A lovely floral mess...
Multi-Coloured Garden
Hmm... It's interesting. What, exactly, is 'it', dear Moosey? Summer garden photography, that's what. My garden is a lovely floral mess at the moment - it's noisy with colour (I blame the dahlias). But I can't seem to get the right effect in my photographs - that's what's interesting me.
Sunday 19th January
It's a multi-coloured picnic with all the colour families spread out, and lots of lawn showing. Ha! My garden has too many greenery gaps which are distracting from the red and yellow dahlia flowers and the purple petunias. More monochromaticism (?) is required? More plants are needed!
Blame the Dahlias?
Pretty unfair to blame the dahlias, though. There are lots of white flowers, which combine with my harsh summer light to dazzle and flare. Much in evidence are the Nicotianas, the late white Flower Carpet roses, white annual Cosmos, and the Shasta daisies along the water race. Not too many of these have flopped over, yet. Mister Wind - I am not trying to tempt you into any sort of challenge.
White Flower Carpet Roses
No, much, much more sensible, measured garden maintenance is needed. And that's my challenge to me for today. I love all the flower colours, so I'll take photographs simply of what's there, after I've given 'it' a jolly good summer tidy-up. All of this before the temperatures gets too hot to garden.
Much, Much Later...
My goodness, it's been hot. And I've been pretty good, tidying and trimming all around the house gardens. The irrigation drippers have been running all day on the orchard roses, and one hose is rescuing the patio garden, where the annual Strawflowers are wilting.
Pastels in The Side House Garden
I've ducked my head under the cold tap, I've put a couple of beers in the freezer (must remember them, must remember them), had the coolest of showers and changed into white cotton shirt and shorts. And now, I'm going to watch the second half of the cricket (we, New Zealand, are playing India, who are the top team in the world).
White Annual Cosmos
Monday 20th January
Today has THE perfect conditions for gardening. It's overcast, mid-range summer-warm, and there's absolutely no wind. So, naturally, I have been doing indoor things, some of which are closely connected with housework. Daft, me. But there is exciting news for the teddy bears who live in Pond Cottage. I have bought them a 'Moses Basket' for their communal bed, and I'm about to organise a little mattress and green spriggy patchwork bed-cover. Hee hee.
I will do some gardening, though. I've already taken more photographs of the flower 'mess'. The dahlias are just so colourful. So many of them have self-seeded and chosen their own garden positions, and good on them, I say. So no wonder it's a colour jumble.
Later...
Hmm... Two hours of weeding along the fence-line by my potato patch. Oh dear. Suddenly I have a spud-surplus. I will be visiting all my friends' houses armed with bucketfuls of Cliff's Kidneys. But as to the weeds - most are technically next-door, so I've hand-weeded a 'corridor' along the boundary. I'm hiring a garden hit-man (Non-Gardening Partner) to eradicate the rest using chemical means. Oops.
PInk Dahlias and Gunnera
+10I've planted the memorial tree for Little Mac, our long-lost black and white cat. It's a Prunus subhirtella, and is safe in the middle of the Island Bed, where I'll see its early winter-spring blossom from the house. Little Mac rarely ventured away from the house, so this seems an appropriate spot. Miss you, little cat.
Fat Fluff-Fluff
Regarding Fluff-Fluff's Diet...
I know my big cat is losing weight, because he's eating half as much food as before. But it's a delicate issue to weigh him - it requires the human (e.g. me) to slither onto the scales and write down their own weight, before remounting with cat in arms. Some of us (e.g. me) are happy with the subtraction but would rather not know the pre-cat weight. Hmm...
Now to go through my latest photographs, trying to find some lovely busy, jostling flowery scenes. Enjoy!