Monday, June 09, 2008

Our garden today ...

OK folks you are going to have a grand tour of my garden today - as I am feeling very proud of it ! It is looking very green - but I don't think there is enough colour in it so will have to plant more flowers for next year!
Please excuse the strange planting / bed fellows as my keen little gardener planted the summer bulbs wherever he desired!

You walk out of our play room / conservatory turn to your right. You have gone past my lemon balm (I think!) plant and my plastic green house full of flowers which will apparently attract bird, bees and butterflies!

Then you will see three white buckets (75p from Tescos - much cheaper than proper plant pots!) These are perfect for my runner beans - there are sunflowers in each bucket too.
I have sunflowers everywhere thanks to last years crop being recycled by the birds! I found them growing all the way down our gravel driveway - so I moved them into my garden - I lost a few but saved most! These beans will hopefully grow up the sticks to the drain pipe of the conservatory as they did last year. I saved some beans from last years crop for these beans.

Just past the beans is my water but - just out of the picture on the right. In this picture I have normal mint, apple mint, one normal sized rose bush, two mini rose bushes and an angel. The angel came from my Grandpa's garden up in Coventry before he moved to a Nursing Home.

Let me see in this picture we have one rhubarb plant, two rosemary bushes, one english geranium, one rose bush and lots more mint and orange mint too. Next to the rhubarb and behind the rosemary someone threw a potato or two so I have potatoes growing there too!!!


Coming down the garage, towards my shed full of material and wool !
One of my three lavenders I managed to grow from seed, more mint, a mystery summer bulb, a sunflower and corn... the last three planted by Luke !


My lovely Japanese Maple - I really need to repot it maybe this winter. I bought this as a stick and am amazed it has grown so well!


Around the corner (my lovely hubby dug this garden for me). About three different rhubarb plants, two blueberry plants, one rosemary bush - or is it two??? A thyme bush, one maple tree (from a bird !!!) A sunflower or two as well.

Walk past the trampoline in the corner and you see a tree - some type of ornamental cherry I think. My little monkey lives in the tree during the summer. It can be quite scarey as he goes quite high!!!



Next to the tree is my compost bin and a little bushy tree - which I would cut down but I love it for about 2 weeks in spring when it is covered with bright white flowers.
Under the bushy tree I have planted left over mint, my rhubarb flowers, little trees left by the birds, about 6 sunflowers saved from the driveway.
Then we hit the section of garden I hated last summer as it was clayey and shadey.... well what a difference a year makes! A lot of plants have crept under the fence from the neighbours! Yeah free plants - so I have about 10 of these pretty orange flowers, growing up one of them is a runner bean and yet another sunflower, normal mint, orange mint, two shade loving shrubs from next door, growing up the fence (you can just see it is a blackberry bush)

Sorry a self indulgant picture - orange is my favourite colour!


Missed a section as it is still growing - a bulb grown by my son in front of my rhubarb....I have had rhubarb every day since Saturday - yummy no added sugar needed!!!

Walking back towards the house, this is the little nasturium that could - I planted it last year (or was it the year before?) But I planted too much on top of it so it really struggled, I am so surprised to see it back again but oopppsss I planted beans on top of it again !!!


More rhubarb (I have about 9 plants growing around the garden), more sunflowers - I grow loads down this side of the garden so my next door neighbour can see them. She is house bound so if I can bring some colour to her that is the least I can do !! The tallest plant is a sunflower - my garden seems to be growing soooo slowly this year.


Rhubarb and lilies - the lilies are also from my Grandpa. Sherry my cat sleeps under the lilies.


My children's paddling pool is now my strawberry patch - I have 4 plants here (plus the obligatory sunflower and mysterious bulb!!!) There are quite a few strawberries on the plants and some are almost red (Yummy!!!)
Back to the patio again now!

In the long trough pots I have radishes, beetroot and spring onions, there are small pots of mixed lettuce, sunflowers, trees (from the birds leaving them in the gravel driveway!!) An oak tree from Cornwell , a conker tree is that horse chesnut??) - one of the kiddies threw a conker into my front garden over winter (I found it when cutting down my daffs!) My lemon tree is in the corner as well as some apricot trees I gre by accident - used apricot pips as decoration around a pot and two grew!!!
We are now back at the beginning and can go back in! Do a twirl


And this is what you will see - freshly mown by me this morning (yeah!) I sat on my reclining chair and am slightly pink now - I hasten to add I did remember to put cream on Anna-Kate and Luke and they wore their hats so did not burn.


Here is Luke decorating the climbing frame with washable paint. Note long sleeves - he wears them all the time but he doesn't get hot.


And my little girl painting pictures - in a costume (chalk and cheese my two!)


What I got up too today - unwinding balls of cotton and dying them red!

One of my cats (Tequila) sat behind me most of the day...

4 comments:

moonmamma said...

wow your garden is fantastic, so much going on - I can not grow Rhubarb (dont ask I just can't) so am very envious of yours!

Unknown said...

Thank-you, one plant I bought off ebay, one plant from our local nursery and all the rest from seed! They must like my clay soil!

Unknown said...

Your garden looks lovely! I'm avoiding mine due to hayfever (and hating gardening *lol*)

Unknown said...

Thanks Kookie - I also suffer from hayfever but last season went to the drs in desperation so this season has been much better thanks to eyedrops, nasal spray and tablets LOL !

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