Pyracantha; multi-talented & multi-functional.

Some of the frothy flowers of our pyracantha

We have a huge pyracantha at the bottom of our garden; it is a multi-talented plant. When it flowers it is a boundless fantastically frothy white mass which joins next door’s pyracantha & the one in the house at the back of us. Bees love it. I would share; I have better photos but who knows where they are!

The sparrows love the dense shrub using it as a resting/hiding/look-out point before they use the feeders in the garden. In the summer months it echoes with that tuneless sparrow-song & the air is full of the whirring of wings as they constantly fly back & forth. 3 broods of sparrow babies grow up amongst the branches. We almost had a robin nesting in it last year!

The sparrows are the rather indistinct little brown jobbies in the photo!

The bright red berries don’t last long with the pigeons & blackbirds gobbling most barely before they are ripened leaving only those on the  edges or ends of the tiniest of branches to brighten the winter gloom.

Lastly the shrub gives us lots of privacy from the houses at the back of us. We are all quite close to each other so it is quite nice to feel tucked away from it all whatever the season.

I normally prune the pyracantha every year to try & keep it under a vague semblance of control, quite difficult & indeed dangerous with a long-handled pruner. It does now need drastic hacking back as it over-hangs the planted areas at the back of the garden. I am not bothered about the shade but it does keep the area underneath extra dry. The not so delicate operation hack & slash began a couple of days ago.

You know that the pyracantha flowers in May/June followed by the immature berries gradually ripening to, in our case, bright red. Much has been written about the mild weather causing plants to be rather un-seasonal in their flowering & fruiting habits. As many plants will flower twice if given the opportunity I have not been too astonished but I was quite flabbergasted to see the pyracantha flowering in January. I had seen blobs of white on the plant but had assumed it was sparrow guano.

Then I noticed that not only was it flowering but immature berries were also forming….

……who knows if they would have reached this stage; doubtful I suspect but who knows.

I must be off, more pruning to do.

** I apologise for the dire quality of the photos in this post; for illustration purposes only!

Ham & errr, sausage roll!

It was the first frost of the year on Sunday. The sun rose & everything sparkled beautifully. Just the morning for a walk.

We were slightly encouraged by a craft fair being held in the grounds but Ham House is always a lovely National Trust property to visit. We got there before it opened so started off with a walk along the Thames’ tow path noisily crushing the ice on the puddles. We toyed with but  decided against a visit to Petersham Nurseries so returned to Ham House to be revived by a hot latte* & a really truly excellent sausage roll. The sun had increased the temperature to such a point that we were able to sit outside looking at the vegetable garden. We were almost basking in the sunshine

The garden, although not large is very interesting historically with very contrasting areas. Well worth a visit if you are in the area.

And whilst not wanting to sound like a tourist guide the Palm Centre is just around the corner as well as the already mentioned Petersham Nurseries.

 

* Now I do love a latte but they can be insipid if not made properly. However, the  worst coffee crime is when they are TOO COLD. Frequently they seem to be just warm enough to drink immediately so if you like to sip something hot, or, more importantly, eat a delectable slice of something cakey beforehand they do not retain enough heat & I can then get jolly cross. ‘Make it hot please’ can be frequently heard as I queue for my beverage of choice.

I gracefully declined being judged in the final of the competition.

This probably sounds ever so middle class & even a bit twee but our local resident’s association has a front garden competition every year.

The aim, a very laudable one I am sure you will agree, is to encourage people to contribute towards making the area look nicer by putting a bit of effort into their front garden.

There are no entry qualifications or applications; every garden in the area is judged by a team of enthusiasts before those gardens with the highest scores going through to a ‘grand final’. There are three categories; summer garden, all year garden & container garden; the highest scoring garden of the 3 is awarded the best front garden, receiving a cup & some garden vouchers.

The judge’s gardens are disqualified from judging & the previous year’s winners are usually asked to help with the judging.

We won the competition quite a few years ago, I can’t even begin to work out when it was. Following that triumph I helped with the judging for quite a number of years. It was usually an enjoyable exercise  but in some areas actually quite depressing. Most of the front gardens but many occupiers seem to take no pride in that first impression. It wouldn’t have been too bad if it was just the odd house here & there but in some streets it was difficult to find any garden that could possible be squeezed into the final judging. Concrete & weeds are fairly common & more recently storage sheds have begun to appear which I can see are very practical but take up almost half the available space. At least we have not been forced to deal with the delights of wheelie bins which would have to be kept in front gardens although many people have dustbins & re-cycling bins tucked somewhere.About 5 years ago I decided to both give judging a rest for a while & to give our front garden a re-vamp as it was getting a bit out of hand. I was rather shocked & embarrassed to be awarded the best front garden prize again! It had not occurred to me that it would even be considered as it had only just been completed & some planting needed a bit of time to really get going!  Oooops! Judging beckoned again!

This year the letter about judging was on the doormat when I got back from holiday.I had to deal with some work issues & I quite forgot to get in touch as intended. Imagine my horror on Friday evening to get a letter saying we were to be judged in the final on Sunday! What should I do? Clip the box so it looked it’s best? Not clip the box or the hedge so it might look a bit neglected? Say I didn’t want to win again? (How self-important would that sound) In the end I rang the organiser & muttered I should not be included in the final judging as I should have been involved in it myself & sorry for not getting in touch…….. Phew!

Today I was delighted to do a little emergency judging. There were 2 contenders for the best container garden with the same score. I was asked if I could go & give my opinion to come up with a winner, so I did!

More of my Chelsea

You are safe dear reader, I am not going to ramble on about Chelsea gardens weeks after the event when everyone has lost interest. No, this is about me, or at least a bit of my garden

I will remind you, because I expect you have forgotten, that after the Chelsea flower show last year I was enthused enough to create my own what I laughingly call my Chelsea bed. My initial rush of enthusiasm resulted in this updated in early spring to this.

These pictures show very honestly what things were looking like during Chelsea week….

 Not very inspiring is it when it was looking rather nice a little while ago! Rather dominant is the dyeing foliage of the bulbs.  A 2nd phase of daffodils looked lovely but the iris which were meant to follow on are very small (1 plant divided into 3) & suffering from a severe lack of water this spring so the one potential flower shrivelled. The rose in the middle of the bed is flowering away like mad but has gone rather leggy. At least my balls have been trimmed to encourage them to thicken out a bit so now I await the flowering of Geranium Rozanne which will be the main summer colour.

I know, I could have mown the grass & tidied up behind, but I didn’t!

Giraffes are a go go………….

Do tell. What is it about giraffes that make them suitable garden accoutrements or ornaments?

I have been to 2 flower shows recently & at each there have been ornamental giraffes on sale to adorn your garden.

Malvern Spring Show

Chelsea Flower Show

Do you use them as supports for climbing plants? Do they add height to your otherwise flat & boring plot? Do you use them to add a feeling of the wide African plains to your tiny London backyard?

I have absolutely no idea why anyone would want a giraffe in their garden. Do you dear reader?