Gardening and crafting!

Everything has burst to life in the garden; now all we need is the sun! 

I think these Osteospermum are very underrated! They flower continually from late spring until autumn, closing in the evening and then it’s ‘rinse and repeat.’ I chop them back in the autumn, which seems to be most beneficial. They are lovely and we can see them from the lounge window…they are so cheery.

I realised , yesterday, that purple is somewhat dominating the garden at the moment.

This Scabious is a new addition…and, I have to admit, an impulse buy; I bought two and I don’t have anywhere to plant them, so they are in a temporary home…nice large pots should do the trick for now.

Erysimum, ‘Bowles Mauve’ is Mr or Mrs Trusty! It’s one that never lets you down! I partnered this with the Erigeron karvinskianus…which I have always called, ‘Devon Daisy’ as it grows everywhere in walls, rockeries, crevices etc etc, down here..but of course, it grows everywhere! I love it!

For years, I have always grown Fuchsias. They are lovely plants that seem to either be in or out of favour. I once lived opposite a lady who grew them from cuttings and her garden was quite a sight! She was especially good at raising the standard type and I learnt a lot from her as to how to be successful in creating those and keeping them at a good shape.

Anyway, I have a favourite variety of Fuchsia and boy, is it elusive! You just can’t seem to find it easily!And I search every year! It’s called..( wait for it!)…

DEVONSHIRE DUMPLING!

And it’s lovely! And guess what?! I found a stockist, recently, after hours of searching in the local nurseries and also online. I bought 6 plug plants for £6.49 plus postage and I was delighted! I bought them from this stockist and the service was wonderful! You can find them…

Here

                                                    Devonshire Dumpling

I’ve also been pricking out Hollyhocks as I’ve a number of large pots at the back of my garden, which are standing against a fence and ideal for such plants. I’m putting some dwarf  Sunflowers and some Borage in with them, so hopefully, fingers crossed, they should make a fine sight later in the summer.

But the treat of the week, for me, wasn’t in the garden! And I’ve been very much looking forward to this!

Now that William is three years old, it’s time to get crafting on the kitchen table!

As many people know, I’m all for being creative and when I was teaching, my classroom was vibrant and art and craft played a huge part in the primary classroom day! 

And so I bought a lovely, large box…which William chose…and I filled it with various crafty bits!

This week, we started with painting and sticking and we made butterflies for him to take home to show his mummy and daddy. He loved it! He has amazing concentration for a 3 year old!

Afterwards, some chocolate chip muffin and banana was very much accepted! He really is so good and we love his visits!

More garden ramblings…!

One of the plants that we inherited when we moved here almost two years ago, was this stunning Rhododendron. I don’t know the actual name of this one but it really is beautiful! It’s bloomed just as the Azalea close by to it, has finished flowering. I’m sure that whoever planned this garden gave it so much thought..and time.

Meanwhile,  I popped to ‘Plant World’, yesterday, with just one aim! They always grow and sell lovely pots of Nemesia and they sell like hot cakes. Luckily, I live two minutes away from this delightful nursery.

It’s a proper nursery too! Overlooking the River Teign, Plant World has much to offer.Not only are the plants superb, healthy and very reasonably priced but the gardens are a joy in which to wander.

I came home feeling very inspired!

I’m pleased with my own garden yet I still don’t feel as if it’s completely mine and I marvel at what’s been done here before we ever arrived. I believe it was the original owner of the house who was the keen gardener; he obviously spent a lot of time tending this garden and now we are reaping the benefit of the larger trees and shrubs.

We’ve added small touches, such as this area which was just an area of gravel. I’d give anything to have a proper pond but we haven’t the room and so I made a container pond, which is better than nothing. A pond in a garden is a MUST in my opinion. We soon found out that the wildlife arrives so quickly, when we made a large pond in our previous garden.

I’m a huge Geum lover and am trying to add a few new varieties to the garden. The Geum in the photo above, is Firestorm, and the Geum in the photo below is Mai Tai.

The Garden!

 

After a lovely weekend of weather, here in South Devon, it’s a dull, wet, Monday! And any gardening jobs have had to be put off until another day!

We had a trip to The South Hams, on Saturday…here’s Blackpool Sands..

Arriving at Torcross, we always make a beeline for ‘The Billy Can’. The food and service are superb! I can’t speak highly enough about this lovely cafe!

After that, we made our way to The Avon Mill garden centre…where I picked up some scented Geranium and a tray of Lobelia. Meanwhile…

Back home and the garden is looking good, very green and very lush; it’s hardly surprising what with all the months of rain! In particular, Chives seems to do well here.

Remember this…

I’ve  been spending a lot of time sitting in this part of the garden, especially lately, pricking out seedlings and generally potting and pottering.

I’ve planted Sweet Peas…I’ve 5 obelisks which aren’t that tall and so I’ve asked my other half if he could make me some better ones for next year…I saw a photo on Twitter and really fancy something like these below…lovely and colourful ! It’s from a page called, ‘Lovely plot’. How pretty is this:

Meanwhile, my Clematis has been going mad!

And my Honesty is now producing seeds…

I’ve been pricking out Sweet Rocket, Hollyhocks, Marigolds, Sunflowers and Antirrhinum as well as poking Nasturtium seeds all over the place!

So everything is going well in the garden…apart from the weather!