gardening – Page 5 – Gardens. Travel. Life.

Posted on September 5, 2020September 6, 2020 by happyretiredblog · 7 Comments

8 Weeks later

I can’t quite believe it’s been eight weeks since I arrived in Spain. After six months of being away from the Pueblo Blanco and the garden. When we bought La Casa we said we wouldn’t be here in August because of the heat, we did in 2017 as friends wanted to come and visit. 2017 was fine. 2020 was not. I like the sun. I like the heat. But to be honest there is heat and there’s heat. This year also meant that every time I stepped out of the gate on went a face mask. In extreme heat. Some people may look good. Hot. Sweaty. Posed. Me. Well I don’t look good at all. Try walking up la Rampa in late 30* heat. If I looked any way decent at the bottom ( of the Rampa ) I sure didn’t at the top.

But 2020,is no normal year. I arrived on an air bridge which two weeks later was taken away. There is no certainty in travelling this year at all.

It’s been a funny eight weeks. Five of them on my own until Ian arrived although there was,morning coffee and supper with the neighbours and supper in town with friends. I was there to garden ~ but try gardening in that heat. Watering at midnight or at 6am in the dark, trust me it’s not easy. When we moved in there were pick axes lined up in the garage. I thought. Hi ho hi oh it’s off to work we go. I now know why they are there. Outside the rainy period which is brief but often pretty heavy the ground is as dry and as hard as cement! Planting is nigh impossible. And you know when you read ” drought tolerant ” but really your looking for desert plants. This year well it’s been that.

I read my book constantly these days before buying anything. And take advice from the author who owns the garden centre just outside town. Back in February I bought a Colocasia mojito just as I was leaving. I asked if she would keep it in the poly tunnel until I was back in a month after returning from Mexico. She kindly agreed. Six months later it was delivered! She’d looked after it for us.

It wasn’t all sunning myself. Topping up my tan. It was none of that. Afternoons in an air conditioned room watching Netflix. With an occasional 15 minutes into the garden and then back inside. To lie down in a cold room. And I’m not joking. But I did manage to fill a skip. We had had the jacaranda cut back in March and the cuttings and branches had been left in the drive. There was an idea of cutting them up for the wood burner. That idea soon went out of the window. It was hard enough filing the skip before 8am and after 10pm. I wasn’t going to cut up wood as well.

Before anyone tells me. I know I shouldn’t have cut things back in that heat. But nothing had been cut in 6 months. Salvia were leggy ( I didn’t cut them). The gaura were leggy. ( they had been cut ) partly by someone who had been going in once a week to check the plants. But the Australian wisteria had gone bonkers and needed to be cut back from the gate. Some of the oleander were not only running away with themselves but with everything else. The yellow jasmine on the drive had gone bonkers. So I pruned. A little. ( lies. It was. A lot) on the basis that when I return to the UK who knows when I will be back.

Things needed repotting. The two ferns in front of the garage were by the pool. They had grown so large one had broken its pot so we had to re pot them. We bought the new pots ~ and I remembered not to ask the stupid question I asked in year 1. ” Are they frost feee”. But of course they were too big to go by the pool so 2.5/bags of compost each and they were placed in front of the garage. I don’t know why but the ferns gave f bonkers this Spring and Summer.

Having tidied the garage and kitchen beds and tidied the path it’s good for another few months.

I’ve had to remove one or two of the giant leaves off the Strelitzia Nicolai as you risked being smacked in the face as you came into the garden. I removed probably ten yucca shoots to give a bit more air and light from near to the gate and planted a few more gaura which have become my favourite plant this year. Inspired by a friends garden in Essex who has a gorgeous path planted with gaura I decided to plant some mixed with lavender along this path. The lavender was great for the first two summers but I replaced most of it as it had become too woody. Some has been fine. Some hasn’t. But the gaura has been gorgeous. Like little white butterflies hovering.

Gorgeous gaura

White gaura on the path. Red in the beds. Hopefully I will be able to cut them back properly and at the right time to get an even better display next year.

I’d waited nearly 6 weeks for the flowers of the Salvia oxyphora to appear. The plant needed to have been cut back a bit but it was too late to do it this year. So the plant is tall and leggy ~ unlike me ~ but it was worth the wait for the lovely flowers.

The oleander has gone over earlier this year. There is still some flower about but a number of the plants have already started to form their magnificent seed pods. Long and thin they open up,as they ripen with fabulous furry seeds inside. I have cut a number of them off before they throw their seeds around the garden. Oh and thanks to everyone that reminded me. All parts of the oleander are poisonous. But then again so are so many of the plants in this garden.

We have some pretty large agave on the roundabout that’s not a roundabout. I don’t want them to flower as soon as they do the large plant dies and I’m happy to look at other peoples plants flowering! These are spiteful devils. I’m sure they move when you are near and spike you given the chance.

We seems to have been lucky this year. No nasty little processionary caterpillars on the three pine trees on the bank. They really are nasty little blighters and we get someone in to remove them as soon as we see the tell tale white nests in the trees. Dangerous to young children and to dogs. The caterpillars. Not the people we get in.

The garden still has some colour and interests which is surprising as it’s been so hot for so long and without rain. The flowers of the. Have returned. The gorgeous leaves of the nispero or loquat are standing high. The black aeonium is looking good but let’s not linger ba on the one dahlia flower. The smallest dahlia I have ever seen. Come late September and October the garden will get its second wind. The osteospermum will be back in flower as will the salvias.

There has been fruit. As well as the almonds. I haven’t picked the almonds this year. I didn’t want to venture into the area where we have them as it had not been strimmed and the dried grass and wildflowers are scratchy and itchy. Call me what you like.

But to be fair I have last years and the years before In the cupboard. We have grapes which have been picked. All 3 kilos and frozen. Who freezes grapes? Me. So I can make grape and rosemary jelly when I have time. It works. Back in February I picked the windfall lemons from next door ( with permission as Laura will read this) and sliced and juiced them for the freezer.

Waste not want not. This year I made more limoncello. That too is in the freezer. Along with the juice in ice cube bags! The figs were poor again. Well I suspect they’ve been and gone but there were a few. The pineapple guava is just getting the fruit. I don’t mind missing them. They are ok. Ish. But a friend described them as tasting like germolene. I think that’s a bit harsh. But as I hate the smell of gerolene and TCP I try and avoid both.

Now I know I have moaned about the heat and to be fair I went down the mountain only once when I was on my own. Not because I was scared but because it was too hot and I was too lazy. But when Ian arrived he was more encouraging about getting out and about. As long as I was driving.

Twenty minutes drive down the mountain is Caleta de Vélez a marina and the main fishing port for the Malaga region. We usually eat at El Camarote with views over the marina and fabulous fish. Then a walk along the promenade toward Algarrobo. I love watching the fisherman lay out the nets and sew them to repair any breaks.

Oh. And the food is delicious.

Caleta de Vélez

One of the other places we usually take a drive to is down the other road. We have the windey and wiggly. People have their favourites. But we always head to Nerja. For a walk along the Balcón de Europe. I was surprised just how quiet it was this year. I know that we are in the middle of a pandemic but it’s did take me back. The little beach with the old fisherman’s cottage on the beach itself was being monitored. One person off. One person on. That’s social distancing etiquette for you.

No visit would be the same without eating out either in the plaza Almijara which I did numerous times at my favourite Casa Paco. Where my dietary requirements are well known. Where the fabulous staff can order direct for me.

