Tulips – Page 3 – Gardens. Travel. Life.

Posted on March 14, 2021March 14, 2021 by happyretiredblog · 7 Comments

Lockdown London garden

I can’t remember the last time we have spent so much time in one place. Certainly not in London. When I was working we would escape to Somerset most weekends. When I dropped to four days a week it was long weekends. We would travel. Visit family in Wales. In Scotland. Then came a new adventure. Spain.

Then all travel at first became restrictive. Then it stopped. I’m not complaining. It was necessary. It was our choice to stay in London. My main thought was if I should become unwell we were only 10 minutes from a major hospital. We could walk to the local shops. We are I know very lucky to have a choice.

The upside is that we have spent time sorting out things in the garden. No major projects but a bit of work here. A tidy there. Numerous trips to the local recycling centre. For those who have seen pictures of the garden in London you know it is small. I think it’s tiny and it is.

The top pic is the square ( ish ) patio area taken a few years ago. Add a side return and that’s it’s measure. Small. But full of pots.

We have had a major tidy up of the side return. The gravel was tired. Compost had been spilt so it was time for a clear up. It’s amazing what such a small job does to brighten up what can be a dark pathway. A small change but so Wirth the effort. But let’s be honest. There’s no much else to do. I’m so over cooking three meals a day. Making bread. Making cake. Marmalade.

Three trips to the builders merchants. Suitably social distanced to pick up bags of gravel. I’m not sure the builders merchants is as busy as usual. On day three Ian went to pay as the gravel was loaded into the car. One of the guys said hello. I see your back again. ‘ yes says Ian we bought 8 bags and need 4 more. Really said the guy. You’ve got enough then. You’ve bought 12 this week. He was right. Remember though. Ian is the person who when asked how long we had been together said ‘ oh. About 8 years. It was 20. Don’t ask him now as he will say with lockdown too long. Oh. And it’s 30 years.

Things then get moved around ~ the plan to replace the small plastic covered store with a new one. Which instead meant an addition. Moved to give the path a better sight line. Bearing in mind the only people to see the garden in a year has been us and the cats it wasn’t something I was that bothered about. But Ian?

Don’t look at the window sills. I know they need paining. It’s on my list. Made by Ian but we need some warm dry weather. And for the tulips to be over.

Another delivery of Dalesford compost and a bin to empty the open bag into. That way it just may stop me getting compost all over the gravel which then compacts and you don’t get the crunch when you walk on it.

The window boxes are planted with tulips. Don’t ask me which ones as I don’t know. I had some ‘leftovers’ from the main plantings here and in Somerset. But who doesn’t like a tulip surprise?

There’s been time to move pots around. To top dress the pots. A bit of a feed. There’s always a use for old chimney pots. The agapanthus are poking through. Some canna are showing that they have survived the winter. I’m hoping that the cold freezing weather has passed but after yesterday’s hail who knows.

The plants are just coming through and it’s nearly time to poo my plants. I’ve had a delivery of alpaca poo feed from Lou Archer and will start on my feeding Fridays soon. I do feeding Fridays as it serves as a reminder for me. I then remember hopefully when I’ve done it. Trust me though. As each day has merged into one and we have lurched from meal to meal to day to week. It may just be a struggle.

This agapanthus is ‘ agapanthus don’t know’ as are many of them in the garden. I’ve said it before I’m a shocking labeller. But ‘don’t know ‘ seems to be a popular name.

Not a great pic but if you put on your specs or get a magnifying glass you will see a green shoot of canna starting to romp away. The great thing about these chimney pots is that they give height. Downside is that the pots need regular feeing and that they can’t spread.

Another chimney pot plant. This time an almond. Planted probably 15 years ago. Occasionally looks a bit sad if it needs a bit of water but at this time of year it’s about to open its blossom. Which no doubt will end up as confetti in the wind.

It’s such a pretty pink blossom and nothing like the ones on the bank in Spain which are larger. White with a pink hue.

The citrus tree has been moved around a fair bit. But it’s flowered in Winter. Survived the frosts and bitterly cold winds. Now it’s setting fruit. Don’t get too excited as they are the tiniest little citrus I did ever see. But. They are setting in a cold london garden. Don’t hold your breath for a delivery. So small I’d post them in a matchbox.

Another chimney another plant. I lost an aeonium over winter. Of course it was my fault as I didn’t cover or bring it in. But then I haven’t done that in years. But when one plant dies another has taken over. A self seeded digitalis I think. I don’t know when I last had any in the garden. But it’s growing well and I have a few more growing around self seeded into other pots.

The red trailing thyme is going great gums and I shall be getting more from Pepperpot Herbs for the summer.

I’ve removed the fleece from the tree ferns. And put them back on again. And removed them again. I’m hoping for the last time as I can’t see any frost forecast.

If it was up to Ian the garden would have so many that we wouldn’t be able to move. It’s the one plant he never says ‘ don’t you have enough’.

Jasmine

Jasmine officinale planted in a teeney weeney pot compared with its growth. But we are only in March and it’s full of buds halfway up the drainpipe and Ian is convinced Cyril has his drey in the foliage. Yes. There is a funnel stuck in the pot. Why? I find it easier in these small pots to water through the funnel especially if it’s dry and for putting in liquid feed.

The scent from this jasmine will fill the house with the first floor bedroom window open. I love the smell some people don’t but for me scent is a driver in such a small garden. I’m about to plant freesia into pots for both the front and back garden.

Another jasmine is full of buds this year. Probably because it heard me say that this was its last chance. It’s jasmine clotted cream and I had high hopes for it. Maybe as high as the one at the other end of the side return. But no. It’s been a poor performer until this year where it’s full of bud.

The clematis has started to spring into growth. I hate trying to train them with their brittle stems. How many times have I broken what I thought was a dead stem to find a mile of growth chopped off. It’s growing through a large container of salvia hot lips. I never mind cutting that back as you get the scent of the leaves as you do.

Some people don’t like hot lips but it’s a great filler and flowers for months right up to the first frosts. In this garden that’s late. Very late.

I’ve hacked the salvia back hard as I have the Amistad. I’m not convinced Amistad has survived though which is disappointing as it was still flowering in December.

The front garden is small. I’d love to have a long front garden like my parents garden at the house where I was born and grew up. At first the borders were full of roses. Mostly bought in the garden department at Woolworths who in their day had a great selection. The names of which I can still remember. Superstar. Iceberg just two.

Then they got old ~ the roses ~ my parents later. They dug up the roses and planted spring bulbs to be followed by annuals which they grew themselves. Hours and hours spent in the greenhouse that they had bought for me and never wanted. I’m like them. They loved to have a lovely front garden. Loved people commenting on it as they passed by. In competition with Den & Blem next door. The garden was certainly colourful but the endless pricking out. Patience. Smoothing I didn’t inherit from my parents.

