Autumn

The arrival of the new season marks itself very clearly, chilly mornings, dewy fooprints in the grass and the sound of a lonesome robin, Autumn is here. The Wedding Day came, no rain, high cloud and a chill in the air, this was how I had envisaged Rachel and Richards very special day.

 I was ably assisted by Sarah my niece for a couple of days leading up to the wedding. She contributed so much of her time and expertise, she became my beauty therapist and my therapist all wrapped in one. She helped  Rachel get the table settings and table names perfectly set. Each table was assigned the name of a beach so there was no confusion as to where everyone was sitting.
The flowers for the tables and chapel were loosly arranged and were grown by Chloe Plester from www.bareblooms.co.uk. Chloe interpreted the brief perfectly, Rachel and I visited her home earlier in the year and both knew her flowers would be perfect. She grows her flowers ethically no imports and they looked as if we had just walked into the garden and picked them. The men's button holes were amazing, she used some of the hop flowers with blackberries and seed heads just what Richard had asked for, I would certainly recommend her to anyone. We had pre ordered some hops from Kent to be used to cover the window sills of the chapel and to use as garlands in the marquee, they looked great and their fragrance gave a lovely warm feeling of calm. We had amazing food provided by www.thefourcooks.co.uk they interpreted the brief perfectly. Amazing canapes, beef to die for and a fabulous wine to complement it all. Richard bought a Salamzer of wine and that took many hands to decant but tasted terrific.
It was a day to remember for all my family, people made such an effort to get here, they really wished to share this great day with us and they all showed their appreciation in many different ways. My 93 year old Mum travelled the Irish Sea with my lovely sister Ann and shared the journey with my nephew and brother in law. My brother and all his family in Canada and northern Ireland made huge efforts to get to this wonderful event. It was a gathering of people who love to party and boy did they party.
The purpose of starting this blog was to share my thoughts on growing some of the flowers for the wedding. I grew some of them, but the summer we had was difficult. I was thrilled to be able to provide the Myrtle in flower for Rachel's bouquet that was something very important to her. The Myrtle tree I grew from a tiny seedling it is now at least 30 feet tall. It was growing the tree that ignited my enthusiasim for gardening, I realise gardening offers freedom, it offers forgiveness even when we inadvertantly chop something down it will try to survive, surely this is a lesson about life. 

Hoe does your garden grow: Here comes the Sun

Hoe does your garden grow: Here comes the Sun: At long last I am sitting on my new terrace that was designed and created by my good friends Terry and Sue. Where once lived a few dead bamb...

Here comes the Sun

At long last I am sitting on my new terrace that was designed and created by my good friends Terry and Sue. Where once lived a few dead bamboo and remanents of Hypericum. I am sitting enjoying my evening cup of tea listening to the gentle trickle of water from my lovely water feature. We created a private and peaceful haven which is surrounded by larch posts at varying heights reminding me of organ pipes. The larch is gradually changing colour to look more weathered and a beautiful silvery sheen is developing. My plan for this part of the garden is to use architectural  plants to create the shape. I have two pergolas  one with a Japanese Wisteria  growing really well, the other one has a Clematis Armandii for early spring colour and perfume. Having just had a fabulous manicure followed by a visit to my favourite nursery in the Preseli hills, run by a lovely lady Jennifer Mathews. She is very knowledgeable and gives me great ideas to experiment with. I concentrated on Ferns and Grasses for the new terrace. I chose Calamagrostis Acutiflora Overdam to mingle next to a chocolate Eupatorium and the annual Amaranth which contrasts nicely with the Pelt coloured wall.
My reason for starting a blog in the first place was to prove to myself I could grow some of the flowers for Rachel's wedding. That is now four weeks away and up until last week the garden was looking very green. Today I have been picknig sweetpeas, I can hardly keep up with the speed they are growing. The Wedding Bed is very colourful and apart from the Delphinium which succumbed to slugs and appears a bit poorly, however I managed to save some petals to use as confetti on the big day. It is the season of plenty but only if I can get to my plants before the slugs. Gardens survive whatever the weather, they are so forgiving, they are full of surprises and do there utmost to bring joy and for me utter satisfaction. We have once again had howling gales and there is a part of me that dreads walking into the garden for fear of what I might discover. Last week I found a dead squirrel on the terrace, Lady Cat had a smug look on her face, interestingly I have not seen any squirrels scoff the bird nuts of late.