Or to El PIlon to see my friends Dani & Loli.

Masks. Let’s talk masks. In Spain it was second nature. Leave the house. Teeth. Keys. Wallet. Mask. To be worn outside the house ( not in the garden obviously);whenever you went out. In the car if you were travelling with another household. In the shops. In the streets. And everyone complied. You rarely saw anyone that didn’t.

So we have made the best of our visit. The thought of quarantine doesn’t fill me with joy. But rules are rules and we will comply. 14 days is a small price to pay for 8 weeks in paradise.

Who knows when we will return.

Posted on July 29, 2020July 30, 2020 by happyretiredblog · 4 Comments

Hello again hello. Spain 2020

I’ve been in Spain now for two and a half weeks. Alone. Ian should have arrived on Sunday with our friend Mary to a fridge full of food. Rose wine. Aperol. Now due to quarantine rules on return to the U.K. the decision had been made that no insurance added to quarantine wasn’t the risk to be taken. Best made plans.

You won’t find me in the garden for the next 10 days. I’ll be munching myself through the fridge. Not the fridge itself. But it’s contents.

Me ? I feel safe here. Safer than in the U.K? yes. I’m in an area where there isn’t a spike. Masks are mandatory. It’s become second nature when you leave the house. Teeth. Keys. Car keys. Wallet. Phone. Masks. Plural. In case you lose one you have another. To be worn as soon as you leave the garden gate. In the town. Shops. The bank. Taken off when sitting down for eating and drinking. Everyone is complying.

Oh. And at the garden centre where they have a fab sign that they have made.

Talking of garden centres. I’ve been. Three Clivias. An agapanthus. And a large strelitzia Nicolai. Maybe I should have worn the mask over my eyes.

The weather is hot. When I say hot I mean hot. Very. Too hot to walk on the terrace without shoes. This morning I watered the garden at 6am. It was probably dry within an hour. It’s that hot. It’s watering either at midnight or very early.

I haven’t done very much in the garden to be fair. A bit of cutting here. A bit of pruning there. Surveying the situation ~ a lot. But the garden is constantly changing. Things appearing this week that weren’t there last. Things that were there have gone over.

Let’s talk quince. Last year the tree was full. There were so many I was making quince jelly like crazy. The last of it is in the fridge and I was hoping I’d be able to restock. Well I may later in the year when I buy the fruit from a shop down the windey not wiggly road. In Nerja. I have never seen them for sale in the Uk. But maybe I just haven’t looked. I’m hoping it’s a fruit that does one good year then one bad year. It may also be the heat. This will be a constant theme. The heat.

I’ve missed the alliums flowering. Missed as I have been in lockdown London. What are left are the heads of the Alliums Summer drummer. This one nearly 6ft tall. Soon to be picked and brought in for the vase of last years dried flowers.

Note to self. Order more summer drummer from Peter Nyssen.

The citron “buddhas hand” has started flowering whilst I’ve been here. It’s an odd one. Not the most attractive of citrus but a very fragrant one. It’s segmented into fingers . Often crooked looking. No pulp. Often no juice. If any a little only. No pith. As in no pith. Used for candied peel. In salads. Whenever you need fragrant zest. The biggest problem I get is having the fruit to set.

Two years ago I drowned a lime tree. A foolish schoolboy error. I thought I’d put a drainage hole on the pot. Obviously I didn’t. It drowned. I re potted it and pampered. I have been lucky as It’s survived and this year is covered with limes. I’ll be making limencello if that’s a thing. To add to the limoncello.

I have been up to the back of the house where we have four almond trees. But I went at dusk. There aren’t as many almonds this year. They definetely a one year good one year bad crop. I have to admit I’m not too bothered. I still have last years in the garage and they are a hard nut to crack.

I’m not going to mention oranges. Well I have. We have two. Not trees. Oranges. I don’t know what’s happened this year. I am blaming the weather on everything.

The lantana is as tough as old boots. Again it’s appeared over night again. Three different colours and are not that well tended. Them the flowers appear and look great.

Ruella. Mexican Petunia. Never heard of it before but it’s such a pretty flower. The flowers last just for a day ~ I am getting one at a time at the moment but the plant is a decent size so I’m hoping for more to come out all together

We have a few different jasmines in the garden. ~ Jasminum grandiflorum is a bit scrappy on the bank but the scent is lovely. Jasmine Azoricum. Another lovely scent said to be lemon scented but I don’t get it. It is a native of Madeira. It’s a slow grower or it may just be the poor soil. Jasmine trachelospermum on the garage wall. Yellow winter jasmine ( not a favourite ) but it adds colour when there is little else flowering. And this one. Jasmine Sambac. A sweetly scented jasmine and used to flavour jasmine tea in China.

The flowers of the Society garlic are so pretty and delicate. Grown in the border by the pool and in a pot on the terrace. Tulbaghia violacea.

Said to be drought tolerant. Let’s talk drought tolerant. In this garden there’s drought tolerant and there’s drought tolerant. These like a bit of a drink to get good flowering in this garden.

Hello hibiscus. A gorgeous yellow flower with a gorgeous red throat. Another flower that has virtually appeared over night. Such a beauty. Grown in a pot on the terrace.

I planted these crocosmia from Peter Nyssen last year and they did nothing. But they have flowered this year in a place I can’t remember planting them. Maybe they did flower last year. Maybe I’d planted them in a different place. Maybe I should do what I’ve been promising myself. Do a garden plant list.

This must be the smallest Daucus Carota I have ever seen. It’s self seeded on the bank at the back of the house. It’s a small flower. Guess what I’m blaming. You’ve got it. The weather.

I thought I had missed the flowers on the scented pelargoniums. They are in the wall planter and the scent as you brush by is lovely. I may get a second flush.

I love the strelitzia we have in the garden. Both strelitzia reginae and strelitzia Nicolai. I missed the two flowers on the Nicolai. They are stunning flowers and to miss them this year was a shame. But there’s always next year. When I arrived the two flowers were well and truly dying. But they were so spooky as you walk up the garden path. It looked like a prehistoric monster. So unlike the beautiful black/blue white flower when it is in full bloom.

It sounds stupid to say but I found this cactus flowering on the bank as you drive down to the road. I pass it at least twice a day. But in the car. It’s on a bank I only go onto if I really have to. Not without a mobile phone and my nerve. It’s not for the faint hearted. I have twice slipped and travelled part of the way down. Trust me. It’s not a pretty sight. The bank or me.

But this cactus ~ name unknown has a simply gorgeous flower. With some more to come. Don’t get too close. It’s spiky.

Talking succulents. These were saved from the window sill by our neighbour. Absolutely roasting in the sun. Now placed somewhere more sensible they are doing well and throwing out flowers.

It’s not all sitting indoors watching Netflix with the aircon on. Surprisingly I haven’t left the mountain in nearly three weeks. But I have been into town to shop.

I’ve put the barbecue on to cook the fruit to have for breakfast with yoghurt.

I’ve eaten at the local restaurants. Drunk coffee at others. Shopped local and seen friends. So whilst I’m complaining about the weather it’s been brilliant to see friends I haven’t seen for 5 months.

With a potential quarantine if I return to the Uk they may be seeing me more than they would expect these next few months!

Posted on June 27, 2020June 27, 2020 by happyretiredblog · 1 Comment

Six on Saturday.

