gardens

Red For Danger?

Actually, it’s probably the eyespots that see off birds that might prey on the peacock butterfly (Aglais io). But then the deep rusty red does show them off so well.

The peacock is said to be one of our commonest UK butterflies, although I’ve only seen one so far this year, and that was in our bedroom. I was more concerned with helping it escape than snapping it. These photos, then, are from our previous garden where they would often come in high summer to feed on Doronicum, aka Leopard’s Bane.

But how beautifully it has composed itself. And so it seems a fitting tribute to Becky who, for a whole month, has kept us so well amused with our respective photo archives.

THANK YOU, BECKY, QUEEN OF SQUARES

#SimplyRed Day 31

Six on Saturday ~ More From The Random Garden

As I said in my last Six on Saturday post we have a new garden. I also said that for various reasons – rampant weeds to clear and too much wet weather from winter to spring – I was all behind come growing time; things got sown or planted out wherever there was space at that particular moment.

This has since made protecting cabbages, purple sprouting, kale and cauliflowers, first from pigeons, and more recently from hoards of cabbage white butterflies intent on laying their eggs, somewhat problematical, not to say given rise to a mishmash of netting and other protective devices rather too reminiscent of my former allotment contrivances.

So number 1, since it is preying on both my mind and on my brassicas: CABBAGE WHITE BUTTERFLIES…

Caterpillar damage on Tuscan kale

I actually quite like this photo. The more so as the target of interest is my SoS 2: agastache or Vietnamese Mint. The butterfly is calling in for an energy fix, which I suppose I should mind. (Enough procreation, thank you!)

I love the agastache. It smells of aniseed and its leaves are edible. It’s a perennial (I grew lots of it from seed this spring), though I’m not sure how hardy it will prove in a Bishop’s Castle winter. Anyway, it is a very tidy plant, growing beautifully upwards with lots of purple-mauve spires – not easy to photograph well.

SoS 3 is one of this week’s very pleasing finds: a nice young toad lurking by the outside tap.

We’d already found a much bigger toad hiding under an old tile by Graham’s new garden shed creation. I’m wondering if there may be more, because so far there has been very little slug damage along the vegetable rows – so little in fact, I can’t quite believe it. (Lull before storm?) We were besieged with molluscs in Much Wenlock. We do have the odd big snail however.

Talking of the new garden shed, this is number 4. I’ve mentioned elsewhere that it’s being built from scratch, incorporating recycled parts from our April roof makeover and other assorted materials, the whole inspired by a Great Western Railway goods wagon. I’ve had to sacrifice what might otherwise have been a large and useful garden border, but never mind. I’m liking the shed. It’s presently having its rubber roof applied.

SoS 5 is the front garden sweet corn. It’s growing tall and starting to tassel. Possibly planted rather tightly, but so far the plants don’t seem to mind.

As seen a couple of weeks ago:

I also have a neighbouring raised bed with cabbages and spring onions. On the farther side of the front garden there is now a row of purple sprouting growing where the potatoes were, netted of course.

The two raised beds seen here were made from building work off-cuts, and I’m hoping for more to be made when the shed is done, and eventually I’ll move these to the back garden.

Or maybe not. The front garden does seem a good growing spot.

There’s also some good growing going on at the bottom of garden. I’m pleased that back in the winter I managed to make a good compost filled trench for the runner beans. It brings me to no. 6 – last night’s first meal of the season. Always a gardening landmark in Farrell household.

The trench of garden waste and hot bin compost certainly seems to be working well for runner beans Emergo and Painted Lady

Up, up and away…

Six on Saturday

Please visit Jim’s lovely garden at Garden Ruminations

The Changing Seasons ~ This Was July ‘24

Here in Bishop’s Castle, as in many parts of Great Britain, much of July was cool and overcast – more autumn than summer. The garden, however, carried on oblivious, although there was an obvious shortage of bees, hover flies, butterflies and other insects.

But then just on the last lap, summer happened. And not heat waves either; simply days of pleasing warmth which certainly brought out the bees. And then whole flocks of cabbage white butterflies flew in, wafting round the garden, dozens at a time, homing in on cabbages and nasturtiums to lay their eggs. I’ve given up chasing them away.

They also like to feed on the agastache (Vietnamese Mint), a perennial I’ve grown from seed this spring. The bees love it too. So I’m glad I planted out all the many seedlings that germinated, as well as giving some away. It’s a stately plant with purple-mauve plumes and leaves that smell of aniseed.

The switch to warm days has made all the lettuce bolt, but we’re still eating some of them. As ever, I have failed to organise a seasonal flow, so there will be a gap in salad content for a time. Instead, I’m picking the young leaves of Swiss Chard, a second crop which I’ve managed this time to protect from nibbling pigeons. There are also herbs – dill, basil, and lots of coriander and chives, and wild rocket (about to bolt) and masses of developing leeks which are good in salads.

But best of all, the runner beans are beginning to set, so I must keep an eye on them. They often fool me by producing the first crop near the ground inside the canes, where they can’t be seen.

And then this lovely mallow has started to flower…

And there’s been a second flush of foxgloves…

And then I noticed a happy partnership (growing out of the concrete on the front path) campanula and lavender perfectly arranged…

And finally, in amongst the ongoing building work and general domestic confusion…

…we take note that it is was a year last July when we exchanged contracts on The Gables and began planning our move to Bishop’s Castle…

And in case you’re wondering about the big beer barrel, the town is famous for its historic pub and brewery The Three Tuns Inn, serving folk since 1642. Just one of many good reasons to settle here. The beer is delicious. Cheers!

