Long Mizzle Garden

 Hello m' chucky chives,     With allotment duties in full swing, you may be wondering if the garden is receiving the same wanton neglect as my eyebrows?... The answer, in short...is yes... but it doesn't seem to mind.   When we moved in over eleven years ago, the garden was wildly overgrown, 'lost' and magical. A lot had to be cleared for practicality - mainly the monstrous leylandi hedging, but also the wild brambles, nettles and creeping buttercup.  Self seeded Foxgloves and Sweet Williams Now the new hedging has grown up and matured, the once veggie beds and cut flower beds are again partially shaded. This had led to a garden re-think. For now, nature can do what it does best. Please ignore the non-colour coordinated towels, drying from this morning's sea swim with the kiddies. My new battery powered strimmer (intended for the grass paths at the allotment) saves the day in the garden, by clearing a safe path through the wilderness of ferns, thistles and...

 Hello m' sunny June berries, Please forgive me for my naughty blogging absence! Before May disappears in a purple haze, here's the garden turning slowly from starry blue to fiery orange.         Above: Tree Echium Below: Cordyline flowers   Forget-me-nots going over. Californian poppies and Sweet Williams coming into bloom.   Above: the 'Faraway Tree'   Poor sad frost damaged succulents - out for their summer hols! It's been a busy half term 'holiday' week, involving not one but two job interviews for me, together with the associated swatting & stressing. Aside from some sea swimming and a carbooty jaunt, we've mostly been pottering around the garden and enjoying the unseasonably dry hot weather. On Thursday, Long Mizzle had a very special visit from author Sue Kittow (Pen name 'SL Roswarne'). I know Sue from following her Flowerpot Days blog here . Isn't it lovely when bloggers can meet up in person for a proper natter!   We sat on th...

Hello m' shiny orbs, See here -  https://youtube.com/shorts/K3ohA8jAaR4?feature=share    Do you sing to your seedlings? I do, whether the like it or not. I did audition for a part in the choir singing 'Zadok the Priest' at the weekend's Coronation. I even had the right getup - teapot for orb, soup ladle for sceptre . I stole my youngest daughter's crown. Strangely I didn't get a part, but I thought I'd share my beautiful singing anyhow. The neighbours are treated daily to this mock operaticness reverberating from my bathroom. Just like Jimi Hendrix, that's my preferred practice space. So I might not be here next weekend. Monsieur thinks I'll be locked up in the castle for treason. I'll just argue that a fortnight of Covid plus cabin fever have altered my normally perfect state of mind. I also suspect the music used in the clip will flag a You Tube copyright strike, but we shall see.  I shall leave you with some lovely pictures of my convalescence...

 Happy Beltane, May 1st marks the start of summer in the Gaelic calendar. Here in our little Cornish corner things get a bit weird with crazed hobby horses running through the streets, colourful Maypole dancing in school yards and wickerman-esq bonfires out in the fields. The earth is alive with fervent energy. I simply cannot keep up. This past week I have been struck down with Covid. For three days I lay horizontally. In real time, I watched the trees form their green canopies from their witchy winter frame works.  It will be a short garden update today...     Before the lurgy... A seedling swap at a private creekside house. Each year the family open up their garden for charity and encourage visitors to bring spare plants for the table sale. They also sell delicious refreshments. Trachycarpus furtunei -offspring from Long Mizzle's 'Mama Fuzz' I took with me some baby Trachycarpus fortunei plants. The lady organising the plant sales was delighted at my plant descri...