tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54245581666905916082024-03-14T06:56:33.477+00:00Experiments with PlantsBefore I started gardening, I thought I was fulfilled.
However, my Experiments with Plants directly and indirectly filled voids that I hadn't even recognised, lifting my happiness to a higher level.
This is a blog about a garden near London, England, and how it is changing my approach to life.b-a-ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01565084697297328338noreply@blogger.comBlogger134125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5424558166690591608.post-23672807521914349462015-07-01T17:05:00.000+01:002015-07-07T21:07:03.198+01:00Beetroot (01 JUL 2015)During the past year I've been aspiring to a healthier lifestyle. I jumped on the bandwagon and gave up eating sugar for four months. I managed to convince myself and everyone else that I didn't need sugar - didn't even want to eat it anymore, which held true until I was confronted with a Black Forest gateau during an all-you-can-eat night-out. I was the only person on the table who had double b-a-ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01565084697297328338noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5424558166690591608.post-17750248791782850532013-10-31T19:12:00.000+00:002013-10-31T19:36:19.174+00:00Box (31 OCT 2013)The front wall bordering
my property had one capping stone missing. Though the rendered coating looked
intact, some areas on the inner side could be picked off by hand, loosened by
retained moisture. In an attempt to repair the wall, I dislodged and cracked some
bricks which provided some entertainment for the people walking by who probably
didn’t even know who lived in my house before.
The b-a-ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01565084697297328338noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5424558166690591608.post-12908781582778765042013-10-16T02:03:00.000+01:002013-10-16T02:03:13.221+01:00Heuchera (16 OCT 2013)I’ve
pulled out sycamore seedlings at this time of year ever since I can remember. Even
before I was a gardener, it wasn’t my favourite chore. They get everywhere, in
pots, in flowerbeds and under the straw surrounding my precious strawberry
plants, propelled there by their incredibly effective wings. I admit reluctantly
that it’s an example of evolution at its best.
I was surprised earlierb-a-ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01565084697297328338noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5424558166690591608.post-33653956350874036052013-09-17T20:29:00.003+01:002013-09-18T06:28:26.216+01:00Anemones (17 SEP 2013)I have the impression that people abroad think all Brits can
recite Shakespearean plays. I’m afraid to say that this isn’t true. Have you
ever tried to read “The Taming of the Shrew” ?
At least I can relate to :
“Katherine : If I
be waspish, best beware my sting”
It’s very complex, consisting of a plot within a plot and
people disguising themselves as other people for no apparent reason. From b-a-ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01565084697297328338noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5424558166690591608.post-34520908616785684622013-09-02T22:08:00.001+01:002013-09-02T22:13:33.857+01:00Oregano (02 SEP 2013)
A couple of years ago my neighbours were going to throw away
an oregano plant; it found refuge in my garden. I have a feeling it’s one of
those herbs that you are supposed to grow fresh from new seed every spring. The
yellow tinge on the leaves suggests it’s stressed in some way, maybe that’s why
it flowers like a trooper.
It’s not the best looking plant, the faint pink flowers are
so tinyb-a-ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01565084697297328338noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5424558166690591608.post-60236522057699522622013-08-22T04:39:00.001+01:002013-08-22T18:13:02.927+01:00Wallflowers (22 AUG 2013)
Anyone
paying close attention to this blog may remember that I’ve already written
about wallflowers a few times this year, starting from winter when their long-awaited
buds emerged at the same time as the hellebores. Their velvety red petals
complemented the tulips and then the poppies through spring, and in summer their
orangey, yellow hues competed with the marigolds.
I even b-a-ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01565084697297328338noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5424558166690591608.post-91857508658486470742013-08-01T23:21:00.001+01:002013-08-02T06:26:27.005+01:00Goldenrod (01 AUG 2013)
This golden rose is called Absolutely Fabulous – and is to
me. However, the pollinators don’t seem so fussed with it …
whereas this plant is literally a-buzz.
At first, I thought it was a mutant wild aster without petals, which wasn’t too far wrong, as it is actually Goldenrod which is in the same family. Apparently, British gardeners b-a-ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01565084697297328338noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5424558166690591608.post-77895264431871611802013-07-21T20:38:00.000+01:002013-07-21T20:38:02.787+01:00Daffodils (21 JUL 2013)
I never thought that
I would use the words “lovely” and “daffodils” in the same sentence …
This spring I discovered white, double-headed daffodils.
