the dahlias too. Well done Lulu xxx
ReplyDeleteAh thank you Sue for your kind words. Glad you are still enjoying the dahlias too, they are just about still hanging in there! Lulu xXx
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