Saturday 4 April 2020

5 Delights & 1 Doodle Remedy

Six on Saturday is a weekly diary hosted by The Propagator & contributed to by gardeners all over the world.  For links to other SoS blogs, check out Mr P's Comments & the Twitter hashtag, #SixOnSaturday.




We're all still healthy & waiting for the wildlife to take over our neighbourhood.

In addition to enjoying the reek of fox musk each morning, we heard an owl the other night, a first since we've moved here.

Unfortunately, no sightings of goats or deer or wild boar.  A few bolshie cats, but of the domestic kind.

However, there have been other delights in the garden this week.




1. Pear update.

The Louis Bonne buds've opened.


His pollination mate, Invincible, is just in leaf bud.


Last year, Louis managed 3 pears on his own, so hopefully we'll see fruit without help from Invincible.

As to Invincible himself, I assumed one of his 2 bloom flushes would coincide with Louis for pollination purposes.  Since Invincible was bare root a short 6 months ago, perhaps that's behind his lack of flowers.


2.  Appletini.

Supporting this theory are the appletinis who came to us 2 winters ago.  They spent last year healthy enough but produced no flowers.  At the moment, they're both covered in buds.


Flowers've even opened on one of them at a place where the sun first hits it.  O, my heart.


The bronze foliage should turn green as summer progresses.


3.  Lucky dip.

Some time ago, I got 3 Thorncroft lucky dip clematis - clematis that'd lost their labels so were reduced in price.  Two of the three were in bud & one of those has begun to open.


Thorncroft suggested this might be early bloomer c. Tae.  You can see a tiny bit of pink inside, so they could be right!  Quite beautiful at the moment, whoever she is.


4.  Doodle path.

For reasons known only to herself, Mlle DoodleFace has changed her entry point into the Doodle pool.  Her new route takes her over the only Queen of the Prairie patch in the garden.


I replaced the Queen with bricks - they had to go in at an angle, due to the aster roots on either side.  The plan is that the mass of day lilies on the right & some bamboo sticks soon to be on the left will keep Doodle paws on bricks.


5.  Queen of resilience.

I moved the flattened Queen to a small meadow area near the compost bin where no Doodle ever strays.


Two days later, she looked almost normal again, except for the bit at 11:00.


6.  O, them boxes.

I was chuffed at being able to get those boxes into their brackets.  Delighted to find the missing thalia growing in them.  And now . . .


. . . the tulips are up!





So there they are, 5 garden delights & one Doodle remedy.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you're all healthy & coping.  Cake helps.  Drink, too, I suppose.  Our neighbours smoke a lot of dope, & I've begin to wonder if we aren't high all the time, as well.

At any hoot, see you again soon.

23 comments:

  1. The plant boxes look great with their floral contents. I hope the pear tree bears more fruit this year. Its blossom is beautiful. My mum always mutters about a pear or plum tree in her garden. She had bought one for herself but for reasons I can't quite remember my sister ended up with hers and my mum ended up with one my sister had bought. The tree my Mum ended up with has never had a single fruit on it. My sister's has loads of fruit each year. It's a sore point. I must find out the facts of the tale...

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    1. Pears don't self pollinate, as a rule. In our previous house, which was Louis' first year to fruit, he produced a whopping 13! Of course, there was another pear tree around the corner. I assume there's one somewhere here, but not close enough for strong pollination. Your mother needs to get a pollinating buddy for her tree or convince a neighbour to grow one.

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    2. I shall pass that on. Thanks! I also forgot to say how beautiful those tulips are.

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  2. Fab Six Lora! An education as well, I had to google Queen of the Prairie, I love filipendula. The pear blossom is wonderful.

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    1. This is why I should learn the Latin, especially since I'm a furrner. Can't believe I have to wait a full year to see Invincible bloom, altho as I think I said in a previous post, the nursery cordoned him so close, not sure where he could bloom.

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  3. Ooh snap with the pear blossom, although your tree looks a much more manageable size!

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    1. Both the pears are cordoned, Louis because that's all the nursery had left & Invincible because I learned the benefits from Louis, at least for our situation. If I had a bigger garden, I'd probably choose differently. But pears! What's not to like?

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  4. Love the Thalia, and pear blossoms! Appletini -- sounds like a smart cocktail....

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    1. Well spotted. Appletini is also a cocktail, but these are like sweet crabapples, so I'm told. Hopefully I'll find out first hand later this year.

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  5. The hanging flower containers are very pretty especially with these pink spots in the middle of the white.
    Louise Bonne's flowers are superb and I'm sure you can't wait to taste the fruit!

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    1. In coming wks, the red will take over the white in those boxes. It's going to be nice watching them change. I'm also looking forward to trying your pear recipe come autumn!

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  6. So many exciting things going on there. It's a shame invincible is so tardy. By luck my two pear trees seem to flower together but I still only managed 3 pears last year. I love your doodle path by the way.

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    1. Thanks! Yes, it's an exciting time in the garden. I wish the Doodle path were a little more tidy, but upper body strength is in short supply. Once the asters fill in, it'll look better.

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  7. Lovely tulip picture at the start of your post Lora. The pear blossom looks pretty too. How tall/ will the cordon pears be?

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    1. The tulips are looking especially well this year. As to the pear, Louis is about 6' tall. Invincible's still in a pot, so I'm not certain how tall exactly he is. I imagine you could cordon or fan a fruit tree to fit your garden.

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  8. gosh I need to get my act together. two out of the three plants I bought from thornycroft are still in their pots! I have a cunning plan though.

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    1. Their original pots? Well, if they're still healthy, they're fine, I'm sure. Be sure to tell us what they turn out to be. Sorta like Christmas, eh?

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  9. All the Clematis seem to be way ahead this year. Those pots on brackets look great. Talking about wildlife I have noticed much more this year. I don’t know if it is because of the lack of vehicles or what. I saw 2 peacock butterflies yesterday having special time in the garden. I can’t ever remember seeing butterflies in my garden on April or maybe I have been to busy with work to look properly. Also an Albino Blackbird on my travels last week.

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    1. An albino blackbird! That would be something special to see. Hope it survives a long life full of song.

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  10. Oooo - the blossom on the Louis Bonne is just gorgeous - and the Appletini is going to be very pretty too!

    It looks as though your lucky dip clematis is going to be a nice surprise - it’s an interesting way to buy a plant. Great boxes on your wall, and the Thalias I love - I’m still waiting for mine to do something!

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    1. Louis does a good job every year. The clematis were about a third what they would've cost, had the labels not been lost, so I couldn't resist. The appletinis have opened more since Saturday & are really stealing my heart. They're gorgeous. Everything is blooming at this time of year!

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  11. The pear and apple buds are exciting and your boxes look terrific! But what I really want to know (since I'm new here) is who is 'Doodle' - a duck, a cat? Obviously a rather treasured visitor whoever he/she is. Get's his/her own special path!

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    1. It's a great time of year for blossoms, for sure. Mlle DoodleFace is our standard sized Labradoodle who is convinced life wouldn't be worth living if she didn't have her Doodle pool. She is indeed well loved. We are equally well blessed by her presence.

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