Rose

Soon I’ll know if the roses I planted last year have survived the winter. I put in five of them. Climbers and ramblers. I wanted them to grow on the remains of the hedge our neighbour (a builder) had torn out and made our garden vulnerable to being burgled two October ago. I’m hoping they will make a prickly, but beautiful barrier. I love scented roses and I might try putting a few more in this spring. You can get bare rooted ones that you just use a slit trench (push the spade into the soil and make a slit) to plant. Fingers crossed.

Old pears.

My pear tree didn’t set any pears this year. I think it was in a sulk because my hubby passed away and I think I neglected it. He used to water the garden for hours but I can’t get the hose pipe round into the main garden.

Moving forward, I’ve been getting help trying to trim back the overgrowth. I still have tall trees but some of the lower branches have been cut to allow more light in. How will it progress? I’m hoping for a wildlife garden but with a few brighter plants to cheer it up, (and plenty of pears again)

Going

These were my plants in summer, now they are starting to wilt. I will be sad when they are gone. I want to time travel to next summer till the next lot of flowers can be planted. I might get some winter flowering pansies to cheer the yard up in the meantime.

I’ve bought loads of bulbs to put in the big garden for winter/spring. Somehow I need to get them planted.

Esther Chiltons prompt “Sport”

Sport in Botany defined by Wikipedia :

In botany, a sport or bud sport, traditionally called lusus,[2] is a part of a plant that shows morphological differences from the rest of the plant. Sports may differ by foliage shape or color, flowers, fruit, or branch structure. The cause is generally thought to be a chance genetic mutation.[3]

I saw a sport once. Eight or nine twigs on a forsythia bush, each fused to the next, like a pan pipe. It still had leaves and flowers. I was reading sci-fi books at the time, I was only young and found the strange formation almost creepy. I cut the sport off the bush and it never grew back. But I always remembered this sporting image!

Gardening when I can

Describe one habit that brings you joy.

For years I have filled the back yard with hanging baskets and flowers. This year I had to get help from my sister to hang the baskets as I can’t climb ladders. Then I got plants from a wellness group I visit every week. Some of the plants were going over so I got them for a small amount of money.

I love this habit, but it has its dangers. I use a hose to water the plants as I can’t lift my watering can up. But it’s a trip hazard! I have to be very careful not to fall, luckily I have a grab handle by the back door. But sometimes things get very precarious!

Visiting gardens

Which activities make you lose track of time?

I can’t remember where I took this photo. I think it might have been the Trentham Gardens show gardens?

I lose track of time when I visit (which is not very often). I will try and get a friend to come with me so I can explore a bit further. It takes me a while to walk around  a garden, and I frequently take photos so that I can rest on the way round. I’m slow and not sure so handrails can come in handy. But I love seeing how gardens change with the seasons. But sometimes my progress is glacial! I keep checking my heart points on my phone. They generally stick at 0 because I’m so slow!

Wild plants and flowers

Walking through the middle of Stoke today, there is a small patch of land next to a car wash that was seeded with wildflowers a few years ago. Every year I walk past and I’m amazed with what springs up. I think the local bees must be happy. Just down the road from there another patch of land in front of a large billboard has become overgrown with buddlea and grass and amazing clover flowers. I hope they don’t get cut down!