Summer in the garden

There is so much to see and smell in the garden right now. Everything is floaty, tall, colourful, scented. I am in heaven!

At Heale, the Annuals have survived from seed, through pricking out, cold frames and final transplant. A flipping miracle really. With watering and temperature changes successfully dodged, not to mention beasties trying to eat them. We have all sorts going on, Nicotiana, Ammi majus, Daucus, Miribalis, Stock, Zinnia, Tithonia. My favourite though are the pots of loveliness that abound. You can make up whatever you want at this time of year.

At home I have a deep purple Salvia happily living alongside Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost' which has tiny white flowers like a spray in amongst silvery Plectranthus leaves. I also have good old Nasturtiums trailing here and there, which soften any hard landscape. I still have a blue ceramic pot stuffed with Luzula nivea grass, which I grew from seed bought at Chelsea a few years ago. Some of the babies it kindly sent along the border next to the pot are now happily planted in my garden. The green tall grass swaying next to the blue pot. Glorious.

 

In the veg garden, it is going ON! The direct sown Beans are up and we have begun to crop; Broad Beans, Strawberries, Pots (Red Duke of York), Peas, Corgettes baby! Yep, I get excited about my veg! We have a Courgette called 'Eight Ball', a round variety, which mixes it up a bit.

In the wider garden, the Roses hold so much beauty, we have all sorts, the Musk Rose border looks gorgeous under planted with Nepeta. Some of the Roses scrambling up through the trees are spectacular, with amazing names including Bobby James and Paul's Himalayan Musk. HG talks of them as if old friends!

Solitude

Time this week alone in the gardens and I have been so lucky with the weather and the peace and quiet. Now and again a visitor pops by and lets me know how much they are loving the garden, asking how old the Apple tunnels are and how many Gardeners the garden needs to keep it on top! More than we have I say!

Everywhere I look I can see what needs doing, what could be improved with a half hour here and a half hour there. But alas, never enough time.

At this time the weeds are full on and you cannot turn a blind eye when the Thistles are up with the Alliums. So much of my time is spent kneeling and sorting it out. Yet in-between I get to crop Strawberries, plant beautiful annuals we have grown from seed and nurture seedlings of Carrot and Beet poking up through the soil. My favourite time in the garden is the nurturing stage. The watering, weeding, pricking out, potting on. Knowing that a little time here and there and the plants will thrive and go on to show off their potential.

I rushed past the gate yesterday on my way somewhere and my eye was caught by the beautiful Chinonanthus virgincus in full flower against a blue sky. What a beauty. Stunning tassel type flowers (also known as the Fringe Tree), white and slightly fragrant. It just caught me by surprise. I walk past it day in, day out and then KABOOM, it flowers!

May

My gardening week this week has been varied and has reminded me how us Gardeners need to be hugely flexible in skill. As the garden season enters full flow, heavy machinery is required for mowing, trimming, pruning and the next minute we might be pricking out tiny seedlings to nurture onto health or tying in Sweet Pea stems. One false move and weeks of hard work sowing and nurturing could be over with a squashed stem and subsequent dead plant!

I think ultimately this is why I love to be Gardening. As a Mother of two active boys, my days of calm and concentration have been lost for quite a few years now. I know, I know, it will all return but right now, I love the chopping and changing in my day. I love achieving short goals and feeling a sense of pride. I also find it VERY hard to sit still for too long so this seems to be the perfect profession for me!

I had to take my youngest son to work this week as his school had a training day. It was so lovely to show him what I get up to. Every child should be out with a Gardener at some point in their life. He managed 4 hours of helping me with the hose, planting with me, learning the differences about watering seedlings and watering shrubs, hearing birds, feeling the wind. He wanted to come back the following day but school won instead.....

I do love May, as I have said before, yet this year we have been hit by frost and some of the gardens are a sad state indeed. At Heale, Wisteria that should be emerging into full beauty look like damp rags hanging from a washing line. Figs have been crumpled, even the Gunnera looks unhappy with the situation. Yet we did have fantastic Magnolias this year before the frost so you know, nature chops and changes and keeps us on our toes.

