Good Gardening Weather

Today, still cool, featured intermittent sunshine while cotton clouds pierced by cerulean patches sailed sedately overhead.

We carried out the usual garden maintenance including watering, planting, pruning, and dead-heading.

Jackie smiled when she first spied that I had come out to join her, but she didn’t see the camera hanging round my neck. I have taken to wearing it in order not to miss such photographic opportunities.

Here we have the peach rose, a couple of hemerocallis, sweet peas, white dahlias, sidalcea, yucca, and fuchsia Shrimp Cocktail. As usual each individual image is labelled in the gallery which can be viewed full size by clicking the box underneath it. Further enlargement is possible by additional clicks.

Mauve gladioli stand beneath the clematis covering the Agriframes Arch.

Shropshire Lad and linaria purpurea checked themselves out in the mirror placed to extend the Rose Garden views.

Here Jackie carried out pruning, the results of which I would clear up later.

The marguerites alongside the hydrangea in the corner of the front garden will unfortunately need to be cut down soon because they obscure the view of the Chauffeuse when driving out.

Bees enjoyed flitting from one verbena bonariensis to another.

We now have more robins than we can identify. This is not Nugget.

It was a good gardening day.

For a while now, it has not been pleasant enough for us to enjoy our evening drinks in the Rose Garden. This changed today.

From my seat in the north east corner I could see the hemerocallis in the Cryptomeria Bed and the lilies above Mamma Mia catching the evening sun.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s tasty lamb curry; savoury rice; salt and pepper prawns; and vegetable samosas. I also enjoyed the chilli bhaji. The Culinary Queen drank Hoegaarden and I drank Corte Aurelia Squinzano Riserva 2015.

102 comments

  1. As usual, your camera took me to your garden paradise, and I enjoyed seeing the gorgeous results of all your & Jackie’s hard work. The fuzzy little bumblebee tickled my fancy today! Have a great Friday, Derrick! <3

  2. Agreed – not Nugget! I wonder if the plethora of young robins are all his offspring though. No wonder the poor old thing is looking aged! It’s always lovely to see Jackie beaming at you – and therefore us. I have just received my early birthday present from the two of you – ha-ha! Delightful!! I am so going to enjoy reading this one. Thank you xo

  3. You had a good time with alliteration again. It must be good spirits from a beautiful day. ? So many beautiful photos–I can’t pick a favorite. I do like “the marguerites alongside the hydrangea,” so I’m glad you got this photo before they’re cut back. The “Shropshire Lad and linaria purpurea ” in the mirror is also lovely.
    The robin looks like a young one to me? In any case, it didn’t look like Nugget.

  4. Jackie: Your beautiful smile brightens the garden, and you AND your garden brighten my day! Thank you! 🙂
    Lovely photos, Derrick! Oh, the sweet peas and fushcias are gorgeous!
    “Hello” to Not-Nugget. Not-Nugget looks young! Might he be a relative of Nugget?!
    YAY for a good garden day!
    Is all the chilli bhaji making your cheeks rosy?!? 😉 😀
    Your opening sentence was alliteratively wonderful! I can envision the clouds!
    Considerable-n-cheerful comments compliments of Carolyn. HA!
    Clutches-n-Clasps!!! 😀 HA! 😛

    1. Thanks a lot, Carolyn. Given where the robin was it was difficult to be sure if it was one of Nugget’s brood – close to the south end where another family lives. Your own alliteration is pretty good, too. X

  5. “Today, still cool, featured intermittent sunshine while cotton clouds pierced by cerulean patches sailed sedately overhead.” a great opening to a book.

    Robins have definitely found a home in your garden.

  6. The first sentence was fun to read, especially. Your garden has that old-fashioned feel… makes me feel nostalgic for “days gone by”….or the lovely idea of romantic days gone by! :). Painterly, I would say, actually! Winslow? among others?

  7. I smiled at the photo and reference to the fuchsia ‘shrimp cocktail.’ I just cooked a couple of pounds of shrimp, and I’m very glad indeed that they didn’t turn out to be fuchsia. The photos of Jackie are splendid — full of life and smiles.

  8. That is a very poetic opening line. Some of those photos have 3-dimensional feel about them. Some of them are poetries written with flowers. Mr Not-Nugget is clearly not Nugget. Your chronicle is an encyclopaedia of flowers and plants, and a manual for gardening. It’s a pleasure to be here morning after morning.

  9. Lovely. Someday I hope to visit the UJK again and see my family and the countryside. I’d love to see your garden and meet you in person if permitted.

  10. What a lovely set of photos. It is good that you remind of the work it takes to make a garden look so gorgeous. You seem to be invaded by robins now.
    I’ve noticed that for some reason wordpress keeps unfollowing your posts and I have to keep following all over again when I catch up with your posts over weekends.

  11. The photos are showing up for me very nicely today. Such a beautiful and restful tour through the gardens! All so lovely, and I especially love that orange daylily. That is a rather striking composition.

    So you are becoming a haven for robins!

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