Excerpts From A (recently discovered) Garden Diary (3)

24 comments

April 1 ’99 19.00hrs Thursday.

“I painted the bench today using Cuprinol Garden Shades paints. The wooden slats and backrest frame are “Iris Blue”, while the iron ends and back insert are now “Holly Green”. The blue Cranesbill and Centaurea montana will look great alongside it, and red and white Pelargoniums or Impatiens in pots would look good in Summer."

(Hmmmmm! Pity I didn’t put in a pic of that seat. This was the beginning of a “love affair” I had with all the new paints which came out then for wood, metal and masonry, also with real Irises, which I’ve grown since then.)

Iris reticulata, March 1999

April 4 ’99 12 Noon Sunday.

“Easter Sunday. Over the past week, a pair of Blue Tits have been refashioning the entrance hole in the nest box,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Have re-aligned the gravel path leading to the back gate so that it is more of a curve than a stright line. Also this week, I have erected a trellis screen to disguise the gate and the compost bins. Will paint it Iris Blue and plant a Clematis montana against it for quick cover.”

(Thank Goodness, I didn’t actually carry out that thought. The trellis didn’t become blue, or the ambient air might have – hehe!!).

April 24 ’99 15.00hrs Saturday.

“I really think that Blue Tits are building a nest in the box. I can see moss protruding from the entrance hole. I also spotted them taking the dog hair from the bag to the box.”

April 29 ’99 18.00hrs Thursday.

“Buds appearing on the Meconopsis cambrica, Centaurea montana and Papaver orientale. Bought a large “Athenian” style jar, which is to be the centrepiece for a water feature."

(I do have pics, somewhere, of that water feature, but none made it into the diary – only a copy of the instructions from a book I bought – “Ground Force Water Garden Workbook” by Charlie Dimmock, 1999. She was my heroine then, and got to meet and chat with her, twice, in the space of a few years. Swoooooooooooon – LOL!! Anyway, back to the diary…………..).

Sempervivum tinctorium (Houseleek), May 1999

(Don’t quite know why this pic was placed in here, but, at least, they were the only kind of leeks I had – none in the water feature!!) :-))

_(To be continued…………)

15 Nov, 2009
15 likes

Comments

Hywel

I'm enjoying these episodes from your gardening diary David :o)

16 Nov, 2009

Arlene

~did you get an urn as big as the one in the picture?looks like Thalia Dealbata in the forefront with the paddle shaped leaves~ we bought one at Hampton Court last year but it didn't flower this year~ did you get to grow one?

16 Nov, 2009

Terratoonie

Enjoying these David...
1899 was a great year....
Did you have one of those cameras where you had to put a big black cloth over your head ? ;o)

16 Nov, 2009

Spritzhenry

LOL. Oh, Tt!!! naughty, naughty!

Seriously, I'm enjoying it, too! I can't even begin to imagine how you'd paint all that trellis. Just as well you didn't try!

16 Nov, 2009

Gee19

Very interesting to know what people did to their gardens in the last century! Great blog, David, you certainly kept busy back in the 'old days' :)

16 Nov, 2009

Amblealice

Another interesting episode!

16 Nov, 2009

Clarice

Have to agree another interesting blog, next episode please.

16 Nov, 2009

Dottydaisy2

Enjoyed that, keep em coming please.

16 Nov, 2009

Andrewr

Spritz - very slowly (from one who has painted trellis)

16 Nov, 2009

David

:-)) Hywel!

Arlene, not sure what size the urn in the pic would have been. Mine was just over 2ft tall, ribbed just like the one in the pic, but had handles. No, didn't have Thalia. And, the urn idea was to be short-lived, as will be explained. Have also corrected my spelloing mistake - it wasn't Athernian (in case you thought I meant Arthurian! :-)).

