Saturday 4 August 2018

Making the Best of It





Aubergine in waiting.



The OAP Fairy Person next door always comments on how nice my garden looks. 

I'd think she was nuts, if someone hadn't told me what this place looked like when it was a grow house. 

Vines breaching the 2nd story window.  The lawn covered in rubbish, bits & bobs of which still get thrown up when we mow.  I've dug out brambles thicker'n my big toe. 

Thistles & nettles & bindweed, o my!

A horrible winter followed by a horrible summer, trying to get things growing in ground that's been neglected for years . . .

But with nature, there's always little spots of joy.






1.  Pumpkin update.

I now officially have 3 pumpkins.  About half what I'd hoped for, but a pumpkin in the hand, etc., etc.


The biggest Pumpkin Grows Gruff.


2.  Sunflowers.

Someone last week wrote about their sunflowers (& other blooms, I think) facing an edifice.  This week, that trend has hit 2 sunflowers in my garden, with one facing the fence, the other the house wall.


In a huff.

All my sunflowers are short this year, only about 4'.  But I've got blooms &, in the autumn, seed heads for the birds.


This one's not shy.


3.  Wind damage.

Last weekend brought rain & with it, wind.  There were a few battered leaves & some plant supports that needed reset.  And then there was this.


AAaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

If you grow corn in the UK, you know what a folderol it is.  Then to have your baby dashed to the ground by an uncaring storm . . .



Defeat is unacceptable.

The OAP Fairy Person dropped by a lovely bouquet, so I made good use of it.


4.  Mr Mullein

Prior to the rain, I decapitated the mullein seed head in a bid to conserve moisture.  Post rain, there's new flower buds all up & down the mullein's stem.  That'll look interesting.


The rebel.


5.  Seeds

While the mullein is starting over, it's harvest time for both nigella & poppy.  The cooks are pleased, but think the poppies should step up their game to match the nigella. 


The cooks think these are for them.  Har!


6.  Sole survivor.

I had crap luck with my spring onions this year.  Very few germinated & the ones that did, bit the dust. 

Except for this one, that I stuck into a flower planter in hopes it'll go to seed.  I think it's dancing.


Short & fat spring onion.

The plant behind it is a blue daisy that bloomed once, but declined to repeat its performance after dead heading.  What a blah summer we've had.




Glads!



And there's my Six for the week. 


Make sure to drop by our host, The Propagator who's managed to post his own Six, even though he's on holidays.


So when are you going to join our #SixonSaturday gang?  We're a nosy bunch & would love to see your garden.


See you next week!


9 comments:

  1. Thank you for putting your foot in the pumpkin photo as a size reference.
    I planted some mullein from seed but they are still just a circle of leaves with no stem growing up. I used to find them in the wild where we lived before and would transplant them into my garden.

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    1. I don't know if they bloom the first year. Mine is self sown & I think last year, it stayed a circle of leaves, like foxglove do.

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  2. Have you noticed, the minute you decide to harvest seed you get a torrential downpour?

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    1. Oh I so wish that were true, I'd be out there now with a torch.

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    2. We've not had enough rain to interrupt any chores this year!

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  3. Pumpkin is great, bet it will be delicious with all the pre-baking it has had. You are right, it has been a tough year for gardens and gardeners, but it will all even itself out in the end. Sorry about your sweetcorn :( And all that seed potential, next year is going to be fabulous!!!!

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    1. That pumpkin will be a jack-o-lantern, as in this house, we only eat pumpkin in pies & have plenty of frozen. Heretics, I know. As to the seeds, only some of those are for me. Most are for the cooks & the rest for the birds. Which may mean my neighbours getting some flowers, too!

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  4. You’re right about the little spots of joy...sometimes you just have to look a bit harder for them. Your sunflowers would be spots of joy, I think.

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    1. It is disappointing when you have an idea about what your garden will look like this year & then we have the summer we did. Even so, there's always something in this nook & that cranny.

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