My first six on Saturday for a while. We are still in lockdown London having followed the guidelines.

Did I mention I like Alliums. Probably. Definitely. This year is a good year for them in the garden here. This is the tall white made even taller as its potted in an old chimney pot.

The fabulous red trailing thyme which I bought from Pepperpot herbs and which had become a firm favourite. In a window box. In a little pot on the garden table. The bees love it as much as I do.

A canna with no name. Tall. Only one flower as the others blown away in the wind. A species canna I believe. Very pretty and I’m hoping for more flowers.

Gorgeous Gaura. New this year and bought from Burncose. I fell in love with a gaura path at Philippa Burrough open garden last year. It’s a lovely plant

with little butterfly like flowers dancing above the other plants.

Another Agapanthus. This time one of the blues. There are more blues than whites in the pots.

As well as agapanthus the front pots include Canna. I love the dark leaves of this one. There is one darker in the back garden but the leaves are as lovely as the flowers which will come later. Probably when I’m not here in London!

Posted on May 6, 2020May 6, 2020 by happyretiredblog · 2 Comments

Lockdown in London

What a difference a week makes. One week we were in Mexico City slightly (me hugely) worrying if we would get home. Normally I wouldn’t have minded being delayed for a month in Mexico. But not in the current climate! I had visions of being locked down there unable to get back. Other guests at the fabulous b&b from Canada had been advised to return. Airports were closing. Flights cancelled. Choices limited. But thankfully our flight was fine and we arrived back to London with a week or so to spare before we went into lockdown. Phew.

Had we had time we would have decamped to the cottage in Somerset. But in reality and in retrospect staying put has been the best decision. We can and do walk to the local shops. We have a brilliant butcher. Greengrocer. Pharmacy. All within 10 mins walk. We also have Kings hospital close by in case of emergencies.

I so wanted to start the dance from The Full monty in this queue on Saturday. Could you imagine Ian’s face? Especially as one of the debit card transactions was declined. You know the ones. They decline. Send a text to check and say you have to confirm in 2 mins. You don’t get the text until 10 later. Worse thing was I’d left my wallet at home and was using Ians card. I was in the shop. He was outside.

I’ve used deliveries from our local farm shop in Somerset. From our local coffee roasters in Bruton. We haven’t wanted for anything. Well that’s not quite true. The occasional bag of flour. And a week on my own (there I’ve said it). Whilst waiting at the airport to fly home I ordered bags of flour online and I will continue to use them post lockdown. However that may be. I will also at the end of lockdown have that week on my own.

The major benefit of lockdown is that we have been in one place for longer than I have been in the last 5 years. The opportunity to spend some time in the tiny garden here. Rather than there. Or there. It is tiny but I’m so glad to have some outside space. The other benefit has been seeing the tulips slowly open. Then boom. An explosion and a riot of colour. Normally we would have been away at this time of year for Easter. Easter is huge in Spain with the Semana Santa celebrations in every Pueblo Blanco and town and it’s amazing to be part of the community for these festivals. Oh. And I love our little pueblo blanco.

I have filled my Instagram timeline with tulips. More tulips. And even more tulips. I make no excuses as they have been amazing this year. My brother told me ‘ at least you’ll soon move onto agapanthus’. I will but I will be missing the allium segment, and the explosion of wild flowers on the roundabout which isn’t a roundabout in Spain.

I get my tulips from Peter Nyssen where Karen is one of the most helpful people you can find. Last year we saw this tulip at Phillipa Burrough’s open day for the NGS. Phillipa is an inspiration and I love her garden both at tulip time and for the summer explosion of planting. This tulip ~ not this actual one obviously ~ was in a pot by the greenhouse. I fell in love with it. Tall. Big. Bonkers. I knew I wanted to try it in pots for the front garden here and in the cottage pots. I also planted a few in Spain which flowered, but tulips never flower as well there. We don’t get that cold snap in the Autumn.

I added Tulip Uncle Tom to the pots which is another one I hadn’t grown before. Turns out it’s one I will grow again. A lovely peony type with a shiny looking petal in deep red. Opens up beautifully.

I also used it in the window boxes and the colour selection has been great. I’d like

To say it was a considered and measured plan. To be honest the tulips sat in their box in a spare bedroom and I planted late again. So come planting I first took the box to Somerset and planted the pots and brought what was left back to London.

I haven’t grown Angelique for a few years as I found it had lost a bit of its charm but I decided to give it a go again. Sometimes you grow the same one as you know it works. It’s been a corker in the window boxes but is now going over. One for next year but not for the window box. I have to change them year on year.

The window box combination are all of a peony type which I particularly like. When they open fully they are all big, blousy and a bit of a show off. Belle Époque, Uncle Tom, Angelique and Copper Image. In lockdown and because we have been here more and on the front garden the comments have been brilliant. Except the comment by one passing couple. Lovely roses he said as he continued walking. I didn’t get the chance to correct him.

Tulips hocus pocus opened slightly later than the others and has lasted slightly longer. It needs sun to open fully but when it does it’s pretty large.

As well as planting here in London I plant tulips outside the cottage in Pitcombe. I planted in late November and December and the last time I was there, just before we left for Mexico, they were growing but not open or anywhere near it. Sadly with lockdown there was no way we were going to see them. But worry not. Our neighbour has watered them. Our friends when out walking and passing the cottage watered them ~ we are lucky that we have a fresh water spring called Jacks Shute for them to get water. So there has been socially distancing watering!

As well as the generosity of friends and neighbours we have been so fortunate to be sent photographs. To have Instagram posts. E mails and what’s app messages. It has brought us such joy in seeing them in the photographs even though we couldn’t see them in person. You can’t beat good neighbours and friends.

Pitcombe tulip pots

Now all I need to do on the tulip front is to decide on the tulip colours and combinations for next year. I have made a start on my list with new colours and new tulips recommended to me by various friends and gardeners but no doubt I will change my mind. Just the once or twice before during and after ordering.

Back in London Ian said at the start of the lockdown ‘at least you won’t spend as much’ But at the end of the first week he muttered. ‘How many more deliveries are you expecting’ Today he said is that the last of the orders. No. I said. We have one more tomorrow. Then remembered the herb order for next week. What he doesn’t know is that as soon as we get to go to Somerset we will be starting all over again.

It’s been an opportunity of being in one place to do the things that have been on the “to do list” for a while. So paint was ordered. Floor paint. Paint for the window sills. Paint was delivered. Week 6 it’s still unopened. I need to move the window boxes after the tulips have finished and before the summer ones are planted. I have no excuse for the floors. Except diversion tactics. I’d rather be in the garden.

Plants have been delivered. Gaura from Burncose. Herbs from Pepperpot. Perennials from Todds Botanics. Hardenbergia from Fibrex. That’s it I told him. No more. Then a 4ft tree fern arrived from Todds.

The one delivery he didn’t comment on. But the one thing he’s got involved in and had me moving half the pots around the garden to accommodate ‘his’ tree fern. We have yet to plant it. But he’s decided where it’s going which meant moving two others around in the bargain. I have said no more.

The garden is tiny but is packed with pots. A large oblong planter of narcissi. Much later than usual and only now going over. Quite what I’ll put in there under lockdown though is yet to be determined. But will depend on what I can get Ooh. I’ve just remembered. I have another plant delivery. Salvias from Middletons.

I will move the tulips and narcissi to the Somerset garden which needs some TLC. It looks like we may be spending the summer there. We have a lot of work to do but needs must and if we are unable to travel then we will make the most of the time.