I digress. Back to lockdown london. The front garden is also pots. Lockdown meant I had bulbs destined for Somerset. They may have been destined to travel. We weren’t. Not in time to plant them anyway. The tulips were planted in haste in between the release from one lockdown to the start of what we hope will be the final one. They are up and romping away. Apparently. As I planted them in November. Nearly 4 months later we haven’t seen them.

But not the daffodils and narcissus. I’d planted a few around the greenhouse. That’s as far as I got and brought them back to london. So I had to find some pots. Some I had. Some I’d bought for the first lockdown.

Pots were hard to get hold of in lockdown 1 but the local ironmonger had buckets. So I bought buckets. Quite a few. They now have tulips in some. Alliums in another. I know. Alliums in aluminium buckets. But needs must.

There are tete a tete in another. When the bulbs finish I will replant them with annuals for the front. Well that’s my plan. Best laid plans and all that. Strange mentioning plans aQs we haven’t had any for 12 months.

The tulip pots at the front are doing really well. Three large pots of Hocus Pocus. A tall bonkers tulip from Peter Nyssen. I loved them last year and unusually for me have planted them again in the same points. I like to change things around every year.

The window boxes are also coming through well. I had a plan. A colour plan but it went a bit by the wayside. I planted more at the cottage than expected as I’d bought more pots. So my colour combinations may be a bit a bit different this year. But what I do know is that if they all flower it will be colourful.

I love this tulip. Planted both here and in Somerset it just makes me smile.

The large evergreen agapanthus have survived the cold and wet winter. They will be fed in the next few weeks. The canna have been potted into larger pots. Canna Annei was superb last year and I will buy a new red to go out there too.

For now it’s green. Very green with a splash of yellow. Hopefully by April it will be awash with the colours of tulips to be followed with a summer splash. Now that’s soothing to look forward to.

Posted on January 31, 2021January 31, 2021 by happyretiredblog · 10 Comments

A Tale of 3 gardens ~ London.

It’s been a while. But somehow in lockdown 3 I’ve lost my mojo. Not quite where I lost it because to be honest I haven’t been anywhere to lose it! The local shops. The local park and I’ve been back a fair few times looking for it. The days are now getting lighter the weathers getting. wetter and colder and I’m dreaming of Spring & Summer days, new planting and maybe just maybe a little travel. Oh and losing the lockdown biscuit belly.

Back to business. It’s been said before I know. Three gardens is just greedy. Well it’s not what was planned and it’s not forever. At some point there will be two. One is not under discussion it’s a given. But for now it’s juggling a tale of 3 gardens.

I hate change. This week we have new neighbours. I always stress about changes. Good neighbours are a vital ingredient to harmony. Our neighbours careers take them away for a few years at a time and then they are back. This is their second overseas visit since they have been neighbours and we miss them and their children. I miss baking for the children. I miss the phone calls ~ ‘we are running late. Can you pick the kids up from school? Can you do the morning school run.

We originally lived in a top floor flat. No garden let alone three. We then bought a house 8 doors down the road ~ which only meant we changed post code and telephone exchange. Bonkers really ~ we couldn’t take our land line ~ remember them? Even more bonkers is that the centre of the road divides the polling. The opposite side of the road votes in a hall in the road. Our side three streets away.

The house and garden was a bit of a mess to say the least and once in there was that moment when you think Um. Why? are we mad?

The interior of the house was multi coloured. You needed sun glasses to get through the front door. But as expected we started work on the garden pretty quickly. There was a low wall behind us to a property where the ground floor flat kept a pretty angry dog who could and did get out of the garden into ours. I recall,the owner being angrier So speed was of the essence. There were issues with the low wall which was solidly leaning into our garden but getting it removed and rebuilt would take to long and we weren’t sure whose responsibility it was. Sometimes boundary issues are just not that clear.

Well at least it is a blank canvas said Ian. Blank canvas ! It certainly was. One where we dug up a complete cooker and various other ‘stuff’ that had been discarded. What soil there was was dead. Even weeds wouldn’t grow.

The garden is small. The houses are tall and the garden really only gets decent sun when the sun is high in the sky which is for a short period in the year and in the afternoon.

Over the years we have seen one house lay a lawn every two years. It’s a waste yet they still continue. But first the fence. Then the paving. In such a small garden it’s difficult to grow directly into the ground so we decided to grow everything in pots. One it would give us height and the give plants a chance of at least surviving. It meant our choice of plants were maybe not my first choice. But that was no bad thing.

As well as the small square space at the rear of the house we had the side return which also needed work. This was such a different project to the garden in Somerset. We were still spending our week in london and then at weekends we piled into the car, us and the two cats and spent the weekend in the garden there. So we wanted something that needed less work but yet held the interest for us. Somewhere we count sit with a glass of wine. Read. Relax.

The garden took shape gradually as we slowly looked for planters. For plants. For ideas and inspiration. From my Instagram posts people know I’m a huge fan of tree ferns. I have to be honest. They weren’t originally down to me. That was down to Ian. He decided he liked tree ferns and that was the start. We bought another last year. I’ve said it has to be the final one. It’s a small space yet we have six.

We were so pleased with the start of the process but it still looked empty. But Ian had other ideas ~ more tree ferns. This picture was taken 16 years ago a year after we moved in. How things change. One of the reasons that things went in pots was that we didn’t intend to stay here for ever. Said the man who doesn’t like change. We made offers on two houses during the last 17 years and missed out on another. So we stayed.

Looking at the photograph now I see hostas. I have never grown them since. The garden is a slug and snail magnet and I’ve learnt what I can and what I can’t grow. It’s a typical london micro climate and because if the size shake and light levels it’s been a huge learning curve. I maintain I”m not a gardener. I garden.

The house is taller at the rear than at the front. Two stories at the front. Three at the very back. This photo was taken from the top floor bedroom at the beginning of the adventure. There are others at varying times.

The garden in 2020

The last photograph was last summer. I know as we had a move around of two tree ferns to accommodate the new one. It was also agapanthus bud time and I can see a pot of red trailing thyme on the table from Pepperpot herbs . A great lockdown find in 2020 and one we will use again and again.

This one was taken last week which shows just how green the garden is in mid winter. The trunks of the tree ferns are wrapped. Straw in their crowns but some years I haven’t bothered. Last week Ian was out shaking the snow of the tree ferns. The canna still have some leaves hanging in there.

The planting has changed a fair bit over the last 17 years with a couple of constants. Tree ferns. Agapanthus and latterly cannas. Oh. And salvia hot lips which goes crazy and salvia Amistad which is still flowering in January. If I find something isn’t working then it gets taken to Somerset if it will tolerate the wet and cold winters.

We have a small citrus, currently flowering and two wispy olives. An acer. A kind of flowering almond planted in an old chimney pot. . Fatsia spiders web. One climbing rose. Jasmine of three descriptions one of which clotted cream is on a stay of execution. I was going to remove it last year as it had flowered poorly. Last year it went crazy. The trachelospermum by the back door planted because it reminds me of a trip to Italy. A discarded house plant of jasmine planted in a small planter is now 20 feet up the drainpipe and scents the house in summer. A honeysuckle planted in an old chimney,pot. Throw in some annuals for colour and that’s it.

