Flower Moon

 My husband decided he needed to get away for a few days , which meant that I had to bring in all my veg seedlings and put them in the bath to keep them cool during the heatwave . We had a nice time in beautiful Dorset .....but I was so glad to get home again..to get my veg plants which I,d grown from seed actually planted out into the garden .  This really is the wrong time of the year to go away, as everything needs watering and protection from snails and just generally watching over while the plants get settled in ...but anyway , it all worked out just fine in the end .

 So as soon as we arrived home I dashed around with my trusty wheelbarrow and got everything planted out . This year I,m growing lots of different varieties of Squash . Climbing Courgettes , Butternuts  and other interesting Squashes , Pumpkins, Cucumbers .  I,m going to relax and not bother with seed saving this year .
 By the way I hope everybody was happy with the Gete-okosomin Squash seeds that I gave away recently ?  I,d love to hear how they are doing :)

          Another Epiphyllum bud waiting to bloom up in my greenhouse .

 The Full Moon this month is known as Flower Moon , also Corn Sowing Moon .
This is the view through my bedroom window ....looks like the Farmer is sowing the field now too .

                                   Flower Moon Epiphyllum flower .

                                      Joy ! At last the rain has come !

Oh, what a beautiful morning ! Oh ,what a beautiful day !

This morning was my most favourite , long awaited morning of the year . When I  go up to my greenhouse and as I walk past , through the dirty windows , I spy these breathtakingly beautiful  Epiphyllum blooms !

                             Eager to get inside and have a closer look .

I let them grow scrabbling about and climbing the trellis and branches that I have fixed up..... some are in hanging baskets .

I couldn't quite reach the label on this , but I think it is  Epiphyllum Achievement .

 This one is Space Rocket which I bought a few years ago from Epiphyllum specialist  Mr Horobin .
 Others that I have , were cuttings from my mother's plants ..which originally came from my Grandmother ...and I have no idea where she would have got hers from , because back then it would have been extremely rare to have a plant like this in England .  There were no plant nurseries or garden centres back then .

 No fragrance with this one but it is huge..bigger than my hand ...see the top picture , where I am holding my hand above my hat in the reflection of the greenhouse window .

 I stand in the warmth of the greenhouse admiring them for ages , intoxicated by the perfume ..mmm that fragrance .....it just has to be good for you !

This one is King Midas....and the peach like fragrance is divine... mmmm....

            There are lots more buds coming too  , maybe tomorrow  !

Sunday Blessings

                         A few things which made me feel blessed today 
                                ... a baby Robin and it's mother .

                                    First Runnerbean germinating !

       Dioscorea elephantipes....it's asleep....but I still love looking at it !

                                        Pretty Pansies in a pot  .

Tidying and Harvesting

Some more pics from yesterday up in the veg garden. Busy tidying and harvesting our veggies from last season .  Preparing the beds for 2018 veggies .
 That is some cardboard there which is waiting to smother the weeds ....I prefer to "no-dig " ...not saying that I never dig though..I have had to prize up some large clumps of weeds ...and well you know ...sometimes I really enjoy a good ol' dig !

 I do like to feed the earth and put back the goodness that she has given into last years vegetables and flowers . Generally speaking it is better not to disrupt the structure of the soil ...all the little creatures in there ..and microbes ...and fungi all working so hard ....dont you just love the smell of the earth ? I just love her fragrance ..

                                      So here are the last of my leeks .

 There's my Birdie ! She loves it when I have a good ol' dig ! She is busy too collecting grubs, bugs and worms for her young .

 The Runnerbean frame ..which reminds me..Congratulations to everyone who ran the London Marathon for so many good causes...including my beautiful sister who ran to raise money for teaching people how to do CPR and save lives .
 In this bed I have an enormous clump of Rhubarb which my  husband says I should take out ...but I love Rhubarb ..so it has to stay ...the thing I really should have taken out is the little Rosa Dorothy Perkins cutting which has sneakily grown into a huge clambering shrub ....but I haven't got the heart to dig it out and now it's about to flower and it is so lovely ! I have wound it along the beanpoles and all along the top and this year it will mingle with the Runner beans and French  Beans ...in front of this I have sown Love in a Mist ,Nasturtiums and Calendulas  for this old romantic and the Bees ...and will probably squeeze in some Cabbages and Kale .

 I did pull off a nice rooted piece of R. Dorothy Perkins to give away to anyone who'd like it .