We have one single climbing rose in the garden in a pot which blooms like crazy. The jasmine was planted in a small pot and is now 25ft up the down-pipe. The scent from it is stunning on a warm evening. This will be followed on with jasmine clotted cream and then traechospermum with its gentle star like flowers.

But it’s not been all gardening. We have lurched from one meal to another. Breakfast merging into lunch then into supper. With snacks all the way through. The builders are on notice to widen the doors after lockdown. Here and there. There and here. I’ve gone through three stages of clothes. Fat fatter and enormous. There has been cooking. A lot of cooking. And eating. Menu planning. Shopping.

I think Ian and I invented social distancing. We have been practicing it for years. On our walks for sure. We have taken it to another level with Continental social distancing. One of us in the Uk. One in Spain.

The cats are confused. Why are you still here? Any chance you can go out for more of an hour a day. Go away for a week or two. All this attention is a bit much. Your getting under our feet.

I’m missing the garden in Spain as well as our Spanish framily, but we keep in touch with face time. Messenger. What’s app. It was three years ago this week that we signed the documents to start a new adventure and it seems like only yesterday. So much has happened in those three years. Visitors. Friendships. Gardening.

Our friends and neighbours in Spain have had it harder under lockdown. Much harsher. Not allowed out for exercise at all. One person to go shopping. Fined. Military patrolling the Pueblo blancos.

But they now have a plan. This weekend they were allowed out to walk – restricted to 1km to their home – no driving to a spot then walking ~ and the restrictions will be progressively lifted over three phases. Quite when we will be back is uncertain. But the certainty is we will in whatever way is allowable.

I’d planted a lot of new things in the garden. Things I won’t see this year. The new gaura as part of the lavender path. New alliums. New salvias. I have had photos and a video sent. I’ve heard the elusive black and white bird of paradise Is about to flower ; last year it didn’t. This is it in 2018.

But. We’ve have stayed at home. We’ve social distanced. We’ve clapped on a Thursday. We have washed hands. Smothered ourselves in sanitiser. Social distanced. Followed the rules. If we have to do that for a few more weeks then so be it. We are lucky. We are here. We are healthy.

The only question is. Which one of us will go mad first. The jury is out.

Posted on February 23, 2020 by happyretiredblog

Hola February ~ Spain

It’s been a while since I was in the Spanish garden. Post Xmas, a busy few weeks in London so it has meant that I’ve missed four weeks. Not too bad in January early February as the weather isn’t that troublesome. He says but We had a lot of rain early on when we weren’t there and then some unseasonal bright sun. Add to that a breakdown on the irrigation system and I was wondering what I’d find.

To be fair I was lucky. The rain had soaked the soil. But with the bright sunny and warm days it was slowly drying The plants had gone a little mad.

The freesias I had planted three years ago were first out of their blocks and were flowering. Well starting to flower. The newly planted bulbs are all in bud and will smell delicous when they are all out. They grow really tall and strong and I find them better in pots than the ground. Possibly as it seems easier to tie them in so they don’t flop over. The ones I have bought from Peter Nyssen are really tall and strong and flower for ages.

A bit of rain. Bit of sun and out come the Oxalis pes-caprae on the roundabout ~ that’s not a roundabout. The bank is full of them as well. A bright acid yellow which open in full sun and carpet the hill. A weed by any other name. But the colour at this time of year is welcome.

Yellow must be the colour of Spring. The hills on the road into town are covered in an explosion of yellow. With the oxalis and the yellow gorse and in the green I have found some tiny narcissi poking through the osteospermum with the yellow winter jasmine in flower too.

The oleander has burst its seed pods and is a bit of a beauty. Not all of the oleanders ~ we have a few ~ get the long tapered seed pods but the ones that do look pretty spectacular as they mature and burst open.

We cut them back quite hard last year and this year we should get some decent flowers. I’m reminded each time that I do anything with them that all parts are poisonous. Makes note wear gloves.

Back in the 90’s an ex Blue Peter Gardener Clare Bradley became a neighbour and friend of ours in Somerset and fortunately for me she opened a gardening shop in Castle Cary. It was Clare who introduced me to different plants and bulbs and I was enthused by her selection. Her introductions included a large variety of daffodil and narcissi from Cornwall and as house plants Clivia. I’d never heard of Clivia before meeting Clare. After seeing them in the Botanic garden in Malaga – La Conception I knew I wanted them for a shady bit of the garden and planted a few next to the gate. This is the second year of flowering and I love that they remind me of someone.

But I’m also reminded of Clare these days as she has introduced her own gardening gloves Donkey Gloves which I have brought to Spain and also bought some as gifts for friends to try. Clare now lives on Dartmoor and Profits from which go to help pay for the rescue donkeys and other animals on her farm. Would I recommend the gloves. Definetly .

I love this time of year when the Australian-wisteria (hardenbergia violacea) is in full flow over the garden gate. It’s a magnet for bees, is a fabulous colour and a pretty rampant grower. Downside ~ Only one for me is that there isn’t a scent. But you can’t have everything, but you can wish.

There is scent in the garden with the jasmines. Azoricum. Sambal and officianle but sadly not at this time of year.

As is usual the osteospermum have gone mad. A bit of rain a bit of sun and they are off. it self seeds like crazy but in this part of the garden it’s most welcome. I gave it a good haircut after flowering and it’s come back thicker and better.

The ferns never cease to surprise me. In a sunny position they have romped away. I have fed them a bit over last summer and they have all come through the winter and added new growth. Lots of it. Fingers crossed it continues as they are a fantastic addition to the garden.

Along with the colocasia and the Alocasia. The colocasia black Magic from Farmer Gracy is holding its own over its first winter and new leaves are starting to appear. The mojito is struggling a bit but will return. I have asked Lorraine at Viveros Florena to hold onto a pretty large colocasia mojito for me to collect at the end of March. I love the colour and the silkiness of the leaves.

I love NGS open gardens On two accounts. You get to see other people’s plants. And I’m nosey. There I’ve admitted it.

I first saw Melianthus major in Jack Wallington and Christopher Anderson’s Clapham garden . I then identified it in Holly Grove shrubbery and wanted one for Spain which I managed to get. It didn’t flower last year but I have high hopes for this one. It has grown really well and I’m hoping for the honey flowers this year.

Of course there was a visit to Viveros Florena ~ largely to get some soil to top up the beds. But also as I can’t resist a wander around to see what’s new. Lorraine has knowledge of what I like and is on hand to show me what is new.

I loved the coppery colour of the Salvia Africana so I bought one. Well I bought one for the kitchen window bed and one for the garage bed. That’s my description of one. One here. One there.

It has a lovely flower head and I’m hoping that it does well. Salvias seem to have been a good flower in the garden so fingers crossed. The Salvia leucantha has flowered all through the winter ~ the amistad has only recently stopped and has been cut back and the new Salvia oxyphora hasn’t stopped flowering either.

I was also taken with these ~ Asphodelus fistulosus ~ onionweed. The fact that they spread and the fact that they are drought tolerant what’s not to love! Though I have to say when they say plants are drought tolerant they are but often a bit like me only tolerant for so long!

The hedge ~ myoporum laetum, commonly known as transparente hasn’t been cut in months and the prospect was if I didn’t do it now then it would be another six weeks or more before I’d get the chance again. It’s a task I hate.

