Garden – derrickjknight

The Greenhouse Path

Every year we are invaded by small white onion flowers which bear clusters of up to 24 tiny bulbs which are very difficult to eradicate.

Jackie has set about these menaces with a vengeance.

Every brick or slab beneath which they have hidden themselves she has lifted in order to remove each tiny offspring.

Having completed the work on the brick circle around the urn on the site of the old well, she turned her attention to the Greenhouse Path which she finished today.

In addition to photographing her work in progress she also focussed on a few flowers.

Our various camellias are still going strong;

She has dead-headed the daffodils that are past their best, but there are many varieties with different time-scales.

Some violas have been included in pots with other planting; a few stand alone.

Blue wood anemones; a white Leucojum ‘Spring Snowflakes’ with green tips; mauve hellebores; and an ornamental owl surrounded by new clematis shoots, complete her gallery.

Elizabeth dropped in this afternoon for a cup of tea and convivial chat.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s classic cottage pie; carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, runner beans, and gravy, with which I drank more of the Rioja.

Here Comes Spring

This morning I deleted from my iPhotos all the images from

and from

The garden today is Springlike.

Having taken in the general scene from our upstairs windows, I wandered around delighting in some individual blooms. Each of these images bears a title in the gallery.

This afternoon I watched the Women’s Six Nations rugby match between England and Italy.

Our dinner this evening consisted of roast duck and chicken pieces; boiled new potatoes; firm carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, with which I finished the Kimbao wine.

Skullduggery

My iPhotos collection of photographs received no adjustment when today I retained the one photograph from

but I have deleted the single one from

and the two from

A few years ago Jackie planted some lilies in the Pond Bed. None came to fruition. Apparently small rodents feast on the bulbs.

Today she disinterred the remains of the culprit, and offered me my blog post title.

This afternoon I read Charles Ross’s lengthy introduction to his history ‘Richard III’, which is essentially an examination of the differing opinions on the nature of the king featured in https://derrickjknight.com/2025/01/07/richard-and-the-princes/

I will say more about this balanced introduction when I have read and review the history which may be relevant to my previous post.

This evening we dined on roast duck with crispy skin; baby boiled potatoes, cauliflower, its chopped leaves, broccoli, and carrots, with tasty gravy. I drank more of the Kimbao.

More Buried Rocks

Once again I needed to stay indoors waiting for an emergency heating engineer, so I concentrated on continuing culling.

I saved just the obvious picture in my iPhoto collection from

and similarly from

On the other hand, I retained all from

Meanwhile Jackie literally hit another problem with more buried rocks when attempting planting in the Pond Bed. Having given up prising them out

she redistributed surrounding soil,

and settled in smaller flowers than originally planned. These are all her pictures.

Later, Steve, from Norman’s Heating visited and fixed another boiler leak.

Having grappled with the first three chapters of ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ by Gabriel García Márquez I have realised that it is quite beyond me to review it. I first read the book almost 30 years ago, and enjoyed it at the level of a rather mysterious story of many generations of a family starting with the beginning of the world, and now learn that it is regarded as a classic of magic realism which I don’t understand. I don’t normally read other reviews before writing my own, but I have just done so to aid my focus. Why set myself such a difficult task when I have so much more to read? I’m putting it back in my library.

This evening we dined on more baked gammon and mustard sauce; boiled new potatoes; carrots; cauliflower, its leaves chopped with leeks; and broccoli, with which I drank Kimbao Cabernet Sauvignon Carménére 2022 produced by Constanza Schwarderer – if you gave me this for Christmas please take a bow.

Frosted Recovery

We experienced very few, and only intermittent, frosty mornings this last winter. This is forecast possibly to be our last.

Jackie ventured out with her camera to photograph frosted flowers.

Later she recorded the perking up, while I practiced with my Nordic walking poles as far as No. 21 Downton Lane and back.

I then hoped to balance my iPhotos stock by a little culling, only retaining the obvious one from

and two from

I reinstated one and deleted four from

This evening we reprised yesterday’s chicken Jalfrezi meal with the addition of parathas, and I drank more of the Vega Spanish red wine.

As Night Fell

Most of our garden lights are solar powered. Depending on the amount of sunshine experienced during the day, they gradually brighten the plants and structures.

Yesterday evening, Jackie photographed her arrangements.

Because I continue to fall behind on culling my iPhoto collection, I followed this draft by attempting to reduce those in

I could not possibly delete any of these.

Later, I read more of ‘The Cunning Man’.

This evening we dined on pork casserole, sautéed potatoes, cauliflower cheese, runner beans and chopped cauliflower leaves, with which I finished the Malbec.

Tidying Near The House

While I spent much of the day grasping ‘The Cunning Man’

Jackie, during intervals between bouts of rain

further tidied the Patio Bed;

finished refurbishing Flo’s Fairy Garden;

and continued clearing the brickwork around the old well.

This evening we dined on soft-centred cod and parsley fish cakes; sautéed potatoes; cauliflower, carrots, and Brussels sprouts, with which I drank more of the Fleurie.

Flo’s Fairy Garden Today

Included in her clearance work on the western patio bed during the last couple of days has been revealing Flo’s Fairy Garden

originally completed in June 2023.

Here it is now.

Although the day was mostly bright enough for the above

photography, fleeting mist descended throughout the afternoon.

After drafting this I continued with ‘The Cunning Man’.

This evening Jackie worked her moist heating magic with last night’s roast pork and served it with similar fresh vegetables, with which I drank Collin Bourisset Fleurie 2022

Some Squirrel Survivors

This afternoon I wandered around the garden with my camera.

Each of these images bears a title in the gallery. It will be seen that some of the tulips have survived the stealthily stealing squirrel.

Afterwards I sat down with ‘The Cunning Man’.

This evening we dined on succulent roast pork; crisp Yorkshire pudding; boiled new potatoes; crunchy carrots; tender broccoli stems and runner beans, with meaty gravy, with which I drank more of the Malbec.

Transplanting

Just before lunch the dry weather and intermittent sunshine tempted me into the garden for a very brief garnering of material for a post I had imagined a day or two ago. After a good rest I began it.

What I had noticed was that the West Bed contained many self-seeded hellebores which were too well arranged to have arrived there by accident.

One occupied the end of the Phantom Bed opposite.

Although there are many such plants in the garden this, double headed, is one of only two introduced by Jackie.

Like this cyclamen in the front garden gravel the main crop of hellebores is self seeded. It will eventually find itself transported to a more appropriate location, which is what The Head Gardener and Martin between them have done with many of the hellebores and other such volunteers, usually when so small that I wouldn’t have recognised them for what they are.

Once more I lacked sufficient concentration to continue with my book.

This evening we enjoyed a reprise of last night’s chicken piri-piri meal supplemented by fresh cauliflower and broccoli, with which I drank more of the shiraz.