A year and a half ago we visited Tilshead , pretty little village on Salisbury Plain . We lived there for a while and the children went to the school there. We walked around the village and remembered old times . Up the old school lane I found a scrambling Rose bush ... I cant remember the colour of this rose even though I must have walked past it many times ....it had the most beautiful hips . I gathered a few of the hips and sowed them as soon as we got back home to Mullion .
 They didn't come up the first Spring ,but I think the strange snowy winter that we had has now woken them up and I,m delighted to see three seedlings coming  up .

 I searched on line to try and find out which rose it might be and finally have been told that it is a Geranium Rose or Rosa Moyesii "geranium" which is a very old Rose . It has deepest pink/red  five heart shaped petals and a slight perfume too . Thankyou Tilshead ! I,m going to take good care of these and look forward to seeing them bloom .

 Anyway I then got bitten by a cactus on my bedroom windowsill and so today I think I will just sit back and enjoy the flowers in the Ornamental garden .

 The Acers are all waking up and putting on a lovely colourful show . That is Acer "Bloodgood " in the gravel bed..it is probably the only one that can be planted facing South.  Generally speaking Acers do prefer some shade . That little one in the foreground has got to be moved as the tree that was originally shading it has been cut down .....sigh... I will wait till next Autumn/Winter to move it .

                                   Lots of pretty Apple blossom .

 Paeonia delavayi lutea ...which I grew from a handful of the most gorgeous shiny beans that my brother gave me from his bush . The bees are so happy !

                                       Happy bee on the Berberis flowers .

           The garden is looking so lush at this time and smells so sweet .
                                      Happy Bees and happy me !

Veg Garden and Pumpkin Patch 2018

                            The Pumpkin Patch all ready to plant up again !
 Phew ! This is such a busy time ! I thought I,d  do a quick update for you of my Veg Garden . So I had thought I had sown pretty much everything now ... some things had come up and been pricked out and potted on . Potatoes planted , grass cut , shed re -painted , fence fixed..again ... stuff taken to the tip...meadow fertilizer on ...new roses , shrubs and young saplings planted ..roses pruned , palm in centre of veg garden tidy and take off tatty old lower leaves , re-pot cacti....solar shed cleaned out and reorganized , sow more seeds  buy more compost , trim banana plants in the shed and water Dahlias to get them growing again , garden seat and picnic table set re -stained .... my birthday .. my surgeon ringing to tell me that my scan was "all good " best birthday present anyone could wish for !..for another year anyway ...

Flora Day which was amazing  this year , especially the Children's Dance ..one of which was my little 6yr old grandson dancing for the first time ... all dressed in white , the boys so smart and the girls so pretty with flowers in their hair . Helston shops and houses all bedecked with greenery and bluebells and other flowers. The band , as always , brilliant ! 

 So yes , the Pumpkin Patch  is all ready to plant up again . I just had to prize out a couple of large weeds , give it a scattering of slow release fertilizer granules ,no digging really ,just a gentle rake over .

 The water hole in the centre still looks good and I sorted out a big piece of pig wire for the squashes to climb and scramble over , I,ll probably fix that up tomorrow .

 
You my remember that I only grew one Squash  last year , the Gete-Okosomin Squash. This was to keep the seed pure . This year I am growing lots of different squashes , pumpkins , courgettes and cucumbers .
 Here they are having their first "hardening off  "session on the greenhouse patio this afternoon .

 I raised them up off the ground hoping to keep the snails and slugs off ....and keeping  my fingers crossed that the bunnies would not nibble them .
 This evening I have put them into the solar shed , where it is a little bit cooler than the greenhouse .

 In the Solar shed I have started off celery, tomatoes, French beans , nasturtiums,shallots and onions , lots of Black leafed  Kale , lettuces Little Gem and Romaine cos lettuce .

              Back in the greenhouse  Opuntia buds are about to bloom .

                                              Epiphyllums too !

        New easy to put together shelving in the greenhouse , very happy with .

 Cucumbers and Butterbush Butternuts germinating ..no sign of Cussonia spicata coming up yet ..this is my second try with these seeds .
 Two trays of pretty Tagetes Lemon Gem and Red Paprika ..I,m running out of space !

 The sweetcorn is withering away and my leeks are not so good either , no idea why..some you win , some you lose . hmmmph !
 Mangetout peas are sown... fingers crossed the mice don't eat them ...we love our Mangetout peas !

                                   The labyrinth is looking great !

.......and then a friend told me that her Runnerbeans were coming up beautifully already ....aagh ..I had forgotten to sow mine ....so off I dashed straight away into the garden and put them in ..now ,we had a little rain this morning , but I,d really like some more over night please ..to save me having to haul the watering can around again . It's all go here !