Tuesday

Its mild but very windy here & we’ve had scattered rain showers. Ben and I sat & watched the birds from the arbour seat and I watched the insects on the monkshood. It always puzzles me that these are supposed to be poisonous in all parts but clearly not to bees & wasps

Monday - a day off

I was being a patient this morning so I decided to take the whole day off. I celebrated by visiting a garden centre and buying some crocus bulbs and some garlic. I also bought a heuchera but haven’t decided where to put it yet. Ben came and supervised proceedings from the bower seat while I planted out some wallflowers and some of the crocuses. I am enjoying the pots I’ve planted up particularly the one with the Persicaria ‘Red Dragon’

Sunday

Its been an okay day here with bits of sunshine and lots of wind. I am enjoying the colour my blueberries’ leaves are going & am still cropping them too. At the back of the garden the Japanese anemones are still going strong and providing a corner of colour under the black elder tree.

Saturday

In the Magic Garden, I harvested more blackberries before planting a new blackcurrant bush and enjoying some of the late flowers for early autumn now we are into October. I cooked the blackberries with a couple of the bramley apples from the Magic Garden

It was great not to be at work today! I opened the door to find Ben’s catsitter had brought me a fig tree that one her other clients no longer has room for sitting there! The front garden looks good despite the litter that the wind keeps dumping in it

Wednesday

I was again out from dark to dark but found this great spider from 8 years ago! Its clearly rained hard here today as all is soggy and Ben didn’t volunteer to come down and help me put out the bins.

Back to work

The problem with work is that it gets in the way of being in the Magic Garden - it was barely light when I left this morning and dark when I got home. Ben wisely had made the decision to stay in as it rained hard during the day.

Back with Ben in the Magic Garden

I’m safely back after my weekend in North Wales. The feel of autumn in the air is highlighted by the increasing chill. The variegated monkshood has come into bloom for the second time this season. The other corner of bloom is in the back corner beyond the rowan tree

Tuesday 20th September

Today I have been thinking about my sister Alison who died 4 years ago today. I always think about her when I smell sweetpeas and she is one of the reasons I grow them. This year has been much more successful probably because I just put so many in. I have just harvested some seeds so the next generation is on route already. I have a magenta pink perpetual sweetpea and hope to grow some more preferably of a less fierce colour.

Sunday

I’ve carried on working at the north quadrant and did a bit of instant gardening with new plants - a heuchera and calcephalus at the front and a nepeta in the middle. Along the path between it and the east quadrant I added a silver convolvulus and a santolina as well as a new fuchsia

Heuchera Melting Fire

Nepeta Neptune

Convolvulus cneorum

Calocephalus Silver Sand

Santolina chamaecyparissus

Saturday

I carried on dealing with the northern quadrant and the area where the wasps nest had been. I’ve dug out the area removing all the soil & took out the majority of the plants too, cleaning their roots. I’ve replanted the quadrant although I have thinned out the original collection. As there were a few wasps still having around I was pleased that Ben decided to watch me from a far on the windowsill indoors. The blue tits and long tailed tits ignored me as they attacked the feeders leaving me feeling a little guilty as I am behind with re-filling them.

Friday

Another day at work and so less time than I would like before it got dark in the garden. On the way home today I nicked a couple of cuttings of a white flowered buddleia having passed it every day recently the way to and from North Shields. I have done quite well with my buddleia cuttings this year with the golden balls buddleia plant that’s almost ready to plant out taking the leave.

My collection of heuchera cuttings is doing well and I am looking forward to planting these out - I might have a couple to give away

Thursday

Had a few things that needed to get done today. Task 1 was to deal with a wasp nest in the northern quadrant by donning some protection and digging it out to destroy it. I have used an insecticide in a localised area and enclosed it all for the moment and at weekend will finish a compost exchange to make sure its completely removed. Task 2 was to find windowsill space for all the Easter & Christmas cacti, pelargoniums and streptocarpus plants that I have brought back from Tulach Ard. I’m not much good with houseplants so we shall see how these fare.