We have some on the entrance to the house on the drive which we had cut back hard last year. It was getting bare at the bottom and too tall at the top. It’s the Spanish version of privet. It does it’s job but I’m not a great fan. Nor it of me when it’s pruned. But needs must and I did it. It looks ok from the terrace side but trust me it’s a dodgy old cut from the other. The bank is steep. I’m not as nimble on my feet as I was and it’s a bit of a slide and drop. It’s had a good short back and side. ( singular). Next thing is to top the mimosa on the bank after flowering. A job for someone else.

I bought a Meyer lemon last year. I wanted another lemon to add to the one a we had which have been poor to fruit. we have a Buddhas hand lemon in a pot which flowered like crazy last year but didn’t hold its fruit.

They are spectacular fruits when formed ~ pretty useless as a lemon except for the zest and peel. I saw the Meyer lemon at our local garden centre and it’s another unusual one. Slightly sweeter than normal lemons ~ I will report back when I pick one.

But the attraction was the name, a friend and neighbour in Somerset died last year – Guy Mayers ~ and I thought the name was close enough for me to plant it in memory of Guy.

The lime has surprised me. Last year I had a schoolboy error. I re potted things and I obviously missed making sure the new pots had holes in the bottom. So I drowned the lime. I re potted it again with the requisite drainage and said you have two choices. It took the best one and has flowered and we have three limes growing well. It’s also now flowering so I’m hoping that we will have many more next year.

The almonds are flowering ~ always late in our garden although not as much blossom as last year. That’s not worrying me as I still have a bag of 2018 and 2019 almonds in the garage.

The nispero/loquat has a few fruit but again I’m not worried. I’m not that keen and they don’t keep or travel well.

I bought some small pots of succulent to place on various surfaces in the garden. On a small little table on the terrace and on the kitchen window sill. Then promptly ignored them big notices that they are now starting to have those small delicate flowers. Great to have on the window sills outside too.

Not found in our garden but up close to the roundabout moving as slowly as I do up the hill. Very slowly. The thing I don’t miss from London are the slugs and the snails and it’s great to see some insects along with the gekkos in the garden. There seems to be an abundance of birds this year with a fabulous chorus.

The plants are slowly waking up. The tulips I planted are poking through ~ though this may be the last year I grow them in Spain. We don’t get a cold enough spell to spurt them into growth and they aren’t as good as the ones in London.

The alliums are through and the Summer Drummer are the first out of the ground. some of the canna didn’t die back and are starting to shoot as well. Don’t ask me about the lavender. I’ll report back next time but all I will say that I have planted some tall gaura along the pathway with the lavender. The honeysuckle and the banksia rose are also starting to move so once things get going they get going.

The gate has been closed on another visit and the irrigation has been fixed and is scheduled and the garden will be watered by hand as well when needed.

It wasn’t all gardening though at times my back felt that it was. We did drive down the wiggly road to the coast and there were people on the beach and in the sea. In February. As I was wearing a jumper and alpaca socks. The flowers of the agave on the banks sprouting their long flower stems against the gorgeous blues of the sky and the sea a welcome sight.

And back to scouring the plant and bulb suppliers to find some new delights for the garden.

Posted on January 19, 2020January 20, 2020 by happyretiredblog

Here and there. There and here.

It’s been a busy time in the Mathieson ~ Jones household over the last few weeks. It’s been a bit here there and everywhere. But we managed to get a few weeks together over Christmas in Spain. Second Christmas and third New year. How time flies. In Spain not with Ian. Ask him he’s says about 8 years. That’s dog years by the way. Add another 20 and your nearer the time.

The weather can be changeable and when I arrived it was wet. Now spending half our time in Somerset for the last 25 years you’d think I’d be used to wet. But in Spain it’s a different kind of wet. Yes I know I’m a little bit bonkers but trust me it rains in the West Country. It’s often biblical like last night as I returned on the A303 and the M3. Rain so hard you couldn’t see Stonehenge. To be honest not that I want to. If I have time to see it it means I’m stuck in a traffic jam and after 25 years of passing it it hasn’t changed. Not a bit.

But the weather was proper pants when I arrived. I didn’t go out for two days as it rained so hard that the water was rushing down the hill. You would have been able to surf down La Rampa I’m sure. Not that I’d know. I didn’t venture out for two days. But the rain makes me happy in Spain. Wet ground means easier planting. Our water deposit is full.

Ian arrived a few days after me and it’s always amazing at what he manages to pack into his case. As well as some Xmas goodies which we would struggle to get and of course we can’t live without there were some major additions. A while back I had bought a fabulous cake stand and dome from my friend Mr Glass in London from London Times Vintage up in Islington. I wanted to bring it to Spain but was nervous. It’s heavy. On a stand and is glass. It arrived with Ian in his suitcase. All in one piece.

Those who follow me on Instagram are well used to seeing Ian’s back. This is one I made him stand still on the terrace looking down to the coast.

Trust me you don’t know how hard it is to get Ian stand for a photo. Let alone pose. Before I’ve even pressed the shutter he’s on the move thinking it’s done.

But the weather picked up. Chilly mornings. Glorious days. Chilly nights. That I can cope with. Oh. And have I ever mentioned sunsets. Maybe one or two. Hundred. At this time of year they are stunning and the views vary from the campo to the town to the areas above the town. Luckily there are others as obsessed as me who take sunset pics

On a clear day we can see the coast of Malaga, to the left Gibraltar. And further to the left usually on a different day Morocco.

As we had rain it was an opportunity to plant the final bulbs. Many I had planted with a pick axe earlier had started to poke through so this time planting was easier with the ground being a little damp. The garden in Somerset is like a paddy field after all the rain we have had. In Spain we do actually have a pick axe. Not that I use it that often but it may be useful if I ever want fancy dress as one of the seven dwarfs. Ian says I’d be a mix of grumpy, dopey and sleepy. Point is. He’s probably right.

Last years freesia are already in flower and a gorgeous yellow one was in bloom. Was is the correct term. I knocked the head off as I clumsily passed by! They grow amazingly well in the garden and I finally planted the last batch. We have pots dotted all around and the scent is fantastic a big winner from Peter Nyssen again.

There is already colour in the garden. The osteospermum are spreading like crazy and as each day gets a bit warmer more open. That and the one Gazania that seems to be way ahead of the others.

The almond trees are bursting into flower. Sadly not ours this time as ours are the latest to flower. Probably in the whole of Andalucia. Which in many ways is good. Maybe a bit less windy to have the beautiful flowers blown like confetti across the garden.

There are two different flowering types in our garden and our neighbours. Both our neighbours are out already. I love the pinky red throat of the second almond flower.

Patience is a virtue. One that I’m not great at. Particularly where plants and flowers are concerned. To be honest best I just say patience isn’t a virtue.

I witter on about the roundabout that’s not a roundabout. Not a lot. But it’s so coming into life. The acid yellow of the oxalis pew caprae is beginning to carpet the ground. This year they seem to be taller and more abundant than last year. I blame the weather!

We are over 600m above sea level. A bit exposed in parts so when the wind blows the wind blows. The enormous leaves of the strelitzia Nicolai get shredded. I’m gutted that there are no signs of flowers ~ we last had them in 2018. Fingers crossed for this year. They are magnificent in their blue/black beauty.

We have a number of strelitzia Reginae with flower spikes which will be bursting into the fabulous bird of paradise flower in the next few weeks.

