GREEN THUMB SUNDAY - GO SLOW, QUICK PICK, SLOE

green thumb sunday

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GREEN THUMB SUNDAY BLOGROLL

As a respite from all from Wisley photos, for Green Thumb Sunday some photos of our Sloe picking adventure on Friday........we've had a few frosts now as you can see from this poor Coleus (it's always best to pick Sloes AFTER they've been frosted)...

though the garden is holding up quite well...still a fair amount of colourand the Chrysanthemum is in full blooom now...Although the weather was prettty gloomy.....we couldn't laze around all day.................so we went out Sloe hunting....we found rose hips and Campion.....plenty of Fungi...... fallen trees to walk along.........Ahhh here are the Sloes...We picked 320 Sloes...we know that's exact as Melissa counted them all!!!!!...... Then it was all hands to deck when we got home to make the Sloe Gin....I'll give it a good shake everyday and just before Christmas Melissa will take some home to leave out for Santa on Christmas Eve..........

It's been such a funpacked half-term week that I'm glad the clocks went back for Daylight Saving last night....it gives me an extra hour to finish my assignments!!!!!

GREEN THUMB SUNDAY GOES TO SCHOOL

green thumb sunday

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GREEN THUMB SUNDAY BLOGROLL

Earlier this year I went to the local school to help dig over the Memorial Garden...you may remember these photos............................

well yesterday the "much more fun" job of planting and spreading the chip bark had to be done. there were far more willing victims volunteers this time and it only took a couple of hoursto transform it to this...........................

Won't the children be surprised when they go to school on Monday!!!!!

GREEN THUMB SUNDAY - AGHHHHHH!

green thumb sunday

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GREEN THUMB SUNDAY BLOGROLL

Once again the Rose Sawfly has invaded the Open Arms Rose; why it only attacks this rose I don't know...exactly the same thing happened last year.....maybe the name "OPEN ARMS" entices it!!

the grubs strip the branches in no time...

such a shame as the rose is still flowering beautifully.....



I'm not going to use any chemicals....this late in the year I'm just pruning the affected branches back.

HAVE A GOOD SUNDAY !

GREEN THUMB SUNDAY - FAILURES

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GREEN THUMB SUNDAY BLOGROLL

I was reading Katya's Life In The Bristolwood blog the other day and she mentioned she'd lost her Asters this year. As we enter Autumn I thought it only fair to tell you about some of the failures in my garden this year.



First the Brugmansia...I have 3 of them and not one single flower bud!!!.....I'd like to blame it on the weather but Libby seems to have had no problems with hers........she has some fabulous photos in her header and throughout her blog.





My Daylily which had flowers like this on last year.....


this year.......nothing!





Even the double Busy Lizzies seem jaded compared to the ones last year....

though looking at this photo from last year I see the slugs had their fill of the Hosta!My indoor plant Curcuma never came back this year.....these are photos from last year
My Bourgainvillea last year...............

This year...................
Although most of the Clematis have done really well.........the Dr Ruppel and Texansis have both succumbed to mildew and never had a second flush....
and Bill McKenzie started to shoot beautifully in the early Spring and then keeled over and died. How I miss the nodding yellow bells of last year.

And of course there are the Photo failures....this was supposed to be my CHANGES (view from same place each month) photo for September! Don't think I kept the camera very steady.........

I try not to get to despondant at the failures though it is upsetting when you lose something special......and there's always NEXT YEAR to look forward to.

GREEN THUMB SUNDAY - A GARDEN FOR YOU

I received this from Elsie...I know I've already emailed it to some of you but wanted to share it with you all.

THIS GARDEN'S FOR YOU ONLY

How To Plant Your Garden-

First, you Come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses....

FOR THE GARDEN OF YOUR DAILY LIVING-

PLANT THREE ROWS OF PEAS:

1. Peace of mind 2. Peace of heart 3. Peace of soul

PLANT FOUR ROWS OF SQUASH:

1. Squash gossip 2. Squash indifference 3. Squash grumbling 4. Squash selfishness

PLANT FOUR ROWS OF LETTUCE:

1. Lettuce be faithful 2. Lettuce be kind 3. Lettuce be patient 4. Lettuce really love one another

NO GARDEN IS COMPLETE WITHOUT TURNIPS: !

1. Turnip for meetings 2. Turnip for service 3. Turnip to help one another

TO CONCLUDE OUR GARDEN WE MUST HAVE THYME:

1. Thyme for each other 2. Thyme for family 3. Thyme for friends

WATER FREELY WITH PATIENCE AND CULTIVATE WITH LOVE.

