Month: September 2012

This is my favorite time of the year. Over the next few months I love to feel the special chill in the mornings and evenings that is unique to this time of year.

Major job today of coating the decking. I had wished it would have gotten a chance to dry out but that was not to be. I got half it done last night, but it needs two coats so by evening a few pints of the black stuff (good medicinal amount) to ease the bones may well be the order of the day.

Have a good one folks.

I love this deeper shade of waterlily. Upper Pond producing lots more lilies than ever before. Good news. And the pond basically looks after itself, which is even better.

I bought this about 10 years ago and it now is about 20 feet tall.   At this time of year it flowers and the scent is delicious.  It usually lasts all September.  The one drawback is its leaves.  It seems to shed them all year round.

The last day or two there have been loads of butterflies and bees and similar insects everywhere. They must be making up for lost time!

It was Cherub Cymbal’s simple comment that started all the commotion today. He is a simple sort of soul , perhaps at times too easily influenced by Cherub Lute.  His comment ‘Goodness but Mr Scrubber must have planted hundrits of forget- me- nots today! Hasn’t he great patience!’ was answered by Cherub Lute. ‘He probably got it from his mother. She needed it!’. There was a sharp intake of breath all about the Scrub for, up to this ,no one had ever spoken of Mr. Scrubber but with the utmost respect. Cherub Lute was unrepentant. ‘Well Sr. Josephine always said she was put to the pin of her collar’.

At this Cherub interrupted, having decided that Cherub Lute this time had gone way beyond the bounds of good manners. He told him quietly but very firmly, that as he had hardly been in the garden a wet weekend it was not his place to criticize Mr Scrubber. But Cherub Lute by now had become reckless and answered ‘Why?,what would he do’. Cherub kept his cool and explained that if a certain cherub (Lute) were not to behave himself. ‘Mr Scrubber might think again about applying joghurt to the plinth on which he stood and that the moss which Cherub Lute craved might– ‘never grow up to his a—‘  came the ribald voice from deep in the Scrub. Whereupon the much- put- upon Cherub now had to remind a certain person that ‘although ,of course, he is NOT the president of the country, nevertheless the fact that he bore a distinct resemblance to that personage, made it incumbent upon him to behave with a certain measure of dignity and decorum. And that he should not resort to raising a cheap laugh by making ribald comments. (No matter how much others irritated him). There was a quiet small ‘sorry’ floated up from a cave beneath the eye-line.

The threat of not having a fine coating of moss on his plinth seemed to make an impression on Cherub Lute. ‘Okay then I’m sorry too, Mr Scrubber has lots of patience and his mother didn’t need to have any!’. ‘And he did a great job on the edging today’. This last sentence showed a surprising degree of magnanimity on the part of Cherub Lute and Cherub decided it was best to let matters lie.

Honour was satisfied and peace was restored and everyone relaxed again even if Micilin Dee had a very red face for the next few hours from the shame of a public rebuke from Cherub.

i spent the entire day in the garden today, something i have not done this year until  

today, i really enjoyed it, done all those small jobs and sprayed for moss and greening

as i do twice a year. plenty of photos and sitting in the arbour taking it all in.

nothing garden related at all.

But just look what I was holding this evening

;-)))))))))))))))))))))))))

and I’m still grinning.

beautiful autumn fruits. red with orange insides. leaves will be lovely in a couple of weeks too. its about 5 foot tall.

Today Scrubber got out his  new ( well three- year- old present , he is only recently able to manage it), I- pod, an old carpet, a garden magazine, a book, and lay down on the carpet and read the book and listened to music and didnt do A STROKE OF WORK today in the garden. The sun was shining down, the birds singing and the roses nodding in the EDGED border!

Sr Josephine would have given up on me. ‘The divil finds work for idle hands etc.’ but the newly contrite Cherub Lute (c.f. last journal) kept quite quiet. I only got two ant stings (God bless Anthisan) and most wonderful of all a butterfly fluttered by and landed on Scrubbers shoulder! And stayed there for a short time. Scrubber was honoured!

Tomorrow  theres to be an all out assault on the old rockery as weeds and tangle and creeper and sally bindweed’s sisters are all combined. But today was , as it should be , a day of rest. Hope it was as nice for all garden.iers!

