A little bit cooler today 🌤️

               A tad cooler today .

 I decided to tackle the Acanthus mollis /Bear's breeches .

              It is a very handsome plant with very stately flower spires .

Very elegant until it begins to form these fat green spiny seed pods .

 This is the time to cut it down . Get rid of those seed pods , which if left become dry , crisp and even more spiny . 

 Acanthus from the Greek word meaning thorn ...mollis from Latin meaning smooth and soft . I really don't understand why as it is not soft or smooth .

 Bear's breeches ..... ? No idea ....and why would it be spelt breeches and not britches . Maybe it's an American/English thing .  🐻🧸

I allow it to grow here on this north facing area of the garden , but it is at this stage every year , that I cut it all down and clear it away , every last seed pod of it .

Some years I dig out some of the roots . mainly because I don't want it spreading it's roots underground and coming up in the drive .

   So I climbed up and allowed myself no more than fifteen minutes to slash it all down and a bit later on I raked it all down into the wheelbarrow .

 

         It's not perfect but I will come back and do a bit more tomorrow .

              

Meanwhile Ricardo - Lord Protector of the Spud Tubs is feeling pleased with himself once again ! We still have another tub to tip out and he's planted more to have in December .

 In the greenhouse , I had thought that the Cucumbers were just about finished . but I found two more hiding ! 

                         Very pleased !

So I had harvested all of the remaining Sweet Peppers and I had thought to throw the plants out , but changed my mind and thought it might just be worth a try to cut them down  and see if I can encourage them to produce a few more .

 I cut them all down by a goodly half and intend to give them a bit of tomato feed .

I can see new shoots coming at every point where a leaf is beginning to yellow and drop . It's worth a try , nothing to lose !

Flowers for the table -

 There really isn't much  choice right now , everything is so dry .

                 I didn't want to take too much , but found a few things .

 Hydrangeas  , Pittosporum , Cotinus coggygria" Royal Purple" , Agapanthus and a small piece of Buddleia " Black Knight " and I think it is called Euonymus , a pretty variegated one to fill in the gaps .

            

                                       Looking pretty on the table .

Last but not least .... There's going to be an eclipse next week  ☀️🌑Wednesday 12th August starting at 6.15 pm - 7.10pm 

                        Get ready with your eclipse goggles !

                                    Hope you're having a great weekend !

                We're off on a picnic now ...... bye  !

                      Peace and  Love 🤍🕊️

                                Debbie 💐x

Dash to check on the Tomato plants ! 🌿🌦️❄️🌿

 

Beautiful sunrise this morning after a very cold night . Heavy rain with hail through the small hours .

I dashed up to the greenhouse to check my newly transplanted tomato plants were o.k. 

            All is well ! 

   

                       Jess's Giant Echium is getting taller everyday ! 

                                        🌿🌦️🌈❄️🌿

Update  -

Spent most of the day making space in the greenhouse for my Sweet Peppers and Cucumbers .

I had to move out everything ,mostly cacti, that were underneath this bench and relocate them to the other end .

Then put down these trays . The Cucumbers are going under the bench and will grow up and scrabble about amongst the Epiphyllums . Last year they were up the other end and no matter how I tried to get them to grow around the strings , they just wanted to grow along and be in with all the Epies ! 

Tomorrow is Cucumber day !

Today I just wanted to transplant my Sweet Peppers into larger pots and clear a space for them here beside Lord Buddha . 

   I took all the Pelargoniums out from here and down to the shed and gave them all some more water .They will be for hanging baskets and window boxes .

 Took some time out to have a walk over at Kynance and really enjoyed my pasty for lunch !

  The weather has been beautiful again today after that cold rainy night .

                  Sweet Red Peppers 

Now in their bigger pots and final position in the greenhouse .

Tomorrow I will also check how the ferns are under the bench at the back . 

There are buds coming on several of the Epiphyllums . One of which I have never seen bloom before !  Quite a rare one !

 There is a chair in there but I have had no time to sit down !

My arms are aching and I am so tired , but pleased with what I've achieved today .

 Yep , tomorrow I'll move in the Cucumbers , which means I can start thinking about sowing my Sweetcorn , Beans and Squash .

                                    🌿☀️🌤️⛅🌿