The hazel and the ivy and Christmas garlands

I often wonder at the wisdom of having a hazel tree in such a small garden as it grows so rapidly and I'm sure is responsible for attracting those pesky squirrels, but at Christmas I am only too happy to make use of some of its shoots, or suckers, as a base for garlands. (I always think the term wreath sounds far too funereal). This is also where the ivy I frequently curse for its similarly rapid growth comes in handy, especially the variegated varieties, along with any other combination of evergreen foliage I can find dotted about including holly, the odd twig of bay laurel, euonymus or chiosya. This year my mahonia has put on an extra spurt of growth and the roughly symmetrical spiky pinnate leaves can easily be curved and interlocked with other leaves. I start with 3 or 4 long hazel shoots - about 5 feet - and bend them gently but firmly into a rough circle, fixing with lovely brown garden string or green wire and then weave ivy around, tucking in mahonia and the simpler leaves which make a good base - trimmings from the Christmas tree and some bits of blue spruce left over from a photoshoot came in very handy this year. Then I filled any gaps with holly or the less pliable foliage and finished off with a few baubles and ribbons. I don't know whether it was more fun making them or looking at them but they last well and are not too heavy to hang on any small unobtrusive nail or hook. No pictures as I only thought of it now they've been up for a few weeks and are past their best! Here is a blackbird in the Judas tree in stead!

Decorations aside the last few weeks' storms have been tough on the garden and almost entirely demolished the trellis except for the side which is now supported by the wisteria. What a pity it hadn't managed to grow a bit further! On a brighter note, I have had a great deal of pleasure from all my bird visitors this year and it was well worth investing in a temporary, more frost-proof, bird bath as it is being well-used. For more on the uses of hazel see: http://www.allotmentforestry.com/fact/growown3.htm

A herald of winter - iris unguicularis

 

We had our first hard frost last week, bringing down a lot more leaves.   The Judas tree and hazel are virtually bare now and I enjoyed having a good sweep up at the weekend but there are still a lot to go.  I have never known leaves on the trees so late.   In the Marylebone Road, London some of the plane trees are bearing leaves which are still green!   But the cold has brought an end to my fuschias flowering and I miss their cheery colour as I look out of the window.
One heartening sight in the front garden is the iris unguicularis whose blooms always look far too delicate to survive the winter months - but they do.   I would like to divide the large plant and give some away but it is such a solid massive clump I don't think I have the strength.   At least the cats seem to be leaving it alone now although it's early days to determine whether or not the moth balls did the trick!   Further experiments needed....

Chimeric dahlias

Just spotted this interesting snippet on the National dahlia collection newsletter www.national-dahlia-collection.co.uk

Chimeric dahlias
Chimera - definition - a single organism that is composed of two or more different populations of genetically distinct cells

There are quite a number of these chimeric dahlias and whilst they are of great garden interest you will never see them on the show bench because individual flowers are rarely the same colours.
Although we call them chimeric, which really just indicates unstable genes, you will often hear them referred to as varieties with, "jumping genes".
One of the difficulties we have is the website photographs. We try to show the varieties to best effect but, as we ourselves found at Chelsea Flower Show earlier this year, sometimes the variation is significant and Twyning's Smartie came out almost entirely purple! Also we know from you that some of the Blackberry Ripple supplied this year flowered entirely purple this Summer. The problem is that by the very nature of the plants themselves we can never be sure exactly how they will turn out.
Nevertheless, they make an interesting addition to your garden and are worth giving a go.


I would endorse that!

Fuschia in the dark

Before I closed the curtains I had to take a quick snap of this gorgeous fuschia catching the light from the kitchen....   I do hope the frost doesn't catch it too soon.

Robbing a robin of his bath and cat problems

I have been enjoying watching my resident robin and regular visiting blackbird in particular enjoying baths.   The robin dips in and out quite hesitantly but the blackbird could splash for England.   So I am feeling rather guilty since I put my best two ceramic bird baths away for the winter - not least when the blackbird appeared quite suddenly and perched on the empty base almost as if he was looking around to see where the bath had gone.   I am going to have to invest in some frost-proof stand-ins for the next few months, especially as it is finally due to turn cold next week.
Saturday's sunshine provided a great opportunity to lift some dahlias and get the tulip bulbs in.   Having decided just to plant where they will be visible from the house I simply dug three big holes, mixed up bulbs of Ballerina, Burgundy and a new variety for me - the purple/white stripey Zurel - and popped them in with a handful of Fish, blood and bone.   While doing this I was treated to a close-up visit from the robin who is indeed a very smart fellow.   Here he is picking over a newly-planted pot of Rai parrot tulips.

In the front garden, once I had removed the generous unwelcome deposits of a local cat which seems to enjoy emptying its self on my iris unguicularis, I planted 30 bulbs of tulip Princess Irene, a gorgeous and to my mind quite stunning small tulip with its flowers ranging through deep yellow-orange to red-purple in one bloom.   Unfortunately Parkers had a maximum purchase limit of 30 this year as they were on offer!
I had a good clearance with cutting back perennials, leaf-sweeping and redefined the edge of my joke of a grass-patch which needs some serious moss-clearing soon.   Finally, I am experimenting with a new cat-deterrent recommended by a gardener-friend - moth balls!   Since I put holly-leaves on newly-dug area they have just given up and emptied themselves just about anywhere so I am open to suggestions - but no thanks, I don't want to get my own cat!   Let's just see how the moth balls go for now....

Storm damage

I thought I had escaped the ravages of Monday's storm (thank goodness I had the roof and my 3 chimney pots renovated some years back!) but this morning I discovered the trellis in front of the greenhouse had taken a battering and was on the lean.   I think some of the posts are going to need replacing but it will probably be easier to deal with over the winter months when some of the climbers are bare of leaves.
As it's been so mild there is still much greenery and I can't bring myself to cut back the dahlias and perennials which are becoming a bit scruffy just yet.   The remarkable nerines are busy making their pink explosions and the fucshias are still flowering prolifically - so lots of pink.   Not much to cut for the house except the odd little bunch of honeysuckle which always smells so delicious and reminds me of summer.
I can't wait to get my tulip bulbs to plant when I will make the time for a good clear up and put the garden to bed.   This year I am going to cut everything back, clear all the leaves and have a general tidy up of grass edges etc..   Maybe it's time for a bit of a general re-think of those areas which have got rather out of control!

A mild autumn's colours and a grasshopper under my pillow

Fucshias seem to keep flowering in harmony with pink dahlias

What is happening this year?   First a May bug then, this morning, I found a live - lively - green grasshopper under my pillow!   I didn't bring that in from the garden.   I wonder if it was blown in down the chimney....

We have had torrential rain accompanied by thunder and lightning over the past few days but at least it's been mild so a lot of my dahlias have managed to flower.

Having just put in a sizable tulip bulb order to J Parkers www.jparkers.co.uk my next concern will be getting them planted before the ground goes hard without having to remove the dahlias.

There is a surprising amount of colour left in the garden - I am such a sucker for photographing the delicate leaves of my little acer tree which fall about so elegantly. 

Acer leaf caught on dwarf lilac with self-set fern

The apples have all fallen from next door's trees but I am still picking autumn raspberries - straight into the saucepan to bring to a gentle simmer with a drop of cassis and eat with yogurt - yum.
There are also the odd little surprises like these colchicums peeking out from under some perennials, albeit a little worse the wear from something which obviously thinks they are rather tasty.

Colchicum