OUR GARDEN TODAY

GREEN THUMB SUNDAY - SCADOXUS

In Bud

Starting To Flower

This is the first year I've grown this summer-flowering bulb. It took a long time to start growing despite the fact that it doesn't mind a shady aspect....possibly our temperatures haven't been high enough to give it the kick start it needs. It used to be known as haemanthus, from the greek words haima (blood) and anthos (flower). two of it's common names are Blood Flower and Catherine Wheel. It's not frost hardy so I've grown mine in large pots and I'll overwinter them somewhere frost free. In fact because it was starting to flower and our weather was so wet I brought the pot indoors and stood it on the windowsill so I could see it and enjoy the flowers.

I have read that these plants are poisonous and that in some parts of the world it is used an arrow poison and fishing poison. Some forms of Scadoxus are used to treat coughs; but I wouldn't advise it unless you know what you're doing!!!

GREEN THUMB SUNDAY - DEVIL'S WITH HORNS

As I've complained about these little garden devils so much this year I thought I may as well do a post about them. They do make good photographic subjects as they don't move very quickly.

Snails belong to a group of organisms known as Gastropods, which means 'stomach foot'.Common snails have pale grey moist skin. Because of their moist skin, common snails are most active in damp weather and at night.

At the front end are four tentacles, the shorter two are for feeling and the longer pair are eye stalks. The shell of these snails is light brown with darker brown bands following the spiral of the shell. The shell colouration varies in its intensity from pale yellow to almost black.

They are herbivores and feed on decaying vegetation, algae, fungi, lichens and garden plants. Common snails have a symbiotic bacteria in their crop that enables them to digest cellulose - they have been known to feed on damp paper and cardboard.

When conditions become too dry, the snail will retreat into its shell and seal the entrance with a parchment-like barrier known as an epiphragm. Snails can often be found in this state under rocks in gardens or on a wall in a sheltered corner. When sealed away like this the snail goes into a state of suspended animation and can survive for several months without water.
Common snails feed by scraping a ribbon-like tongue covered in horny teeth called a radula, over their food. This allows them to scrape algae and lichen from the surface of rocks and walls. You can sometimes see the trails they leave behind as they eat their way through the algae on a damp wall.

Common snails, like all land snails, are hermaphrodites. Despite this they still need to find another snail to mate with. When two snails meet during the breeding season (late spring or early summer), mating is initiated by one snail piercing the skin of the other snail with a calcified 'love dart'. The exact purpose of the 'love dart' is not fully understood but it seems to stimulate the other snail into exchanging small packets of sperm. After mating is complete the snails will produce eggs internally, which are fertilised by the sperm that has been exchanged. Eggs are then usually laid in clusters (each containing up to 100 white eggs) into the soil or under rocks. If the conditions remain suitable for the eggs, snails will begin to hatch after about 14 days. Newly hatched snails have a small fragile shell and it takes two years for them to reach maturity.

The gypsies believe that the "Earth-fairies" are the foes of every kind of worm and creeping insect with the exception of the snail, which they therefore call the earthy-horse. English gypsies, and the English peasantry, as well as gypsies, call snails "cattle", because they have horns. A girl can win love from a man by inducing him to carry a snail shell which she has had for some time about her person. To present a snail shell is to make a very direct but not very delicate declaration of love to any one. When I think of the number of snail shells in my garden I guess my garden loves me!

green thumb sunday

GREEN THUMB SUNDAY

One of my particular favourite flowers "Tricyrtis"came into bloom this week.........although it's inclined to get rather tall in our shady garden it always flowers so well. It is commonly known as the "Toad Lily" because of its value? in attracting frogs & tadpoles. The reasoning behind this is a long and complicated story and one of the outcomes of THE TASADAY HOAX during the 1970s. As part of the hoax the Tasaday showed expedition members their incredible cave man ability to catch frogs. This involved first crushing Tricyrtis imeldai (named after Mrs. Imelda Marcos) all over their arms & hands, claiming the odour was a "frog attractant". Thus it was that the common name "Toad Lily" came to be used because of the plants "alleged" value in attracting frogs & tadpoles to people's fingers. If you'd like to read more about the hoax I found a couple of sites which seem to cover the story quite well BBC - h2g2 and Paghat's Garden

BTW don't forget to keep an eye out for the Perseids meteor shower in the early hours of Monday morning....approximately 3am UK time for all you night owls.