New roses...
Rose Kew Rambler
The new roses are still sitting in their pots, expectantly. I peeped at Kew Rambler - it looks really pretty, and the rose nursery has typed on its label: 'A nice rambling rose'. This sounds like one of my own mundane descriptive phrases.
Monday 14th December
Here are my first plans for today. A brick column in Henworld has crashed to the ground and one of the hen statues is broken. The Plank has partially washed itself away down the water race, and needs reinstalling. Mulch piles need to be wheelbarrowed away from underneath the Leyland hedge and spread on the Shrubbery.
I haven't mentioned the watering, weeding, and the planting of - how many more new roses? Oops. And something is eating my Basil seedling leaves. Blast! I'd have thought Basil was rather too astringent and tasty for tiny bugs. Pots of Pelargoniums need to come out of the glass-house. And I have Nemesia and blue Petunias waiting for garden space. Don't garden tasks look so easy when written down!
Single Sparieshoop Roses
Lunchtime...
Eek! There I was, working away, wondering whether to do another hour or break for lunch (a terribly important decision) when - boom! Rattle! A thunderstorm had me scurrying inside. Fat rain and hail. I do not want any hail! The hostas are at their peak, and anyway it's supposed to be summer.
Summer Hail!
Hail, Hail, Go Away...
I've just stood imperiously at the open patio door and shouted at the hail to go away. It hasn't, but it's got a bit more slushy. And I feel a bit better (though it's really cold out there). I'm glad I'm not up a mountain somewhere eating sandwiches and trying to celebrate the joys of the hiking life...
Tuesday 15th December
The weather kept having tizzy fits - shining sun one minute, bellbirds whistling with joy, then fat rain again. So I stayed inside and played around with the Moosey calendars I'm making. Hopefully. If I can find enough half-decent photographs.
Rusty the Dog :- I do have lots of photographs of Rusty the dog - but he always has that same goofy look on his face.
Non-Gardening Partner wants a calendar (as usual) which simply features Rusty the dog, who he loves much more than my garden. One dog, many poses, no trick accessories like sunglasses or dog-hats - wonder why the images all start looking the same? And the images must come from this current year, of course...
Later...
I did some work - digging behind the pond - and planted two rugosa roses. But I quickly ran out of puff (didn't start with much). I've been lolling on the couch under a blanket planning the calendars and watching the cricket on TV.
Wednesday 16th December
After sleeping for over twelve hours I feel better equipped to have a decent gardening day. What I should have done yesterday was have an afternoon snooze. I'm off to pick up a basket of yellow Canna lilies, and then I'll continue my digging and rose planting.
Summer Delphiniums
I realise that Christmas is quite soon, and I have to have the garden ready. I don't know exactly why, but it seems to be a sensible goal.
Much, Much Later...
Phew! I've dug lots of my new garden, planted the two Rosa Moyesii and the Cannas, and weeded out two barrowfuls from the Glass-House Garden. I've stopped to notice all the flowery changes, too. The pergola rose Crepuscule has finished flowering, but her new red growth makes her look fresh and alive.
Looking Forwards
Looking forwards, the Delphiniums nearby have multiplied madly, filling half the perennial garden, and the summer phloxes are nearly flowering. Looking backwards, all the Foxgloves are ridiculously tall and three-quarters seedy, and the Aquilegias are definitely over (I'm chopping them down leaves and all - that way I'll get some pretty new foliage).
My yellow summer shrubs are flowering - Hypericums and Senecios - and the first daylilies are out. Cheerful, simple yellow is such a great colour. Graham Thomas, the most amazing yellow rose in the whole world, flowers at this time of year, too. Lovely.
Graham Thomas Roses
Thursday 17th December
Today I've been silly. I've spent a couple of hot sunny hours burning rubbish on the bonfire. Now I'm red-faced and grumpy, and I've put my faith in a drink of orange juice, a cold face splash-down, and a cooler gardening shirt. As yet no more of my new roses are planted - I have to get them in the ground by Christmas. I can do this. Hebe's Lip and Rosa Foetida Bicolour are about to be laid in the back of the Shrubbery before I make my lunch. I'll leave them with the hose on.
Saturday 19th December
Quietly, without any fuss (no trumpets), I've been busy getting the garden ready for Christmas. Every day I have to collect two barrowfuls of trimmings and rose 'dead-headings' - I've done that already. And I've built two Christmas calendars - one with just Rusty the dog, as ordered by Non-Gardening Partner, and one with the cats as well. It takes ages, but I think I've finally got my system going properly.
My New Roses :- How many roses did I buy on that last spending spree? More than twenty....
Now I'm off to put on the hoses and plant something. I have to have all new plants in the soil by Christmas. And I've finished buying new plants. Absolutely. I'm giving myself a money budget as a Christmas present. Blast!
And, to quote NGP, 'You haven't really got any more room for plants, have you?' Dangerous words, NGP, dangerous words - a canny gardener can have that phrase overturned in minutes...
Much Later...
Well, I've planted the double white Lilac and two more rugosas in the Island Bed. The middle of this garden is quite weedy, so first thing tomorrow I'll be sorting that out. I am definitely on track.