How Does Your Garden Grow?

Hello Friends. 

How are you all this week? Good, I hope. 😊

This week, I wanted to share with you how our garden has been changing and growing. Halfway through the year now, and a lot has changed in the woodland. Most things have done well, a few things needed moving, and a few plants got a bit too sun-baked. 

I'm also showing the not-so-pretty bits, such as the area where the bark and other bagged items are stored, as well as hubby's sand and ballast supplies. There are also the vital parts of the garden like the compost and the water butts. Where would I be without those?

We have just about finished covering the whole area with chunky bark. This will massively help to reduce watering and weeding jobs. During the varied hot, windy, wet and everything else in between weather, the bits of the garden that already had bark laid suffered little wilt and no weeds peeping through. Now the entire area is covered, and we also have a designated spot to place our chairs and enjoy the garden.

Now, follow me around the garden and see how our plants grow.

The area covers about 30ft x 25ft, or about 10m x 8m.

Starting outside the shed, we have a space large enough for two seats with a bit of shade from the Hawthorn tree overhead. At the moment, the tree has lots of green berries, which will ripen later into red ones that the birds will love. We can't leave seats out because we are plagued with pigeons and their ....!

Two of our water butts are located next to the shed, making them very useful.

This is one of the less pretty and more functional parts of the garden. Everybody needs somewhere to store 'useful stuff'. Here is where we store odd slabs to be repurposed, bags of grit, sand, and bark, and my long canes. I already have a plan for the slabs in another part of the garden. 

Another very valuable resource is the double compost bin that my hubby made a few years ago.

Hmm! This doesn't look too good, does it! 

The grass has died back quite a bit, but there are still some patches of green, so I won't give up hope. It hasn't been watered at all this year, and perhaps not enjoyed the extreme heat. It will recover, though.

The same applies to this bush Amelanchier. I will be placing plenty of bark around the roots to retain moisture, and next year, I will find some temporary shade for it.

The log and twig pile is growing and will be a cosy home for small creatures in Winter. 

This pretty little Acer was not happy where I originally placed it and, as a result, got quite burnt. I have since moved it into some shade, and it seems much happier. Next year it will be even better.

The whole area has now been covered with chunky landscape bark which will make things so much easier for us to maintain in the way we want from now on.

Everything has been growing at such a rate even with the very hot days we have had lately. The Rodgersia plant with its frothy flower heads has been the best I have seen.

This Acer has now reached the height I am happy with, but no further. I will trim it back in the Autumn.

The Rheum (located just in front of the ferns), which resembles a large rhubarb, has been sulking, but I think it has got too hot and not enough moisture around its roots again. It has had plenty of water and a cosy bark mulch as a way of an apology, and I need to think about how to keep it happy next year.

Finally, this is a useful table that I use for pots of bulbs, taking cuttings, and other small garden tasks. My hubby made it from an old door and covered it with EPDM rubber left over from when we had our flat roof recovered.

In other garden news, when we visited our local garden centre for more bark, this pretty Lantana caught my eye. It went straight into my basket when I saw the price. For now, it will be placed in a large pot while I decide on its permanent location. The Clematis was reduced, and also made it to the checkout. Both plants now need planting. 

Well, that is how my garden is growing at the start of July. If you have any outdoor garden space, I hope it brings you just as much happiness as mine does. 

Have a lovely week and mind the sun if it comes out to play.

B x

Something Unusual

Hello everyone. 

I hope you are all well and being extra careful if you are enjoying some extra hot weather this week.

So this week, something unusual in the garden. Do you know what this is?

No, they are not small green tomatoes. In fact, they are potato berries. I had never seen them before, and they were quite a surprise to find on one of my potato plants. This particular potato plant had quite a few flowers a few weeks ago, and I thought nothing of it. 

When the flowers are pollinated they can produce potato berries. They are, however, poisonous because they contain solanine, a toxic compound harmful to humans and animals. Has anybody else had potatoes that have done this before? 

And what about this little blue box?

As some of you may already know, a few weeks ago, I spent a lovely afternoon at Edgbaston Cricket Ground with my family. I have also been continuing with some decluttering and found this game. It is a dice-based, pencil-and-paper cricket game. Pencil cricket has its origins in pre-war Britain and uses two dice shaped like short metal pencils with numbers on one side and words on the other. One die is the batting die and has 1, 2, 3, 4, owzatt, and 6 on each side. The other has the words 'bowled', 'stumped', 'caught', 'not out', 'no ball', and 'LBW'. One or two players can play the game.

This version belongs to my husband.

Sometimes, the unusual or unexpected can be fun, and I enjoyed discovering these things this week.

Have a good and safe week, everyone.

B x

Edwardian Elegance

Hello friends.

It has been a very warm and sunny week here in this Small Corner. Hopefully, you have also enjoyed some sunshine.

Taking advantage of the good weather, my husband and I visited a wonderful house and gardens hidden on the outskirts of the city centre, near the University- a real oasis of calm and beauty.

