Planting...
Planting needs to get the gardening nod from me - vegetables, new shrubs, flowering annuals... And perhaps a spot of brick mortaring to get the herb spiral spiralling would be nice. But the focus is planting. And watering, and weeding, and trimming the lawn edges... Hey! My planting theme has already been taken over. That was quick...
Spring Border Looking Beautiful
Later...
Apologies to my expectant flower seedlings, as I totally redirected myself to weeding and doing edges - visitors were coming to look around the garden. But (for me, at least) the garden was a joy to walk around - a bit of cosmetic frippery is all it takes, hee hee. I aimed for the look of semi-controlled naturalness, rather than messy neglect, and it worked! I'll plant tomorrow after the overnight rain. I saw lots of spaces which need filling.
Two Days Later..
OK. Perhaps today will be my planting day. This is definitely the muddy-knees, dirty-hands part of the gardening process. It's all very well gazing at flowering shrubs which hardly need my help to be beautiful. But all those gaps in the borders?
Yellow Daisy :- These annual daisies are wonderful for filling spaces, flowering for ages and ages, and self-seeding modestly for the following year.
And all those trays of yellow daisy annuals on the tables outside my glass-house? Aha! Today such connections must be made. And look - I might even throw in a spot of brick-laying, just to prove how versatile I can be.
Taking the garden visitors around helped me notice new things. Many more of my roses are flowering, with the lemon-yellow Agnes really taking my eye. I love her strength and how tall she grows - she's a rugged country lady, perfect for a country garden.
Blue Alkanet Flowers
And I seem to have the weedy Alkanet growing everywhere (an exaggeration?), and I'm reminded how space-filling and floppy it can become. Those little blue forget-me-not flowers are cute, but this plant is such a thug when the power of mid-spring courses through its stems. Ha! A few quick trips around the paths with the wheelbarrow will sort it out. Since it's so difficult (impossible?) to eradicate, I usually slice the tops off and try and pull out the new seedlings. I say 'try'.
Agnes Rose
Much, Much Later...
I've been a good planting person - no, brilliant. I've planted yellow daisies, white Omphalodes, and Layla around the house gardens. I've laid twenty more bricks in the herb spiral. I've weeded weeds and shifted polyanthus plants out of their pots to 'summer over' behind the glasshouse.
I've also spent a good hour in the glasshouse pricking out more Salvia, Cosmos, and lime Aquilegia seedlings. The rule is: if I bother to sow the seeds, then I bother to pot up every single seedling. Unless it is a lettuce. And so it takes me ages!
Wednesday 24th October
Early this morning I had my breakfast on the pond decking with eighty-three garden gnomes, three gardening cats (Minimus, big Fluff-Fluff and ginger Percy) and Rusty the toast-loving dog (who is almost the same colour as the nearby cherry blossom). The bellbirds were making silly kissy noises high in the trees above. And I thought to myself: I am so lucky to be surrounded by my garden friends. The fact that all are feathered, concrete, or furry doesn't seem to matter. There's always someone (something?) to talk to...
Rusty the Dog by the Pond
Today my planting plans are as follows:
- White perennial daisies and purple cornflowers go in the sunny patio border.
- Purple cornflowers go in Pond Cottage's garden.
- Lupins go behind the pond.
- Those gorgeous blobby annuals with the adjective 'major'(?) go in the shady Pond Paddock.
Cat by the Bricks :- Little Mac the black and white cat is always nosing around the new vegetable garden when I'm brick-laying.
Well, I know what I mean. Aha! Cerinthe! I will also clean and lay twenty more bricks (my modest daily quota, so the Moosey hands and fingers don't get too sore and the Moosey journal doesn't get filled up with brick-moaning). I will plant more vegetables, including beans, and arrange two wigwams of canes for the blue sweet peas. Wow. Such energetic talk needs energetic action. Off with the old-school green woollen dressing gown and on with the gardening shirt.
Much Later...
+3
+3 
+3I've retired to Pond Cottage for the evening, tired and happy, having planted enough of my list to feel OK. Young Minimus is curled up on the bed, while ginger Percy is outside lounging in the cottage's garden. The light at dusk is beautiful, and I feel very lucky to be going to sleep in the garden I love so much. Now should I let Percy in for a light snack? Aw - go on. Alright. C'mon, Percy cat. Aargh! Please don't sit on the purple cornflowers. I just planted them...