End of Year Review : 2013 Pt.2

End of Year Review : 2013 Part.2

A follow on my my last post..

July to December. 

July, the height of summer, lovely hot days and steamy nights, due to my penchant for tubs and hanging baskets, watering in hot weather was taking an average of 2 hours a night, I was trying to water every other day, but due to the awful quality of many of the bags of Compost I had bought, where the contents were mostly chipped bark, the compost was very open and difficult to keep moist. I purchased a better quality hosepipe and watering attachments which helped with the task.

My many Hanging Baskets, tubs and pots were all overflowing with plants and flowers, I even remembered to feed them occasionally. But deadheading was a bit hit and miss.

In the greenhouse, I had Tomatoes slowly starting to swell… If anybody remembers my last post about my tomatoes they will know I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with them.

Hopeful Tomatoes.

The Tomato variety is called Blaby, and its a different cultivar to my efforts last year.

All around the garden, lots of insects were enjoying the flowers, and so was I.

Red bummed Bee on Cornflower.

 

August arrived…

I went on a day trip to Barnsdale Gardens in Rutland, I took lots of pictures and wrote a Blog.

Clematis ‘Contesse De Bouchard’

Hanging Basket, 1 of 7.!

My flowers were in full swing, I was very pleased with the Tagetes I had tried for the first time, it was the only Marigold left untouched by slugs.

Tagetes ‘Paprika’

September rolled in..

And the late summer Perennials were flowering well..

Rudbeckia

This Rudbeckia came from seed from the Hardy Plant Society Members seed list, not exactly sure of its parentage, but it flowered its socks off for months.

Penstemon strawberries and cream

The Penstemon is a new plant in the garden, but I’ve kept it in a big pot and have been taking cuttings from it for lots of spares.

Then October rolled in, with rain…

Rained.

Above average rainfall, some high winds made getting into the garden to potter about a bit of a luxury at weekends when I was free, which sadly was not very often.

I had to make the most of dry days, and I was able to dismantle two of my three compost heaps and top dress all of my beds. I’m hoping for less cracks in the ground in 2014 as a result.

Hamamelis

My Hamamelis starts with the Autumn colour, a sad reminder that the year is ending…

 

November… blows in..

Wet Garden.

I have to get a move on and plant stuff that I’ve bought but not planted out yet, I got a lot of cutting down done, tidying, and topdressing done, I want to cut a section of turf away as pictured above, and extend out the width of the bed along the fence, however the lawn is sodden, so it will have to wait a while.

I was given a bag of bulbs that were shooting.

Pack em in.!

All being well, these should give me a blaze of colour in the Spring.

Finally December..

My new Apple Tree which I had ordered earlier in the year arrived unexpectedly, and as the weather was so mild, I got it planted quickly.  It did not need watering in much however.

New Apple Tree.

Apple James Grieve, I have big hopes for this little stick.

Very little work got done in the garden in the Month of December, wet & windy weekends mean just a bit of tidying here.

Mahonia

My Mahonia put on a lovely display, until the winds and heavy rain battered many of the flowers off….

But all in all, it was a good year for the garden, I got lots of tidying done, i’m pleased I got my overdue mulching done, planted lots of new plants in the garden, including many summer bulbs which I hope will out on a good display.

I want to add some plants that will add a bit of height, I want to plant some compact evergreens (if I can find examples I like), and I want to dig some more lawn up in a couple of areas, I have a seed of an idea to plant out an annual bed in a sunny spot in the garden, but all these ideas take time, a bit of money, and the removal of any waste I create.

Already today, 1st of Jan 2014… I have several new plant fairs noted down that I want to attend, again.. time.. money… etc…

But I have definitely purchased a Ticket to the RHS Tatton Park Flower Show as a well done to myself for getting a room decorated. So lots to look forward to in 2014, but we just have to get through the impending winter…

 

 

However… it could be fun…

He’s armless really.

 

Thank you for sticking with me this far into the blog, and I do appreciate the comments that you make. Thank you all.

Writing does not come naturally to me, so I tend to write about the pictures I’ve taken and stuff I’ve been up to.

Happy New Year everybody, and lets hope we get a short winter, I have many seeds to sow. 😉

 

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