Potting Up

The usual division of labour was employed in further tidying of the garden this much duller morning.

This afternoon while Jackie plundered the garden centres, I extracted some text from ‘She Saw The R100’ from ‘The Workhouse’ and from ‘And Then The Tableau Spoke’ for the next pages of ‘A Knight’s Tale’.

These two photographs from the second of these posts

Frost on windscreen 1

and this one from ‘A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing’ were also included.

Plants for potting 1
Plants for potting 2
Plants for potting 5
Plants for potting 3
Plants for potting 4

The Head Gardener returned from her expedition with numerous trays of flowering plants

Jackie potting plants 1
Jackie potting plants 2

with which to fill her vast quantity of hanging baskets and other containers. The process involves filling the pots with suitable fresh potting compost, which is transferred to the garden beds the following spring, when the annuals are over; plants are then selected for colour combinations, shape, and whether or not they are trailing; they are then pressed into the soil, and

Jackie potting plants 3

this is the result.

Hanging baskets and French windows

Two of these were made. They now hang either side of the French windows.

This evening we dined at The Crown Inn at Everton. The food and service was excellent. For starters I chose leek and potato soup served with wholemeal bread, while Jackie enjoyed brochette served on a beetroot  salad.. My main course was fillet steak cooked to perfection, chips, peas, mushrooms, tomato, and onion rings; Jackie’s was chicken in white wine and tarragon sauce, sautéed potatoes and mixed vegetables. I drank Delcoeur vin de l’Hérault and Jackie drank water.

52 comments

  1. Like Jackie I have resorted to hanging baskets now that there is no more ground space 🙂 That is a great picture of Jackie with her project.

    1. When there is no space to spread outwards then one must go up! It’s so true Mary.

  2. A perfect spot to hang planters Jackie – the Head Gardner just loves her plants!! Didn’t she find some wonderful annuals Derrick? Dinner sounded delicious ~

  3. There is nothing more delightful than heading into the garden centre and going bonkers buying the annual spring plant up! I miss those days………. thank goodness I can live vicariously through Jackie’s efforts!

  4. Like the Head Gardener, I too wear two pairs of glasses at the same time, although one pair is tucked into the collar of my shirt rather than on the top of my head (where I’m apt to forget they’re there and go looking for them in all sorts of out-of-the-way places)

    1. The main reason that I have my hair the way I do is to accommodate the second pair of specs!

  5. I had never seen a mangle–only read a description–but I recognized it immediately! Goodness, life is much easier, now, isn’t it? I do remember a neighbor’s wringer washer, which had the rollers, but I think they operated with an electric motor. The garden is looking really lovely .

    1. When I was a young Mum, and a bit hard up, I found a, slightly more up to date, mangle in a skip, it was great, it pressed sheets if you hung them carefully after mangling, and baby clothes came out ready flattened too. I quite miss my mangle.

      1. The comment about ready pressed sheets reminds me of my grandmother ironing sheets (whether for our visits or all the time I don’t know) and my mother always telling her she shouldn’t. I’ve ironed table cloths, so know it takes some time, but never sheets!

  6. Both you and the Gardener-in-Chief have the Midas touch. It is an established maxim of the photographic fraternity: more than the camera it’s the man behind the lens that matters.

  7. You both earn your suppers well every day, that’s for sure! How beautiful the hanging baskets look and they have only just begun.

  8. Gardens, history, and food–you cover it all, Derrick! Jackie did some great plundering. I love the photos of her. She looks so pleased. We could use her garden magic here.
    I liked the Tableaux Spoke post and photos, too.

  9. We see more and more proof why you call Jackie the Master Gardener. This year’s garden is going to be spectacular.

  10. Oh, this is my favorite photo yet of the Head Gardener in her realm and looking so regal! Just the best! 🙂
    I liked the flats being transferred into hanging plants as well as seeing the nice metal carts under them. Hope you all rest between all the work! xo

  11. That mangle reminded me of the one we had in our council house in Barking/Dagenham. It folded down and had a top which converted it into our kitchen table. In the corner of the scullery / kitchen, was a boiler, which turned the scullery into the laundry on a Monday morning. And on a Saturday night it became the boiler room for the bathroom up above. The boiling water was pumped from the boiler to the bath tub.
    This council housing estate at the time of construction; 1933? ; was the biggest most up to date in the world! Supposedly.
    I was quite happy when we headed up to London to catch the boat train to Liverpool in 1951.

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