A Music Filled Weekend

Its that time again...off to my favouite music festival tomorrow, End Of The Road fest near Salisbury in Wiltshire. Its not another Glastonbury, thankfully, am too old and its far too big! Have gotten myself lost there in my youth! Nope, give me a nice compact fest with minimal walking needed and plenty of good food, drink and an uncrowded spot to chill and listen to some quality music.

The weather is supposed to be dry, another bonus! Seems this time of year stays pretty settled, have been to this fest 3 times before and only had a spot of rain. Other events that happen earlier in the summer seem to have a lot of rain and everwhere is a mudbath.

From last year, husband and I decided tents were just too uncomfortable, so we transformed our work van into a temporary camper. It usually transports our mowers and various other mucky tools, but with a good clean up, some lino on the floor, purpose built bed and curtains, the work van is transformed into comfortable living quarters!

Not bad!
Heres for a great weekend!!

It's Not All Gardening

I took on a new hobby this year, something to keep me busy in the evenings. Crochet!

I had never tried it before but have always been a bit creative so thought I'd give it a go, and thankfully its not quite as hard as it looks - though I am sticking to simple patterns for the time being.

This is a scarf I recently finished. Made from alpaca and merino wool its really soft. I bought the wool from a lovely little shop in Bude, Cornwall.

I've made a few other items

I love this pretty brooch :), not my idea by the way! Im far too much of a novice to come up with my own stuff! This is from attic24 an amazing blog, Lucy is so talented! Heres a link

http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/

Am now having a go at coasters, took me ages to find a pattern I could get on with

I got the cotton from Lidls of all places! Its lovely to work with and came in a number of colours, cant remember what I paid but it wouldnt have been much. I try to find bargain yarns, charity shops are a great source and yarn shops usually have a bargain bin.

Well. its a start! Just got to keep practicing, at least I will be kept busy this winter. :)

Delicious Berries

The Japanese Wineberry - Rubus phoenicolacius - is a new addition to my veg garden. I first came across it in a clients garden a few years back, climbing a sunny wall, smothered in sweet sticky fruits. After helping myself to a few mouthfuls I decided I must have one!

 

The plant is native to Japan, Korea and China. Not an easy plant to find here in the UK, I have never seen them in any garden centres, and had to buy from an online nursery.

They have taken a while to settle in, but its worth the wait. It is closely related to the raspberry. Though really a shrub it sends out new growth (canes) from the ground, like a raspberry, and is best trained against a sunny wall or fence. Give it plenty of organic matter when planting, it won't do well in a dry soil. Mine are trained onto wires fixed to the wall.

The canes are biennial, like raspberries, so they grow one year and fruit the next. Once the cane has fruited in August, remove the cane. You can also pinch back the growth in Spring to encourage branching.

The fruit can be eaten straight from the plant and, if you haven't scoffed them all, can be cooked. I made a delicious crumble using wineberries, strawberries. blueberries and apples. Yum!

The added bonus is that these plants look good in winter too, with their softly hairy bare stems, so would not look out of place in an ornamental garden.

Try this link for buying wineberry plants, order for Autumn planting.

http://www.blackmoor.co.uk/products/673#.UhXFuj_AJHA

Local Views

I feel very lucky to live in such a pretty place. There are lovely walks here without even having to get in the car. Though don't fancy it much today as its raining - that fine rain, the really wet stuff! The dog and I often take the route around the back of my house.

The Road To Bondleigh

Sunshine And Clouds

A Tunnel In The Hedgerow

Luckily He Was Nowhere To Be Seen!

Dartmoor View

My Town

Crocosmia Time

What beauties, these add so much colour to your garden when many flowers are fading, everyone should have some! More often known here in the UK as montbretia, and falling stars or coppertips in the US.

They come from South Africa but are grown worldwide. Some species have become rather invasive, as C. x crocosmiiflora has here. You can see them in large clumps along roadsides and hedgerows, particularly here in Devon and in Cornwall. I have this one in my garden - one of very few plants growing here when I moved in. One day I will get around to thinning the clumps out.

