Saturday.........At Home

The weather over the last week has been soooo hot. Work has been very hard and tiring on every level and it was good to get to the end of the week with nothing over schedule and needing to be put onto the weekend.

We had made a plan to spend Saturday in our own garden, tidying a few things up and finishing planting all of the pots and tubs for the summer. We needed quite a few more plants and so thought that it would be good to spend the morning trawling the nurseries and garden centres.

Now, we are both definitely not fans of the major chains and as such will do general shopping for groceries at small local shops rather than supermarkets (Tesco...the worst!), and as such like to support small growers as much as possible. For the business it is a necessity to use large growers as these are the only people able to supply in large enough quantities for whats needed. However, for our own personal consumption we have the luxury of driving around the countryside and visiting a few specialists, with the obligatory Latte stop regularly thrown in at various cafes! And so it was that we came home after lunch with our latest selection ready for planting.

Time to open the garden shed and get the tools out.

The path along the side of our house is always a frustration to me. It is the place that gets used the most and so ends up with everything just getting dumped here until there is so much 'stuff' that you have to step over everything, and so before we start I simply must tidy up a bit as we have some monster tubs to move around. Not sure where to put the Kayaks, maybe just plant them up for now!

Everthing tidied and swept, some of the new plants and tubs brought round, and it doesn't look any tidier, but believe me you could eat your dinner off that floor!

We have been growing a Paulownia tomentosa tree for years now, but in the same pot, and so it hasn't done as well as it should do because ideally it should be in the ground but there isn't anywhere suitable and so finally time to get a hernia while wrestling it from it's present home and moving to a much bigger pot. It doesn't look as big in the photo below but believe me the sack truck was essential!

We are both not huge fans of common bedding but there is a time and place for some good old fashioned varieties to add strength. I generally don't go for white, but A likes it and so I stick a few white Geraniums in to appease.

The shy and retiring Misty decides to finally make an appearance. This was the only picture that showed her as she is so skittish that on seeing the camera she darted off as though I was about to hit her with it....not true! Maybe just a gentle spray with the hose later though.

I don't go for white, pastels or dark colours. I like bold ones such as oranges, reds, purples and blues. As common as muck I know, but Calendula perform, and for a long time, and so are a winner in my book. One of the best oranges! These are being planted by A, only fair as I put her white geraniums in.

Hello Hobie, looking as active and dynamic as uever I see!

Whilst sometimes flower colour is desired, I think it's also important to get foliage colour and texture mixed in. At times forget the flowers altogether and go for instance for other Geraniums such as these zonals, or perhaps the lemon scented variety.

One little fellow that has been with us for countless years is this bronze phoenesian fisherman, who has been moved around to countless places without ever having a real home...........

..............and so this shady and damp corner will suffice for now I hope.....I think he looks happier...is that a smile on his face?

The eating area at the end of the garden has also had a spruce up as it has tended to be the place where stock plants have been kept, making it unusable for our own use. Rubbish stock has been thrown out, good stuff re-potted and sold on, and we now have our space back....hurrah!!!

We used to have two stunning Hydranges either side of the front door, but alas, one has been killed off by vine weevil, and so the surviving blue one is now down in the shady eating area, and we now have bays either side now. The plan is to keep these tidy with secateurs and not to turn them into obelisks or dragons. The Rhododendron 'Purple Passion' nearest to you in the picture was a nursery purchase this morning and should look nice when the blooms open fully. The other pots have Coleus, Begonia non-stop, New Guinea Impatiens.

Both are very tired now and so, as it's 8.45pm, I think it's time to retire inside for a bite to eat and a continuation of 'The West Wing' on dvd. This has got to be THE best series ever made!!