Lol, Tt!! I'm sure it was! "Watch the Birdie" would have been a good catchphrase to have at the time, but all my "coverage" of the Blue Tits and the nest box was caught only through the lens of a camcorder. I should get the films put onto DVD. :-))

Ah, Spritz - but it did get painted - just NOT "Iris Blue"!! And, this piece of trellis work "multiplied" by at least 4 times to surround most of the main part of the garden (as will be seen). Yes, Andrew, it was like painting the Forth Bridge when it came to it - Haha!! :-)) The last time I put up trellis I let the children paint it instead - and got into trouble for the ruined clothes, lol!!

The next lot of pages have been scanned now, so am up to the Millenium - that's 2000, not 1900, Tt!!! :-D

16 Nov, 2009

Seaburngirl

I am really enjoying these fun instalments.

16 Nov, 2009

Youngdaisydee

just caught up with your Diary's David and im loving it, really enjoying myself, better than a magazine lol.. just one thing, More please <3
ps, ive always wanted a water feature like this, i have the Urn but thats as far as i got, maybe one day..

16 Nov, 2009

Terratoonie

Looking forward to the turn of the century....
... can't wait to see what happened during 1900....
That's the year Kodak introduced $1 brownie cameras... :o)

16 Nov, 2009

Spritzhenry

Tsk, tsk, AGAIN, Tt! LOL.

16 Nov, 2009

Terratoonie

:o)

16 Nov, 2009

Balcony

It's great not having to wait for the next episode to appear! But now I've caught up with your blogs, David, time to go & read about what others have been blogging on about! LOL! :-D

I've got one that is still in draft form!

17 Nov, 2009

Dottydaisy2

I m with you there Andrew from someone who has painted 40ft of trellis, and still finding places I have missed.

17 Nov, 2009

David

Thanks, Seaburn and Dee (more coming) :-))

Oh Tt, my very first camera was an old Brownie given to me by a family friend, LOL! Have now reached the Millenium! :-D

Thanks, Balcony! Did you escape the awful weather I've been reading about and seeing pics of here on GOY?

Indeed,DottyD.! I ended up with over 100ft of trellis to paint in that garden :-( (as I'll show, eventually).

18 Nov, 2009

Balcony

Yes we escaped bad weather down here in East Anglia. We had a lot of strong wind but no heavy rain hough it has been raining since about 3pm today. It hasn't been heavy & I don't know if it has stopped & started again as we can see nothing outside & we haven't heard anything either.

My heart goes out to the people who've had their homes flooded in Cumbria. :-(

21 Nov, 2009

David

Yes, Balcony, also the very sad loss of life there, too - and all those bridges!
We never got the gales, but the rain set in on Wednesday and has only stopped once, briefly. My next door neighbour's back garden is totally underwater but, strangely, mine isn't (perhaps the fact that mine is basically a thick layer of gravel on top of bedrock, no soil, no grass, all raised beds, etc., has something to do with it - I don't know). Am having to use the back gate, and walk round 2 blocks to get to the car to go to work, as we all have a large pond beyond our front gates, being at the lower end of a sloping, slabbed, "courtyard" layout. Thank Goodness we all have neat privet hedge boundaries, which seem to be soaking up a lot of it.

21 Nov, 2009

Balcony

Aren't you being affected by the strong winds? That's a surprise since Scotland is supposed to be bearing the brunt of the strong winds. The weather forecast for tomorrow is for a very deep low over Scotland & the winds are forecast to be gale force.

This afternoon the winds seemed almost hurricane force for about 30 mins. I was very worried for the greenhouse on the balcony but when it calmed down a little I went out to move my conifers back further into the balcony. The greenhouse seemed fine but I closed the plastic around it anyway.

As soon as I got back into the house we had a very heavy shower but it only lasted a few minutes.

23 Nov, 2009

Spritzhenry

It isn't a good forecast, either for Cumbria or the rest of us, either! :-(((

23 Nov, 2009

David

Not even a breath of wind here - totally silent - but very,very wet!!!!!! :-((

Hope all's well with you all?

24 Nov, 2009