Long Mizzle Garden

Well, seeing as it is Fairy-bruary!!! A rare glimpse into a wee fairy habitat... shhhh, please make sure to be quiet and carefully step this way...   Various succulents are planted in an old casserole dish, wrapped in a blue ribbon. Slate steps lead down from a real fairy door to a shell garden, edged with pebbles and interspersed with driftwood and toadstools (cake decorations).     Baby succulents nestle amongst the beach collected white pebbles.    The compost is free draining and very gritty. As there are no drainage holes, it is sparingly watered.   Strange trippy music emanates from the green potion bottle. The resident fairy Alice contemplates drinking from it  -   One pill makes you larger And one pill makes you small, And the ones that mother gives you Don't do anything at all. Go ask Alice When she's ten feet tall. And if you go chasing rabbits And you know you're going to fall, Tell 'em a hookah smoking caterpillar Has given you the cal...

Hello m’ blustery barnacles, It has been a soggy, cold week here at Long Mizzle, so lots of time's been spent indoors, chain drinking tea, browsing botanical books and attempting some watercolour painting.  Look what’s popped out in the last few days – Monsieur gave me this Moth Orchid (Phalenopsis) a few years ago for valentine’s day, saying it was "the runt of the litter and the last one in the shop". Immediately I loved it. Some people chop off the stray, fleshy aerial fleshy roots, but I  think they just add to its weird beauty. Plus, these plants photosynthesize from their roots, so it is best to leave the aerial escapees intact and allow them to party, whilst the lower level roots are best kept in a clear pot. [Regarding root condition, green = good, silver = de-hydrated, brown = dead] In the wild, Phalenopsis would be perched in the crevice of a tree (epiphytic) or clinging to a rock face (lithophytic). This one has long been due a re-pot, but I will wait until i...

Hello m' pickles! What a week! I'm sure you've heard all about it. For us here at Long Mizzle, England Lockdown #3 means back to homeschooling (or 'School of Rock' as we like to call it) whilst working from home until at least mid-February. Our amazing NHS and key workers, frazzled from 2020, are continuing to work selflessly under extraordinary circumstances. Last Sunday, the day before the lock down announcement, we left behind a slightly frosty Long Mizzle and headed to a rather grander patch of land - Trellisick Estate, located near Truro and owned by the National Trust. If I'd taken a proper photo of the house itself, you may have recognised it from the BBC Antiques Roadshow!   Monsieur's not interested in grand estates and chose to stay at home with his guitars and coffee. I had previously booked the parking online (earliest slot available). We had intended to pay the additional fee to allow us access to the gardens, but we got completely carried away ...