Snappy's Gardens Blog

Hydrangea Heads And Leaves

2009-11-22T13:53:00.003Z

The Hydrangea in the top corner of the garden is festooned with beautiful colourful leaves, and drying flower heads.
The flowers were a lovely shocking pink colour. As Autumn draws on the leaves have lost their green chlorophyll and now are red and orange on the edges.
The colder weather strips plants to the wooden stems and branches.
The rain has stopped for the moment, but it is still cloudy.
A collared Dove is sat on the bird feeder now pecking his way through the bird seed.
Its a lovely, lazy sunday. I picked a few weeds out of the garden and spotted the Spring bulbs pushing through the soil slowly.
With all the summer flowers finished you take any colour you can get for a photo..

A Gardeners Heart

2009-11-21T19:53:00.002Z

The weather in November has been a mixture of strong winds and rain. Its still raining outside, which is good for ducks and the mushrooms, but not for gardeners.
The leaves of the trees and shrubs are slowly being stripped away, revealing colours of the bark hidden away.
The grasses are fluttering away in the wind, and catch the raindrops. I do like the jewel like shape of these fallen raindrops.
I will try to take some photos tomorrow of our Autumnal garden. Of rain drops, tree barks, and pretty russet leaves..
Its Xmas in about five weeks. What gardening presents will I get? I have had a few emails from gardening company's, and a few comments about my posts and the blog in general.
I'm a sucker for books and seeds, the way to a gardeners heart is through free packets of seeds!
I hope you all have a good weekend.

Five Flowers

2009-11-18T11:56:00.002Z

The Amaryllis from the Autumn Flower show has flowered now. Five Red and White flowers from the single stem.
I brought it in from the greenhouse and put it on the sideboard near the backdoor.
It grew a two foot flower spike with these five flower buds on it.
With the garden going to its winter sleep its good to have something flowering.
Its been raining hard all night and all today. The ground is soaked. New mushrooms are appearing daily in the front and back gardens.
I do love the colours and shape of these Amaryllis blooms..

Erica

2009-11-13T09:39:00.002Z

The Heather has started to regrow and is covered with little white flower buds. Once the flowers are open it will be a mass of these pale lilac coloured ones.
The rain has been falling heavily since last night so the ground is wet. The garden birds have been in the garden today feeding, and drinking.
Goldfinches, House Sparrows, and Collared Doves. The Squirrel was on the feeder yesterday again.
The garden must be on the birds tour of the local gardens. The Trees on both sides make perfect stop off points to rest between feeding.
As long as I keep refilling the bird feeders then I will have plenty of birds to look out through the winter.
Its Friday the 13th today. I'm working all weekend, and wont get to do any gardening/allotment untill Tuesday and Wednesday.

Sweet Scented Bloom

2009-11-12T14:51:00.002Z

This Honeysuckle flower is in bloom today. The scent is absolutely lovely too. How can it be blooming in November?
I went to the allotment today as it was dry. I spent a few hours continuing the clearing of the overgrown meadow grass!
There is about eight feet now between the two parts of dug soil.
It was lovely and peaceful up at the plot. I was imagining planting Potatoes and Cabbages next year. I took home two Lightning Squash, two Gem Squash, and two gnawed Courgettes!
The cold nights have killed off those plants now, so that represented a mini harvest.
Next year it will be more productive. It has just taken ages to clear the plot. The Leeks are growing beautifully, and I replanted some of my winter onion sets as the birds or rain had moved loads of them..
Tomorrows forecast is for heavy rain so I'll be chilling at home and reading books.

Poppies And Autumn Trio

2009-11-11T14:17:00.005Z

Its Armistice day today and the Queen led a Remembrance service at Westminster Abbey. I have my Poppy pinned on my blue fleece. I bought one in London, lost it in the washing machine, then bought another one at Asda. I have to wear one every year, whenever I see volunteers selling them for the British Legion.
I'm always amazed how many people wear Poppies on their coats and tops in the run up to the eleventh day of the eleventh month. All the Poppies are made in the same factory that has been running since 1922.
The poem In Flanders Fields first linked the losses of the great war, with the Red Field Poppys that grew afterwards in the churned up fields of Northern France.