The joy is that the three gardens are markedly different. London full of exotics, I forgot the banana and bamboo, the bamboo canes cut last year and used in Somerset. Somerset very much a cottage garden. Perennials. Fruit trees. Grass. Spain. Drought. Tolerant planting. Succulents. Cacti. Strelitzia both Reginae and Nicolai a great olive tree. Almonds. Oleander. . I’ll save the rest as when my mojo is fired up I’ll blog about that garden

Back to now. Being in pots everything needs a good feed and I’m a fan of using alpaca poo from My friend Lou at Arches at the Larches.

A handful of alpaca in the crown of the tree ferns and a regular liquid feed along with a little of the same for the agapanthus. Which reminds me they need splitting although I say that every year. A change of compost when replanting and a topping up regularly using peat free.

We do need to replace a lot of the pots ~ Ian still says the tree ferns come with us when we move. Good luck.

The front garden is also small. This photo was taken not long after we bought the house. I know as we installed a new front door pretty quickly after the move. Why? Wouldn’t you have done the same? This was indicative of the interior and a muted colour!!

The breeze block wall has gone. The path replaced and a new gate. The front has had more and more pots added over the years with changes in Spring for tulips and perennials and annuals for summer.

Early days window box. I’ve always been a glutton for colourful window boxes. This would have been around 15 years ago.

ERly years window box

In 2019 it was gaura, agapanthus and canna. Some plants are in all three gardens. Gaura is now one of them. We have agapanthus in Spain and in the london garden. Last year I also planted them in Somerset. Oh. And I’ve planted canna in Somerset.

Each Autumn I plant up the window boxes with tulips. This year the colours are predominantly orange and purple with accompanying colours. Last year it was all,peony type doubles . I have planted pots of hocus pocus again this year. I describe them as bonkers. Tall. Loud and lovely.

There are two unnamed large pots of white agapanthus. I mean the agapanthus are unarmed not the pots. But they are strong. Very tall and look magnificent when in full bloom.

The one in the first photo below is Agapanthus navy blue. A variety I bought two years ago from Todds Botanics

When you have a new path to match the cat

The garden will continue to evolve whilst we are here. This year we will replace some of the large pots. 17 years later the metal pots are rusting at the base. The agapanthus like me have grown larger. For them it’s the alpaca feed. For me it’s lockdown.

The window boxes have been planted with tulips for Spring. I have my eye on new canna. Some existing will be moved to Somerset. Some large perennials will go too. I have sights on some wispy grasses. I promise to put the correct delivery address on orders this year.

Last year I ordered a number of large agapanthus for Somerset. But failed to change the delivery address. A message from the courier saying he had delivered and left then outside. I looked and there weren’t there. I checked my invoice and yes. Delivered to london.

A 2.5 hour drive back to find they were indeed in the front doorstep. To stuff the car full and drive back. I had no one but myself to blame. Mark at Todds Botanics knows I’m a numpty and now double checks with me.

Not surprisingly it looks like we will be spending more time in the London garden this year. We are lucky. The garden may be small but it is outside space and in lockdown 1 & 2 was so very well needed. Oh and those coloured chairs you see aren’t really for us. But for the geriatric cats who believe they are theirs, we have to use the steel chairs which have now lost the padded seats.

But the garden was a doddle compared with the house interior!

For part one of a Tale of three gardens

A tale of Three Gardens ~ part 1

Posted on September 6, 2020January 31, 2021 by happyretiredblog · 4 Comments

A tale of Three Gardens ~ part 1

The question or sometimes the Statement is. “So you have three gardens?” Often the reaction to the answer is ” that’s a bit greedy ” you must be loaded” ” are you mad”: but the answer is ” a little bit mad. Yes” Greedily loaded. “no”; the real answer is circumstantial ~ we never set out for three. Two yes. But not three. And yes it’s a struggle to juggle. At some point there will be two. Not yet. But there will. Only one of them is non negotiable ~ and we go through stages of which of the other two will be the second permanent with one today being a strong contender. But tomorrow ……

When I met Ian nearly three decades ago I was living in a one bedroom flat. No garden. Not even a window box. Ian moved in ~ travelling between his flat in SW london and mine in SE london was a pain. Realising that the papers for your meeting were across London became a pain in the posterior. That your suit was not where it should be.

Ian wanted to buy a house somewhere but we didn’t want to move in London and at that stage we weren’t sure if the relationship would last ~ Which now nearly thirty years later is hilarious.

So Ian bought the cottage so we could work in London and stay at the flat. Then head off to the cottage on a Thursday or Friday ~ us and the two cats. To a cottage furnished with second hand furniture and a decent sized garden. Ten years later we bought the cottage next door and to quote the Spice girls “Two became one’.

So if you want to be pedantic. It’s 4. The gardens were merged together so technically it’s one ~ I’ll stop as I’m confusing myself. And this continued for the next 24 years until we threw a spanish spanner in the works. Which added to retirement changed everything.

Though I had loved helping my parents garden when I was living at home I hadn’t had a garden myself for a long time. Finally we moved from the flat ~ now I’m not one for a massive change so we moved a couple of hundred yards down the road to a house and we have been here 17 years. See how I don’t like change. To a house. With a garden. Madness.

Those that know understand it’s more a patio garden here. Tiny. Though big enough for us to dig up a cooker ! ( yes, honestly) and all manner of things when we started to renovate the house.

The question I get asked is ” Are the gardens different? ” Umm. Chalk cheese and concrete come to mind. A cottage garden. A small patio garden and a hot Mediterranean garden. Somerset has fabulous soil. London I garden in pots. Spain. I garden with pick axes. In Somerset we have sufficient water. In Spain water is a luxury. We have some common plants in all three gardens. Agapanthus is the main one. Honeysuckle is another. Salvia Amistad.

The cottage garden

When we bought no 3 the cottage garden was in good shape except for a hideous hedge that had grown into trees at the bottom of the garden. Eventually they came out. The borders widened. Fruit trees planted ~ some do well. Some will be replaced. The plums are pretty non existent but the apples do well. Gooseberries. Raspberries. Red currants blunder through and need a good prune and a bit of tlc. This years crop sit in the freezer ready for a day of red currant jelly Making.

All we did when we bought no 4 was to remove the fence. It was that easy. I remember on completion day going straight out and started taking the fence down. Like an animal marking the boundaries.

View from the bedroom

These photographs were taken in July this year. Our first visit to the cottage in 6 months following lockdown. During lockdown we stayed in London but the grass was cut and some weeding done ~ trust me we have the National collection of ground elder and bindweed. No matter how much we have tried it comes back. And back again. Usually with a vengeance. ~ I’ve learnt not to stand too still for too long. Otherwise it’s up to my waist. I’d managed to prune the roses so we had had a good first flush. To be fair a number need replacing but that goes onto a list of things to do. Of which I have three separate lists. Obviously. And that’s just gardening lists.

