Today’s post comes pre- and post- a lunchtime wine tasting event that was postponed from August due to the lockdown here. I’m starting it with my second cup of tea (a weekend treat – two cups of tea at breakfast), and will finish it off post Pilates and wine. Of course, this means nothing will be done to anything in the garden today even though there is a lot of tidying up to do. Anyway, thanks to The Propagator who encourages us to share what is going on in our gardens in all parts of the world. Check out the participant guide if you want to join in. Photos taken on Wednesday and today.
First up, this is what you see on the left hand-side walking up the steps to our house. The other side of the camellia bush you have seen many times and the viburnum. A lovely welcome home I think. That particular camellia is really getting a bit too big, is almost reaches up to the upstairs window. That is a job for a professional with the right tools and a head for heights!
Next up, there are still some daffodils to enjoy. The daffodil called Rip van Winkle is yet to flower, and I am guessing by its name it is a late flowering variety. My gorgeous pink tulips are past their best now, but we so enjoyed them while they were flowering.
At number three, blue and purple things…from the ajuga which have, if you pardon the pun, grown on me this year, partly due to their colour and partly as they really help to brighten up a shady spot next to the house. The unexpected forget-me-nots are also spreading a bit, and will need some attention, except some are in rather hard to get places on the slope. The same applies to these violet like flowers that come back each year in increasing amounts. You see them everywhere, so I doubt a garden could ever be totally free of them around here.
At number three, I got these in the post this week. Now a trip to the garden centre is needed for potting compost and maybe new pots, though I surely have enough? (Question – can one have too many pots? Or does one just never have the right one?).
Over to herb corner, where I have a shopping list (mint, basil) and a to do list (sort out the curry plants, deal with an old sage plant that sits in the shade). The lemon balm is looking stunning, and I am using its leaves to freshen up glasses of water. You can see a cheeky nasturtium hanging down from another pot behind it. The chocolate mint is also thriving, and I am determined to find a good use for it this season, and the pineapple sage has gorgeous red buds. I did check this out, and it appears that down here they do sometimes flower ‘out of synch’.
And finally, our not very healthy rhododendron, which flowers year after year, regardless. The flowers are of course gorgeous, and are lovely to see, but sometime this is going to have to get cut back (by the expert again).
As usual, I am looking forward to seeing everyone’s beautiful gardens in other parts of the world. Hope you are all well and enjoying your gardens in whatever the season is with you. Featured image at the top of the post this week is one of my favourite flowers, the hellebore, which are still going strong.
You can find Thistles and Kiwis on Facebook, and also on Instagram @thistlesandkiwis. As for Twitter….am totally inactive these days. If you want to get in touch, email me on thistlesandkiwis@gmail.com
Thistles and Kiwis 
Ajuga has also won my admiration and loyalty for its cheerful willingness to thrive where planted, its ease of propagation, and the contrast afforded by its flowers and foliage. Your herbs are looking splendid. Mine are bedraggled after a long, dry summer. In fact, I moved pieces of a few that were struggling into a pot where they get some shade and much more water.
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I agree regarding the ajuga. The colour is also quite wonderful. Not all my herbs are looking splendid…need to do some moving around of pots for the same reasons you say…some in the shade that need sun.
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Your garden is looking very cheerful.
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It is at the moment Anne!
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The cover photo of the Hellebore is lovely. The daffodils also!
I think my attitude to pots changes as the year goes on – if I don’t do enough I tend to get pot envy, if I do to many the patio starts to feel a bit cluttered and I begin to resent them! There doesn’t seem to be a balance…
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I agree completely re pots! What is the happy medium? 🙂
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I don’t have any of your dahlias the ‘Happy Cream’ one looks lovely! Good idea to prune the rhododendron a bit, it will regenerate it.
Regarding the camellia, we don’t really realize but it must be very tall! I have mine to give it a hard pruning too.
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Yes hard to judge how tall the camellia is from my photos but it is almost touching the upstairs windows. Fingers crossed for the dahlias!
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I also love the fresh new growth on lemon balm. It looks so healthy! That’s a good blue on the Ajuga.
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I’m very impressed – I couldn’t tell when the post wine tasting section of this post began. We had a lemon balm growing in the garden when we moved here and it took over and got dug up. I might try growing some in a pot instead as I miss the fragrant leaves.
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🙂 Yes do grow lemon balm in a pot – it is such a lovely thing to have around.
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I’m culling my forget-me-nots as I do each year…… silly me, they just invade the whole garden again! 🙄 They are a welcome blue in the spring. Lovely daffodils.
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Didn’t mean to like my own comment! 🤔🙄😬
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Oh why not?! I do expect the forget-me-nots to spread a bit, but if they spread in the right places that will be fine.
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No, we can’t have too many pots! My front porch is overrun and I realized I need to do some thinning. Have you cooked with the pineapple sage? I had some for a while and a recipe for p.s chicken that had coconut milk, etc but never got around to trying it. The sage succumbed to summer.
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No I haven’t cooked with pineapple sage. I have just added leaves to a glass of water. I need to find out what to do with it.
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If I find the recipe again I will post it. It didn’t last very long in the garden, though I enjoyed the colors.
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Oh yes please do!
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go Spring! All the cuttings I put in my garden over Autumn are now flowering, nots of daisies, osteospermums and geraniums – loving the colours.
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Oh sounds so lovely!
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