Weekend Eye Candy

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Dahlia 'Bora Bora'

Small fry

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Some of my clients, used to a season of rain, have become complacent about watering and the crops are not near as bountiful as a result. Others have a tiny veg plot but are keen to grow lots of different things and hardly ever get a huge crop of any one kind.

You can tell I grew up living frugally as I am not fazed by a small crop (although of course prefer a big bounty!).

High summer colour at home

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All the rain has meant lots of growth in the garden. The dahlias are looking great now and benefit from the sturdy stakes.

Dahlia 'Olympic Fire'

I have grown 'Olympic Fire' for the second year now and it is performing well. I like the contrast of the dark stems with the bright warm orange petals. I would really like to pair this with an orange variety of Helenium some time for a big orange display.

Rain

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Rain does not only stop play at Wimbledon, it also stops work or at least limits what can be done. It also limits photographs.

The rectory had a short visit only yesterday and even then I had to work in light rain and seek shelter during some short & heavy downpours.

Planting out dahlias

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After last frosts it is time to plant out potted up dahlias. During the last few years this was early to mid May for me, driven as much by needing the space in my (former) study for seedlings as by the weather conditions.

Starting off dahlias

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Dahlias are stars in the summer and autumn border and the smaller varieties do well in pots, too. Although you can plant the tubers straight into your border, I prefer to start mine off in pots for planting out after last frosts.

Lifting dahlias

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A brief return to the roots of this blog... 

Thinking back to this time last year, the Uk was gripped by fierce frosts. This year's autumn has been much gentler with a slow descent into winter. This has meant, that my dahlias have only just been lifted.

The last lot to be dug up was in the mystery garden and I had remembered to bring a fully charged camera along.

Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire

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The exceptionally fine and mild autumn weather plus the fact that today school was closed for the little gardener meant an opportunity for us to explore Hardwick Hall at autumn time.

There are two Hardwick Halls to be precise. The old one is now a ruin which can still be visited (the above photo shows the view from it) and the "new" one, a fine Elizabethan mansion complete with extensive grounds.

Weekend Eye Candy

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Dahlia 'Bora Bora'

Weekend Eye Candy

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Dahlia 'Park Princess'

 Semi-cactus type, best when not in full sun all day.

Have a good weekend.

The 'Nearly did not Happen' Garden Part 2

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Design time. Let's talk about colours.

Since this was a small garden, I suggested a two colour scheme. I drew inspiration from the few shrubs that were already in situ: a Leycesteria (very dark red) and Forsythia (bright yellow). One of the roses to be moved luckily had a label, so I could identify and look up the colour, badly needed since it was April, far too early for roses to flower. It proved to be Whisky Mac, a fairly bright yellow.

With my client being advanced in years but very young at heart, I suggested purple with yellow. I set to draw up a shortlist of suitable plants and armed with good quality photographs we met up.

For me this is an essential step and a bit of a shortcut. If I find the client does not approve, not much time is wasted at this stage as no plans have been drawn, plant numbers worked out and costed up.

I was lucky and my client loved the shortlist.

I shall spare you the finer details of how hard it was to prepare the site for planting, the planting and autumn bulb planting. Let's leave it with some pictures taken at planting stage, a few months after and finally after one year.

June 2010 - newly planted, new turf!

May 2011 Gorgeous Alliums with Iris 'St Crispin'

May 2010: Turf has held up very well despite hot and dry Spring

July 2011: Penstemon 'Raven' and Achillea 'Coronation Gold'

July 2011: Lavendula angustifolia and Achillea

July 2011: Dahlia 'Arabian Night'

The gaps between plants are gradually disappearing as plants are filling out to their eventual size. Work is now concentrating on cutting the lawn, trimming lawn edges, deadheading and feeding, all fun stuff in my book. Oh, and enjoying the view.

Hope you enjoy it as much as my client.

Weekend Eye Candy

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No long post today, just some summery eye candy from this week.



Dahlia 'Bora Bora (semi cactus)



Dahlia 'Red Velvet' ? (waterlily)

Rosa 'Cambridgeshire' (groundcover)

Sweet Peas

Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle'

My favourite helper



Broad Bean 'Claudia'

Have a great weekend!

Catching up

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Today is beautiful and sunny, a summer's day straight from a picture book.

I remembered that I had put my name down for a Sunday flower rota and went to raid the garden for suitable offerings.

Strong contenders were Dahlia 'Olympic Fire' and 'Bora Bora'. I settled for  orange 'Olympic Fire' and teamed it with lavender.

Olympic Fire

'Bora Bora' is really showy, an orgy of pink and yellow. Whilst I like it, it does look best on its own and in large quantities which alas were not available.

Bora Bora

Don't be fooled by the size of the picture, the flower heads on this dahlia can easily reach the size of a baby's head.

Oriental poppies are a bit of in indulgence for me. Whilst incredibly beautiful to me, they do not flower very long and don't make good cut flowers. Once finished flowering, the foliage just becomes a mess and has to be cut right back. Still, when in flower, they are stunning, so they are with me for good. The variety I grow is 'Patty's Plum', as the name suggests a plum coloured variety.

In autumn last year I had taken root cuttings, applied slug pellets and for months I watched anxiously for signs of life. In winter I promptly forgot about them.
To my surprise I saw signs of growth in Spring - and plenty of evidence of abuse by slugs. I probably potted them on a bit too early (and really should have gone for P9 rather than 2ltr pots) and was much more on the ball with slug pellets. Slow to establish they now are proper little plants, ready to be planted out in autumn

My final job for today was more seed sowing. It is easy enought to be caught up with harvesting July's bounty to forget that if you want to eat your greens in autumn and winter you need to sow now. I have sown more

• lettuce 'Merveille de quatre saisons' (have grown this lots this year and am still not tired)
• oriental spinach 'Mikado' (not tried before)
• rocket (nearly too late for it)
• coriander (dito)
• mixed salad leaves 'Niche'

Dahlias

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Dahlias are in vogue again. Deservedly so as I think as they have so much to give for relatively little effort.

This year the dahlias have been flowering since end of June and will continue to do so until first frost, probably some time in October.

Here's an old variety Arabian Night. I bought tubers probably 5 years ago and have steadily increased my stock. For the first time this year I have noticed that some of the petals are pure white.

When given LTC including regular watering, this dahlia will grow to 5 foot hence the tall bamboo stakes.

Arabian Night in AW garden July 2011