When we moved into La Casa I was surprised to find that we had a Swiss cheese plant. As a child growing up we had one along with the obligatory rubber plant sitting in the sitting room. This one is in the garden. Really slow growing and to be honest it’s taken me over two years to like it. But I do. I’m hoping it doesn’t grow as large as the ones in the Botanical Gardens Malaga. Then I won’t like it. But I suspect there is no chance of that. The seed pods of Sesbania Punicea are still hanging and are a great shape. You can hear the seeds rattle inside as the pods are so dry.

The dodonia s a pretty dull plant most of the time but when autumn and winter come the green leaves turn to a gorgeous red. I’ve tried replanting some of the seedlings but they just don’t take. The final leaves of the grape are falling ~ hurrah as they are a pain to keep sweeping up. I know I should store them for leaf mould, but I fear the tree rats or some slithering snake may take up residence.

I love the foxtail agave. A lot. This is one at the bank at the back of the house. Them there’s the plecanthrus which is in the main bed. Has a bit of a funny smell. I can’t explain it. Looks a bit like an alien as it grows. Succulents on the back bed. Mr Prickly ~ the one of three healthy prickly pears. Which fruited this year.

We also did a bit of walking ~ down at the coast in Nerja. And a walk from Canillas de Albaida to Competa. A walk in an area between Canillas de Albeida and Canillas de Aceituno.

It wasn’t all gardening. Quite of bit of this trip was leisure as well. Picking lemons from next doors garden. With permission! Making the final batch of quince jelly. Picking olives to dry salt them. Making limoncello. I must remember to take that one out of the cupboard when I’m next home

So for now it’s a waiting game. For some more rain. For the alliums to start poking through. The orange blossom to make an appearance. Time to prune the grape and the olives. There’s never a dull moment, and nearly three years later I’m still excited when I drive up the wiggly road.

And surisingly. It all starts again soon.

Posted on October 24, 2019November 9, 2020 by happyretiredblog · 5 Comments

Hello again. Hello Spain

Hold onto your hats your in for a bumpy ride. The flight back to Spain was a bit wobbly – so turbulent that the cabin crew had to sit down for ages. But we had a fabulous view of the sunset as we approached Malaga over the coast.

I arrived after a bit of a storm. It had chucked it down. Heavily. Hail stones. My reaction. Ha. At last I can turn the irrigation system off. Only parts of the garden are irrigated because as much as I try those drought resistant plants don’t like the drought and 40* heat for any length of time.

It’s exciting to see what’s happened in the garden and true to form after a quick cuppa with our lovely neighbours I wandered around the garden with the garden lights on. And a torch. I could see I’d lost a few more lavender. Again I have no idea why. But they will be replaced. I ignored the growth of the hedge. If I didn’t I’d have to think about cutting it. Tomorrow is another day.

The storm had cleared the air and the morning light was lovely and it was time to have a good look around. All looked ok. Yes. There was some work to do. The hedge does need its final cut. – a job I hate but I need to do it. I was interested to see the quince. When I left it was heavy with fruit. So heavy that one of the branches had snapped and the fruit had fallen. But. There was still a lot to be picked. Well a lot for me. Quince jelly here we come.

There was more excitement. I walked the side bank to check the chimney and gutters. And there it was. A pomegranate. Now it may seem insignificant to you but trust me. It wasn’t to me. We have two trees/bushes close to each other. We have been here 2.5 years and we have never had fruit. One tree had a flower this year. But this one had none. Now there was a fruit.

The previous owners has also confirmed that it had never fruited in the 6 years that they had been here. I need to read about pruning cutting back. I’m not sure on what growth it flowers. I did hack it last year as it puts on a tremendous growth.

I love the leaves on the níspero/loquat. Big long leaves. It’s now in bud and starting to open flower. I’m not sure if it’s early or not. If I’m honest I’m not too keen on the fruit. They are a bit mushy and song store or travel well. And like most garden produce. All come at once.

The rear bank is the best for drought conditions. There are succulents and agave mixed with rosemary, some figs, lantana and bottle brush amongst others. The rosemary does so well and is flowering like crazy. We also have some creeping rosemary on the other banks and that grows so well.

The prickly pear needs a hose down. Every so often I put the hose on it to clear any cochineal fly that has appeared. I’m managing to save it from attack and this year the larger one had fruit. The second one which was pretty ropey is also now looking so much better and provided the rabbit ears picture.

The colocasia black magic leaves are looking much darker. The glare of the mid summer sun had bleached the leaves a little but a bit of amove around us helped. The large leaves of the green colocasia also continues to get bigger. We don’t really get frosts so I’m hoping the shelter of the terrace will help keep them over the winter left in their pots. Last year the colocasia mojito died back but reappeared in early summer.

I’m pretty amazed at the ferns. Bearing in mind the heat and that they are in large pots they have gone crazy. I’m having to move these slightly so we can walk through to the door. They need a bit of a tidy up. Which I will do over the next few weeks.

There is still colour. We tend to get a splurge of colour as the weather cools and we get some rain. This Durante Repens has flowered on and off all summer. Small golden berries form ( usually ) after flowering. Common names are sky flower and golden dew drop. I get few berries but maybe the birds have them.

The pink gaura is still floating high above the other plants. I need to get a white one as it’s such a lovely flower. Small delicate and lovely.

This is like a big crazy physcodelic caterpillar. Salvia leucantha which grows like crazy here.

It has been pretty quite flower wise over the summer months but now is in full flow. It’s a gorgeous colour combination and like the gaura though not as tall floats above the other plants.

It wouldn’t be autumn without seed heads. These are the seeds of the Sesbania Punicea which is a straggly but lovely flowering plant. The orange flowers are pea like and there are a few new plants growing – self seeded. Sometimes called the scarlet wisteria. I need to pot some as I’d like to plant them elsewhere in the garden. Apparently difficult to get hold of in the uk but it will grow.

It doesn’t take me long to pop into Viveros Florena our local garden centre. I never walk away without buying something. Or things. This time was no exception. I really only went in to schedule a delivery of some pots to plant my freesias and tulips in. But I couldn’t resist this Salvia. A new one to me. Salvia Oxyphora. Hairy Bolivian sage. Large leaves. Pretty

Don’t ask me where it’s going. I didn’t think that when I bought it. I rarely do. I like a plant. I see it. I buy it. Planting it is secondary.

There is work to be done but I’m pleased with how it’s fared in my absence. The dame de noche ha at long last flowered. An insignificant flower but a glorious evening scent.

The Indian jasmine is still flowering. One of the oleander still has flowers. The Salvia amistad is marching along.

The orange tree has blossom on it which has surprised me but I’m not complaining and last years freesias are already up and growing strong.

But for another week sunrise isn’t until 8.30′ and sunset is getting earlier. The clocks change next week. But when I’m here time stands still. After all. Yesterday I went into town for a half hour appointment. I arrived back home 3 hours later.

This week I’m off to Córdoba for the day. I’m hoping the gardens of the Alcazar are still blooming lovely.

Posted on October 20, 2019October 20, 2019 by happyretiredblog · 2 Comments

London. Somerset. Spain.

We are back in London having spent a few weeks in Spain. We certainly weren’t singing Viva España when we left. Sunny Spain. The previous two weeks had given us patchy weather. Not an issue normally as it would give me a chance to do some gardening jobs.