The Veg garden is coming along really nicely this week. Potatoes are showing (also frost damaged), Peas are flowering, Broad Beans, Salads have gone mad. I planted out Broccoli this week which I do love to grow and eat. I still get a pang of fear though with the old Brassica. So much potential trouble with them and the faff of netting. We have some Plantbelle hoops though and I really love them. Brilliant design and gorgeous to look at for years to come. I will be buying some for myself next pay cheque!

At Heale, the Japanese tea house which has stood over the River for over 100 years now is having a new roof. The skill of the Thatchers working on it is a great privilege to see. I doubt very much I will see this happen again in my lifetime. They have taken the thatch off in parts, right back to the original Bamboo structure. It does make you think of the men who first built it all those years ago.

Yesterday it was windy all day at Heale. Very drying for the plants and soil. And me! I felt truly weathered by home time. But a quick glance up now and then from my weeding amongst the flower borders and what a sight. Grasses and wild flowers being blown about, the Cercidiphyllum leaves rustling and not a soul around. 

Paris birthday trip

I haven't been writing for a while but I have continued to garden and work. For my birthday this week, I was lucky enough to visit Paris with my family.

I have been to the city a few times, the last time when my eldest was two but this was the first time I had taken both of my children. They were so excited to see the buzzy streets, musicians, river Seine and amazing architecture.

We made a visit on our last day to Les Jardins des Plantes, the Botanical Gardens of Paris. The boys went to the Menagerie whilst I had half an hour to mosey on through the gardens. I couldn't have done justice to the extraordinarily beautiful glasshouses so I didn't go in but I did get to see some of the plantings. The soil is so dry and dusty in Paris, it is in stark contrast to the soil I work with in England. It must make it difficult to display all varieties of plants but I did notice a huge Melianthus major that was enjoying the hot dry conditions, lots of Salvias and plants native to New Zealand such as the Sophora which has bright yellow pods hanging from thin stems. Also known as Kowhai.

All around Paris right now are the blossoming Judas trees (Cercis siliquastrum). They are so pretty and I cannot get enough of the way the flowers come straight off the trunk in some cases. They pop up everywhere; Jardins des Tuileries, along the Seine, Notre Dame, we saw some up by Sacre Coeur.

City life means that parks become a very important part of the landscape and offer a breath of fresh air to inhabitants. Paris has lots of them and it is a joy to escape the traffic and stroll through gardens along the Seine or find an iron gate off a street to wander through and find a park. One of the things I miss about living in London - the juxtaposition of city and park. The bustle, the escape and the ability to return to the bustle almost immediately.

Back to it and the gardens at Heale are delightful, so much to see, so lush, so beautiful. Greens and blossoms and all on its way. I have been sowing Roots, planting Salads, pricking out, sowing under glass and planting and staking our single cordon Sweet peas.

First crop

I cropped for the first time this year which got me really excited about the growing season ahead.

At Heale we had forced some of our Rhubarb. Forcing is the term used to make the plant grow quicker than usual in high temperatures and without light. This results in the stems of the Rhubarb growing tender and tall with the most amazing out of this world colour. The stems shocking pink and the leaves bright, gaudy, acidic yellow. The Rhubarb crown is mulched (for feeding purposes) and covered with a tall terracotta pot with a hole at the top, covered with a lid to prohibit the light. Usually the stems will be up to the lid and ready to crop in April. This year the plant told us what to do by pushing off the lid last week! "Pick me now, I am ready to eat".

We still have the robust Kale going from last season, beautiful to look at and to eat. 'Red Russian' is looking the best it has since sowing actually. It went through a stage of being rotten and the leaves turning to mush. A Winter and cold snap has refreshed it and the leaves that are left are small and beautiful. The leaves go from green to a purplish stem, then sometimes a dark purple on new growth. They are also kinked on the edge, like Rocket, so would be a looker on the plate. The Curly Kale we have grown is so tightly packed, the leaf is almost rubbery. The tight curls give a less refined leaf but once cooked, becomes tender.