The Japanese Maple in the garden has dropped all its leaves now. It was planted in the middle of a raised bed, but exposed to the wind and rain. It was a bit burnt on the edges. I want to move it somewhere more sheltered. The sunlight illuminated the leaves when I took the photo.

Autumn brings the Mushrooms up. Magical funguses that spring up overnight when the ground is damp, and the temperature warm. The gardens Fairy Houses. There is something mysterious about these temporary visitors fleeting visits in October/November.

Cat photographed this now frequent visitor, the Squirrel. He sits on the bird feeder dining on sunflower hearts and seeds. His lively incisors can crack the kernel off the sunflower seed to extract the juicy inside part. He leaves shells in the bowl, much like eating Peanuts at Xmas.
Its overcast today but dry. I have just been outside planting 90 Tulip bulbs. I hope the Squirrel is stuffed on Sunflower seeds and does not want any juicy bulbs....
I planted Tulip Parrot Rococo, Tulip Apricot Beauty, Tulip Christmas Marvel, Tulip Love Song, Tulip White Triumphator, and my Favourite Tulips Queen Of The Night..
I planted a big pot with Tulip Parrot Blue, and Daffodils, and put it besides the patio doors. Thats all my Spring Bulbs planted in the ground. I will have forgotten what I planted where by the time they flower.
Spring will be colourful here in the garden.

Tickled Pink

2009-11-07T10:34:00.002Z

This Dahlia has been growing beneath the Sambuca Nigra shrub, and is blooming away now. Despite the cold weather and incessant rain it has grown into a beautiful pink bloom. The garden is starting to close down, ready for its winter slumber.

The flower is so heavy that it hangs down. I had to hold it up to photograph it. This is only the Second Dahlia bloom this year. There was a single Crimson one before, but this plant has arrived fashionably late to the Summer party.
The bird feeders have been topped up, and the fresh water changed. I hope that when the garden sleeps I will be able to watch the feathered garden birds feeding, singing, and flying around our garden.
The Squirrel has been back several times, and does good acrobatic feats of holding on upside down to feed on the bird feeder station.
The Hedgehogs have gone to sleep now. I have not seen them since before we went to London. I keep hearing strange bird noises at night. I wander if there are Owls living in the trees around the many gardens. I have not seen them yet..
When it finally drys off I have hundreds of Tulips to plant. They are sat in the greenhouse at the moment waiting for a good time to plant them. The Crocuses have already started to push up through the damp soil.
I want more Dahlias for next year, in a variety of colours to add some party magic to the borders.

Autumn Trees

2009-11-04T16:41:00.003Z

I took this photo at St James park in London, with the sun behind the tree. I love the effect of the light illuminating the leaves of the tree.
The sun is already going down here. I have slept after my nights and seen the garden briefly.
The Japanese Maple has nearly lost all its leafs. The garden is slowly starting to slumber. The only thing that is growing is all the bird seeds that have germinated in the wet conditions.
I am already planning what new plants to buy to add to the borders..

Back Again

2009-11-02T10:34:00.003Z

I'm back from London. The photo is the Houses Of Parliament, and Big Ben on the right hand side.
It had suprising amount of gardens and green spaces. The oldest garden in London is the Chelsea Physic Garden.
Some of the residential apartments look out onto private squares. We looked through the railings at one in Earls Court. Beautiful leafy gardens with neat paths, well tended borders, and calming benches to sit on. The only downside is that you need to live in the square for a year and one day before you can be considered to get a key to the gardens!
The green fingered residents look after the garden, and the association holds events throughout the year.
We visited the tree filled Green Park by Buckingham Palace, and St James Park with its extremely friendly Squirrels and Pelicans on the lake.
In a bustling major city the green spaces are much loved, well used, and frequently visited. The civil servants from Whitehall came to the St James Park Cafe to relax for a bit, with the tourists. The Trees were changing colours to oranges, reds, browns, and yellows.

