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).

Hydrangea blue

Posted on June 22, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blue, Gardening, Grandmother, Growing, Hydrangea, Life, Memory, Pink, Plant, Planting, pots, Purple7 Comments

The bracts are developing to a purple blue. Such a lovely plant. It’s sitting in the yard but I think we will move it towards the house so it gets more light. I remember my grandmother having a hydrangea but hers was pink. I painted a portrait of her in front of it years ago. It grew in a big pot under the living room window. Just seeing this brings back memories of a strong and forthright woman. She knew what she thought and what she wanted.

Green memory

Posted on September 7, 2022September 7, 2022 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, Fine Art, Gardening, Green, Green man, Hubby, Memory, Planting5 Comments

Three years ago I painted my hubby ‘my green man’. It came up on my Facebook memories today. He is a green man, gardening does him good, helps him to try and relax. He is a bunging in gardener, there’s no rhyme or reasoning to his planting, and he just plants things where he likes, but he must have green fingers. That’s why I painted him as a green man. Acrylic on canvas.

Blurry back yard

Posted on August 27, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Colours, Gardening, Happy, Ill, outdoors, Planting, Plants, pleasure, plethora, Shaking, shingles, TiredLeave a comment

Mad back yard. The heavy rain has pepped up all the plants. You have to avoid the baskets. I want to put some washing on the line but it’s clouded over again. I’m tired and hot. A friend came round and after a cup of tea helped cut back part of a large bush that had layered itself (spread outwards with side shoots). Of course I stayed inside for most of the time, but decided to say hi after a rest and ended up helping a bit by cutting off small twigs. By the time I came back in I was exhausted and tired out, hence the shaking. But looking at this really cheered me up. A real plethora and pleasure of flora!

Weight on the fence.

Posted on July 2, 2022July 2, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Colours, Fence, Fun, Gardening, Hanging baskets, Plant, Planting, pots, SummerLeave a comment

The trouble with attaching hanging baskets to the fence is that as they grow and get heavier with watering it starts to bend. It’s quite a strong trellis but I think it will need replacing in a couple of years.

The wall the fence is attached to is the same old bricks the house is made of with curved coping stones on the top to keep moisture out of the centre of the wall.

Each basket has many different plants crammed in them, then there are a series of smaller baskets with single species in them. There are individual pots balanced on the top of the wall and lots of them on the ground below. Planting up pots requires a balance of compost with crocks (broken pottery) in the bottom of the pots so they have drainage, but then I usually place a saucer or a bowl underneath to catch the water so that it doesn’t dry out. We have a hose pipe so we can water everything regularly.

A long day…

Posted on June 7, 2022June 7, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blank verse, Choir, Exercise, Gardening, Music, Planting, Poem, Poetry, Singing, Stretch, Tired, YogaLeave a comment

Gardening, Yoga, Choir practice

All in one day!

Poppies to pot

Marigolds and lobelia

Plants bought needed tending.

Then oh!

Blissful Yoga

But with stretches

The Cobra and Sphinx

That have made my legs ache.

Finally, singing

Bunting still hanging

Samoan and Maori

English, fragrent and flowery.

So much in a few hours.

A good rest?

That will be best

Hail and snow

Posted on April 2, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Clouds, Gardening, Hail, Planting, Plants, Showers, Snow, Trentham Gardens, WeatherLeave a comment

What do you call a mixture of Snow and Hail? Sn-ail! I think it was ‘sn-ailing’ this afternoon. We went out to Trentham Gardens in Stoke on Trent and bought a few plants, maybe it’s a bit cold to plant them though.

More plants

Posted on August 28, 2020August 28, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Autumn, Blogging, Bulbs, Gardening, Gazenia, Life, Pelagoniums, Planting, Plants, TulipsLeave a comment

Ivy leaf pelagoniums and a gazenia (not sure of spelling). We saw them for sale at a florists in Wolstanton, Newcastle-under-Lyme today. I decided to get them as the weather is changing and I want to extend the flowering season in the garden. We also got some cyclamen including normal ones, and some called petticoat cyclamen which are more splayed out than the original type. I picked up a red sedum too.

It’s heading towards autumn now. I noted a tinge of broken or red on some of the trees as we were driving over to Wolstanton. It will be here soon. The nights are drawing in too.

When we got home I popped to the shops. While I was there I was tempted and grabbed a box of mixed tulip bulbs, and another one of various small flower bulbs. Gardening is a wonderful occupation. Try it if you can.

A task I love

Posted on April 26, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged #uskstoke, Art, Drawing, Fun, Garden, Gardening, Hanging baskets, Love, Planting, Plants, Sketching, Staffordshire, Urban sketchers Stoke on trent2 Comments

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Urban sketchers Stoke-on-Trent new challenge, a task you love.

I am trying to plant up hanging baskets, but I only have a few plug plants, and a bit of compost to put them in.

Luckily some of my plants overwintered and are regrowing, so I have a few fushia plants, a lobelia, and some trailing plants with pale purple flowers that is in this basket. I’ve put a few begonias in the pot hanging below it.

I put one basket under another to get a tiered effect. Usually these are full of plants, now I’ve done two with tumbler tomatoes which you put in baskets and as they grow they hang down for picking.

Yes these are tasks I love. X

Free seeds

Posted on September 4, 2019September 4, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Autumn, Blogging, Free, Garden, Magazine, Planting, Seeds, Summer, Weeding2 Comments

_20190904_163250 packets of seeds….. Free!

What a lovely surprise, a gardening magazine we sometimes get had seven free packets of seeds with it today. Most of them are worth about £3 each so that means about £20 worth of free flowers.

The other good thing is they can be planted now in late summer or early autumn to establish plants for next years display. All I have to do is dig out a load of nettles so I can plant these out!

The garden is very overgrown so I’m getting someone in to help cut it back a bit. I love it but it’s hard work having big trees and shrubs. A warning, you need to keep on top of stuff to keep it looking good. Anyway I’m hoping by tomorrow I will be feeling a bit better and can do something.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Planting