Hobbies and Crafts

I am pleased that we planted a Buddleja in the garden last year, it is a miniture one so only grows to about 4 -5 feet. And this year we have been visited by a lot of Peacock butterflies as well as the 'cabbage' whites and also a small brown one.

I love Buddlias Ann. The only good thing about The Thug is that his lovely deep purple one has seeded itself a couple of times in my garden, much nicer than my ordinary light mauve one. We have had some beautiful butterflies this year,, you don't see many Red Admirals nowadays do you ?

I am very excited , my Tuberose has got a big stem with a cluster of buds on it. guaranteed to come out when we are on holiday. Just like all the runner beans, cucumbers and tomatoes are going to be perfect for picking then. Will have to get someone to take photos and tell me how tasty they all were .

M. :-)

I haven't seen a red admiral yet this year. When we were children they were common. We have picked loads of tomatoes and cucumbers, plus lettuce and several meals of new potatoes, although we didn't grow many pots and only in containers. Annoying when things flower when you are away isn't it? :-D

I've been wondering whether to get a miniature buddleia Ann and now you've convinced me that it'll be worth it.

In our old house we had a large bed full of buddleias of all colours, including a beautiful one with lighter green leaves and deep red flowers. They were always covered in butterflies, particularly Peacock but we used to get quite a lot of Red Admirals and some Painted Ladies and others.

All we have room for now is a miniature one so I think I'll have to persuade OH that we need to get out to the garden centre again :-D

There do seem to be quite a few of the smaller varieties around Vera. We actually got ours in a sale a couple of years ago when it was really small so didn't pay much for it but it has done very well.

We visited a lovely house and garden yesterday, Knightshayes Court near Tiverton.

It has really lovely grounds and extensive parkland. As well as a delightful kitchen garden and pretty herbaceous borders surrounding the house. They also had some very nice plants for sale, for once I resisted.

The house itself is a bit bizarre, rather Scottish in style with lots of wood paneling, some of which is painted, so a little bit Swiss as well. Very interesting though.

Although the forecast hadn't been too good it was another beautiful clear blue sky day. We have had no rain, except for a bit on Monday evening for nearly a fortnight.

There were also lots of , not sure which, Swallows or Martins swooping about all over the place.

That is five National Trust properties we have now visited since the middle of June. Making the most of the membership the kids gave us for our birthdays.

M. :-)

That is one we have not been to yet, been to three in Somerset names all escape me at the moment I think one begins with L . Mottisfont I think is one I will check them out later when not on the IPad.

Can anyone help identify this plant growing in bright sunlight in the south of England. It is against a 2 metre wall.

http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/keepsafe/asset/details/8034856

Thanks for your help

Gwyn

Hello Gwyn I think it looks a bit like a common trumpet creeper, sorry don't know it's proper name.

Lesley x

Is it a tree or a shrub Gwyn?

This one?

Trumpet Creeper 'Madame Galan' - Climbing plants
Campsis x tagliabuana 'Madame Galen'
The Trumpet Creeper 'Madame Galan' (Campsis Tagliabuana 'Madame Galen') is a fast-growing climber with strong ariel rootlets that soon cling to a wall or fence. The trumpet-shaped. orange flowers appear from the second year and are definitely waiting for!

That certainly looks rather like it Ann, ..Thank you.

OH saw it when out with a walking group this morning and someone asked what it was so he took a photo.

I told him someone on GR was sure to know.

I will go and confer..>>>>>

Gwyn

Thank you for the information Lesley and Ann.

OH thinks you've definitely identified the plant in question.

Gwyn

Lovely photo of a rose on the photo blog.

Lovely rose photo.

I'm still deciding what to do with the roses that were in the garden here when we moved in. There are 6 in a bed and they all have a wonderful perfume, but the bed is in the wrong place and the rose colours don't look very good together. And they have terrible blackspot. I think we might lose two of them and try to move the other four to a different spot.

OH has at last managed to clear the shed and get half the big double garage set up as a workshop-cum-storage for garden tools. Someone has been this morning to see the shed and agreed to buy it and he and OH will dismantle it between them on Friday.

I can't wait as it will eventually give me a few more feet of garden. At the moment I am trying to decide whether to leave the concrete base down and have it as a seating area with pots of plants.We do have somewhere to sit in the garden already so I could have the concrete taken up and soil put down and then reshape it into some sort of shrub bed. Whatever I do, I'm hoping to get a few curves in somewhere to give this rectangle of a garden a bit of shape.

Good luck with it Vera, have fun designing it but try to make it not labour intensive. Have you thought of taking the concrete up and making a gravel bed?

Hadn't thought of a gravel bed Ann - something else to think about. When the shed goes I might ask a neighbour to come in and give us some advice. His garden isn't much bigger than ours but is gorgeous and was just a patch of mud five years ago when he moved in. I've just learnt that he designed the gardens for some Abbeyfield Homes and he does seem to have a good eye.

How handy having a neighbour with all that knowledge Vera :-D.He is sure to come up with the perfect solution for you.

As for lack of birds.I would be willing to share some of mine lol There are so many Gt Tits,Finches,Robins.You name them they are here.Lots of Goldfinch too ,but I only seem to see them on our roof for some reason.
I was watching the tractor in the field ploughing this afternoon with hundreds of Seagulls following :-D

So now we know where all the birds are.they are being well fed in Jane's garden.

Great to have good advice on tap Vera, bound to come up with something.

My shed has gone - hooray :-D

OH just managed to shovel and sweep up all the muck left behind on the concrete base before the heavens opened, so the base is now being washed nice and clean.

The house over the back has a large, tall black shed, with a pitched tiled roof, right up against our fence. Now the corner of our garden is opened up and the eye isn't drawn down to our shed his monstrosity seems a lot more obvious so we are going to have to look at disguising that somehow.

I think we are gradually turning this small rectangle into something we can call a garden