What summer? August here in the south-west has been rather cool (average 18°C) with some dull grey days, breezy days, overnight rain, mist and intermittent sunshine and showers. Despite which I have managed to do a bit of tidying up in the garden. And making plans. (1) Houttuynia cordata ‘Chamaeleon’ is an attractive low-growing shrub,…
All about the bees
It hasn’t been a great year so far for bees and butterflies in my garden, but I had a wander down to the raised beds the other afternoon mainly to see whether my least favourite flower (because of its smell, not looks) Eryngium – the sea holly – was attracting anything other than flies. I…
Six on Saturday | Sizzling hot
Sadly the title does not refer to the weather which has been rather cool and damp recently, though fairly sunny and breezy during the day. I’m still not able to spend much time in the garden other than pottering around and dead-heading plants. There will be a lot to do once I am fully recovered….
Six on Saturday | August Arrives
It’s easy to tell when August arrives in Cornwall – not just from the amount of cars on the roads and people on the beaches and in the villages – but the lanes and roadsides are a riot of colour from the orange Montbretia, blue Agapanthus, purple Butterfly bushes (Buddleja), tall white and purple Bear’s…
last photo
Brian (aka Bushboy) is running a monthly challenge where he asks you to post the last photo on your SD card. The rules are simple: 1. Post the last photo on your SD card or last photo on your phone for July. 2. No editing – who cares if it is out of focus, not framed…
Six on Saturday | Then and Now
It is five years since I moved to this house and this garden. During 2016 I did nothing very much except to watch and wait, recording what grew each month and to release some of the container grown plants that had accompanied me on the move (with little thought about where). I thought it might…
Six on Saturday | Pollinator Plants
Last year I cleared out a patch of my garden which is next to the patio. I have wondered if a pond used to be here as the plants growing there were all bog garden / pondside plants – Filipendula ulmaria / meadowsweet, Mentha aquatica / water mint, Iris pseudacorus / yellow flag, Japanese anemones…
Six on Saturday | Herb Bed
Time for another look at the raised herb bed at the back of the garden. Things seem to have got a bit out of hand this year after a very slow start and there will be some serious culling after they have finished flowering. (1) Not all the plants in this bed are actual herbs….
July Squares
This month Becky is running her square challenge where the only rule is that the main photo must be square – not rectangular – 4 equal sides. The subject this July is ‘Trees’. You are quite free to interpret that any way you want and post as frequently as you want. As I am running…
Black and White Sketch
I can’t go into much detail as to how this picture was created as it is simply one of the photo editing effects on my phone. Originally taken in colour I simply scroll along to the black and white pencil sketch and save. There are a lot of effects on the phone, my favourite is…