We have a tsunami of golden rod. I hate it and I’m forever pulling it up and disposing of it. It’s fine in places. But. ,,,,,,, to be honest it’s got to go.

The garden has suffered over the last three years as I have split my time unequally but hopefully we are now in a pattern where we can get back on top of it. Funny that I’d said that at the start of the year and then look what happened.

I’d spent some time in February doing some work on the garden and our summer was planned. August and September in Somerset. How things changed.

The garden falls down to a small river. Come the Summer you can walk across it and not get your feet wet. We are in a valley and after heavy rains the little Pitt fills up pretty quick. This picture is when we had the steps put in ~ a few years ago. It needs a bit of a tidy now. Can you imagine Ian and I sat here with a glass of wine on a balmy evening? I wouldn’t. It doesn’t happen. If you ever see a public display of affection I’ll slip you a fiver.

It’s usually me trying to get a phone signal standing on one leg on the bench waving my hands in the air. Not a pretty sight and not the thing to do when the bench really needs replacing.

I started to cut things back in July ~ but remember we hadn’t been here been for 6 months. Plants don’t stop growing in a pandemic! Especially in a wet Somerset garden.

Need the loo anyone? The old loo 100 ft down the garden close to the river for obvious reasons. No signs of that today ~ Funny enough we have loos indoors.

The door needs repairing and that clump of Crocosmia splitting as it never flowers.

Ian’s not running away. Not this time. We worked hard as a team in February. I didnt throw my toys out of the pram once. Well maybe a rattle and a dummy but we didn’t stop. He did keep saying when are you off to Spain. I’d like to think he was just checking dates but in reality he knew once I was away he could sit and relax.

Umm. We were busy ~ so busy that my godson came along with his tractor to take away the garden rubbish.

But despite the neglect we have worked hard to get some normality back. A boot full of new plants from the plant stand at Ultimg Wick and our friend Phillipa Burrough and some canna and agapanthus from Todds Botanics together with some plants that have done well despite the neglect we have made a start. Next is to plant some daffodil and narcissi bulbs but bulbs aren’t great in the garden. The ground can get too wet. But il going to have another bash.

I am yet to see the result of the July work and planting as I’ve been away for over 8 weeks and I’m now in quarantine for two. But I have had some photographs. The friend who sent them mentioned the grass needed cutting and she would get onto it. Which is easy as it’s her husband who does it. I shall be back shortly and again it will be a week of gardening.

Thankfully we don’t have a front garden. . The cottage opens onto the lane with a small gravel border. In the spring it’s planted with tulips. In the summer generally geraniums but again this year it’s not been a normal year. So it was agapanthus. Did I mention I like agapanthus.

I did manage to plant the tulips in the Autumn. Ok. I admit it. I’m a bit of a show off. I plant all new tulips each year ~ all in pots so it’s easy. I’ve tried explaining to Ian that it will look good and he just raises an eyebrow. Until he sees them and I get the eyebrow of approval. If he saw the invoice for the spring bulbs he would raise both.

This year I had to rely on friends and neighbours for photographs and a friend who runs past the cottage most days ~ not because she’s scared ~ she’s a runner ~ who posts the photos of the tulips on Instagram and tags me.

This year we missed flowering in Somerset and in Spain. Sad but the joy the photographs from both gardens and the thoughtfulness of friends was heart lifting. Good friends and good neighbours are worth their weight in gold. So are fabulous bulbs from Peter Nyssen.

These are some of the photos that were sent to me during lockdown. Good neighbours and friends ~ who obviously watered them through the weeks and months we weren’t able to be there. Using water from Jacks Shute just across from the cottage which has lovely spring water. Quite where it comes from we don’t know. I just wish I had a similar water source in Spain.

Previous year tulips

We have planted agapanthus this year in pots at the front of the cottage as we were too late for geraniums! Big tall white agapanthus which will be used again. We had ordered from our friends at Todds Botanics. I had a message from the courier. I called back and he said he had delivered the plants. I opened the door. Nothing. I called back. He was adamant he’d delivered. So he sent me a photo. He was right. To london and they were there on the doorstep waiting for me. Me. I was 125 miles away ! Schoolboy error. Mine.

To be continued.

Part2. 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 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 March 14, 2019March 14, 2019 by happyretiredblog · 5 Comments

A tale of three gardens. Hola

It’s amazing how fast things grow when you turn your back on a garden. Weeds especially. I think we have the national collection of bind weed in Somerset.

I hadn’t done a winter clear as the ground had been too wet. We hadn’t been around much. And I’ve picked up a bit of mañana syndrome. But needs must and last weekend I knew I had to do one thing. Prune roses. They weren’t pruned last year at all. A fail I know but the year before was a good pruning. Especially as I had Mrs Shouty as a guide and mentor for pruning the apple trees and the roses. Mrs Shouty -= Sara Venn.

So I hacked the roses. Some are old. Some probably need to be replaced. I will review at the end of the summer to see what’s what after flowering. But I pruned. I got attacked by the curse of the thorns. I have had my tetanus jab.

I tidied up a bit – well I cut the perennials back to the ground and then the rain came. Lots of it. So it’s still there to be taken away. On top of the bind weed.

Yes. There is smoke. But it’s Ian burning paperwork. Old bills. There is a bonfire there ready to start next time. A great big bonfire.

We bought a mirabelle plum a few years ago. It has fruited. Now great at the beginning. Some years the frost got the blossom and there was little or no fruit. But they are delicious. This year there is blossom a plenty. But watching what ever storm was passing through on Saturday shaking the tree and scattering the blossom filled me with gloom. If it’s not the frost that gets the blossom it’s the wind. Hopefully there will be plenty of fruit this year.

There are benefits of leaving last years flowers through Autumn and Winter . The colour of this sedum is great. And I haven’t cut it back. Not yet anyway.

Oh. I was also distracted. By a dahlia talk at the local horticultural society.

It’s a different tale back in London. The only cutting back I’ve done is to the Melianthus major which was tall and leggy. So armed with information and a decent secateurs I cut it low. Fingers crossed I’ll get flowers.

The garden in London is different. It’s small. More a courtyard garden and is sheltered. We have a typical London micro climate. I still have geraniums flowering from last year and are gaining growth at a rate of knots.

The Bowles Mauve is budding up well and will soon have a lovely scent when it opens. It’s a solid little plant and does really well

I can’t believe we have blossom on the citrus in the garden. And lots of it. Hopefully a bit more sun. A bit more warmth and these lovely flowers will open and there will be an orange blossom scent above the chair. Not that I can sit and read there. It’s there for one reason. Well three reasons. It’s the cats chair. Well one of their chairs.

If I was surprised at the blossom I am even more surprised to see a couple of tiny small fruits developing. Fingers crossed they will get bigger. I’ve been out and poo’d my plants including the citrus. The first feed of 2019. Using Lous Poo – alpaca feed

There is growth on the clematis. Early I think but never the less welcome. It’s only in the last two years that it’s done well.

