Green hair?

Posted on October 6, 2023 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged Ceramic head, Gardening, Growth, Life, Planting, Plants, pottery class, Sculpture, Yard6 Comments

I found a photo of a ceramic head I made several years ago at my friend Claire pottery class. It must have hung on the same nail in the back yard for at least 20 years!

The weight of the face squished the space inside it in a bit, but it still is a good planting pocket. It has a crack in the back from the firing, so when I plant it up I use plastic to line it but make sure there are holes for drainage. I put different plants in each year, this time I have some sad snapdragons still clinging to life. Maybe next year I will try Sempervirans? (house leeks).

Ferns

Posted on October 2, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Collage, feathery, Fern, frond, Gardening, Green, Life, Photo, Poem, Poetry, undergrowth2 Comments

Fronds, split into feathery leaves.

Under the shade of trees

Unfurl in spring

Like curled question marks

Springing out

Bright green

A lovely scene

Covering the ground

In friendly frothy growth

Pelargoniums and Surfinia

Posted on September 30, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Colours, Gardening, generanium, Hanging basket, Life, Memories, pelargoniums, Petunias, Photo, Plants, Surfinias2 Comments

Oh I do like a good hanging basket. This is one from a couple of years ago, I think it was one I planted myself. The red flowers are pelargoniums although generally they are called geraniums. The purple ones are Petunias which are also called Surfinias. It’s interesting how names can be changed for fashion or trademark reasons.

Golden calf

Posted on September 14, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Beautiful, Biddulph grange garden, Gardening, golden calf, Life, National Trust, old photo2 Comments

Old photo of the golden calf which is next to the Chinese garden and temple at Biddulph Grange garden a National Trust property. Near to it is a huge and grotesque stone frog. I guess the place is so eccentric that it’s worth several visits just to take it all in. There are garden rooms and buildings that are so spectacular. It’s hard to think the Grange was once a hospital for TB patients.

I must visit again before the end of the summer.

Poor pears

Posted on September 13, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blossom, Cherries, Crop, Food, Fruit, Fungus, Gardening, Growing, Pears, Ripe, Time, Trees4 Comments

Some years the pears set, the tree is well watered and we get many pears off our tree. But it’s looking sad as the wind blew it over at an angle a few years ago. We had to support it on blocks of wood.

As the branches are horizontal that usually encourages fruiting. But both the pear and cherry trees flowered but we’re caught by late frosts and then strong winds that blew the blossom off. The cherry only managed half it’s crop and now the pear is even worse. A few pears had a fungal infection and had to be thrown away, you can’t compost them as it encourages the fungus to spread. So we only have a few pears to show this year. Here are three. The little one is going squishy so it’s getting thrown out.

Pears are funny, they stay unripe for ages. Then seem to ripen overnight. We will just eat these, as there is not enough for a chutney.

Ivy

Posted on September 12, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Colour, extension, Gardening, Growth, heavy work, Ivy, Life, Roof, salmon pink, Silhouette, Sunset2 Comments

Ivy is growing right over our roof and into the yard. I’m worried that the roof of the extention will be damaged. The problem is neither of us are up to the heavy work required to sort it out. So the yard is starting to look like a picturesque ruin. I took a photo because the sun was setting and the sky was a nice, contrastong pink, but I think my camera over exposes photos, so you can only see a hint of the salmon pink it was glowing.

Flying squirrel

Posted on September 2, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Autumn, bushy tail, Food, Gardening, Growing, jumping squirrel, Saplings, Squirrel, Walnut tree, walnuts, Wildlife2 Comments

I just looked out of the window as a squirrel came flying past! I just saw the fluffy tail as it jumped from the fence onto one of the hanging basket brackets, then up onto the kitchen roof.

Why is it visiting us? WALNUTS! We have a walnut tree that we planted 25 years ago and it GREW. It must be 60 to 80 feet high. For years now we know when autumn is getting here when the squirrels arrive. Then they go on the a rampage and bury the walnuts. So sooner or later we have baby walnut saplings springing up all over the place. I don’t begrudge the squirrels, we have said we want a wildlife garden, and it is.

Faces in plants

Posted on September 1, 2023 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged Collage, Faces, Ferns, Gardening, Green, Life, Memory, Pareidolia, Photo, wallpaper6 Comments

I can almost see a koala bear in this collaged photo. Above and below that I can see eyes on stalks. It’s called Pareidolia, and it’s something I seem to do all the time.. I saw patterns in wallpaper when I was young. Roses became teddy bears somehow. Green leaves became fairies. I could see faces in bowls of fruit. I think I’m weird!

Copper leaves

Posted on September 1, 2023 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged Collage, copper coloured, Gardening, Huchera, Leaves, Life, Memory, Photo, symmetricalLeave a comment

Almost metallic, huchera leaves look like copper in the moist air. The pattern was achieved using a symmetrical collage tool on a photo I took a few years ago. I need to do more of these, it’s fascinating to see how the symmetrical pattern enhances the shapes. This could almost be a bowl with a drain in its centre.

Stumpery

Posted on August 29, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Biddulph grange garden, Gardening, National Trust, shade loving, stumpery, technique, tree stumpsLeave a comment

Old tree stumps can be used to create something like a rockery in a garden. This photo was taken at the Biddulph Grange garden last year. I’ve also seen this technique used in other gardens and there were some stumps created at Trentham Gardens last year too. I guess the stumps give an interesting effect, especially when they are covered in green moss. They can be interplanted with shade loving plants including ferns. The appearance is like seeing shedded stag horns scattered and stacked neatly along the path at the Grange.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Gardening