I didn’t intend to plant them in the sunshine as I’d bought the bulbs in the November sale planning to brighten up a dark corner in my brother’s garden. A few were left over so I planted them in an empty patch in my own.
b-a-ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01565084697297328338noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5424558166690591608.post-53121821684890679172013-07-04T18:35:00.001+01:002013-07-05T19:25:37.070+01:00Rhododendrons (04 JUL 2013)Another failed cutting …
do you detect a theme developing ?
There were a variety of rhododendrons from which I had a choice to take cuttings. For example, the orange-flowered variety with variegated leaves, which if I remember correctly was the one which I transported back from the Chelsea flower show sale after being dragged there by my mother to serve as a b-a-ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01565084697297328338noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5424558166690591608.post-67211005788979687642013-06-20T23:59:00.002+01:002013-06-20T23:59:21.242+01:00Tree Paeony (20 JUN 2013)I’m pretty sure that the herbaceous
paeony which starts flowering with pink petals and a yellow centre then produces
a further bloom of pink petals from within is paeony sorbet because I found a
certificate with the name and pictures on the internet look similar.
The slow-growing tree paeony with enormous, peachy flowers, but without credentials, might be kinkaku. Some descriptions&b-a-ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01565084697297328338noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5424558166690591608.post-19267847881491099262013-06-02T21:30:00.003+01:002013-06-04T19:46:11.947+01:00Bluebells (02 JUN 2013)
When I saw the “woodland”
at the bottom of my garden for the first time, I marvelled at what I thought
was a unique feature. Then I started blogging and it became apparent that most
keen gardeners
save an area for shade-loving plants.
I added quotation marks when I referred to it so people would know I was pretending.
My memory is that it was filled with
bluebells then, but over the past four b-a-ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01565084697297328338noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5424558166690591608.post-72164816343054454622013-05-22T20:13:00.002+01:002013-05-22T20:23:30.467+01:00Paeonies (22 MAY 2013)
In the garden of my childhood, the compost pile between the
neighbours' fence and the garden shed was a definite no-go area. At the time, I
wasn’t convinced that there was goodness in the slimy, wormy mess of crushed
egg shells, spent tea leaves and rotten vegetable peelings. I can’t remember
when it stopped serving that function, maybe ten years ago. Today it’s a
wilderness growing on what I b-a-ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01565084697297328338noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5424558166690591608.post-36284411897210315562013-05-15T20:50:00.001+01:002013-05-15T20:50:11.452+01:00Pareto Principle (15 MAY 2013)There is nothing special about
the numbers 80 or 20, mathematically. However, empirically is has been noted
time and time again that approximately 80% of the effects are due to 20% of the
causes. This principle was named after an Italian economist named Pareto, who
observed that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the
population, it has since been applied in fields as diverse as retail, b-a-ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01565084697297328338noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5424558166690591608.post-42545070977711921712013-05-07T23:10:00.002+01:002013-05-12T15:02:57.847+01:00Forgetmenots (07 MAY 2013)This post was supposed to be about daffodils, but sometimes you just have to go with the flow ...
It all started when I was planting a lacecap hydrangea cutting.
It was pruned from the mother plant during winter 2010, produced tiny flowers in summer 2011, nothing in 2012, and here it is today looking quite grown-up.
My mum was suffering from acute kidney b-a-ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01565084697297328338noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5424558166690591608.post-26799069236750002932013-04-28T16:52:00.001+01:002013-04-28T16:57:30.604+01:00P****less (28 APR 2013)
Two weeks ago I thought I had found the perfect theme for my Garden Bloggers Bloom Day post until I discovered that the word that I was thinking of was trademarked. Then I was driving to work last week when my engine started hiccuping while traffic whizzed past at 70 mph. To cut a long story short, after paying £235 and then even more for an overdue major service, my almost b-a-ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01565084697297328338noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5424558166690591608.post-39606096943773428512013-04-05T21:51:00.003+01:002013-04-05T21:53:09.029+01:00Tree-Following (05 APR 2013)
It all started when Lucy at Loose&Leafy asked if I would be following a
tree this year. I replied that I had no plans to but later it seemed a shame
considering …
People who live abroad may not be aware that Greater London is one of the
greenest cities in the world in terms of green space, which is estimated to
cover at least 40% of its area, even before including lawns and b-a-ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01565084697297328338noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5424558166690591608.post-41012502963738164042013-03-25T16:59:00.000+00:002013-03-25T17:38:45.672+00:00Snowdrop (25 MAR 13)
The year before last I
planted fifteen galanthus bulbs, then fifteen more last year before Christmas.