They grow from corms and establish quickly, but can be easliy kept in check. They are not very fussy as to aspect though if too dry or shady the flowering will be reduced. A sunny spot in a well drained yet fertile soil is best.

Lots of different cultivars to choose from. Here are a few I have at the moment.

Sorry, name not known! Taken from a clients garden (with their permission!)

C. Solfatare

C. Ember Glow

C. Emily McKenzie

You can buy them as corms or pot grown plants. Best to plant in Spring, though you could plant pot grown now so you dont have to wait til next Summer, just make sure it does not dry out while getting established. If you have an existing clump thats getting a bit too big, lift and divide in Spring. Use fish, blood and bonemeal when planting to help them get growing.

There are lots to choose from, if you want a more unusual variety to wow your neighbours, go to a specialist grower such as this one.

 http://www.trecanna.com/default.asp

Well, what are you waiting for?? Get choosing :)

Penstemons

These are one of my favourites. They originate in North America and known as Beardtongues (never heard that name before!). They became popular in the UK in Victorian times and from there many more varieties wer bred. Penstemons are easy to grow and can flower from around June right through to the Autumn, making them a valuable asset to any garden.

There are so many varieties to choose from and so many colours, from whites through to dark purples, along with some gorgeous blues.These penstemons are hardy, though a couple of  mine suffered with the exceptionally cold winters from a couple of years ago. I prune mine back in the spring, removing any dead or damaged stems and keeping a bushy shape. I have cut some back almost to the ground and they respond well. They need to be deadheaded regularly to encourage more flowers, remove the whole spike of spent flowers down to new growth.

I have found that the smaller leaved penstemons such as P. 'Garnet' are a bit tougher than the larger leaves varieties and handled the cold winters much better.

They are not too fussy with soil though don't cope with high acidity. A well drained soil suits them well. If you have a heavy soil, incorporate grit into the planting hole.They prefer full sun but will tolerate light shade.

Penstemon 'Heavenly Blue'

Penstemon 'Heavenly Blue', is a favourite of mine. Its a low spreading variety, reaching around 30cm in height, has spikes of small but beautiful blue flowers and is really tough.

You can buy Penstemons from any garden centre and there are also numerous specialist nurseries if you want a more unusual variety.

Always have your camera at the ready!

Well, that will teach me to leave my camera at home.

On this mornings walk with the dog, I encountered a heron flying off from where I had disturbed it by the river. A couple of minutes later I see a kingfisher whizzing by at speed, following the course of the river - so I guess its highly unlikely I would have caught that little fella on camera anyway.

So I return home, happy that I have seen these lovely birds, though a bit miffed at having no evidence!

Just taken Ella for a quick lunchtime stroll on our local grassy area, which my husband and I call 'the heath'. Yep, forgot my camera and then spotted a number of different butterflies enjoying the thistles which grow in abundance here. Peacock, Common Blue, Ringlet, Meadow Brown and Green Veined White, plus a few more I wasnt able to identify.

Next time I shall be prepared!

A British Butterfly

I came across these fellas while working in one of my clients gardens. I'm not very good at identifying caterpillers, and can hardly remember names of the butterflies so thought I should get to know some of our natives.

These are the caterpillars of the Small Tortoiseshell, which can be seen across Britain. Managed to get a pic of one in my garden today, feeding on my Origanum 'Thumbles Variety'.

Am lucky enough to live next to an area that lays untouched, it being part of our towns flood defences. There is a mass of stinging nettle, a favourite of many of our butterflies. I have many flowers that attract butterflies so there are always a number of different species fluttering by. I do wish the cats wouldn't chase them!

Heres a link to a site that will help to identify our British 'flutterbys'

http://www.britishbutterflies.co.uk/index.asp

Will try to get more pics, but its not easy!

...Heres a few more....

Meadow Brown

Large White

A moth, the Silver Y

Anyone know what this is??