Ian’s not a gardener. But he knows what he likes. Tree ferns for example. It was Ian’s ides to have tree ferns in the garden. I didn’t expect to have 5. But we have and I love them. I need to feed these once I take out the straw from the crown!

But they have survived in the garden for about 12 years and last year I didn’t fleece them or put straw in the crown when the the beast of the east arrived suddenly. But they survived.

One of my plant loves is agapanthus and I’m lucky to have them in both the London garden and the one in Spain. Again they need a feed if I’m going to get a great big show off spectacle of flowers.

I have just bought agapanthus black Buddhist from Farmer Gracy for the Spanish garden which was delivered last week.

We have a lot of blue and white in the garden here and there. There and here depending where I am – but I’d like to introduce some different ones. The ones in the garden have self seeded here and there and spring up everywhere.

The tulips in the window boxes are through – I planted them late but are growing pretty fast. There are new colours this year. I didn’t grow any in Spain as the ones I tried last year were pants. That’s not a variety. It was the outcome.

The jasmine is almost to the top of the downpipe and is heavy with flower buds. You know those pinky red little buds that open to a fabulous white scented flower. Add a bit of Trachelospermum a bit later and you have a succession of scent. I lost one last year but the other two are doing ok. Add the scent of my straggly honeysuckle to next door’s rampant one poking over the fence and we have the summer scents sorted.

Spain is weeks ahead of London and Somerset. In Spain the jasmine is out already as the weather has warmed up. Though I see we have two weeks of rain coming. Last March was wet. Very wet. So far we have had a dry spell since October when the reservoirs filled to the top. Great for the garden. Great for the reservoir and our storage tank. But…..

The freesia are brilliant again this year. Bought from Peter Nyssen and shipped to Spain – they look and smell fantastic. I must try some in pots in London next.

It is such a contrast between the three gardens – which I will admit is one too many. Somerset is at the end of a season and the start of another. It needs a good cut back. London had a central city micro climate and its small and sheltered. There is no way I could grow tree ferns in Somerset or Spain.

Spain is obviously very different. Whilst we are 650 m above sea level in the cooler mountains the season is well under way with colour and scent in March already. Plus we have plenty of green with the agave dotted around the garden.

The almond blossom continues. Ours had been and gone and they were pretty heavy with flowers. The mimosa is starting to come out on our bank. In other gardens it’s over already. I’ve seen the leaves of the wild orchids poking through and the bee orchids in a neighbours garden. We had thought we may have lost some as we had

There’s enough to keep me going for now. There are lists. And lists of lists. My lists. Ian’s lists.

I have some more things to plant Colocasia Black Magic. Bessara elegans, Watsonia peach glow, Roscoea purpurea, Anomatheca laxa, Lycoris radiata to start and some Canna. These are for Spain and came from Farmer Gracy – great find.

I bought , on Ian’s instruction a big colocasia at the localmspsnish garden centre to add to the Mojhito that I bought last year.

Don’t tell Ian but I’ve got Canna on order from Todd’s botanics for London as well as some new white agapanthus.

There’s no peace for the wicked.

Posted on September 13, 2018March 10, 2021 by happyretiredblog · 7 Comments

Summer of Love – Dahlias Dahlias. Dahlias.

Can there be too much of a good thing where flowers are concerned? Can you suffer from dahlia overload?

It may seem like that this summer for me. I love them. But sadly through the beast of the east and two seasons of neglect in our Somerset garden I had none of my own. Previously I had a lot which I boldly left in the ground. Year on year. But this year the weather and my inability to manage the garden beat me. I then beat myself for the neglect. But a new project and a new house and garden has been all consuming. But you already know that.

I have therefore had to rely on the generosity of other peoples gardens for my dahlia fix. Oh. And what a fix it has been. There have been open gardens – Jack Wallington and Alex and Joe ( The Gardening guys ). There has been Common Farm. And Instagram and twitter. A quiet start to the dahlia season and then. Boom. They were everywhere.

Well not everywhere obviously because there weren’t any in my garden. At all. Some people also struggled. Later blooms. Smaller flowers.

Yet look at his one. A big fat dinner plate dahlia as big as my head. Taken at Jack Wallington and Christopher Anderson’s open garden last weekend. Emory Paul. A dahlia I recall seeing at RHS Chatsworth last year and thinking. Blinky blonky blimey. Look at the size of that. Which I did and thought I want – no says Ian I think you mean you would like. Which I do and I will next year. Even if its just the one in a big pot on the terrace in Spain. It’s magnificent. But truth be told its never just the one. Never just the one plant. Never just the one trip. Never just the one bar of chocolate.

Jack and Chris opened their Clapham garden twice this year for London NGS, and I was pleased that I could make one of the two. Jack likes a dahlia or two. Or thirty three and grows most on his allotment and had picked a lot of the dahlias from there. ( Hint. Maybe an open allotment day next year!) I say picked but I think he stripped the allotment of all the blooms.

A bright blue sky always helps a photograph look better.

The varieties and colours were fabulous and not only did he fill a room with single stem dahlias he and Chris erected a dahlia arch over the front door, so there was no escaping what house was having an open garden day as you turned the corner.

Having watched an insta story the night before of Jack trying to put the arch up I wasn’t that hopeful to be honest. Sorry Guys! You had even turned the sound down so we couldn’t hear the angst. But patience is a virtue and it was brilliant.

Don’t ever go on that telebox programme Through the keyhole” guys. This room would give you away when they say ‘ who lives in a house like this’ Um. Must be Jack and Chris. I loved it but boy I was nervous. I stood at the edge and admired and took photographs. Too nervous to put my size nines anywhere near the flowers. I still wonder how Rumbles – the cat , not their nickname , doesn’t just go in and paw each single stem. Fred our cat would. One by one. I loved the dark red/black dahlias in the brown bottles. Recycling at its best there!

But just look at them. Gorgeous.

It wasn’t all about dahlias at their open garden – in the garden were Rincus, Jacks fern wall, coleus (sorry guys I am old and they are coleus to me), salvia, great seed heads on the clematis, shadows on the leaves of the banana and great foliage plants. But this is about dahlias. Just dahlias. There are more pictures of the other plants on my Instagram feed and Jack has a blog on the foliage plants on his feed.

Oh and course there was cake.

Another dahlia fest for me this summer were my days at Common Fam Flowers. A working flower farm. With rows of dahlias. Dahlias for picking. Dahlias for bouquets. Dahlias for weddings. Not just dahlias of course.

The thing about going there in the summer is that you are guaranteed a dahlia or two. To be honest it was Georgie who made me realise that I did actually like a dahlia. I ordered some flowers from her early on in our friendship and the bouquet included dahlias. I was hooked. Much more interesting shapes colours and styles than grown in my parents garden decades before.

Growing up my parents grew some. Not many. Pretty dull ordinary dahlias. Yes there are such a thing. I hated them. Always full of earwigs. Which fell out as you picked them. It put me off for years. I was sent to pick them to bring indoors. Which my parents always did – had flowers indoors – there was none of ‘ flowers are just for the garden’. That’s where i got my gardening habits from. Amongst other habits. Like talking constantly like my mother. Her deadheading obsession.