It is so good for you, packed with vitamins, especially Vit K and Iron. Worth the growing pains.

The gardens at Heale are now once again open to the public and it is a joy to hear voices pottering about the garden and to engage with people who are interested in what we are up to.

I was lucky enough to spend some time in the Japanese garden last week - a treat. We spent some time weeding and mulching borders. Wet black soil clings to the river banks, matted with Hosta, Fern, clumps of Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris). The gentle bubbling of the water in the Japanese garden, make it a joy to work in. If you stop for a moment and think about the Gardeners who came over from Japan 100 years ago or more, to tread these very soils, it is just magic. Right now, in March, the fine beauty of Prunus Incisa Kojo-no-mai is shining out at you. So delicate, so pretty. Hard to pass by without stopping.

Growing. In more ways than one.

I have been working in all sorts of weather recently, freezing, wet, windy, icy, slippery, muddy. I love the wind but I am not so keen on muddy and wet. Soil cakes your feet, gloves need replacing every so often as they get wet through. You can't reach your secateurs without undoing layers (or ripping one side of your coat zip which is what I always end up doing). Layers get in the way, ride up, fall down and it is like trying to work in a space suit (I imagine. I have never given it a go).

Whilst I have been struggling along continuing to prune, prick over, dig, rake, weed, edge, cut back and pick up, all the while I have been drifting off into the warmer months in my head.

Earlier this week I saw a great cartoon depicting an image of what people see on the outside as success (an iceberg being success above the water, whilst what people don't see is all the work going on under the water. Determination, failure, hard work, good habits).

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CWwEGoYWsAAKjpe.jpg

It resonated with me as in my job in Horticulture, most people I see in the gardens when they are visiting, see the gardens in full swing. Most people say "aren't you lucky?" and "what a fabulous place to work?". Yes I am. Yes it is. BUT Winter is tough outdoors. You need to be focused. You need to be strong. You need to be resilient. Just like those seeds we sow and the plants we nurture through the frost and pests to grow. I too, am growing, as I work.

I know it will all be worth it. The Smell of the Daphne 'Jacqueline Postill' wafting past me right now in February. The buds pushing up from the soil from Peonies and Sedums. The Snowdrops dotting the floor with white beauty. The Sweet Pea seeds I have pushed into wet compost, urging them to come up after just one day!

It is all on its way.

Sluggish

The New Year is upon us. Each January, I, like many others, feel so sluggish and unmotivated. Why am I doing this? Why do I want to grow veg when I could just buy it? Why work in the rain and mud when I could be warm indoors?

So many questions and I often wonder if I will ever muster the energy to pull myself together and begin growing again.

Well, my first week back at work in the dark and rain and mud and I feel energised and ready to delve into seed catalogues again! I started slowly with my Tuesday client, weeding, turning and composting a large border. Transplanting Aster and Phlox that have grown too big for their boots. Removing Rose suckers. Trimming back Mahonia. A gentle introduction to the great outdoors again.

At Heale we continued with Rose and Wisteria pruning. Who couldn't enjoy a spot of gentle pruning? Knowing that each cut to a bud will give flowers and scent in just a few months time. I can almost see the blooms and smell them as I work. 

Working alongside our volunteer, Rachel, who sees every job with fresh eyes, is a joy. It reminds me why I am doing this and how even in the depths of Winter, beauty can be found all around. The moon was full on the drive to work one day, silhouetted trees before it, beautiful.

A quick visit to my allotment with my youngest was a pure joy! We found Leeks and Kale and even integrated chat about his favourite computer game Plants Vs Zombies. I wonder what a Raspberry might look like if it was in the game? And what super powers would Kale have?

It is possible, with a bit (lot) of work to keep us all motivated with the great outdoors. And definitely, it is worth the effort.