"Winter Draws On!"

Leaves are falling really fast now as the temperatures are plummeting so ~ time to put on the tree fern's winter coat. Contrary to Monty, I cut off all the fronds and tie them round as extra insulation before adding a layer of horticultural blanket followed by a topping of straw, an upturned plastic pot saucer (to prevent water freezing in its crown) a shopping bag and lastly, a hessian coffee sack. Et voila!! Well it worked perfectly last winter in all the snow and ice! 

Maintenance Jobs.

Mr. G. Woodpecker!

A Saturday without our usual Chris!  Lucky for us, the Chris G. came so different jobs were done. Most important was installing our green woodpecker on the summerhouse roof where he can now be seen from the kitchen window. Also as he faces west, we shall enjoy the sun behind him highlighting his colours.

Other maintenance jobs were done like adjusting the door to the cave, securing the canopy above the kitchen window and elevating the canopy above another window, freeing up the porch door, oiling hinges - all that sort of stuff. Not sure why I like it so much but I just DO!!

As ladders were put in place for painting, as soon as Brian had finished the following day,  I pruned the vine on the garage and over the garage canopy. It was such a great colour this year but had dropped all its leaves and in any case, I get into trouble for allowing it to hinder the free passage of cars !! Some people have other priorities!!  This was one we bought whilst visiting Highgrove a few years back. HRH had one growing up the front of the house and it certainly is a tough climber. It had pushed up behind the gettuering and the tendrils were as strong as metal springs!

Vitus cognetiae in all its autumn glory.

..and waiting for spring!

STORM SURVIVAL!

WELL! Storm Callum certainly blew away a few cobwebs and left previously tidy lawns covered in a thick layer of leaves and twigs. The sort of fall out that's easy to cope with! Furthermore, I was able to take my new replacement lawn mower for a test drive. Not so keen on an automatic choke but, that aside, it's perfectly adequate. With the torrential rain, not much other gardening has been feasible. However the leaf colour changes are definitely to be admired and I rather like this shot of the tulip tree.

Liriodendron tulipifera

The Acers in pots by the chimney are a real blaze of colour and the reflected light glows red on the stairs in the morning. The Walnut and Fig trees are a lovely buttery yellow. The Spindlewood is always a fab crimson and it was a real treat to be greeted by a pair of thrushes for 2 mornings sitting on top of the conifer. I'm hoping they both make it through the winter.  

Colour changes

Autumn visitors

Successes & Sorrows!

Following last Saturday's major tidy up prior to the arrival of foreign house guests, head gardener has been taking time off to show them around. We did make the Malvern Autumn Show - the like of which our friends had never seen before. The World Champion Vegetables were on display. For them - one word. BIG!

A last minute decision was made to have a go at at exhibiting a few bit and pieces in the ladies' section at Trumpet Ploughing Match. The afternoon before was spent scavenging in the garden for a few exhibits, printing some photos and what a surprise! We came home with 2 cups and quite a few prize cards! 9 to be exact with another accidentally left behind! We scooped the cut flower trophy and were joint winners for the photography cup. The pom pom dahlia tubers given by Chris Genever grew 3 blooms which won a 3rd!

Click link for more Trumpet successes!

Meanwhile: very sad news! My loyal and  trusty lawn mower died this afternoon! The deck rotted through and the front wheels just fell off whilst actually mowing! 13 years of loyal service and starting reliably - it's the end of an era and black arm bands for me! 

As Autumn Steals Summer!

Before the storms.

The signs in the garden are: things are beginning to slow down and there's more than a hint of autumn. The usual seasonal jobs get done but somehow, there's less pressure. Before the recent spate of high winds, squalls and heavy rain, we had some wonderful sunny, still and almost silent days. Nothing stirred and colours just glowed. Dahlias, Zinnias, Rudbeckias, Echinaceas and Chrysanthemums have all provided their late bursts of colour but are now pretty battered by these high winds. The lawns are covered in leaves and debris with more stormy weather expected.

Hedychium gardnerianum

As the tomatoes were all picked and their framework removed from the greenhouse, I was able to move the Chrysanths in out of the the gales. They have provided the house with lots of cut flowers and all with excellent vase life.  The gingers (Hedychium gardnerianum) have provided a great show this year with record numbers of blooms and spectacular perfume. Worth a trip to the greenhouse just to inhale their perfume! The apples in the surrounding orchards are being harvested and the leaves are beginning to turn. As the days grow shorter and the evening lengthen, we look forward to cosy evenings scanning bulb catalogues and planting for colour and scent next spring!

Sheltered from the storms.

Definitely autumnal!

Let there be LIGHT!

Keeping the dining room cool during the summer heatwave

Feeling like a jungle

Time to prune the Wisteria and free up the window frames for painting as well as allowing more light in now (dare I say?) the days are getting shorter. Some of the whippy side shoots were miles long. It's during the big summer prune when we're reminded what a beast our favourite King of Climbers really is! I think we took 5 barrows full of Wisteria down to the compost heap! Another job before winter rains was to free up a drain by digging out a ditch which really wants grading but at least it's free running now - or will be! Last job of the day was to hang a really elegant teapot in the teapot tree - it's actually an Acer griseum. Sadly the teapot lid was broken but, should we find a replacement, it will be pressed back into use.

All clear ready for painting!

Situation Normal?

Well, we're getting back to normal or, whatever counts as normal for PTC.  Having done a bit of a harvest yesterday, it was drying the Apache chillies, eating the runner beans (which were a tad older than ideal - so much happening before open gardens was to blame!) as well as making another 7 pints of soup with the tomatoes. I found that the Di Bolsa are really excellent as this variety has far fewer seeds and plenty of flesh. Just what's needed for soup!

Mowing and deadheading took on a much more relaxed approach as did hoeing the veg patch. There was even time to take a few photos of the Chrysanthemums. I've never grown them before and I just love their autumnal scent. It actually is getting more like autumn with days noticeably shorter and very dewy mornings - say no more!!