Sunday trip by the sea

This Sunday saw the family out for lunch in Falmouth and once full of pizza and pasta we headed out to Pendennis Point to try and walk off some of the Tiramisu!

 The view was fabulous if chilly.

and there were lots of autumnal textures around the rocks and cliffs.

Seed heads

Bare twigs and creepers

Grasses

Bristly seedheads

Bare trees

Cow Parsley heads

Even some plants that were still managing to flower!

Silene                                                      Red Campion

And then we found a snug spot for lots of snails - and best of all it's a long, long way from my garden!

Brrrrr!

First frost of the season. If you read my last post - why did I open my big mouth?

Brave Bloomers for November!

Well the threatened frosts didn't appear down in Truro this week. We had hail and cold winds, but no frosts, and I'm relieved. All my recent planting in the garden needs a little time to settle before I can view frosts in a relaxed way. The lack of frost also means that some of the brave blooms still showing their unseasonal faces are still going strong.

Dazzling Schizostylis which now seems to be called Hesperantha

Creeping Campanula

Magenta Geranium

my new Strawberry

Bedding Brachyscome

Delicate Saxifrage

These plants don't just have the odd leftover flower, they have a number of flowers and even some buds. They are mostly on at least their third round of flowering and some started in May! That's what I call value for money (especially as three of them were free from my Mum, one was inherited, one a gift and only the Brachyscome was purchased in the usual way!) 

Long may they last as they bring a splash of colour to my tired garden.

Classic horticultural quote!

You've got to love Dorothy Parker!

Time for action!

It's amazing how the threat of frost concentrates the mind! Yes, our first frost is forecast for this week so the ranks of plants waiting to go in to my new and improved bottom bed suddenly looked horribly vulnerable. So on with the boots and out with the spade and voila, a cleared, prepared and planted bed appeared! Now that makes it sound really quite straight forward and quick, needless to say it was neither and my aching back can vouch for that!

Here is the bed before (Sept)…

…during (Oct)…

…and after!

Some may say it's not an improvement, but come the spring when everything is growing well and my 60 bulbs are coming up, you will see what I'm aiming for (hopefully!)

I will admit, spending the weekend planting things that appear to be dead or dying wasn't the most rewarding experience. Two of the Hostas I planted are completely invisible and the other two are looking like they should be composted. But have faith, come spring they should be glorious, particularly as they have all been fed and bedded in with my lovely garden compost! 

Although I cleared most of the bed of it's old contents, there were some things that I had no intention of getting rid of, particularly as they look so lovely at this time of year.

Mahonia                                             Arum italicum

                  Griselinia & variagated Rhododendron                          Fatsia japonica

For those of you that are interested, the initial plant list for the bed was as follows:

Kept from before clearance, but moved about:

Fatsia Japonica

Mahonia

Cordylines

Griselinia

Rhododendron

Hostas

Acanthus

Epimediums

Hellebores

Arum italicam

Geranium (blue)

Alchemilla Mollis

Hypericum

Added as new plants:

Elaeagnus variegata

Cotinus Purple Grace

Golden Sambucus

Tellima

Ligularia 'the rocket'

Rudbeckia

Veronica 

Heuchera

Sisyrinchium

Tradescantia

Pennisetum

Pachysandra 

Painted Fern

White Foxgloves

Echinops

Primroses

Bulbs:

Daffodils x60 (mixed varieties to flower Feb - May)

Anemone nemorosa x20

Triteleia x10

In the spring there will be gaps to fill and things to add. The aim is for it to be white, cream, yellow and blue and to have some interest all year round. However, I've already spotted a friend's Liriope and I would love to add one somewhere, and I had meant to put in some Crocus (not sure how that got overlooked - I spent enough time at the bulb farm!). But for now I need to let everything settle and pray for a mildish winter. Next year we can see where we are and go from there. There are bound to be some casualties, some triumphs, and plenty of the unexpected - it is a garden after all!

Friday Outing!

Now it's quite late in the year to be visiting gardens, but we've been meaning to visit The Potager in Constantine, Cornwall for months and it closes at the end of this month so off we dashed for a look.

Toad Lily

The Potager is, in it's own words, 'a relaxing and beautiful haven to rest a while'. Set on the 4 acre site of an old nursery, the garden is a mix of fruit trees, vegetables, ornamental plants and lovely places to sit. Many of the plants/trees are stock from the old nursery that had rooted and taken over in the 10 years that it lay abandoned. Purchased in 2000 the site has slowly been reclaimed and transformed. The vegetables were not so evident on this trip and the plants not looking at their best but it would definitely be worth another trip next season. The garden is maintained wholly by volunteers and gardened organically, and also has studios for artists/craftspeople.

Olearia (I think)

The garden is still developing, a new car park and entrance is underway as the site extends down the hill, and a nut orchard is planned and maybe some livestock. There were certainly some very picturesque and busy looking chickens already in residence.

There are two greenhouses, one of which houses the cafe serving vegetarian food made from produce from the gardens. We had delicious bowls of warming soup with homemade bread as we sat round the wood burner. Every table in the cafe had a game/activity on it, and there was certainly no hint of moving us on at any stage (which was lucky as we had a lot to chat about!).

The other green house has more places to sit, a table tennis table, one of the biggest Abutilon I've ever seen, numerous Echiums, Lavenders and Aloes. It also has a section for tender vegetables and propagation. At a warmer time of year, there were lovely places to sit outside too.

And as we were leaving I spotted the most beautiful Medlar tree, groaning under the weight of fruit!

Perfect for Nigel Slaters Medlar Jelly

The Potager is not the most extensive garden, nor does it offer a wide range of plants for sale, but it was altogether a lovely place to sit, chill out and chat about gardening.

Digging!

After a morning staring at a computer screen I decided that it was time for a bit of fresh air, and as the rain stopped yesterday I thought I would venture out to my shady bed and get to work. We've taken out the worst of the roots from the tree we had taken out (although every time I dig I seem to find more) and now I'm moving the few things left in the bed around and digging over what is left.

I have to admit, the digging was heavy going, my soil is quite heavy down there and it is at the bottom of a sloping garden, so was quite damp after all the recent rain (specially now the tree is gone). But the good news is that the digging is almost over now. Next will be the soil improving (lots of home made compost and chicken poo pellets) and then the planting - Hurrah!

Now all I have to do is clean all my tools and my boots -  but maybe a I'll have a quick cuppa first!

Remembrance Day

In honour of Remembrance Day and the 1 minute silence at 11am I thought I would share the brightest red poppies from my garden this summer.

Lest we forget.

Autumn in Tehidy Woods

Today the teen members of the family were at home due to staff training at their school and by lunchtime their on-screen-time allowance had already been exceeded so a trip to the outdoors was enforced. Off we all went to Tehidy Country Park, near Redruth, with, it has to be admitted, a bit of teen moaning. But once there and immersed in the autumnal vibe we all had a lovely time and came home to a nice cup of tea and a warm fire. Here's what we saw:

Browning bracken, skeleton grasses...

…and turning oak leaves

Marvellous mosses…

 and lovely Lichens and Fungi.

Trees to climb on

Brambles still flowering!                              Sweet Chestnuts

Elegant Swans and...

…cheeky Squirrels. 

Tehidy Country Park