I digress. The dahlias of Common Farm Flowers never cease to amaze me. This year the Cafe Au Lait were and are stunning. Another one for my one pot dahlia on the terrace in Spain. Spectacular in arrangements or in a brides bouquet or equally gorgeous in a single vase. Such beautifully formed petals.

Now please dont think of asking me the names of all the dahlias. I know the names of three. The rest are either pretty dahlias, pink ones, pom-poms or cactus.

This one took my eye when we were preparing the flowers for a big wedding. 85 jam jar posies. 8 large arrangements for the table centres. Pew ends. A huge ball to hang from the ceiling. Garlanding. Buttonholes. Included in all but the buttonholes were dahlias. All colours. All sizes.

This is American Dream. And it is. A definite Dreamy dahlia. Sat quietly in a bucket I zoomed straight in on it. The flower was in the bucket. Not me. That would have been silly. And required a large bucket.

The petals shape size and form on Cafe au lait are just fabulous. I don’t mind that its not my usual big loud blousy colour choice. It’s just beautiful in its simplicity.

I was given a jam jar posie from Georgie when I called in last week which included dahlias. And a big fat Cafe au lait included. Not one. But two, lucky lucky. Worth a stop on my way to the cottage.

Here’s a few, just a few of this years delights. None of which I can take credit for – though the photographs are mine.

I think I maybe all dahlia’d out for this year. Is that a thing? I need to move on. I have.

To the bulb catalogues for tulips and alliums. For Canna and agapanthus. Tulips and alliums ordered already.

But I have one more wedding at Common Farm to help out with at the beginning of October and I am sure that there will still be blooming lovely dahlias about then. In the meantime I have made a list of what I would like to try in Spain next year. It has to be a short list. A very short list. But don’t tell Ian.

Posted on June 14, 2018June 17, 2018 by happyretiredblog · 4 Comments

There and here. Here and there.

So I’ve been there. And I’m now here. Or. Here and there depending on how you look at it.

I’ve had a week back in London. A busy week to be fair. I try and pack a lot in wherever I may be. Whether it be here. Or. there or wherever.

The two spaces are so different. Not just the gardens but the culture. Where we live. The house in each. Where I eat. How I travel. I’d forgotten how busy Oxford Street can be. Even on a Monday. Out of school holidays too. I had to escape down into Bond Street tube this week to get away.

So back in London it was time to potter in our small (tiny) courtyard garden and to check up on the pots and window boxes at the front. We are lucky to have someone go in when we are both away – largely to look after the cats – but he’s ace with a watering can and hose. Bruce and Christine have been looking after the cats for the last 15 years and are brilliant.

Having had the front garden ‘done’ recently – new wall, new path, railings and new gate we decided to do some replanting of pots at the front. We bought two new standard bays. A bit of a cliche really but they suit the space. I bought two new pots from The Nunhead Gardner. Got them home and realised that once the bays were in the pots they would be too tall for the space. Surprisingly I didn’t have to take them back. Ian said that we should repot the agapanthus into them. And buy two more. Result!

I always have window boxes but as I am away so much these days I wanted something that didn’t need a lot of water. The garden is my domain and whilst Ian waters he’s busy and it’s not fair on him to have to come home and start watering. So again this year I opted for lavender. It worked well last year but this year I just used lavender. It looks good. Ignore the bins. I haven’t told Fred yet. But we are looking for some bin covers. Next door has a fab one with a green roof. But. It’s expensive and the sides are open. Defeats the object really. And Fred would sit on the plants anyway.

Now I love agapanthus. We have two enormous white ones and a very large small blue flowered one in the front. All needed repotting. Sadly one of the whites struggled through the winter and in parts had turned to mush. The first time I’d lost an agapanthus. The big blue had already started to bud up.

I’ve said the back garden is small. It is. Very. Everything is in pots. Some neighbours have small lawns. And I mean small. But I’ve seen them re turf every few years. There is not enough sun in some of them. So the courtyard is paved. Tree ferns, jasmine, honeysuckle, banana, agapanthus,clematis,mock orange all in pots. It’s a small space. So scent is important. Makes watering a bit of a pain but when we bought the tree ferns we thought if we moved we could take them with us -15 years later we are still there. It’s one thing that Ian really loves – the tree ferns. I was lucky this year. I didn’t straw the crown or wrap them as I was away when the cold spell hit and I panicked that we may have lost them. There are 5 in the garden. The tallest is about 6ft odd. But they survived and a feed of alpaca poo works wonders.

We also have flowers on the olive trees. Again both in pots. A strong link between Spain and London are some of the plants we grow in each. I don’t think I’ll be growing large agaves or prickly pears in London though!

This is a pic from two or three years ago taken from the upstairs window. Things have been moved. Things have been removed. Others added. But it gives the sense of the space. Or lack of it. I must take an up to date one. Preferably when the washing isn’t on the line.

It’s been an odd winter /Spring in the London garden. Despite having its own micro climate I lost some things I thought would be ok. Some survived where I thought the wet and the cold would certainly kill them. Nature’s odd like that. I had geraniums flowering all winter. But some of the agapanthus in the back courtyard also turned to mush. But that means more purchases! My tulips were pants. My London alliums pants. All down to the conditions. Not the bulbs as the same bulbs in Spain have been awesome. Oh. That reminds me. I must go and check on Allium Summer Drummer here in Spain.

It hasn’t all been gardening. There’s been doctors,dentists, Orthodontists. Who knew I’d be getting a brace in my retirement.

A bit of a MOT. You also have to throw in a bit of a NGS open garden as well don’t you? Two glorious open gardens in Dulwich Village whose greenhouse would cover my garden in Camberwell. Beautifully planted. Stunning roses with such strong perfumes. Glorious colours. A pond. Plants and the obligatory cake. It wouldn’t be NGS without cake would it? I love open gardens. Probably because I’m nosey. I love seeing what other people grow. What combinations. Take away ideas for my own gardens.

I’ve wandered through the streets of Wapping after a haircut. My old stomping ground when I worked at Canary Wharf and in Fitzrovia where I lamented the fact you can’t go to the top of the BT Tower as you could up to the early 80’s. There was s revolving restaurant and sightseeing platforms. Leased to Billy Butlin! Security concerns led to its closure.

So here I am back in Spain. A bit of a journey. Train stuck 5 mins outside the airport for a trespasser on the line. Stuck for 40 mins watching the panic on people’s faces as they realise they may miss their train. Thankfully I like to get there super early. I can’t stand the panic of rushing and nearly missing a flight.

Added to that the plane was nearly an hour late and I was sat next to someone who was too frightened to catch your eye in case you struck up a conversation. Funny that. I didn’t want to! Interestingly Ian’s flight tonight is already scheduled to be 30 mins late. 12 hours before it takes off. How does that work!

