Intense Autumn Colour

We've really enjoyed such a fabulous intensity of autumn colour in the garden this year so here's a link to lots more: 

November colour 

NOVEMBER BIRTHDAY SNOW!

 

2 3/4" on the avian depth gauge

 Thank goodness we managed to collect nearly all leaves and plant tulips and narcissi as 2 1/2" of snow fell soon afterwards and hung around for nearly a week with quite hard frosts!!!  Bit of a surprise as I woke up to find a real dump of snow on my birthday - a real first!  Not that it stopped thoughts of spring and necessary preparations.  The weird thing was seeing snow on Acers still with their bright orange leaves!

Talking of spring, the old Cosmos have been removed from the raised border and I've planted some lovely Wallflower plants courtesy of Keith Boulton at Heath Nursery in Lower Broadheath who can always be relied upon for quality plants.  You really can't beat growing them in a raised border  at nose height! 

I also planted some lettuces in the greenhouse border so, hopefully, we'll be OK for winter salads. I was pleased I'd put some protection around the new Acacia dealbata. It was planted in May with hopes that it will be sufficiently established to survive its first winter - she says nervously!

Leaf Colours & Leaf Collecting!

 

After a week's absence, unsurprisingly, we missed the tulip tree colours as 90% of its colour was on the lawn!  These leaves are large and heavy when wet and so began the big clear up alone. Noah the mower doesn't cope with leaves - especially thick layers of large ones! At least the weather was dry as filling bulk bags with large quantities of leaves & lifting heavy bags on to the compost heap is really a 2 man job.  

Still, when all was finished and lawns mowed, the sun came out for a few minutes and it was time to admire the view and the colours of the leaves in the adjoining cider apple orchards.

Historical Coincidence!

 I recently came across this photo:

The gentleman on the left used to live here at Pear Tree Cottage!! He was the Deputy Chief Constable of West Mercia Constabulary and signed my warrant card when I first joined up. Prior to amalgamtion, he was the Chief Constable of Worcester City Police.  He was well known for his love of green ink!! I can only boast a green finger!

Autumn is upon us!

 

Here we are in October following a pretty dark and soggy September.  I've been busy bringing tender plants into the greenhouse and propagating more Pelargoniums - always very time consuming.  Moving the lemon tree was a breeze this year since Chris Genever built a little wheeled platform.  Despite its great weight, it's comparitively easy to trundle around! All plants are in but not necessaily in their ideal spots!  On a dark and dull day, the greenhouse is quite a cosy place to work.

I've picked the last of the Helichrysums for drying leaving just brassicas in the vegetable patch.  I know have to think aout pigeon defences!

As they start to fall, major leaf clearance will soon begin.

Twilight Garden by Candlelight 2004

 A few photos of before, during and after this year's 
Twilight Garden by Candlelight

Photos

WE DID IT!!

Despite all the weather threw at us, we topped a thousand pounds.  A HUGE thank you to all our helpers and bakers.  We couldn't have done it with out you!

Twilight Garden by Candlelight 2024

 I'm not sure what happened to July but it's ben SUCH a hectic summer with lots and lots of garden visits and now, we've just finished for the season having hosted our Twilight Garden by Candlelight on a winter's day in August!  It's one that will not be forgotton as Sunday was the coldest ever day! To be wearing a ski jacket with 2 blankets and even a hot water bottle was just unbelievable even in an English summer.

Despite the glacial windy weather conditions, 135 hardy souls visited the garden leaving very lovely comments.  I think it can only have been the cakes that attracted them all!

Chris broke all records when it came to lighting this year!  He brought miles and miles of fairy lights. A single reel went up and down the drive 5 times and he brought 5 sets.  The garden looked more magical than ever before.  His Swedish log candles had never before been more welcome than on such a freezing cold evening.

We're still counting the pennies but I think we may just have tipped £1000.00. We're just waiting on final costs and online ticket purchases.

Press Coverage

 PTC Garden was featured in an article on topiary in Prima Magazine.  Whilst not entirely accurate in every detail, it did mention Chris by name and also the National Garden Scheme. Pity it didn't say that we open by arrangement or mention our Augsut opening date.

Pond Re-Arrangements!

 

Having just about recovered from open gardens, it was time to have a tidy up around the pond perimeter.  We decided the time had come to move the stone wheels where they could be seen and not leave them hidden beneath roaming Symphitum.  Our Chris lugged them around to the foot of the pond and carefully arranged them in a group of three.  Around their base, he planted some Mind-your-own-business (Soleriolia helixine).  Of course, this left a gap in the Symphitum at the head of the pond.  Enter Termite Rock!  To ensure this isn't obscured by Symphitum, we built up a volcano-like tcaldera and sat it on top!  The rock is actually bigger (and heavier!) then my photo suggests.

Today, I've just finished dividing and planting some Lobelias (Cardinalis) in the damp margins and some Quaking Grass (Briza media) where the soil is drier. Fingers crossed!