"I can't sit out there cos the midges are driving me nuts" says I at 6.30 this morning.
"I know" says Mr TG " they were driving me nuts too. I even tried turning my chair round to see if that helped"
I kid you not that is what he said and he was deadly serious too.
"How did that work out for you?" says I laughing, at which point Mr TG realised how ridiculous his comment was and tried to back track.
"Don't you put that on your blog" he said.
Anyway I seem to have spent yet another day weeding and I still haven't even put a dent in it. My house garden is looking amazing right now and for the first time since moving here 10 years ago I'm absolutely loving it, but it has come at the expense of the other areas around the land which have been neglected - I'm talking head height weeds of jungle proportions.
Despite the external neglect though the fruit and veg inside the tunnel are doing very well.
This is the first year I have managed to grow Onions, I've tried every year but nothing has ever come of it so to see these swelling roots is balm to the heart
The Apple trees are fruiting happily and I think this years fruit is set to be the biggest harvest yet
But what is going on with the Pear fruit?
I have a plant here that I need identifying if possible. It self seeded itself on some gravel in the garden so I dug it up last year and put it in a pot but I don't know what it is.
I had a Ceanothus just to the right of it but it only flowered the once and then died due to the conditions - could this be a seedling? I also have a couple of Escallonia but they're situated a fair way away from the garden - could it be one of those?
I've had much fun this evening watching the Swifts swoop down for water from our little garden pond. They managed it well enough after a few practice runs but I can't imagine why they even attempted this pond in such a tight space when we have a mini lake a hundred yards away - much easier for them.
The Housemartins were also using the fence as a resting post for the first time ever and we've had Gold finches, Siskins and Greenfinches all visiting the feeder.
I have never had this amount of activity in the garden ever, it's all usually going on over at the polytunnel where there's more tree coverage but I think the structures I've built and the trees etc that have been planted this year have turned the garden into party central and I'm loving it.
Another similarity in our gardens -- in mid-late June, glorious weather is combined with an insect scourge. In your case it's midges; in mine, it is blackflies, which also seem to go for the facial orifices. The only way I can work in the garden at this time of year is to wear a net shirt that covers the head and face and has elastic to hold it snug closed at the hips and wrists.
ReplyDeleteI had to giggle at the thought Jean.
DeleteI once saw a local guy at the bottom of his garden with full face netting and a smoking barrel and at first I thought he had Bees - I now know differently, it's so he could work in the garden lol.
Hi, Your random plant looks very like cotoneaster horizontalis - does it have a 'herringbone' pattern to the stems? We had tons of it, grown completely rampant, in our community garden before the transformation. It's a plant used a lot for municipal planting as it will deter intruders; Also, it has lovely red berries in the autumn/winter so I'm guessing your plant is a present from a passing bird. They're very hardy but will spread hugely and, once planted, the roots will keep throwing up shoots away from the mother plant (although these are easy to pull out).
ReplyDeleteHope this helps!
Thank you for that Caro, I will check out the stems and get a couple of piccies too just to confirm.
DeleteNot sure I need another rampant plant growing willy nilly though so I guess it'll stay in a container until I can figure out where to put it.
Linda
Lol....."head height weeds of jungle proportions" and hubs chair turning activities had me laughing out loud.
ReplyDeleteI'm thrilled to hear it's all finally coming together after so much hard work, and your onions are to die for....I have problems growing them too but keep trying.
It's fantastic that you have so many birds visiting you....what more could a girl ask for!xxxx
Thank you Snowbird :) The main garden reflects hard graft bu just you wait till you see the rest of the land, honestly it's embarrassing!
DeleteMr TG does give me a giggle every now and again - he comes out with some real corkers sometimes lol
I does look a bit like cotoneaster as Caro said. I think you are right about the birds they like perching spots and places to hide when visiting feeders.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the midges - last year harvest mites were our problem so I'm hoping we don't get a repeat. I was advise to buy Skin so Soft from Avon.
When wildlife starts visiting in larger number sit becomes addicting and the reason i garden for them...here the mosquitoes are just relentless.
ReplyDelete