So. I arrive up the wiggly road at 11.15pm. Open up. Lights on. WiFi on. Then water the garden. I can’t see very much but I can smell. I realise even in the dark that the Jasmine Azoricum is in flower. A delicious smell. The honeysuckle is in full bloom. But just as well I watered late last night. Today the pump for the water deposit has gone kaput. So no watering today. Well maybe. The plumber had just been and is to replace a part. I called in the office at 10. By 1.30 he’s here.

So I think I need to bathe in citronella at some point as the mozzies are a plenty. I’ve bought a very fetching orange slinky citronella bracelet. It stinks. But the mozzies. – must have been the wet spring as last year I wasn’t bitten once. Well maybe once. But so far today I’ve been bitten three times. So. I’m not lazing around for long. There’s too much to do. I need to turn into my mother and get dead heading. There’s a lot to do.

Oh. And I need to buy a new hat. Either this one is too small or my head is too big. But the solar panel on the top of my head ( crown or bald spot) needs some cover. I hate hats. They make my head itch. But needs must. I may be a very long time.

Posted on April 22, 2018April 15, 2020 by happyretiredblog · 4 Comments

Tip toe through the tulips.

Yes I know it’s a Sunday Ian. And I know you haven’t had a lie in all week. But. I said I’d go to the open day for The National Garden Scheme – you know the one I missed last year. Ulting Wick

Yes. I know. It’s in Essex an hour and a half drive away. But. Trust me. It will be worth it. And there is cake. Lots of cake. 10,000 tulips. Reluctantly he agreed. Oh. I forgot to tell you. We have to leave early. It’s the London marathon so we will have to skirt the race to get across the river.

Me. I needed no encouragement. I have followed Philippa Burroughs on social media for some time. Have exchanged comments. Liked pictures. Swopped recipes. So I was in the UK at the right time and I was determined. Add to the mix that there would be a smattering of the twitterati attending it was a no brainer. I was keen to put names to faces. Find out real names rather than twitter handles.

I explained to Ian on the way. Its an 11 acre garden in a beautiful setting with amazing black tar varnishes barns. One open for teas. There are tulips. There are plants. Cake. Nice people. Oh. And it’s sunny.

We arrived. Talk of Tip toe through the tulips. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Tulips tulips everywhere. Forget daffodils. Today was the time of the tulip.

The planting is stunning. No other word. Stunning. The colour combinations are magic. I’m stealing some for next year. The combinations. Not the actual tulips.

Last week I was thinking, as I’m sure Philippa and Lou – Head Gardner Lou – @loujnicholls on Twitter – were also thinking – would the tulips be out. Would it be dry. Well. The sun was shining and it was a perfect day. The tulips were out and there were still a lot in bud. Perfect.

There’s the white garden. The pink garden. Kitchen garden. Old farm yard beds. The spring bed by the pond. The stream bed. The meadow. All beautifully planted. Colourful. And so well maintained. But not manicured. Well tended. Planted. And interesting.

Tulip varieties I’d not seen before. But will again as I will be talking to Karen at Peter Nyssen for next year. A note on the door to the magnificent listed barn mentioned that the Tulips come from Peter Nyssen. I’m a huge fan. Huge. And Karen is brilliant. Gorgeous colours. Colour combinations. Shapes. Sizes.

The tulip above was a favourite. Noted for next year for my window boxes in London. – Dior. I love it. Big. Blousy. A better one for me than Belle Époque.

These tulips were translucent in the light. With no filter. Just the sun.

Gorgeous whites in really stunning displays.

Ian loved this bed. He loved the colour combination so I think this will be another for next year. Maybe the pots in Spain. If I can work out how not to get short and stumpy. A bit like me really.

There were so many variations that I could go on for ever. Ian says I will anyway. I usually do. But everywhere you looked there were different tulips. I didn’t count them. But there must have been 10,000. ( I know. I read that somewhere). I moan at planting mine which are a fraction of that number. A mere fraction.

Well done to Philippa and Lou.

There is more to the garden than just tulips. I’m reliably informed that I should visit again for the August opening to see the perennial borders. If I can I will. This time we walked through the meadow – what a beaut it is. Full of cowslips. Beautiful yellow cowslips. So lovely to see a meadow of them and people obeying the signs. Keep to the paths. We did.

We had a wander around the garden with stops – plural – for cake and tea. Now for me. You Judge a garden opening by it’s cake and it’s tea. This was right up there. Chocolate and Guineas. Coconut and lemongrass. Gin and tonic. Lemon and lavender. The list was huge. Like the queue for cake. Word had got Out. The cake was good.

The perennials are starting to shoot. There is a fabulous row of ferns starting to get growth on the edge of the water. And more ferns. And more perennials. I want to go back and see the dahlias.

Add to the opening for the National Garden Scheme we had Barbara Seagall who was signing copies of her book with photography by the late Marcus Harpur – ‘Secret Gardens of East Anglia’ and features Ulting Wick. (Page 110) – which I will read this evening. One copy is for a friend. I must put it away.

I have followed Barbara on social media for some time. We have replied to each other’s photos. She has encouraged me with my blog. So it was such a treat to be able to meet up and to be able to put a face to the name. I’ll forgive her for recognising Ian first – which is magic as most of his photos on social media are of his back. As he said to Barbara. He must have a distinctive bald spot. But he was in deep conversation by the time we left.

Its not just flowers. There is a fabulous kitchen garden which I would love. But don’t have the space in London or the water in Spain.

All that was left was to pick up the plants I had bought and head home.

A huge thank you to Philippa and Lou. The garden was stunning. I loved the planting. The colours the variety and thank you for arranging the sun to shine and for the tulips to be open.

I shall be back. If you’ll have me.

Posted on April 11, 2018April 11, 2018 by happyretiredblog · 6 Comments

Rain. Snow & a Spring. Garden

Another trip over. Another delayed flight back to London. But at least this one has left Spain with no overnight trip to Horrorleminos. Thankfully.

We have spent over 2 months in Spain. On and off. A trip back to London here and there. Had fun on a 2,000km road trip via Cordoba, Cacares, Toledo and Salamanca. Witnessed the spectacle that is Semana Santa. And a spectacle it certainly is. I was a bit Semana Santa’d out by the end of the trip. Its big. Its busy. Great marching bands. Huge traditions and a huge family event. Also a bit scary at times. But a fabulous spectacle.

Started Spanish lessons on a one to one with a spanish teacher in Competa. Nervous at first. Back to school. Rubbish pronunciation. But I’m getting there. Slowly. Some words I need practice on. One slip of the tongue and I’ll be ordering something off menu. Something very off the menu. Ian is scared. To be honest. So am I.

The trip was tiring. But an amazing adventure. . Cold at times. One minute in sunshine. The next driving through snow covered mountains wondering if we need be worried that there was a snow plough car park. The terrain was green. Very green. The rivers were flowing. Which is unusual after a few dry years.

I’ve said it before. The rain in Spain doesn’t mainly stay on the plain. It’s everywhere. Especially for three weeks here in Spain. It didn’t just rain cats and dogs. It was the whole ark. Great for the plants. Great for the reservoirs. Although some plants may have drowned.

