Birthday Pleasure Gardens

This year has been a big year for the Daisy duo, we've both had a significant birthday and both of us are trying to eak out the celebrations as long as we possibly can! My lovely Daisy partners birthday was this weekend and her celebrations made me look back at my birthday in the summer, the lovely start to the day and the even lovelier location.

For my celebrations the whole family decamped to London, Vauxhall to be precise, for a week of sight seeing and festivities. On the morning of my birthday my lovely other half took me to a hidden gem of Vauxhall, less than 2 minutes walk from the main road/huge roundabout/bus station/train and tube interchange looking like this...

(you get the picture - not picturesque!),

to Bonnington Square which looks like this...

Bonnington Square is a tiny square built around a central space and in 1994 the derelict space was taken on by the residents, who set up the Bonnington Square Garden Association and reclaimed the space for a community garden.

Inspired by the historic Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens which was just north of here, it aims to provide a space for children to play and a refuge from the inner city chaos.

A sanctuary squeezed in between the bustle!

It is packed with lush greenery and tropical planting...

stately Silver Birches...

silvery Eryngiums and Melianthus major...

and a wheel from an 1880's Marble factory that was demolished nearby.

Having set up the garden the Association decided to extend their plans and so started on the Paradise Project, a plan to plant in every available space! So all the house fronts and tree pits are also festooned with plants All this, and the garden, is maintained by the residents with no funding other than what they raise themselves!

The houses don't have front gardens, but almost all of them have pots and grow bags and window boxes. And as if that wasn't enough to make me love it - on one corner was the sweetest Italian Cafe - open for birthday breakfast...

and the most glorious fresh, warm croissants!

I didn't manage a shot without grabbing hands, there is only a certain amount of garden related shenanigans a teenage boy can stand before breakfast!

A perfect start to my perfect day!

So here's wishing Jayne ever lovely gardens and yummy croissants with gorgeous family on her big day - Happy Birthday!

Footnote.

Towards the end of our stay in Vauxhall, whilst wandering around the backstreets, we discovered this fantastic vertical garden.

Hidden in a not very inspiring street and looking lush and lovely...

I spied Bergenia, Achemilla mollis, Heuchera, a myriad of ferns and so much more.

I was very impressed by the greening of Vauxhall, long may it continue and hopefully the beautiful areas already there will eventually join up.

Autumn colour

After a day in the garden I couldn't resist sharing some of the lovely colour.

Leaves, flowers, berries and seeds...

...all creating an amazing palette.

A feast for the eyes...

...and a tasty feast too!

And it's time for fires in the evening - yup, autumn is definitely here.

Feast of Flowers number 7

As Autumn really takes hold, I really can't believe this is still going strong!

It first flowered in late April and hasn't stopped since. It had a rest in late July when the sprinkling of flowers lessened, but it didn't stop - and it's still going strong.

With an overflowing pot either side of the back door it's been a lovely welcome home all season!

A robust perennial, when it does finally stop flowering I will trim it's long trailing stems, that have worked their way through all the surrounding pots (and up through my cucumber plant) back and wait for the same gloriously long flowering season again next year.

Not bad for a cheap 'hanging basket filler'.

New bloomers!

At the beginning of the year I started a 'new bloomers' strand to the blog. Nothing to do with my underwear drawer, the plan was to increase the flowers in my garden throughout the yearly planting something new in bloom every month.

 The last time I posted a new bloomer was in April/May, which doesn't mean that I haven't bought anything since, obviously not, that would be ridiculous!!!!

My August purchase was a Buddleia, and no it isn't planted out yet. The spot I wanted it for has been over-run by lovely Linaria Canon Went so the new bloomer is waiting patiently for some clearing and a spot of redesigning to happen, and blooming nicely all the while.

Buddleia davidii 'Petite Tutti Frutti', a dwarf version but just as popular with the bees!

Septembers new bloomers are a lovely bunch:

Japanese Anemone 'Prince Henry'

Agastache (could be Blue Boa but the label fell out in the purchase frenzy)...

and another Rudbeckia, which strictly doesn't count as I already have one so it isn't a new bloomer, but this is a shorter variety and I just can't get enough of it's sunny faces!

So far half the new bloomers are planted, just two to go, oh, and the seedlings from the spring to pot up, the perennials to cut back, bulbs to buy/plant, hundreds of things to prune/clear/control/tie in/remove... STOP! and breathe... cup of tea first I think!