But we had a visitor. Who likes the sun. It was there. Just a bit like hide and seek. Now you see me. Now you don’t. Enough. Back to London.

Um. What a difference. I’d left Spain in bright sunshine. Shorts. Sandals. No socks though. Back in jeans and a jumper. With the heating on.

I was intrigued about the garden. Was it still ok. What was dying back. I felt the same arriving in Spain after being away for 6 weeks. The longest I’ve left it since we bought la casa in May 2017. It was fine. I’d lost some lavender. Why I have no idea. But it was fine.

The London garden was lush. Very green. Some colour but the foliage had gone bonkers.

It’s been a good year for my canna and the bananas. Possibly as I’ve been better at watering them. And feeding. Regularly. When we got back it was all very green. And still growing like crazy. The cannas has finished flowering. I have my eye on a few more for next year.

The red banana has gone crazy. What started as a small pot plant has just grown and grown. Much better than the one in the garden in Spain. But I suspect it’s the water. More in London. I’m not sure I’ll be able to overwinter this one. If I don’t I’ll treat them like an annual. If they can put this amount of growth in a season than that’s fine for me

So I don’t think I’ve mentioned I love agapanthus for a while.

Well I do. This is one of the tallest whites we have. Name unknown. One we bought as cheap as chips at Columbia Road market. Flowered for ages. Big fat white flower heads. Now we have the seed heads so I want to collect some seed to take to Spain. I’d really love to get the height of some of these in one part of the garden. Agapanthus do brilliantly in Spain. Not that I’m complaining with the London crop. They have been great. I’m thinking I have to divide some of the pots this year but I hate doing it but needs must.

No not the Mediterranean. But sunny Peckham. This is a citrus tree I bought years ago and it flowers well in a pot. But rarely fruits. When it does it’s exciting but the little fruits are. Well little. But fun.

As a homage to Spain I have a number of succulents – some in pots on the fence and wall. These are all doing great and I have been adding to the collection. I’m thinking I may take a note from Jack Wallington and plant up a small window box outside for the kitchen window.

I even have started to have some indoor plants!!

We had a trip to Somerset. A short non gardening visit. One reason was it was too wet. And I needed more than two days to make a start but there was still colour in the garden. That’s my excuse. It wasn’t that I spent the afternoon with Georgie at Common Farm Flowers – honest, and walking around the flower farm admiring the flower beds. In particular the dahlia beds.

I can but dream. I miss my dahlias.

Back to the cottage –

The perennials have covered and smothered the weeds. I can hardly see the ground elder. The bindweed. So for now I can breathe. But not for long once the perennials are cut back – though not before seed heads have fed the birds – I will see the weeds again.

I await the new book from Jack Wallington ‘ wild about weeds’ with anticipation of the way to grow to love them. Jack and Chris stayed in Pitcombe recently and I was worried about the garden. A garden I hadn’t worked in for a few weeks. There were weeds – I have the national collection of ground elder. Quickly followed by bindweed.

I worried at being judged. Little did I know then that Jack was waiting to release the news on his book – and that Jack would embrace the weeds and not judge me. !! Not that Jack & Chris would. But we are all paranoid about our gardens. Aren’t we?

Now I like these. But not all over the garden. This year at clear up time there will be a cull. A large one. They are taller than ever this year and they have flowered and flowered, and spread and spread. A previous gardener used to divide – and plant them in other parts of the garden. Me. I will divide and find homes.

I planted this poppy a couple of years ago. It floundered a bit. But this year has flowered its petals off. And still it continues. It’s such a shame poppies are rubbish as cut flowers. Reminds me. Maybe next year at least one of the 10,000 poppy seeds I scattered on the bank in Spain may at least flower. I’m not holding my breath – nothing ha appeared in two years.

I never expected to see berries on the honeysuckle. Don’t ask why. I don’t have an answer but I didn’t. And there are. Adds some colour!

Some of the perennials are dying back slowly. But as soon as there is a frost they will be gone over night. The few dahlia I have in the garden will be mush.

I missed the grapes. The constant rain recently had made the majority mouldy. So not chateau Pitcombe this year. Not even enough for my usual grape and rosemary jelly.

But then comes the new opportunities. The new bulbs to plant!!

I have received the bulbs for London and Somerset from Peter Nyssen as usual.

The plan is being made. The tulips for London window boxes. The tulips for the Somerset pots. Yes. I have a plan. Surprisingly a planting plan.

I may even remember which tulips are planted where. There are some old favourites this year. Belle Époque. Angelique, which I’m trying again after a disappointing year a few years ago. New ones. Tulip Copper image – Tulip Uncle Tom.

And one I’m particularly excited about – tulip hocus pocus. I saw this at the open day for the NGS at Ulting Wick and I thought it was fabulous. Tall. Large flowers and totally bonkers. I’m still at odds as to where they will go but as they are so showy I suspect they will be at the front of the house and cottage. A bit of a show off. Me! Yes.

I have spent the day tidying the small patio garden in London. By small. I mean small. I have moved the important things. The chimenea for Harry the cat. Who has decided that he likes being out in the rain as long as he can watch it from the cover of his den.

I head to Spain this week. Friends say aren’t you lucky to have three very different gardens. The answer is a resounding yes. And a resounding no. London really manages itself. It’s small. Everything is in pots. No grass to cut. Little weeding. Lots of watering. It’s an easy garden. Perfect for its size.

Somerset has a lawn. Perennial beds. Fruit trees. And compared to London time consuming and at times hard work. No. At all tomes when you are an absentee gardener. I’m having to think hard about Somerset and it’s planting and maintainence and accept I can’t do it all by myself.

Spain. Oh. How I love the garden. But it’s challenging in may different ways. The heat. The drought. Getting the watering right whilst I’m away. Choosing the right plants. Understanding the pruning of almonds. Of níspero. Of the 3 orange trees.

As I head back I’m excited as well as worried as always to see what I’ll find behind the gates. It’s been very dry again. Very warm. A little rain. That didn’t touch the sides. But. Of course it is forecast to rain for two days when I arrive. But we need the rain. The garden needs the rain. My bulb order should arrive as well so if the ground is wet then maybe. Just maybe I won’t need a pick axe for planting.

I’ve already been told that there is a lot of work to be done. The garden has been watered. But nothing else. So I will have my work cut out. In between tapas and vodka caramelo of course. And a trip by train to Córdoba.

Posted on September 9, 2019 by happyretiredblog

Hello again Hello Spain

We are back in Spain after a gap of 6 weeks. The longest I have been away in the last 2.5 years since we bought Casa Verano Eternno, We had decided that the month of August was too hot for both of us and that we would be better off in the UK. Which turned out to be baking hot. But still not as hot as Spain.

Still, we are back now and the weather. Well its a bit like a summer in the UK. A normal one, not one like we have just had. I went into town this morning in cloud. Arrived back home an hour later to bright blue sky. Drove to the coast hot hot hot. Back home to a thunderstorm and some rain. Not enough so I don’t have to water this evening. but enough to bring in the cushions.

Back to the garden. I set the irrigation system to come on whilst I was away. Being paranoid about the water bill and being tight I set it for every other day I also asked a neighbour to come in and water during the week to give the garden a good old soak the old fashioned way. With a hose.

Overall its not too bad. There have been one or two casualties alonmg the way but none that I can’t deal with. Some lavender along the lavender path have died. Why I don’t know when they are in the middle of the path and all those around them have done ok.