So back to the village and home. Its always good to get home. Which ever one it may be. I’ve said it before a hairy gardener does! He knows who he is.

I’ve managed two weeks in the garden. Hedge cutting a priority. – I will never win prizes for my topiary. I realise that hairdressing is also not a new career choice for me either. I hate hedge cutting but needs must. Its like edges on a lawn.

I was so envious of the immaculate and straight lines of the hedges at the Alhambra.

Oh. Yes. Did I mention I’d been to the Alhambra. Again. To be fair it’s only the third time since Xmas. No 4 is in 3 weeks. I may as well get a guides job. But the uniforms not flattering enough. Oh. And that’s the last of 2018. Well maybe. The garden joy this time – fritillaria imperialis – they were magnificent. I may just try them myself. Next year.

I would be interested to see the bedding later in the year. It’s different to last year so maybe …..

Back to my garden. Highlight of Spring has to be the Peter Nyssen freesias. They have been brilliant. Tall and elegant. Perfumed and colourful. Unlike the short stubby tulips which I will add are not from Peter Nyssen. I think it’s a mixture of the weather and late planting.

I’m making my order list for the autumn already. I have just made another bulb order to add to the summer garden.

Some tulips are ok but overall I’m disappointed. The Belle Époque which were big bold and beautiful last year ( but in London) just haven’t done it for me this year. The brown sugar and Ronaldo are ok but a bit short.

The alliums are running away with themselves – I can’t wait to see them in flower. At least I will see some of them. The trouble is if you are away for a couple of weeks things can come and go and you think they haven’t flowered.

The pomegranate trees has leaves. Plenty. They will have flowers. Plenty. But no pmegranates. I refuse to believe it’s an ornamental. Or that both trees are ornamental. So I may have to go out with my tickling stick to encourage a bit of pollination when the flowers arrive. No photos please.

Who thought that in my retirement I’d be oiling my prickly pears. The cactus are shocking in Andalucia. Blighted with cochineal fly they are ravaged and it is such a shame. Further up into Granada they are better. Maybe the height. Maybe the cold.

The ones on our bank may not be worth saving but there are two at the side which are. So armed with a neem oil and water mix I have been out spraying them. It looks like it’s doing the job so now I will move onto some small ones on the other bank. Worth a try and exercises my balance on the slope.

I shan’t be oiling these though. In fact I stay well away. They have a habit of jumping out and stabbing me.

The osteospermums are spreading. And when the sun is out ( which occasionally it has been ) they look great. A bit of colour in the garden. The oranges are ripening. I find it strange that there is still fruit on the tree and there is also new blossom. Lots of blossom and the heavy rains have helped the new year fruit set. The scent on a warm day is breathtaking. We were in Malaga – which isn’t just a sun sea sand and tourist resort but is actually really interesting. I digress. But the scent of orange blossom by the Alcazar is amazing.

Back in the garden – the pine trees are doing well. We found some processionary caterpillar nests which we had removed. Nasty little blighters. There are plenty of new cones and the colouring is really cool. I’m only used to seeing the mature cones. Tip. Great for starting the log fire.

I uncovered some succulents from under the honeysuckle. This week I found them about to start flowering. Hopefully when we get back it will be in flower.

I planted two popcorn senna – Senna didymobotrya – on the bank a while ago. There has been little sign of life so I ventured up the bank ( or down) to see what was happening. The bank is steep. I’m not slight. And there have been a couple of slips. Not a pretty sight at the best of times. . Me. Not the bank thankfully. I found some new growth. And a flower starting to open. It will be a yellow flower. The whole plant indeed does smell of pop corn. Top tip. Don’t touch it without gloves. Top top tip. If you do. Don’t rub your eyes if you do. I did. Big fail. A trip to the pharmacist. She spoke no English. I spoke no Spanish. So it was Spanglais – before my Spanish lessons. But it meant I could pretend to be a pirate for a few days. The one eyed idiot from up the mountain.

The garden is definitely more a Spring and Autumn garden. The heat of the summer is harsh. Even I wither. Not literally but I used to think that villages were deserted. Shutters shut in the mid afternoon when only mad dogs and English men venture out. But they are being sensible. There were times in July I shut the shutters. . Turned on rubbish TV – I’m not saying what – and went back out when it got slightly cooler.

By cutting back the bank last year we have had some wildflowers come through. I found this glorious wild orchid on the roundabout which isn’t a roundabout.

So there has been colour. Glorious colour. There has been scent. Lavender. Jasmine. Freesias. Orange blossom.

There have been birds and bees. Oh. The birds and bees.

That made me think of my mother. You do know about the birds and bees she would say. Oh I did indeed. There has been rain. Sun. Rain. Sun. The succulents are coming alive. The seeds I had sown before our trip have shown themselves. The calendula art shade from Mr Higgledy are up and saying hello.

The poppies I scattered in their thousand have em. Done nothing. Still time yet but there are lovely red poppies on the road edges. Not that I look. You have to see the road to understand why I don’t. But I did when we were being driven by another. I’m hoping that if not this year then next.

You’ll get fed up of that plant they said. It grows like a weed. Huh. If its on the bank and is pretty it can continue and it has. Looks like a tiny sweet pea.

I’ve sown Tithonia spurred on by seeing some in a NGS garden in Camberwell last year. I am hoping they look like the ones I saw.

I have planted some Echium Pride of Madeira on the bank. Inspired by Jack Wallington garden – open last year and this for NGS . They are not the same as Jacks – a friend arrived bearing a gift of one. So I had to buy 4 more. Didn’t I? It will be interesting to see what flowers I get this year. I shall be off on the hunt for some different varieties when I’m back. They have settled in on the bank and if they will self seed I’ll be happy. Jack also identified a plant I had posted on Instagram – melianthus major. I had seen them in the Alcazar in Malaga and loved them. Another for my list.

There hasn’t been a lot to pick for the house and I refused to pick the freesias. But there was Mimosa.plenty of Mimosa.

Mimosa is abundant on the bank. Glorious yellow flowers and been a bit of a riot of colour on the way up to the house. A bit prone to wind snap but I’ll cope with that.

So there is colour. Lots. As its Spring it seems predominately yellow.

The fruit is ripening and setting. The loquats with their big leaves are starting to get fat and some are ripening. Please wait three weeks. They all come at once. Like the big fat black figs. Which are just leading up.

We have had a huge harvest of Olives on the one large tree. I don’t like waste so I have salt cured some. Apparently they are good. I’m not a fan but Ian and friends have tried them and say they are great. So I salted another batch. And brought some back to London to do the same here. Waste not want not. They will last 6 months in the fridge. Longer if you freeze them.

So. It’s London for the next three weeks. . Doctors. Dentists. Opticians and a haircut. Oh. And a visit to the Vets. Cats. Not me. Though it’s easier to get an appointment at the vets.

A spell in our London garden ( small rear patio) – its a mess though we have almond blossom out – before another month in Spain. Well nearly.

Life’s hard when you are retired.