WE HAD A GOOD YEAR, DIDN'T WE?
Now at the tail end of the year, when it is dark and wet and cold, it is nice to look back at photos of your garden.Pleasant to do because some of the best parts I photographed, and they are good to remind yourself, ready for next year. I will put a few of these photos on this blog.
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| Frogspawn, arrived late |
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| Marsh marigolds in my pond |
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| Lovely bees on the cornflowers on my plot |
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| Hope the cornflowers come back next year |
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| Potatoes did very well this year |
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| Symptom of the dreaded brown rot on apple tree |
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| Self sown poppies by the pond |
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| Cucumber plants in the greenhouse |
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| My friendly neighbour on the next plot |
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| The squash plant |
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| Lily, so beautiful |
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| Two more friends on the allotment |
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| The hemerocalis bought at Walmer Castle |
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| Big, juicy and delicious |
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| Pelargoniums I admired at Walmer Castle |
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| The veronica plant hates hot dry summers, I don't |
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| Chilies in the greenhouse, good crop |
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| Nicotiana bought at a plant fair, still flowering in November |
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| Nice to come home to, front garden |
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| Virginia creeper, also self-sown (from next door) |
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| Now its winter I must read this |
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| Delightful stone sculpture at Wisley RHS garden |
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| Also at Wisley Autumn Show, these cheerful local brewers |
TULIPS
Late autumn is of course the time to plant tulip bulbs, and I have just bought the very last lot, half price at the Garden Centre. These are 6 Queen of Night and 6 Ballerina, plus 20 dwarf assorted colours, unnamed varieties. Got to get out there tomorrow and plant them, in a place where I do not remember seeing tulips last year (not an easy task). I hope the pesky squirrels leave them alone.
FIRST FROST
The frosts have started and I just went into the greenhouse and covered the scented pelargoniums in their big pots (too big to come into the house) with a bit of horticultural fleece I collected from the allotment rubbish heap. Hope the little darlings make it through, as most of the cuttings I took from them do not seem to have taken. It costs quite a bit to buy new pelargoniums for the next year.
ALLOTMENT - MORE PROBLEMS!
Yesterday as it was not raining or blowing, I dug up yet more clumps of grass on my allotment. All the grass seeds blow over from the next plot, which is not cultivated. Then by the spring, these grass clumps are huge, with mega root systems. I have learned this by bitter experience!
An ongoing problem, too, apart from all the other problems over on the allotment, is a very large walnut tree on another uncultivated plot. It is self-sown, not very old but already spreading its branches across over my raspberry patch. It has walnuts every year, and every year the squirrels get every single nut.
I asked if it was going to be felled, and a member of our committee replied that it probably has a 'Tree Preservation Order' on it, thus preventing its removal. Quite mad! It means that nobody will take this plot and cultivate it, as the tree takes all the nourishment from the soil.
BRASSICAS AND PIGEONS
My brassicas are now cover up with an assortment of nets, bits of old plastic fencing, chicken wire and yet more nets, weighted down with old bricks - all to keep off the pigeons. It is so impenetrable that I have given up trying to get into it and pick a few brussel sprouts. Will make a supreme effort if there are still sprouts left, to get some for Christmas lunch, yum!
Walnut trees produce a chemical called "Juglone" which prevents the growth of other plants. Even if the tree was cut down, it would take years for the soil to become useful. It would have to be dug up and transported out before the plot could be useful again.
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