There is still some colour which at this time of the year is a minor miracle. The summer has been long. Dry. And very hot.

At the back of the house is a steep bank. I rarely go up there unless I absolutely have to. It’s steep and it’s not that the bank is unstable. It’s me. I have rolled down once or twice and it’s not a pretty sight. For you or for me. So I don’t attempt to do anything on there. But at the base is a lovely bed – although I can’t call it a flower bed as such as its not just flowers. There are succulents. A foxtail agave which is growing nicely. Some other agave. Rosemary. The dreaded fennel.

The lantana is a plant that keeps on giving. This has been in flower on and off for ages and has both flowers and berries. They come in some great colours and the red and yellow is known as Spanish flag. This is rather subdued but is right for this bed.

Alongside it as well as the succulents there is Rosemary which as you would expect in a meditteranean garden and it does pretty well This one has some lovely little flowers at the moment and is a welcome bit of colour in the border. Plus there is plenty if there are any grapes left for me to make some grape and rosemary jelly.

I love seeing these grow outside. We had a plant when I was growing up. Indoors of course. Both the plant and me. In another bed is a Swiss. Geese plant. I’m not keen but it’s growing well albeit slowly. So for now it stays.

When we were back in the UK we had a number of trips to gardens. Both private and public gardens. At Ulting Wick I was taken with the path lined with gaura. The gorgeous flowers at the end of the long tall stalks dancing away. It was stunning and something I would like to do one day. In the meantime we have some pink dotted around the garden. I need to find some white ones.

it’s goodbye agapanthus. I can hear the sigh of relief on social media. Hurrah. Maybe now he will stop bleating in about Agapanthus. Your right. I will. For now. There will be more. I bought ten at the end of season sale at the garden centre here. They close for the month of August and have a pre closing sale. It was agapanthus heaven for me. They are all in pots dotted about the garden and will be planted when we have the rains. Hopefully we will have rain in October or a November and I will be able to plant. Without a pick axe. I joke not.

I thought all was lost with my colocasia mojito. It had died right back. So I sulked and refused to dig it up. Until I saw that I had one leaf appearing. I replanted in a pot not hoping for much and on my return hey ho. It’s growing really well. Needs a repot into a larger permanent pot. But that will be my Autumn task.

I love these colocasia. I bought two black magic. One I potted and it’s grown really large. Big leaves. But they aren’t as black as I had hoped but I think that’s because they are griping bleached in the intense sun on the terrace. I need to find somewhere more shaded. Shame as I like it where it is. The other I lost. Yep. Lost. I couldn’t find it anywhere. It was to go into a pot. I knew the pot. Not personally. But I knew which pot it was going to be planted in. I gave up. Planted something else in that pot.

Today I have found the lost colocasia. I must have dropped it. Because it is growing under the jacaranda tree. Only two, lives but it’s growing. I am leaving it there for now and will dig it up and plant it in a pot. When I buy another.

This always amazes me. It’s sesbania punicea . Whilst there is only one flower on the straggly tree like plant there are a lot of seed heads. It self seeds but in the past I have dug them up not realising what they are.

This year I am nurturing some as I’d like some more plants around the garden. The flowers are glorious and the seed pods really interesting. The plant is straggly and the lower part unattractive. But these pea like flowers are lovely.

We had the almond trees pruned this year. The first time since we have been here. I had no idea what to do so I found a man that did. And he did know. A good prune and a fantastic flowering season later we have almonds. A lot of almonds. I thought we may have been a bit late in picking them but there will still a lot in the tree. Some had already fallen. So we picked a lot. Now to decide what to do. I have had a number of suggestions. But the biggest problem is cracking the blighters. A recommendation from an insta friend. Don’t be a cheapskate when buying but crackers. Buy cheap buy twice. Or three times. I agree. I bought cheap last year and gave up.

I’ve come to realise late to the party with the fruit and nut and olive crops. One good year. One bad year. Last year was a dire year for the olives and the quince. We had one quince on the tree last year. This there are at least 20. So it looks like I will be making quince jelly and may try my hand at membrillo. To go with the fabulous spanish cheeses.

Not being here all the time means that some fruit ripens and is gone by the time you get back. Like the figs. There are 4 on the tree. That’s breakfast sorted for the next few days. Not just a fig. But to add to breakfast.

So we have had a good collection of goodies to pick and eat. The almonds, the grapes,the chumbos and the olives.

The chumbos are the fruit of the prickly pear. Prickly they sure are. Get one of those needles in your finger and you know it. You also spend the next few hours trying to get it out. Apparently they are short in supply. The prickly pears around here are decimated by the cochineal fly. I have been spraying mine regularly and have two decent ones in the garden. Makes me feel special. We have them. But I’m not going to eat them. They will be re homed.

The olives won’t be picked until they are black and then will be salted. I did it once before and they were delicious. A recipe given to me by a friend who has a b& B in Portugal.

They tasted great and that’s from someone who’s not a lover of olives.

There are seed heads and pods coming all around the garden. . The sesbania. The jacaranda and the seed heads of caesalpinja gilliesi. Oh. And an unknown wildflower. The name escapes me.

There is a lot to do. I have taken the plunge in pruning the lavender. It looks pretty awful now but it will get better. Won’t it? It was planted a year ago and looked fabulous during the summer. Gorgeous lavender flowers with an amazing array of bees and pollinating insects. Oh. And it smelled heavenly as you brushed past on your way up the path. Dodging the bees of course.

So it continues. I have a lot of clearing to do. The olive tree makes a mess with its dropping leaves. The grapes drop. Their leaves drop. The agapanthus – oops. Another mention need a tidy. Some people leave the seed heads. I did last year and we have a lot self seed. This year I’m cutting them back. It’s a choice against tidy and untidy. This year I’m doing tidy.

One more thing that’s left to do. Order my Autumn planting bulbs. I have grown freesias in this garden for the last two years. They have been a huge success. Ordered and delivered to Spain by Peter Nyssen they have been tall. Strong stems and a fabulous scent. They need a bit of staking which along with labelling is a weakness of mine. But I’m going to have to. I want more.

We have rain forecast for Friday. That’s a bulb website day!

Posted on August 10, 2019August 10, 2019 by happyretiredblog

Six on Saturday – Somerset

This week it’s six on Saturday from Somerset. It’s a bit of a neglected garden but there are some flashes of loveliness.

The perennials are outgrowing the weeds thankfully.

The Echinop is a real bee magnet and has grown really well again this year. The colour is vibrant in the summer garden and I must add some more.

The white phlox seems to have spread quite a bit. There are patches of it in places I didn’t realise it was planted in. It’s a glorious almost iridescent white in certain light. Almost see through in bright sun.

When we moved in over 25 years ago we had a lot of self seeded evening primrose with a pretty acid yellow flower. We now only have a few of these growing but they have never been lost in the years since we moved in.

It’s been an awesome year for roses. I pruned them late this year. The trouble with not being at the cottage as often this year is that we often miss the best displays. This is an absolute gem of a rose. Don’t ask me its name. I have never been a great one at labelling. It’s in my list to do better.

Buddleja davidii,is a bit like marmite. You either love it or hate it. We started off with Buddleja globosa.

A lovely orange/yellow flower which we lost along the way and replaced with a lovely white.

It’s easy to photograph bits of the garden in isolation and to avoid the weeds. This is through the honeysuckle arch and you can’t see the abundant bindweed and ground elder.