The power of gardening magazines...
Red Phormium
Quickly! No time to lose. I've been reading my gardening magazines in front of the log-burner, and I am inspired. Mainly by photographs of clever groupings of pots by tidy paths - and gardens overflowing with luscious hostas, slightly unseasonal, but beautiful.
I should tidy up the gardens near the Stables and install some pots - to blur the edge between garden and driveway (hee hee). And I should clean up my glass-house because it is not a pretty sight, and the glasshouses in my magazine look absolutely gorgeous, like romantic boudoirs. I should find some hostas to divide and replant in a more auspicious position. Yes. Let's get out there.
Later...
Oops. I worked really well for two hours, came inside for a cup of tea, sat in front of the log-burner and immediately fell asleep for an hour. What little I've done looks much better though, and my little stone retaining wall near the Stables is again a garden feature to be admired. Will transfer all inspiration into tomorrow - I don't have to go out anywhere, no excuses, and so on. There are so many little details that I ignore. I can do better!
Thursday 7th July
So the frenzy created by reading those magazines didn't really last. I've had a week where garden sessions of two hours, afternoons only, have been the limit, and I've done pretty mundane, uninspired things. That's winter for you, I guess.
Perle D'Or Rose
For example, today I worked for two hours cleaning up the Welcome Garden. But it was really cold, my fingers were grumbling, and my knees are hopeless at the moment anyway. But hey! I sort of did my best - one load of mess barrowed out and dumped by the bonfire.
Blurred days...
Here's a round-up of my previous gardening days (they've all blurred into each other, oops). One day I dug out and repositioned the Camellias in the Pond Paddock Garden. Their placement lining the curves border edge is now so much better. Took me ages to dig the new planting holes.
Another day I pulled out Euphorbias by the Stables to give the Agapanthus more room, rescued and potted up the rose Perle D'Or, and chopped down an unhappy white rambler. If it resprouts, then that's fine. Yesterday I marched into the Orchard swinging my secateurs and loppers to make a start on the orchard climbing roses. Oops. A very large oops. They've been largely ignored for the last - three years? Surely not! Eek...
Parkdirektor Riggers Roses
Unhappy orchard roses...
Some were unhappy (like Celine Forestier, who had a lot of dead bits). Some were just plain awful - for example, Parkdirektor Riggers, who had almost brought down his rose arch (it's on the most alarming lean). I had to cut him down, all of him - actually, all of the two of him, one each side of the arch - and now he has waist high stalks and nothing above.
Such a beautiful baby!
If this treatment of an older climbing rose proves to be fatal, then so be it. It's not fair - he was such a beautiful baby!
Made so much mess that I decided not to clean it up - there's logic in that? Sort of - it was more sensible to get the trailer in there, fill it, and then get that towed to the bonfire. A lot of the Hazelnut trees were pushing into the rose air-space, so I had pruned their branches back as well.
The great orchard rose trim...
And I'm sorry to say that I didn't follow through on my magazine inspirations. My hostas are still undivided, my glasshouse is a disgrace, and no pots can be seen (yet) by the Stables. Sorry about that!