Filled a pot

A spur of the moment idea about the fact that alpines or succulents might brighten up a dark corner of the garden occurred to me. Before I knew it I had bought some red succulents. I had some green ones that I had transplanted from some of a plants offshoots last year. These had been festering in their pots waiting to find a home. When I thought about how I was going to arrange them and in what. I remembered the old strawberry planter I obtained on freecycle ages ago. It has never quite made it as a strawberry planter, it just waited empty but for a little gritty soil, but it might be good for this purpose. Just 10 minutes later and I had this - I'm quite pleased with it and can't wait to see what it looks like when the planted get fully established

Foxton Open Gardens

I just love having a good nose around other peoples gardens. Real gardens not concept gardens created for Chelsea etc. Foxton is a small vibrant village not far from where I live. It is obviously filled with a variety of excellent gardeners with a wide range of styles. Once a year they open up their gardens for a Sunday afternoon. This year there were 16 possible places to visit. The village bustled with viewers. I managed to visit five of the gardens in about 2 hours, everybody was so chatty and friendly it was not possible to go any faster.


If I ever have tea lights and can sit out at dusk in the garden this is the holder that I want them to twinkle from,do you know where can I find one?

I love the use of mirrors in the garden, it fills small compartments of the garden with light and space. And they are great for a confusing photograph like the first one below.



Do you have an old garden bench I can use to display some terracotta pots on? It is so simple an idea that is beautiful and as the plants grow and trail further, its full beauty can only be anticipated. This garden backed onto open fields.

So you have guessed it I have full on garden envy, I'm very green but that is not in my fingers. I'm looking forward to next year's visits and will be making plans for my garden.

Gerkins

I've never grown gerkins before. I planted 4 seeds as I felt that that would be enough. All germinated. I lost two plants with the cold snap and the march of the slugs into my growhouse.


The two remaining little plantlings have been separated. One has been sent to the allotment, the other remains in a pot at home (where I can keep a closer eye on it). It is not an experiment but I am interested in which one will fair better.

I think that they need to grow up a frame so the picture show the constructions that I am using. I will try to feed them at the same time. Let's see what happens.....

Panel of images

Last night I put these four images into a panel competition at my photo club I thought I would share them with you! They were mid range in the scoring the judge said a lot about how I had arranged them and mounted them for the competition. I don't think he liked the subject matter much.

Finally some gardening help?

This morning out of the corner of my eye I saw something moving in the grow house. I grabbed a point and press camera and stood still and sure enough she came back. I have to say her behaviour is completely bonkers, she was removing chunks of compost with out a care for the plants. I'm assuming its crazed nest building but it really is the sort of help that I could do without.


You can see Mrs Blackbird can't you?

Mojo

Where do I begin, I'm not even strictly talking about the gardening me, overall I fear that I have lost my mojo at the moment. I blame it on election stalemate, cold weather and general irritations. Shockingly it means that I feel little like gardening or photography. Feel free to give me a little kick up the backside!
Something is not quite right I bought a 'women's' magazine (the first in about a year) it is still in the wrapper. What is going on!
I have a strong itch to make or create something but that means I have to leave the sofa in the evenings so I'm always thinking I'll do it tomorrow. I'll just plan it in my head for now.
Do you have any recipes for motivation?
I need to do some photography editing as I want to put a panel of images together for a club competition. All flower still life shots like above if I don't get a move on I'll miss the boat. Help!

Under the influence of Alys

At the moment I am really enjoying watching the edible garden, Alys has a thrifty and loose style to what she does that is just so infectious. Each week I wish my urban garden was as beautiful and productive as hers has been in the show. Tonight she made a plea for planting more flowers in the garden and not just edible flowers. I think that next year I might have to plan some loose planting areas in my garden. This year I am still contemplating trying to put in some raised beds, but the expense is putting me off. For now I have planted my salad leaves in a wooden wine box in the style of Alys Fowler. The box has been lovingly coated with danish oil and planted up with some of my dig in seeds. Now lets see how long this cut and come again salad will feed me. My second wooden box will be sown with rocket when I get around to it, I might just chuck in a couple of nasturtiums for beauty.