I enjoyed walking around the garden which I missed when we were away. It needs clearing out. My Sunflowers have been knocked over, and the Trees are denuding their leaves. The Crocuses have begun to peek through the wet soil. Hundreds of small Mushrooms have grown in the grass, like a mini tented village. Its good to be back.

Erica

2009-10-26T08:14:00.002Z

The Heather in the garden has regrown beautifully after its trim. There has been new growth all over the plant, and new yellow flower buds formed. It is a purple flowering heather..
I will be away untill Saturday in London. The blog will resume then..
Have a good gardening week wherever you are!

Autumn Magic

2009-10-25T08:00:00.000Z

These were growing in the garden yesterday. The warm temperatures and rain has caused this mushroom to magically appear by the clothes line. Like a little fairy house...

This glassy structure has appeared in the grass beneath the wall, and in the border. Tall thin translucent hairs have sprouted upwards and held onto the rain that has fallen. I have no idea what this is, maybe some kind of fungus?
The damp warm conditions have caused the mushrooms and fungi to bloom in the damp earth. I am always amazed when they appear in the garden.
Its good to just walk around and look for the small things that you cannot see from the house. I have seen Bats, Hedgehogs, a swarm of flying Ants, and these mushrooms just by walking outside.
The garden is a rich place to spend time with every day where possible. I am going away next week to London, so this is an au revoir post.

Mellow Yellow

2009-10-24T11:20:00.002+01:00

The wind and rain have swept in overnight soaking the garden. The grass has grown a mushroom, and strange hair like strands that have collected the raindrops. It looks like a spider has gone mad and built a vertical web in the grass and border soil.
The flower is an unknown weed flower that sprung up in the raised border by the Ceanothus.
It has leaves like a Cabbage plant but has these delicate yellow flowers.
Its too wet to garden, so it will be a day for reading gardening books.
My latest book is called "Elizabeth and her German Garden", by Elizabeth Arnim. She was a noblemans wife in the late 1890's. She took herself off to his country house, and ensconsed herself in the large neglected garden.
She wrote a book about the changing seasons in the first years at the house. She liked to sit outside whatever the weather to take tea, read books, and commune with nature.
Its been 118 years since she wrote it, and I still feel the kinship that she did for the garden. She wants to buy her own tools and start digging the soil. But the times wont let her, she has to tell gardeners what she wants.
She would have appreciated this yellow wildflower in the garden..

Autumn Days

2009-10-21T14:15:00.002+01:00

Its been raining lots over the past few days so not much has happened in the garden. I have been reading gardening books, and occasionally venturing out to plant more Spring bulbs.
I love the magic of planting bulbs, untill they all dissapear under the cool soil. They are left to their own devices and by next Febuary and March they will have started to flower.
Bulbs were one of the first floral commodoties to start crossing continents, especially from Asia into Europe. Once they had finished flowering and the leaves had died back the plant retreats into its little home, the Bulb.
They are then easily dug up, and transported great distances. Most of my bulbs have probably come from Holland..
I went to Hampsons today and bought Crocuses in purples, whites, and tiger striped yellows. I bought some double flowering Snowdrop bulbs, some Red Hyacinths to force indoors for Xmas flowers, and three Ivory Coast Lily bulbs.
These are all in the ground now, with the Daffodils and the Aliums. I can walk out into the garden through the winter to look for signs of Spring.
A lot of the bulbs were planted around the greenhouse, where I sit most of the time. This gives me views of both halfs of the garden, and the raised border is visible from the bench.
The photo is of a hardy Calendula flowering away in the right hand raised border, under the fir trees. Its colour is pleasing where other plants are dying back in the Autumn days.