Well, last year when Steve came up with this brainwave of making a ‘cave’ within our final pond, I must admit having doubts as to whether he would be able to ‘come up with the goods’. It was October before any work was actually done on this project. I knew it would be the wrong time, as the fibreglass needed heat for the layers to ‘go off’. However, Steve plodded on with his idea. The weather this year has been so crap that he hadn’t been able to devote much time to his project. But over the last few weeks, he clutched the odd good day and made the most of it. This last week, in particular, has been most suitable for work on same. He even took time off work at the end of the week to progress further.

I got in from work this evening and he had completed three full coats of fibreglass, AND removed the original Chicken Wire and copper tubing that formed the template of the cave. Looking at it this evening, it looked magical. It gave the impression almost of an Ice Cave. But la creme de la creme was when Steve proved to me the strength of the structure. This cave will eventually have the soil ,that has been dug out to form the pond, placed on top of it. And it has to be strong enough to withstand the weight of that, PLUS my weight, so I can plant into it. He is surely a genius. He is now taking next week off so he can complete it. Steve ‘ticks ALL my boxes’. And he’s NOT for hire!!!  He’s all mine!!

One of our ier’s Doreen brought me this plant last year when she came to visit. I saved the seed and grew it this year. This is an annul although to me it looks like a perennial. It grows about 3 ft High and has a beautiful flower but I think the nicest part is the Seed Capsule. The proper name is Nicandra Physaloides (may not be spelt correct)

Need I say more

I just love these flowers

I have never seen so many cobwebs in my garden as this year. This evening while picking blueberries for tomorrow’s breakfast, I was startled by the speed of this massive spider in his web amongst the blueberry bushes when I obviously disturbed him. I mean, he was bigger than a euro coin. 

On Sunday we visited Brendan’s daughter-in-law and had a lovely time with her and her four lovely daughters. She is an “occasional” gardener and this summer she invested in some plants from Aldi but didn’t get around to planting them. 

She decided the plants would have more chance of survival in my garden so I was delighted to get a present of some plants. One was a variegated Pieris but the rest are a mystery to me. She says they are climbers so I’d really appreciate any suggestions as to which they might be so that I can plant them in the right place! I know some of you have Aldi nearby and may even have bought the same plants!

Today was a bit busy with other stuff, but I did get a couple of hours outside in the lovely weather. I finally planted the wallflower seeds I bought earlier. Yes, I know! They are over a month late but I reckon that if I didn’t plant them I DEFINITELY wouldn’t have any walllowers next year, but this way I may be lucky!

I am gradually working my way through the weeding of all the beds in the back garden so that I don’t have to face the front 🙁 

I hope we can get agreement on the cattle question soon so that I can move on.

A huge THANK YOU to whoever bought the gift that I received in Kris Kindle at our Johnstown get together last January,  I got a very handy garden notebook and two types of bulbs. Beautiful dark wine cactus dahlias whose name I have mislaid and bulbs of Acidanthera ‘Gladiolus callianthus’. 

I had never heard or seen Acidanthera but I absolutely love them now that I have found them, for weeks I thought they wouldnt flower this year but lo and behold in the last few days they are blooming, beautiful.

A number of kind people have asked scrubber what he would do when there were no more rocks to be found in his garden. I think in the words of Blanche de Bois ‘iwill ‘have to rely on the kindness of strangers!’. Today though as he came out of our local supermarket he noticed a granite stone over in a corner so went back in and asked the owner could he please have it! He will collect it tomorrow as its not too heavy to load.

But a few days ago while cleaning the rockery Scrubber became a little perturbed as the big stones overlooking the rockery seemed to be in danger of shifting if little feet started to climb on them. He needed two good stones to anchor them all. Even though his memory is not as good as it used be he did remember a fine mound of stones near a friends house so again on asking for two they were graciously given and Scrubber was allowed pick them out and even offered more.

Today he spend the morning fitting them in with the others and redoing the cement around the basis and he is so delighted that they fitted in so well. ’Made for the place’ said Cherub approvingly over Scrubber’s shoulder.

Then he spent the afternoon mixing more cement and filling in gaps on the steps beside Statue Scrubber. This took ages as  he had to find suitable small stones to fit in and there was quite a bit of juggling to be done but six o clock saw all complete and he was very happy. Gardening isn’t always about weeding and planting and thinning, theres a time for matching and hauling and setting and cementing, but it all comes together hopefully at the end!