#marigolds

Six On Saturday: Waxing lyrical

/ n20gardener / 19 Comments

Anyone dealing with drought and hosepipe bans will be sending out the same woeful message. It’s tough. However there are some things to enjoy. So here’s my six for this week.

One

Tomatoes. This week I went to see Benton End: a Paradise of Pollen and Paint at the Garden Museum in Lambeth, London. There’s a great painting there by Cedric Morris, showing the ingredients for Elizabeth David’s Ratatouille and the description includes a dictum by Elizabeth David – tomatoes ‘should be accompanied by a drink appropriate to the region and circumstance.’ I had a terrible time with my tomato seeds this year and resorted to buying in from the local nursery. It’s been a great mix. I’m going to say that it’s due to the weather but maybe those professional growers have superior skills! My absolute favourites have been ‘Supersteak’. Needless to say I have taken Elizabeth David’s advice.

Two

Marigolds. Grown from seed and mysteriously doing well here where once again the garden seems to have a secret supply of water. I’m not complaining.

Three

Gaura lindheimeri ‘Whirling Butterfly’. These are hard to show well in a photo so this one will have to do. I really enjoy these but never manage to keep them. This year I grew some from seed and managed to get six to planting out size. If they don’t over-winter I shall be growing from seed again. If they would only establish I might get a large clump that photograph well.

Four

Cosmos. I had several trays of these, some I shared with my daughter and the rest were waiting to go out into the garden. It became impossible to chip away at the soil and so I’ve put them into a large container. After a month in 9cms they are somewhat diminished in size but I’m sure they’ll romp away soon and no doubt sprawl all over the place. They have been pinched out so perhaps they’ll behave.

Five

Cucumbers. I went back to ‘Burpless’ this year but they do seem to have suffered more from heat stress. I also grew ‘Emilie’, shown here. I try to pick them small, which sometimes means picking every day. I’ll be growing these again and may forego ‘Burpless’ next year.

Six

I gave this hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’ two cans of water on Friday night, to prepare it for this morning’s photocall. The bedraggled background is my poor rhododendron, I’m not sure that one is going to survive.

The garden produce is keeping us happy at the moment. The first courgette arrived and was duly cooked up with tomatoes and bacon lardons for a pasta. Those tomatoes also go well with the French beans for a salad mix, and the tomatoes are stars again with basil and black olives for another tasty salad. Elizabeth David I thank you!

Over to Jim at Garden Ruminations for more SOS posts and Jim’s own personal selection. More sun, no rain so more watering can work for me. Happy Gardening.

Six On Saturday: There’s a hole in my water butt, dear Liza

/ n20gardener / 16 Comments

Oh yes. There was rain and the water butts were full but the next day number one water butt was half empty. That’s about 75 litres of lost water. I was not a happy bunny. The remaining water was pumped down to the bottom of garden storage tank and a repair was made. Here’s hoping a bit of glue and some gorilla tape will seal the crack. It might be some time before I find out if it has worked. In the meantime, the garden has perked up a little. Here’s this week’s six.

One

The courgettes were absolutely loving the downpour and responded immediately with a bright sunny flower. I’ve been picking very regularly and so far have avoided the giant marrow stage.

Two

I had left the onions to dry off in the ground as it was so hot. Once the rain looked certain I harvested them and moved to the potting shed to finish drying. This great picture was taken by daughter on her phone. How did she do that? As usual some onions have barely doubled in size but on the whole I’m happy with this year’s haul.

Three

My old established hydrangeas have had a tough time of it and look very bedraggled. But a new purchase (Limelight) put in to replace the old box shrub was watered regularly and although it’s still a small plant it has put out some impressive flowers. I think this one will fill the space very well.

Four

This eurybia is at the shady end of the border and has survived this summer’s conditions well. Mr P, our host, will surely recognise a familiar likeness to those he has in his garden.

Five

The first of the Japanese anemones have opened up. This one is in the shady north facing border, the same corner where there is some mysterious source of underground water and so this too has also come through the summer unscathed. Further up this border the anemone leaves are crispy brown and in need of tidying up.

Six

The old greenhouse is officially on borrowed time. The decision to purchase a new one has been made. Gulp. Dismantling the greenhouse, removing old crumbling base, laying new base and then installing the new greenhouse are all tasks beyond my skill set. But I’m pulling together the threads of the project and hope to be on the way once the tomatoes have finished. In the meantime the French marigolds, planted to dissuade the white fly from taking up residence, are flowering their socks off.

The temperatures are back to normal, there’s still some rainfall to be made up but I am persuaded that it is worth tidying up the garden. There’s alchemilla mollis to cut back and those crispy leaves to remove. The plums are almost ripe and small though they are I think it won’t be long before the apples are picked. It’s time to return to the garden and prepare for the next season. Happy gardening to you all.