Dianthus

2009-10-18T15:17:00.003+01:00

These Dianthus Jazz Festival look like Japanese Egrets flying through the air.
I have been working nights, and then lost the laptop for a few days hence the gap in posting.
The Autumn weather is here, cool days with wind and rain.
The leaves have fallen onto the pavements, ready for me to kick my way through them. Sending showers of leaves into the air.
The birds have been flocking into the garden, and topping up the feeders is nearly every few days.
We had six pidgeons feeding on the floor, and maybe fifteen Goldfinches.
Its hard to count with the dynamic movement of birds between feeders to trees, and back.
I planted the new Daffodils and Aliums the other day. Ninety bulbs went into the borders, to add colour next spring. There is something magical burying a bulb, covering it with soil, and waiting for it to do its own thing.
By next march the garden will be full of Daffodils, Narcissus, and the Aliums..

Spider And Squirrel

2009-10-14T09:49:00.002+01:00

Autumn brings the mad web building of the garden spiders. They seem to spin their webs from plant to plant, in the concentric web pattern.
He has groovy markings on his underbelly. He sat in the middle of the web waiting for the flys.
The squirrel has been down into the garden this morning. He did a good impression of mission impossible jumping over a wall, going up a small fence, leaping to the big fence, and running along to the back fence before dissapearing into a tree. His tail is so fluffy, and floats around counter balancing him.
I'm off work today before two more nights. I hope to plant some Alium bulbs today and buy some Daffodils in town.

Lavender Bloom n Blogs

2009-10-12T13:51:00.002+01:00

The Lavenders last flower that is still in bloom today. I love the smell of the plant itself and the purple flowers. The plants I bought have grown on a bit. Hopefully they will grow much larger next year, with more bee attracting flowers wafting their rich scent skywards.
I read on the BBC news site yesterday an article about ten years of blogger. I have been blogging for five years.
The ups and downs of my life have been recorded, along with the gardens I have had or helped on. the two different allotments I have had.
The photos get better across the years, and maybe my writing has improved.
The article asked is blogging still relevant, and why do people do it? The main answer was shared passions, and the feeling of community. American women took blogging to their hearts and now there are blogs on every aspect of modern life.
I enjoy how gardeners have used blogs to talk about their gardens, their plants, the problems they encounter. People are kind enough sometimes to leave comments, and often discussions rage on in the comments after an article.
The blog here is a mix of journal of the seasons, wildlife observation, storys, and occasional educational. I enjoy the mixture of pictures and prose.
Nobodys said for me to stop yet, so i'll keep on blogging about the things that I love. Blogs are part of the gardening world, and exist all over the world.
The link is a shared passion for growing things (flowers or veg, or both) and wanting to share the experience.
Like my love of the last Lavender bloom.

Books And Blooms

2009-10-11T21:57:00.002+01:00

The Fuschia Royal Velvet has flowered on the kitchen windowsill. Large flowers with pink and purple colours, and so heavy that the pendulous flowers pull the plant over. The plant came from the Autumn flower show.
I spent yesterday weeding the borders, and putting my old compost on top of the dry soil. The black compost bin will supply more organic matter to keep the moisture in.
Some eager spring bulbs have begun to push up their strappy green leaves.
Now is the time to plant my Alium bulbs (gorgeous firework flowers in purple or white), and the Tulips at the end of this month.
The borders need some Daffodils and Narcissus. I'll go shopping after my night shift on Monday. As one season ends we plan for the next year.
I bought a book the other day called "The Lost Garden Of Heligan". A country estate with beautiful gardens lost all its gardeners during the first world war. The estate and garden fell into disrepair. They sank into brambles, and the structures fell apart. Untill a pair of men stumbled onto the jungle like gardens and decided to renovate them.
I have read a few chapters. The long dark nights are a good chance to relax with a good gardening book.
Monty Don has released a new book called "The Ivington Diaries" about his own garden over a period of fifteen years. Its on my wishlist..