Winterbourne was built in the early 20th century as a family suburban villa and is surrounded by approximately 7 acres of gardens. It was built for John and Margaret Nettlefold, with much of the garden designed by Margaret herself. She modelled the gardens on the designs of Gertrude Jekyll.

The house is Edwardian and follows the style of the Arts and Crafts movement that was popular at the time. There are also many examples of local craftwork around the building.

The main rooms face south and open off a wide hallway, with the drawing room leading directly onto the terrace, seamlessly linking the house and garden. There are many original features which enhance the rooms, along with period furniture and William Morris wallpaper.

The house changed owners several times until the end of World War II when the University of Birmingham inherited it and became a hall of residence for female students. In 2010, following some refurbishment, the property and grounds were designated a heritage site and later became an Arts Council-accredited museum.

There are also exhibitions which reflect the Nettlefold's industrial connections with GKN (Guest, Keen, Nettlefold)

I enjoyed seeing this Edwardian home, as it gave me lots of ideas for my dollhouse. Hubby also enjoyed the exhibition on the industrial heritage of the original family.

The gardens also reflect an Arts and Crafts feeling with the curved steps leading down from the terrace to lawned areas and a wonderful extended nut archway. In the 1930's a pergola and Japanese bridge and tea house were also added. We enjoyed wandering around the woodland walk and seeing the sunken rock garden. There are also several period glasshouses containing collections of orchids, alpines, carnivorous plants and cacti. We didn't stay in there too long as it was so hot on that day.

(These Gunners were enormous) 

(My eyes were drawn to yet another hosta!)

Back home, our lovely D baked another cake. This time, it was a vanilla sponge cake with cream and caramel topping. There is currently about a third of the cake left on the plate.

While on the subject of cake, we also celebrated a " 60" birthday for hubby's younger sister this weekend. It was lovely to meet up with everyone, and although the hotel food and organisation were not great, we still had a good time celebrating together.

I also managed to pick the blackcurrants in our garden, and above are two of the pots of jam I made with them. 

It appears that the weather will be more changeable this week, with sunshine and showers expected. 

Whatever you are doing this week, have a great time and enjoy the long Summer days

B x 

Cricket on a Sunday Afternoon

Hello friends. 

I hope you enjoyed a lovely week.

Last Sunday afternoon, hubby and I spent a lovely afternoon with our son and daughter-in-law at Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham. Before I begin, I want to point out that I am not usually a sports fan of any kind, but sometimes I can surprise even myself. 

Hubby and our son have always had an interest in watching cricket, and our son worked at these grounds when at University. As retirement is coming up shortly for my other half, I had flippantly suggested he take himself off to the cricket grounds some days. That resulted in our son booking tickets for the 2024 Vitality Blast, a set of matches completed in a day, unlike Test cricket. They are generally known as T20s.

We were able to see both a women's match and a men's match, which were both great fun to watch.

The whole atmosphere was wonderful, with everyone clapping for all sides - bowlers, fielders, and batters - true sportsmanship!  I actually learnt a lot and at least know how the scoring works now. There was some amazing play, with one of the bowlers bowling out six unfortunate players and gaining a hat-trick as well. I think we will be revisiting Edgbaston after retirement. Here are a few pictures from the match; that's my sports reporting for now. I did have a great time, though.

On Friday, hubby and I were off again in search of another interesting home and its gardens. Baddesley Clinton, in Warwickshire, is about 40 minutes away from us and was perfect for a sunny afternoon. This was originally a medieval manor house with strong Catholic connections. This religious fervour could be very dangerous, especially during the English Civil War, and the house was a safe place for Catholic priests. The Ferrers, who owned the property, leased the manor to two sisters at that time. They had several hiding places, or priest holes, cleverly fitted, which proved to be life-saving on several occasions when Catholic priests were being hunted down.  

As it was a hot afternoon, we decided to take a stroll in the shade around the house and made some new feathered friends.

 

We also enjoyed seeing more of the formal gardens and my favourite flower was this beautiful Peony.

Back in our own garden, it's the turn of some other fruits to take centre stage after the strawberries did so well. I have a couple of blackcurrant bushes scattered around, and they have all produced a lot of berries.

The gooseberries are also doing well, although someone has been munching on some of the leaves. I need to be a bit more vigilant to prevent the sawfly from attacking next year. 

This week, in this small corner, it looks to be another warm week to enjoy in the garden.  I'm going to add more bark mulch to the woodland area at the bottom of the garden, which has become a little overgrown over the last few weeks. Although there is less need to weed there, I'm hoping the mulch will help retain moisture in the soil for longer when it has been watered or rained on. One or two plants also need to be removed and replaced, and so a trip to the garden centre is also looking likely. We also have some family birthday celebrations in Essex next weekend, which will be lovely

I hope you have some lovely plans for the week and that the weather is perfect in your own corners.

Best wishes

B x