Blogs

at this time of year there's some overlap with bulbs indoors and bulbs outdoors

The golden syrup tin on the right and the squirrel planter to the right of that have tete-a-tete daffodils and have been indoors since I planted them up last autumn, none of which are showing any buds whereas the pots to the left and in bloom and looking fabulous have been outside since being planted up with tete-a-tete daffodils last autumn.

Muscari in bloom having been outside since last autumn.

crocus surrounded by self-seeded poppy to the left, green alkanet to the right and vinca all around, after removing the invasive bluebells last year, it seems the environment was well-suited to the vinca going mad

the fresh lighter green leaves are new growth on the blackberries, the pink flower is a new bloom on the snapdragon

Socks and first hyacinths in bloom outdoors

This is the first time I've had flowers on a rosemary. I'm very impressed that it bloomed through the winter. I've seen quite sizeable shrubs at the garden centre last year with flowers which were a little expensive so I hope this will grow eventually to a similar size.

close-up of more small early spring crocus in bloom

all of those early spring crocus shown above

this was the first crocus in the front garden in one of the pots shown above

Unlike the shriveled shrunken hyacinth bulbs I've had in vases indoors for the past two months these outdoor bulbs are so ripe and fat. These are bulbs that I did not have vases for in September so I just popped them into whatever pots I had around.

one of the first crocuses outdoors in the back garden, probably another bulb that was surplus to requirements indoors

this warm weather is v confusing for plants

My holly bush/tree, which was in the front garden when we moved in, has never had any berries on it. I guess it's the wrong gender. It just seems to be a support for the jasmine growing up it and over it. 

I think it's finally time to cut it back seriously, to the height of the fence behind it in this photo. I think we can be reluctant to change an existing garden when we take it over but after 10 years I have the confidence to do it! And those poor crocosima are desperate for more sun.

surprise Morning Glory

After this new fence was installed, a seedling appeared on the bare ground. I've been following it to see what it turned into, initially I thought it might be Honesty but suddenly these flowers appeared today (Oct 20th). I planted Morning Glory seeds here a few years ago (Purple Flowers has a pic of them taken July 2010). Some have obviously been dormant in the soil since then. What a wonderful surprise at the end of October when plants are dying not blooming.

cyclamen coum

I bought these large cyclamen coum tubers at the garden centre as I was intrigued and had never grown one before. Since this pic was taken I have planted them properly in pots covered with soil. One from this pot had been carried off by a fox and left at the bottom of the garden. I guess he decided it didn't taste or smell intereresting.

I also don't know what the parsley-like plant is in the centre of the pot above. Will leave it and see what happens with it. The pot also has at the top green alkanet, at the bottom snapdragons, bottom right pansy and around the left nigella.

This has appeared from the large self-seeded pot, below. I'm not sure what it is. I guess it could be rosemary, the leaves look similar but I don't recall the rosemary having bloomed before. Funny this small plant decided to bloom if the much larger plant I have hasn't, it's just visible in the pic above, above the pot.

I have lots of things self-seeding in pots, both weeds and plants I want: oxalis on the left, then couch grass, forget-me-not in the middle at the bottom, pansy to the right. I think that's a delphinium in the middle but will wait and see. Not sure if some of these will last the winter but I will try to keep them until spring.

I still don't know what is on the left, also two auriculas, red snapdragon and cat nip.

I can't resist another pic of the chinese lanterns.

I love handmade terracotta pots. You can just see the fingerprints on the side of this one. I have now winterized my garden by putting the terracotta pots in the cellar. Last winter was quite warm but I had a lot of breakages previous years.

I've shared photos of these iris foetidissima seed pods before but I never get tired of seeing their abundant seeds bursting out.

I also never get tired of seeing these chinese lanterns, there is also a bergenia showing on the right.

I saw this Salvia Amistad at the garden centre before it was on Gardeners' World last week. They had a couple left at the garden centre this week so I gave in to temptation and bought one. I love purple flowers and the dark buds. I've never seen anything like this. Perfect for Monty Don's Jewel Garden.

it's not very colourful but the yucca has a large bud (at least 70 cm tall) on it that looks like a giant asparagus

pansy self-seeding in the paving cracks on the patio next door

another flower has bloomed

the first flower, first week of September

in looking in the other cracks I see there are other pansy seedlings (in the foreground below) - and 2 black cats is a bonus! (there are other seedlings as well but w/o the cats it makes a boring pic)

A usual selection of seedlings in this pot, hollyhock in the centre (I probably did plant those seeds), nigella on the right which are self-seeding lots of places and pansy on the left which is also a prolific self-seeder.

another pickerel weed

Agastache anisata, not in bloom yet, and cornflowers.

I do find growing from seed can be challenging. These globe thistles have been suprisingly successful. They have taken over this flower bed as I hadn't expected so many seedlings to grow so well. The scabiosa in the blue and white pot in front has also been wonderful and the bees have been loving them both. The agastache anisata and the cornflowers above have also been surprisingly successful seed grown plants.

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geranium rozanne, it hasn't been a good performer for me but at least it's in bloom now

pickerel weed (pontederia cordata) in the pond

cat tail growing in the pond

Oenothera versicolor self-seeding in a pot, I didn't choose this but it's very attractive.

I don't know why my muscari are growing now. I thought they'd be dormant until spring.

unknown seedling