On The Maple

2009-10-10T09:40:00.002+01:00

This baby Goldfinch has fluffy, downy feathers and was not frightened of my camera. We saw him eating spilt Nijer seeds off the patios. He flew up into the foxgloves and under the birdtable.
The garden birds were singing out in force this morning. Great Tits chattered around the Apple tree with its delicious red Apples and the seed feeder.
A winter flock of Goldfinches is forming. More arrive every day with their black and red faces, and yellow wing bars.
I watched Autumn Watch last night and saw a bat survey. The volunteers drove along roads at night, at fifteen miles per hour with a bat detector box that increases the Bats noises to human hearing. They could work out later what species they had heard on the Bat box.
I saw Bats in the garden at twilight one night madly circling and diving, like dark acrobats. They may have been the scouts sent out by the colony to see if it was dark enough to come out to avoid predators.
I have seen my two Hedgehogs almost every night snuffling in the garden, eating all the bugs and worms that they can find.
The garden is alive with the wildlife, and I only have to go outside to see it. Adding a few bird feeders and waterbowls, growing a wide selection of native plants and flowers. These simple steps can encourage Wildlife to visit your garden.
What wildlife is in your garden?

State Of Play

2009-10-09T10:07:00.003+01:00

The allotment at the end of the day yesterday. Cat took the photos for me as I put away all the tools. You can see the enormous compost heap on the far right. I need some compost bins to start it up. The Globe Artichokes are closest to the bottom. Followed by the Leeks, then Courgettes, and Squashes.
I only had a few plants in pots to start growing this year. They were quite late going into the ground. I had to clear the grasses and weeds that you can see at the far left. A few years of growth has given them about a foots deep worth of thick roots, embedded in compacted clay soil.

The camera shortens the length. Its about thirty five feet across and takes hours to clear a one foot length of soil. The square near the top is the onion bed. One hundred white ball onions went in yesterday to grow over the winter.
There remains about ten feet off the grass/weed mix to dig over and clear.I will be happy when that is done. The marking out can be done and plans made for the growing season next year.

Royal Velvet Teaser

2009-10-08T15:29:00.002+01:00

The Giant Fuschia Royal Velvet has these large blooms on it now. I bought it at the Autumn Flower Show, and it has sat on the kitchen windowsill since then.
I did not think it would grow on well after it got battered in a plastic bag and carried all around the Yorkshire show ground.
I spent four and a half hours at the allotment today. We planted the Winter Onions today, 100 of them next to the Courgette bed.
The sun was shining, and the birds were in full song. A lone Robin sat at the top of the tree singing for his territory.
There was a chill in the air. Autumn is in full swing..

Chilli Magic

2009-10-07T14:15:00.005+01:00

Its the seventh of October and my greenhouse Chilli plants are growing a little selection of fruit. These plants have cast a spell on me, and the growing year is not complete without sowing some Chilli seeds. This year I tried Jalapeno, Habanero, Tabasco, Cayenne, and an unknown variety..
This first photo is from a mystery Chilli. I bought a one pound grow pot with a packet of unnamed Chilli seeds. Four plants grew and they are all growing this short cylindrical fruits. I do not know how hot they are, or the variety.

Resting on a shelf are these Cayenne Chilli's ripening to red, and two Jalapenos that fell off. I grew Jalapenos last year and made chicken breasts stuffed with Jalapenos and cheese. I love these Chilli's. I hope that the plant survives over wintering and fruits earlier next year. I bought more Jalapeno seeds from the Autumn flower show just in case.

The last photo is of a small Habanero Chilli. These have a few of these fruits forming on the plants.
I enjoy growing these plants from seeds. There are so many varieties, and different levels of heat. I want to buy a heated seed tray propogator as most chilli's need a soil temperature of about 18 degrees centigrade. I grew one Jalapeno plant from ten seeds.
The Cayenne Chilli's seem easy to germinate at temperatures below the magic 18. I need to find some Recipies to use up my Chilli's.
Growing Chilli plants is addictive. Continuing the 6500 years of Chilli growing. They have travelled around the world throughtout history, and been absorbed into many cultures, and foods.
Their fiery taste lights up the mouths of cooks, and the green fingers of Gardeners. I cant wait to taste this years Chilli harvest, and plan for next years plants.
I have got a Levi Roots Caribbean cookery book and I need some Scotch Bonnet Chilli seeds for his recipes.