The Changing Seasons: July 2024 Hosted by Ju Lyn and by Brian at Bushboys World

Naturally Fragmenting

Winter windfall apples as deconstructed by blackbirds

And things blown apart…

Thistles

Opium poppies losing their ‘skirts’

Dandelion clock

And tree fragments: Bird Cherry leaves

Lens-Artists: Fragments This week Brian at Bushboy’s World wants to see fragments however we wish to interpret them.

On The Plot In Floral Monochrome

Nigella AKA Love-in-a-mist

Dandelion profusion: the next generation

Damson blossom

Frosted Hesperantha

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Flowers

Red-rospective ~ From Seasons Past

Red is a favourite colour, so I’m sorry I’ve not posted more ‘red’ shots for Jude’s Life in Colour. As a final fling, here’s my gallery of garden reds from the last few years.

Life in Colour: RED There will be a new shade over at Travel Words on Sunday.

The Changing Seasons: July

The field of gold behind the house has gone now, the barley cut and baled and hauled away, the ground harrowed. It happened in a few days too – to beat the change in the weather. The sky gods simply snapped their fingers: high summer heatwave off; autumn wind and rain on, plus a 12 degree drop in daytime temperatures. Gone too are the drifts of lime flower scent along the town lanes and by-ways. In fact on Friday the change felt so dramatic I kept thinking I’d lost a month or two and that we were actually in late September. Most disorientating.

But on the things-to-be-very-pleased-about list, number one is the completion of the greenhouse construction against the cottage back door. He who builds sheds and binds books worked his socks off, first demolishing the plastic conservatory, then being confounded by limestone wall (and how to affix said greenhouse to it.) Next were the bad delivery issues of wrong window fittings, wrong glass and dealing with the installation of a door that should have gone on the other end. This one step forward – two back construction phase was also preceded by devising means to resolve a perennially leaking gutter issue. But he sorted it. Hats off to Dr. Farrell.

And so you might be a tad underwhelmed when you see the final creation. It is so low-key compared with the plastic predecessor whose existence I tried never to record apart from this one photo:

And so now for the new version – recently rain-tested and presently filling up with my drying onion crop:

Meanwhile out in the garden the bees aren’t letting the weather affect the feeding imperative. The hollyhock flowers have been a particular favourite, the bees calling in for an all-over pollen wash.

The oregano flowers are a big hit too:

Then out in the guerrilla garden, the knautia keeps on flowering and is now providing a hunting ground for a tiny crab spider:

The latest floral interlopers there (though most welcome) are some lemony evening primroses:

The tansy has been taking over too and about to flower:

Finally some soothing sounds from July on the Linden Walk:

The Changing Seasons: July This month hosted by Brian at Bushboys World. Go see his fabulous gallery of New South Wales flora and fauna.

The Changing Seasons: This Was June

This week the wild flower plot at the allotment has burst forth from the meadow grass to bring us poppies, blue cornflowers and bright yellow anthemis. More exciting still is the discovery in the nearby communal orchard of a spotted orchid. Thank you, bird. Something you did must have resulted in this new arrival. Spotted orchids are of course quite common around Much Wenlock. Nearly 4,000 were counted last Friday up on Windmill Hill in the annual orchid count. They thrive in limestone meadows. I’d show you its picture of the newbie, but when I went to check on it yesterday morning, the flower was very much ‘over’.

On the home front all is chaos in the Farrell garden – the vegetation rampant and he who builds sheds and greenhouses up to his ears in the new lean-to greenhouse whose parts are currently reclining rather than leaning. Well, it seemed like a good idea to remove the nasty plastic conservatory from the back door. But then how do you attach a metal framed greenhouse to a very unstraight limestone boulder wall? Much pondering involved. I am however informed that progress has finally being made – an intervening wooden frame being attached to said wall which will make gap filling and water-tight-involving interventions feasible. Phew!

This is the ‘upstairs’ garden with (thankfully) few glimpses of the greenhouse construction chaos below. Here you can meet some of our best ‘girls’.

And then there are tumbles of campanula and the exuberant ‘tapestry’ of colours in the downstairs garden:

Out in Townsend Meadow the barley is changing colour – hints of buttery yellow with gingery flushes, but still green on the peripheries. The grains are swelling fast after a few good showers. And talking of showers, the path to the allotment is now very overgrown, this despite my frequent to-ing and fro-ing. It is now the season of wet knees and rising damp in the gardening pants, and otherwise arriving dew-soaked on the plot. I could of course take the garden shears to it. This has been known.

We have not been far this month, though we did pop over to Ironbridge last week. It was good to see lots of visitors in the outdoor cafe in the Square, and the Severn Gorge brimming with greenness. But there’s no pretending, life is not as we knew it.

The Changing Seasons: June 2021

The White Gallery

This month Jude at Travel Words asks us to find beauty in shades of white and silver.

Here are a few recent finds in and around the garden.

Flowers from the top: columbine, allium, foxglove, valerian, pyracantha, pulmonaria leaves, lamb’s ears and finally, a most welcome interloper to the guerrilla garden, among the valerian, hesperis and red campion some white campion; who knows how she got there.

Life in Colour: White/Silver

Last Chance For Purple

For this final week of ‘purple posts’ Jude at Travel Words asks for edible subjects. She didn’t specify whose food though, or at what stage they might be edible. A broad interpretation to follow then, including shots from the allotment yesterday: polytunnel chives, comfrey and field bean flowers.