Change of Site Address.

I’ve moved….the gardening website is now at https://takeonesmallgarden.weebly.com/ , pop over and visit me !

Houseplants? An Addiction?

I do have to say since I got the conservatory my love of houseplants has increased a lot. From someone with a few ailing spider plants I seem to have now got many more, of many different kinds. But strangely what I love the most is pairing them with the perfect pots. Love trying different colour pairings of plants and pots (sad but true!). Plus they purify the air and bring that touch of life to a room. Or am I just tying to justify why the house has so many houseplants in it these days!

Coping with darker days in the garden

For a while now every time it gets to this time of year I put more suncatchers and more ornaments into the garden. There is something really lovely about the sun this time of year and to catch it on shiny metallic ornaments and reflect it back looks lovely. Perhaps there’s some primordial urge to drive away evil spirits at this time of year but either way it just adds interest to the slightly denuded garden.

Bearded Iris are still flowering

Amazingly these bearded iris have just started flowering again. They are such a wonderful golden colour and just seem to suit the autumn palette so well. They did the same last year as well and add such a touch of exoticness to the autumn garden

What was a little hebe cutting

This started life as four leaves, it’s taken a year to get to this stage. Goes to prove great things can grow from the smallest of starts . It’s still flowering through the frost, the rain and the wind. Yet another reason I love Hebes

Pot Marigolds have survived the frost.

These beauties have survived the frost which finished the Dahlias. These survived because they were much lower to the ground and had other plants to protect them. Little signs of hope from the now very autumnal garden

Lockdown 2 Day 2 – Frost

There’s been the first real frost, it’s going to be the end for the more delicate flowers. But they have been living on borrowed time. It means less colour in the garden, but the autumn leaves will make up for that. It’s also a sign for me to turn my attention to inside and let the garden rest. What sort of conditions will the perennial flowers wake to see next year? That is the question.

Bonus Post – Lockdown 2 Day 1

So in England we are waking up to Lockdown 2 – Day 1 , and like the first lockdown I will be changing my blog to share one positive image of my garden each day and to be a bit more chatty in my writing style.

I hope I can give my readers, where ever they are in the world , some small signs of hope in these strange times. Although on this bright and clear morning , nothing seems to have changed. The motorway is still humming, the local primary school is full of life and my patient’s hospital appointments are still going ahead. Even the garden centres are still emailing to say they are still open and to come and visit.

We are lucky in the south-west , cases are on the rise but not as fast as some areas and I worry about my friends in the south-east and the north. But in my mind I carry an image of next summer, walking along a beach in the warmth and being free, will that be a reality? Who knows, but for me it is the reality I am creating and sticking to.

We will get through this friends, until then, stay safe, stay sensible and be kind.

Coleus Plants

It’s been two years now I’ve been growing Coleus plants from seed and cuttings. I bought a cheap packet of seed , not expecting many to germinate and they all did. From the moment they started to show the amazing variation of foliage patterns I was hooked. They are so easy to grow and to take cuttings of and then in the summer I use them as bedding plants.

Indoor Tradescantia

The indoor Tradescantia, another break a piece off plant and it will grow. Now currently up to three of these because they are just SO easy to grow. They also don’t seem to care where in the house they are situated.