Xmas Amaryllis

2009-10-05T08:00:00.000+01:00

This is the Amaryllis bulb i bought from the Autumn flower show. It will have multiple red flowers between the green strappy leaves.
Most of the Amaryllis I have grown have been giant single flowers.
The over sized bulb has been planted in a ten inch pot with the bulb sticking out of the soil. This stops it from rotting if it gets too wet.
I'm hoping the flowers bloom by Xmas. Once it has grown on a bit I will bring it indoors. The Streptocarpus will return to the greenhouse to over winter ready for next years flowering extravaganza.
I bought one new Streptocarpus this year, bringing my collection to ten plants with all different colours.

Writers Block And Wind

2009-10-04T14:20:00.002+01:00

Its sunday today and I am off work. This is my 161st post this year! I have found it hard to think of something to write about, some Bloggers writers block.
I went to the plot yesterday, walking the three miles to it. I was blown about by gusting winds.
I noticed the leaves flying around in the air, twirling around and around as they plummeted down to the ground.
The hedgerows were laden with masses of red and orange berrys, Black Elderberrys pull the branches down with the weight of them.
The day was cloudy, but occasionally the sunshine shone through gaps in the cloud.
I saw tree branches snapped, a shed on the allotment was blown over onto its side.
Hils glass was blown over and smashed into hundreds of pieces at the side of her plot.
Here in the garden the bird table was blown over, as well as numerous pots. The plastic bird water bowl was blown out of the feeding station onto the patio. The greenhouse cover was ripped in a few places, and the curtain covering blew into the garden. The wind caused chaos yesterday, but I spent four and a half hours in the allotment continuing my clearance, and weeding a bit.
The sunshine is back, and the wind has abated a bit. The photo shows a gladiolus that I found in the border from the previous owners. I planted it and it was overgrown by bird drop Sunflowers.
It has beautiful pink tinged flowers. A suprise for me as I did not know what the bulb was going to turn into.
The walk yesterday was good for observing the signs of Autumn, and thinking how to write about them. There are so many things to write about, we sometimes need a break from it to recharge our batterys.

Changing Season

2009-09-28T22:38:00.001+01:00

The leaves on the WitchHazel were turning fiery colours a few days ago. I knew that the seasons were changing from summer to autumn.
The Pyrocanthus berries are now big and orange, ready for the hungry birds to eat.
The days are getting shorter, and cooler at night. Its dark earlier, and the sun is rising later.
The first frosts are forecast to hit next week in higher parts of the UK.
The only flowers that are still blooming well are the Geraniums. Floral guests who like to arrive fashionably late. The deep reds, pinks, and magenta blooms flower in colourful balls over the compact leaves.
I harvested almost ten pounds worth of Carrots yesterday. Autumn King, Chantonay, and Suga Snax.
Once I finish work I will turn them into soup, and freeze the rest. We shall have carrots all winter, good for seeing in the dark Autumnal days.
When I spent a year in Australia the two things I missed were the football season (i listened to second half commentary on the BBC World Service), and the seasons. The Southern Hemisphere does not have neat seasons like the UK.
Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. I appreciate them more now, and enjoy each passing season and the changes in the plants and flowers between them.

Under The Narnia Lights

2009-09-26T13:12:00.002+01:00

This nocturnal visitor was back in the garden last night. I went outside and found her snuffling under the narnia lights.
I wander when Hedgehogs hibernate? She is building up her strength by crunching all the slugs, snails, and insects that she can find.The winter slumber will drain her energy reserves, and she will wake up ravenous in the spring.
I saw a bat the other evening too flying eratically around, like a super charged rubber ball, using its sonar to locate flying insects.
We have the garden during the day with the garden birds and the neighbourhood Cats and the Squirrel. At night the garden becomes a wild place when people sleep. The native wildlife comes out. I wish I could see what roams around at night.
I am going to harvest my carrots today, and start to clear the borders. The sun is shining, and it feels quite warm. I will go to the allotment tomorrow to continue the clearing.
My week is always split up between the necessity of working and then days off to garden or to tend the plot...
The seasons and wildlife are always around me, and end up being written about in here, or photographed.