My Garden This Weekend – 27th July 2014

Dahlia Con Amore

My friend Victoria has recently said on her blog it is good to get away from your garden for a week or so as when you return you see it with fresh eyes.  I think she is right. Having been away from home for a week and then feeling unwell when I finally got into the garden, even though it was ridiculously hot and not my kind of weather, I didn’t feel the same dis-interest as I did a month ago.  I do find this time of year hard in the garden.  I am more of a do-er so I prefer the Spring and Autumn when there are lots to do; I even don’t mind Winter as I can potter in the greenhouse or make plans.  But Summer I struggle with.  As I sit in the garden I seem to only see what needs doing and what isn’t working well and this is always a sign that I need to get away for a while.

While I have been away the dahlia have started to flower. This year they are all planted out in large pots as I filled their previous home with other plants.  They seem to be doing very well this year, even better than last year.  I have been following John Massey, of Ashwood Nurseries, advice and putting a little feed in whenever I water the pots.

It has been too hot to do much but I am known in my family for fidgeting so I decided to give the patio table and chairs a make-over.  They, like so much else, has been neglected

for the last year or two and were looking pale and dry.  So I have sanded them down and applied numerous coats of teak oil.  It was satisfying to do as the results are quite quick and I do like the smell of teak oil!  The wood has been given a new lease of life and looks, in my opinion, better than when I first bought them, as you can see the grain etc better.

So now the table has had a face lift the Table of Delights has been re-instated.  I have to admit that it was for most of Spring covered in seed trays but these are now all sorted or accommodated elsewhere and I am going to try very hard to keep it looking nice!  The current residents are: Eucomis autumalis, Aeonium ‘Cornish Tribute’ and Allium flavum.

I’m conscious that I need to start re-potting my bulb collection but in order to do this I needed to sort out the chaos that had taken over part of the greenhouse.  This morning when it was cool this seemed like a good idea but this afternoon the temperatures have soared again much higher than they forecast.  Anyway,  I have soldiered on and I am pleased with the result.  A number of aloe seedlings and other smaller succulents, surplus to requirement, have been potted up ready to donate to the local horticultural show in a couple of weeks. All the other greenhouse residents have had a once over and where needed repotted – some borderline plants have been planted out and told they need to toughen up and take their chances!!

The result has cheered me up and I feel as though I have some handle on things – well that is until I go up the garden and see the various brambles that need to come out and the dead acer that needs removing, and….. well you could go on for ever but this is what I enjoy about gardening; there is always something new to interest or challenge you.