Hoe does your garden grow: Raspberry Ripple

Hoe does your garden grow: Raspberry Ripple

Raspberry Ripple

Hoe does your garden grow: Spring in Pembrokeshire

Hoe does your garden grow: Spring in Pembrokeshire

Hoe does your garden grow: Pembrokeshire Sun

Hoe does your garden grow: Pembrokeshire Sun: Saturday was amazing in Pembrokeshire. The sun was shining, which prompted us to have an early run on the coastpath. We were greeted by a ca...

Pembrokeshire Sun

Saturday was amazing in Pembrokeshire. The sun was shining, which prompted us to have an early run on the coastpath. We were greeted by a cacophony of bird song at the Lilyponds, as the water glimmered in the early morning sun, no nicer place to live when the weather is this kind. I knew as soon as I returned home I would be tempted to spend time in my garden. I have ordered my seeds for this year and although I have no heat in the greenhouse I felt so tempted to get something going. I began by tidying up the border by the front door. The Eupatorium that has taken centre stage for the last few years was looking very woody, so I decided to split it and put some rooted pieces in pots. This plant is seen in abundance in Aberglasney Gardens near Carmarthen. It attracts butterflies and bees and very easy to grow. The wild variety is known as Joe Pye weed and commonly seen in the hedgerow. I then noticed Papaver Patty's Plum was sending out tiny babies, I rescued five or six and potted those up too. They are now in the greenhouse enjoying a bit of shelter and hopefully will develop into healthy plants in late Spring. I also managed to cut back the leaves of the Epimedium which has beautiful delicate yellow flowers waitng to showcase themselves soon. The wedding bed has been tidied and looks a bit better, but bare. There is a lot to think about for me this year, getting the garden in shape, helping Rachel with the wedding plans, dare I say find an outfit. I would like the garden to look colourful for her big day. As its September and we both love deep jewel colours it shouldn't be too difficult after last years trial run, I even had sweetpeas in September. My next task is preparing the borders, adding mulch to retain moisture, cutting back plants that need it and get seed sowing. Perfect after a stressful day at work. 

Hoe does your garden grow: Spring in Pembrokeshire

Hoe does your garden grow: Spring in Pembrokeshire: The Pembrokeshire hedgrows are awakening and becoming colourful once again. How I love the cycle of the seasons, my garden is showing signs ...

Spring in Pembrokeshire

The Pembrokeshire hedgrows are awakening and becoming colourful once again. How I love the cycle of the seasons, my garden is showing signs of renewal too, the snowdrops, daffodils and primroses are a welcome sight. Towards the end of last year my gardening was geared towards the bed I have created to grow some of Rachel's flowers for her wedding in September. Looking at bare earth today with a miniscule amount of life apart from departed slug life, I wonder if anything has survived. I kept up the beer stations throughout the winter to see how many little blighters manage to visit the garden. I could not believe my eyes how many were in the jars I kept filled, they were all full of slimy bloated slugs. Digusting ! I have not checked to see if the Dahlia survived they have not dared to show any fresh green growth for fear of frost catching them, however the Guara seems to be ok along with the Verbena Bonariensis. I pruned the vine in my greenhouse that now seems to be a pied a tere for long legged puss who visits from time to time. We decided to develop a new seating area for me and him indoors this year. It has been in progress for a few months now but is beginning to show signs of getting there. We are putting a water feature in which I feel very excited about, I always love the sound of trickling water, so calming. Temperature is rising this week, I thought I heard up to 17 degrees for Thursday, surely not, better get the secateurs out and start the cycle all over again.