Beaming and squinting...
My goodness, October is a beautiful month - on my camera, and in my garden, provided I screw up my eyes and beam at everything. It's time to organise my latest photographs. Lilac rhododendrons, that means you! And all my other spring shrubs, and the last blossom trees, and the first roses...
Tuesday 15th October
Beaming and squinting aside, I'm keen to do some proper gardening. I have lots of shredded pine mulch to put on the garden. Of course there's some compulsory weeding, and flowering annuals to plant out. The lawns need raking, and several paths need the Alkanet cleared away from their edges.
Pond Paddock Blossom
Those nice forget-me-nots are still out in force and looking pretty, and yippee for my new tulips in the patio garden. Gentle yellow and warm pink, flowering together above the blue forget-me-not carpet, so pretty! Three perfect colours for floral curtains. Hmm...
Purple Honesty and Phormium
More Flowers...
My crab-apple trees have almost finished flowering, and now the apple trees and dogwoods are in blossom, plus several more early roses like Fruhlinsgold. Even Clair Matin has one bloom - this is surely a sign! Everywhere I look Honesty plants have planted themselves. Two sentinel whites sit outside the cottage, either side of the path (growing in the path, actually), and other gardens have patches of purples. What lovely plants to have such a good sense of location!
More Clean-Up...
There's also more to clean-up - firewood logs to stack, tree rubbish to rake up, process, and maybe burn. Just when I think it's finished I find another tree branch somewhere. Aargh! But I reckon if I just plod along enjoying myself the gardening day will take care of itself. That is, until the rain forecast for this afternoon arrives. No thunder, please, to bellow like a cross old man at this timid older-lady gardener.
Later, Mid-Afternoon...
Blast - a tiny blast, that is. I've been rather side-tracked burning rubbish and stacking firewood. My plan to flit here and there doing 'proper gardening' has gone up in smoke. But I've organised two and a half potato patches, one of which, if I was a vegetable gardener, would be enough to fill me with joy.
Golden Climber Rose
Spitting, Whistling...
Anyway, the bonfire may be spitting at me (Phormium leaves do that) but this sets the birds off whistling, and this gets the pheasants honking. Visually I'm surrounded by blossom, rhododendrons, purple Honesty, and a lovely smattering of roses (the honey coloured climber in the Stables garden is magnificent).
After a shortest of breaks I'll return with camera and rose-cane tying equipment - one of the climbers in the orchard is 'down'. And oops - I didn't really prune any of these archway roses at all. Oh well, they are in a paddock, after all. Paddock roses take their chances.
A long cheery memo to self : by all means check the Clematis, but totally finish the potatoes first. And always, always remember how lucky you are. Nothing is hurting, everything sort of works, and your garden is magnificent. In fact, life is pretty good. OK, so your grand piano has a rather nasty buzzy rattle. But such things can be fixed. Get back out there, and plant those last spuds!
Much Later...
+5 All done! Spuds planted, Phormium leaves burnt, side driveway raked - why, I even managed a spot of watery weeding, feet in the water race, and I planted out some Calendulas and some Stachys. Small achievements, maybe, but I'm really proud of myself. And I didn't moan too much. Did I? Lilli-Puss really loves me cleaning up along the side driveway - this is her playground, and she enjoys the company, as I enjoy hers. Love you, Lilli.
Fruhlingsmorgen Roses
A large glass of wine, I think, is well deserved, and Rusty can have two dog biscuits. Lucky us! I'll be on the front patio gazing blankly at the yellow tulips if anyone wants me...