New paintings and regular art updates.
When you hang up a hanging basket make sure it’s facing the right way! This was a bit heavy and we just hung it up without looking which was the right way. It needs turning 180° but it will have to wait. It’s been watered and it’s a lot heavier now. Mind you there are begonias about to flower on this side, I might leave it a few days and see how it develops. Gardening is great, you can never tell exactly how things will turn out.
Joyous day, we get a few hanging baskets every year, we had a call from the farm today. They were ready! Even though we were expecting them I was overwhelmed at how big and beautiful they are. If yo buy a hanging basket from a shop they often only have one species of flowers in them. But these are packed with petunias, fushias, begonias, lobelia, and other plants I can’t name. It’s not all their work, the rest is our handiwork. X
Actually it was probably September or October when I took this. Now the leaves have withered, just a few cling on to life. But come the spring I hope to transplant some of these plants into pots. I think the fushias will have survived because they have woody stems. Then the hanging baskets will go to the local nursery to have them filled for the next season. It’s always at this time of year that I start to think about spring. That is until we get to the cold blast of January to March. That’s when hubby gets enthusiastic and plants all the seeds we bought and collected in Autumn. Sadly the plants either don’t emerge or die off because they are too cold. Or he puts a whole packet of seed in one small pot! It’s amazing we get anything to grow!
What is going on? Begonias and Lobelia in November! I know some gardeners cut everything back and compost things after the summer. But I can’t do it. I love seeing things grow. The baskets will eventually die back. The tops of them are already looking a bit scrappy, but any sleepy and cold bee or hover fly can maybe sneak a sip of nectar. Our back yard is sheltered by the house, large bushes and a fence, I suppose the plants huddle together forming a microclimate. We also live towards the bottom of the hill so we don’t get hit by winds sweeping down from the north. It’s a haven. Looking forward to next summer. X
I didn’t venture out today because its really cold and I’m still a bit unwell. I was scrolling through my photos from the summer and came across this double hanging basket next to the house. It grew and grew and was magnificent in July and August. Now? The frost came last night, a glaze of white on the tiled roof opposite. I think all the baskets will wilt, the delicate annual plants are starting to wither, but the slightly woodier ones like fushias are still there.
Photos of the back to follow, and if I get out into the autumn landscape before all the leaves fall I will post some shots of the trees locally.
Still growing
Flowering, expanding
Drinking in light
Leaves green and patterned
Delicate petals
Give calm delight.
I hope they continue
Until the frost
Destroys
Two hanging baskets, one below the other, have gone mad this year!
A column of plants
Chlorophyll filled
Turning a house
Into a garden.
Green with splashes
Of colours, gaudy
Reminds me of
The sculptor
Gaudi!
A mosaic of flowers
Crushed together,
Late summer skills
Gardening thrills!
🔥
And humid
Watering the yard
The moisture level outside is about 85%, I’ve got the fan on and the windows closed to keep the heat out. All my hanging baskets had wilted this afternoon despite heavy rain a couple of days ago. Sorry to go on about my garden but I enjoy showing it off. It does need work though. X
We don’t have droughts like other countries but we do sometimes have heathland fires occasionally. We are more prone to flooding. Apparently we have tornadoes but I’ve never seen one and they’re only small scale here.
Weather, what the British talk about. X
We bought home a boot full of hanging baskets today. We went a bit mad and ordered a few too many. With these and the ones on the back seat we had eight in the car. We have got to go back and collect two more. I hang them two at a time, one under another so that when I water the top one the bottom gets watered too.
We order them in April dand then wait for them to grow for a couple of months. They are usually ready for collection in the second week of June. It is mad, but I love them. They finish off the garden. Now I’ve got to hang them!
How is this possible. The hanging baskets are still alive and flowering despite a few frosts and cold winds. It’s not just one plant though. The flowers are still on four or five plants. Maybe they are so tightly packed that they are sheltering each other. I also think the flowers were not pollenated because of a lack of insects? I will keep posting about this till they wilt and die off.
Mallaband-Brown