I wish I could propose that fifteen is the gardener’s dozen, but there
is only one bloom to date, the same one as last spring, acclimatising well to the
wet conditions considering that there was a drought predicted during its last
incarnation.
raindrop
I’m fairly b-a-ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01565084697297328338noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5424558166690591608.post-32137212563498258872013-03-17T15:56:00.001+00:002013-03-17T16:00:41.540+00:00 Spring Celebration (17 MAR 2013)
When I was at infant school, a girl from the USA joined our
class for a year while her father was on secondment. Her name was Spring, which
I thought suited her personality as she was quite lively compared to the rest
of us. It didn’t occur to me at the time that her parents may have named her
after the season.
Wouldn’t Clematis be a nice name for a
baby born in spring ?
&b-a-ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01565084697297328338noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5424558166690591608.post-91992668866911212142013-02-27T21:41:00.001+00:002013-02-28T18:29:44.128+00:00Hellebores (27 FEB 2013)
Like many other gardeners, for the past two
years, I have cut away the hellebore leaves when the flower buds appeared to
allow the flowers to shine.
In fact last year I cut the leaves too early, allowing
me to witness the unbelievable resilience of these plants. The flowers bowed
down to the ground, forecasting snowfall a couple of days later, then
miraculously rose again when the snow had b-a-ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01565084697297328338noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5424558166690591608.post-66947724110999298102013-02-13T20:01:00.000+00:002013-02-13T21:04:15.615+00:00Wallflowers (13 FEB 2013)
I’ve been spending my gardening time
elsewhere, instead of planning planting schemes and organising
seed packets in sowing order. I’m taking it easy this year, because past
experience has shown that seeds sown too early aren’t so successful as the
miscellaneous seedlings which sprout from a desperate sprinkling into a last
resort seed-tray in late spring. Good things come to those who wait b-a-ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01565084697297328338noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5424558166690591608.post-16295850321204663232013-01-30T22:28:00.000+00:002013-01-31T06:44:09.251+00:00Banana (30 JAN 2013)They say that commercially-grown Gros Michel bananas imported till the 1950s, before Panama disease attacked, were richer and sweeter than those we eat today. I can only imagine ...
We have to make do with the Cavendish variety of banana. When I'm in a healthy phase it's my mid-morning snack, a satisfactory substitute for a chocolate bar. However, when I throw caution to the wind, b-a-ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01565084697297328338noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5424558166690591608.post-54350456334015443802013-01-20T19:41:00.001+00:002013-01-20T20:21:29.545+00:00Great Cold (20 JAN 2013)I spend more time having meetings with people abroad by audio and computer these days than in the office. By the wonders of technology they can even tell if I am at my desk.
Last week, I selected the option to add the public holidays and observances in different countries to my work calendar; it's always useful to know when you have an extra day to complete a task b-a-ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01565084697297328338noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5424558166690591608.post-78679618753233042002013-01-15T00:29:00.001+00:002013-01-15T00:29:43.467+00:00Primula (15 JAN 2013)I'm not sure how to display primula to really show them off, which they surely deserve at this time of year, and it seems that my local council don't know either.
primula brighten up the entrance to the public convenience
The other day, I saw a planting suggestion on the Gardener's world website where a bunch of daffodils were surrounded by primula in a rather attractive arrangementb-a-ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01565084697297328338noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5424558166690591608.post-86812434436002128082013-01-06T18:58:00.000+00:002013-01-07T22:51:36.641+00:00Lotus Flower (06 JAN 2013)I've mentioned how I discovered a volunteer plant called ammobium in my garden which, despite its diminutive blooms, fuelled my lotus flower fantasy. It started flowering before the nicotiana, a long-flowering plant itself, and continued after.
Nicotiana & Ammobium
Ammobium is also called "winged everlasting" due its winged stems and its suitability for dried flower b-a-ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01565084697297328338noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5424558166690591608.post-71043389862605400952012-12-31T21:13:00.001+00:002013-01-01T10:13:45.345+00:00End of Year View (31 DEC 2012)These photos were taken a few days ago during a brief interval between rainfalls.
view of front patio - primula - bulbs disguised
I thought squirrels/cats/foxes were supposed to keep out of the rain, but they managed to snatch a few moments to dig up newly planted bulbs which I attempted to hide under the primula, leaving the latter with dirty faces.b-a-ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01565084697297328338noreply@blogger.com16