Welcome to June...
Welcome to June, the first official winter month, month of the shortest day and the first real frosts. The month when I get into the cold water race and start chopping back the Gunnera. Brr...
The Gunnera Needs Trimming
But before I move onto the Gunnera, I must finish clearing the periwinkled paths in the woodland part of the Hump Garden. That's today's first garden task. The last task will be to crank up the bonfire and burn the mess. Who knows what will happen in-between.
White Flower Carpet Rose
Late flowering roses...
Am loving the smatterings of Flower Carpet roses, flowering now - so late in the season. Looked back at all my rose photographs earlier this morning - an overwhelming bevy of beautiful colours.
Pinks and apricots...
I love all the pinks and apricots - just wonderful. Am so glad I take lots of photographs of such things. I must never, ever take such flowerings for granted.
Three hours later...
No time for anything in-between. Two barrow loads scooped of of the path, which I'm very happy about. It's such a pretty area. Perhaps it deserves a name - how about the Periwinke Woods? I love it!
My Bonfire
Burnt the mess...
Burnt all my mess, along with three barrow loads of gum leaves from the driveway and handfuls of dead leaves from the garden's Cordylines. A flaming bonfire with not too much smoke.
Friday 2nd June
So far today I've had a quiet breakfast on the cottage verandah with Speckles, listening to him discretely gurgling with stray-cat full-tummy happiness. Then I took the dogs to the pond to shampoo some disgraceful muck off Winnie the super-stinky Border Collie. In and out of the water she leapt to retrieve her stick - some brisk rubbing from me eventually doing turning her brown fur back to white.
Then we walked up and down the edge of the Hump Garden in the sun to dry off. We marvelled at the textures, the coloured leaves underfoot, the beautiful shapes of the evergreens. Wow. Well, one of us marvelled, one of us forgot her manners and barked, the third one of us kept rolling in the lawn to get rid of that stinky shampoo smell!
Miscanthus Grass in the Hump Garden
Early afternoon...
Am home from the library with a bag of new books. The plan is to start trimming the Gunnera. Hope my waders don't leak too much.
Three hours later...
Wonderful news! The waders had a miniscule leak which I could hardly feel. I tackled the first clump of Gunnera by Middle Bridge. Started off properly sorting the mess into stems and leaves, and dumping loads underneath the hedge. Changed my technique when I got into the cold water - just flung everything in a heap on the nearby path to sort and stash tomorrow.
Dry clothes, warm socks...
And now the joy of clean dry clothes, warm woolly merino socks, and take-aways arriving for the evening meal courtesy of Non-Gardening Partner. Yeay!