Mary Mary...
Dog on their Walk
Mary Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow? Alarmingly quickly this summer! New plants often sulk and stay tiny, then as soon as I forget to check they burst upwards and outwards. So this is a rule of garden, right? Things grow huge, but only when I'm not looking...
The Hump Garden is growing...
Interesting - and very alarming, my wanderings in the Hump Garden this morning. All week the sun has shone, the wind has blown, and the big irrigation has run. And I've been working in the gardens by the water race. Oops. Everything seems to have doubled in size, particularly the trees planted two years ago. Eek! Yippee for my beans, tomatoes, and courgettes. And my rampant potato patch, which knows no limits. It was too wet to push through the greenery to check on the pumpkins. And oh dear - the roses!
The combination of water and wind have created long stem growth and heavy, flopped-over flowers. The dogs and I are going for our first walk round the orchard, and then we will go into the Hump to collect roses for the house vases.
A bit later...
Oh boy! The Hump Garden is dripping, full of huge weeds, every living thing thriving with the sunshine, irrigation, and horse manure. I had no idea that this old sand hill could become so - ahem - fruitful - so quickly. Started pulling out waist high weeds, getting wetter and wetter. So I've come inside, my jeans are soaked, and my house is full of wet roses (mainly Charles Austins) in vases.
Charles Austin Roses
Tuesday 22nd December
I've been doing more large scale weeding in the Hump Gardens today with my nosy (and friendly) blackbird. 'Bird! Hello bird' I greet him effusively (he always takes me by surprise). I chatter away in a suitably sing-song voice as he leans his head on one side and stares at me with one beady bright orange eye. He could even be listening - after all, he listens for worms. More likely waiting for my weeding hands and hand digger to uncover something yummy.
Cercis Leaves
I'm even more impressed (alarmed?) by the amount of growth in the Hump garden. Trees I shifted in (Maples, a flowering Prunus, a Cercis) have doubled in size. Honesty seed I scattered has grown into a thick carpet of plants (these won't flower until next spring). Species roses and shrubs spread themselves far and wide. The growth everywhere is massive. Oops.
Mary Rose
Wednesday 23rd December
Only two singing things to go, rather at the opposite ends of the musical spectrum. Corny Christmas songs (like the seasonally inappropriate 'Winter Wonderland') with a noisy brass band, and Beethoven's Mass in C major with a beautifully noisy orchestra.
Now this I haven't done enough practice for, oops. Beethoven's choral seems to be more suited to instruments, and it's way too high for a lazybones alto like me. But I am certainly looking forward to the experience. After all, it has been Beethoven's special party year.
So far today in the garden I've been working in the garden along the water race, trimming lupins and heavy Phormium flower stalks (they lean right over and rip the flaxes apart at the base) while The dogs race around barking at ghosts. We've been for two walks around the orchard, me carrying a Fred cat each time. Went to put him down and he tried to leap back up - not pleasant.
Part of the Hump Garden
Now the plan is to put proper gardening clothes on (i.e. shorts and boots) and do at least an hour weeding in the Hump. So how much bigger will everything be today? Scary thought!
Later...
I'm back, with a bowl of new potatoes, having removed two huge barrow loads. Still the path is blocked, though. My blackbird had fun. Ended up in the pumpkin patch pulling out huge handfuls of weeds - lucky pumpkins, almost pulled a couple of them out. Strong roots - yeay!