Rain, rain, rain...
Please Plant Me!
Three days of continuous rain - splodgy one minute, drizzling the next. So good for the garden, right? Absolutely, but not good for this gardener - my garden helper (a relative) was supposed to arrive two days ago.
Man muscle...
I have been saving big man muscle jobs for him - like digging a huge hole for a recycled rhododendron which is taller (and heavier) as I am, completing the raking of hedge trimmings from the orchard (and, hopefully, burning them all). And spreading thirty bags of horse manure on the garden, should he get bored with the above.
Naturally, my relative (being built from superior genetic stock) isn't silly. Too wet! he mutters. Perfect weather for playing 'Minecraft' (or whatever is the Game de Jour de Pluie). Well, I'd like to state that it's four days since the wet started, and the rain has now stopped. The birds are singing, the sun is shining. The rhododendron is waiting. The bonfire, too. OK, the lawns are sodden, and all the borders are wet and drippy. But where is my garden helper? Humph.
Dogs - it's just you two and me. Who cares if our clothes or fur get wet? Well, I care, a little, but the dogs don't. They are a bit bored with this indoors spring weather. And no surprises that the house - ahem - smells a bit wet-doggy. I've opened lots of doors and windows...
Winnie and the Horse Manure
Three Hours Later...
It's wonderful to be back outside. So far I've spread four bags of horse manure, and started a clean-out along the boundary fence where piles of logs, weeds, branches of trees, old broken fence posts etc. have been piling up. No sign of any helpers, though. I've also zoomed off to get three bags of potting mix, and potted my latest vegetable seedlings into pots - spinach, more red onions, and rocket.
The House Merlot is stunning (from South Australia, this one), my hair is washed, and I am super-clean. And super-happy. I love my garden. I've taken yet more photographs with my darling, trusty camera, which I've only ever left outside overnight twice in it's longish life. Only twice! Best not boast.
Loving this spring...
Things I am loving about this particular spring :
- The forget-me-nots.
- The Driveway rhododendrons.
- The Clematis montana.
- The Dogwoods - and having two dogs again.
- My lovely bags of wormy horse manure.
Sorry about that last item - this was supposed to be one of those pretty-pretty flowery lists. But I looooove all those darling worms!
Colourful Daffodils...
Wednesday 11th October
Here are a couple of flowery surprises - two white daffodils have been soaked in coloured water and consequently changed colour themselves! Cute? Trick flowers! It just took a couple of days for the colouring to work.
Aha! Yes! We went to the dog park in the rain (yes, it's raining again). Yes! My garden helper (with Escher the big brown dog) has been and gone. The huge new rhododendron is planted (couldn't have done it on my own). The side fence by my mulch pile is clear of blackberry and weeds.
I've spread seven bags of horse manure and seven loads of mulch onto the Stumpy (AKA Willow Tree) Garden, trying to poke it all gently around the rhododendrons and roses. It's been a very productive day.
Dear Pebbles. When she first 'met' big brown Escher she attacked him (it was nasty stuff). Today she decided that he was the scary one. He was just doodling around, minding his own business, being big and brown. She lay down in a corner of the kitchen and didn't want to join us. What goes around comes around, dear dog?
New things are flowering - the deciduous Azaleas by the brick courtyard (which is slightly slippery in the wet), and the Aquilegias. The foxgloves are now knee-high. They'll be next! And the Tree Peony continues to look gorgeous - such beautiful blooms, and lovely foliage too. The new rhododendron is well-planted the back of the Stumpy (AKA Willow Tree) Garden, quite near to it.