Architectural Angelica

www.instagram.com/p/Cd8Bmghtrml/

My latest Instagram post which I’m attempting to share on WordPress. Fingers crossed!

Wordless Wednesday – Sundial and Shadows

Fabulous Fungi

Do you remember the demise of the old ash tree, that was just a seedling when we moved in?

Well, a few years on, the planting has regrown around it, and the “mushroom” (now nestling beneath a tree) has been replaced with a new, blue birdbath.

But look how it’s “grown”!

A Pleasant Surprise and a “Thank You”

I had a very pleasant surprise this morning on my walk around the estate! I was eagerly lapping up all the signs of life returning to the garden. The enlarging clumps of snowdrops, the pink pinpricks of the cyclamen coum forcing their way through the leaves, and the first hellebore buds showing bright flashes of red and yellow. And meanwhile, revelling in all the winter perfume from sarcococcas, Chimonanthes, lonicera and mahonia.

But then I noticed this little beauty – Helleborus bocconei. Its very first flower!

This hellebore was given to me by a fellow blogger, Cathy from “Rambling in the garden”, several years ago (maybe about four?) when she paid us a visit. A seedling then, that she had propagated, but which has not made much progress since. Each year a new leaf would come to replace the old one that died off but that was it. I wasn’t very hopeful of it flourishing. Then today I saw its very first flower!

A beautiful lime green – when you raise the flower head up!

And I’ve read it’s scented too! So now I’ve got to get down on my hands and knees!

Thank you, Cathy! Rewarded for patience!

Fleeting Signs of Autumn

I posted a photo on Instagram four days ago, of our clump of colchicums, remarking how these delicate flowers, which are one of the first signals of autumn in our garden, are so fleeting. No sooner do they appear than they get battered and devoured by slugs before you can grab your camera. Four days later, I’ve had plenty of time to grab the camera. They’re still standing strongly, with the colour deepening, and the flowers opening in the sunshine.

This is the best and longest display we’ve had yet, thanks to the kind weather we’ve had recently.

The slugs and snails will have to wait a bit longer for their banquet!

Wordless Wednesday- Too Early For Fireworks?

Wordless Wednesday- Can You See the Arch?

Wordless Wednesday – I Saw It Through The Grapevine!

Wordless Wednesday- Leaf Love!

The Last of the Summer Produce

 

 

It’s been a productive and “fruitful” year in the Allotment.

We’ve had kale, onions and chillis all the colours of the rainbow.

We’ve had chocolate coloured cherry tomatoes, and tomatillos galore, that make the most wonderful salsa.

And the wonkiest of (not so) multicoloured carrots!

The “Scrumptious ” apples are stored in the shed, and what remains of the uneaten “Doyenne du Comice” pears have been spiced and pickled.

And these are the last pickings….

….oh, well!

Size isn’t everything!

One very small moussaka is on the way!