Waiting around the corner of your life
Saturday, November 30, 2019
November is always a quieter month than almost any other in the
year, with tidying up being the number one priority. We always try
to get off to a good start before the worst of the late
autumn and early winter weather begins. We could not however
start straight away because I had 3 sessions of radiotherapy booked
to treat the Mesothelioma lung cancer I have lived with for getting
on for 4 years. Unfortunately I had an adverse reaction to the
treatment and had an unexpected trip to A & E to treat the
severe breathing problems that had occurred. After 9 days of being
in hospital I could return home rather weak and lacking in energy.
Not the best condition for gardening work!
But whilst I was ill Moira, trooper that she is, had made a full
fronted attack on the November chores. the largest of which is the
mass clearance of leaves.
The main culprit for leaf drop is our largest deciduous
tree in the garden. This beech was a small sapling over 40 years
ago and is much treasured (and forgiven once the leaf drop is
over!)
Fortunately many of the remaining jobs are not urgent but I do
need to get back on track by cutting back the spent
herbaceous plants and the old hellebore leaves before the flower
buds begin to appear. As I say in the News heading you never know
what is round the corner of your life! As always however the garden
continues to lift the spirits even in the most gloomy of weather
and conditions.
Weather
My enforced absence meant that I could not record all the
weather conditions, which included the first snow in November for
some years, and the first proper frost.
Sun 7 days, Max 14.6C
Rain 8 days
Chageable, 15 days, average rainfall 6.4" with 1.9" on 26th
Coldest night time -1C on 28th. 3 other night time temperartures
at 0C
Settling snow on the evening of Wed 13th
On Mon 25th a ridge of high pressure built and the weather
became drier an colder. with biting easterly wind.
Garden Update
Veggies still cropping well including the late sown carrots. The
undoubted highlight and a first for me this late, were dwarf beans
variety "Safari" that I sowed on 3 August. Blessed with favourable
weather and protected by horti fleece they grew well and cropped
prolifically, the last harvest being made on 6 November; crisp
tender beans the last taste of summer.
If you look hard enough there are still some plants in
flower, augmented by some good leaf colour from trees and
shrubs.
There are usually a few late flowers on roses, in this
case French bred rose from the Delbard group. " La rose de
Moilnard"
As comented upon last month Hostas are remarkably
effective in holding onto their leaf colour for a good couple of
month until they really start to get tatty!
The last of the acer palmatum going out in a blaze
of glory.
Acer disectum and deciduous azalea along the
stream bed
I must confess to cheating a little bit with a twist on the
concept of "Borrowed Landscape" a garden design feature whereby a
garden incorporates some of the the surrounding
landscape.
My new concept to get some more pictures to add value to this
item was to go to a favourite garden( Aberglasney) and use some of
those plants that were looking good on the day of the
visit.
Ferns often turn a rich colour
A superb plant for late autumn in shade and and
humus soil is gaulteria procumbens, a lovely hardy choice for
the festive season. I wish we had one this big!
Last month I raved about hardy begonias which even
when the flowers are spent, continue to put on a good show from
varied shades of leaf and stem colour. Abergalsney has so many
parts of the garden suited to these choice perennials.
Superb planting of shrimp pink shrub, part of a
newer planting scheme
A choice purple hydrangea was a treat now tht all of
ours have faded
I am sure that Joseph Atkin, the Head Gardener whom we know well
would not object, given the extra publicity!!
Back to Cilgwyn the polytunnels in gentle heat are a lovelyplace
to be on a cold wet day justifying the cost of heating them, where
there are always a few plants in flower and some other tender gems
to admire
Ornithogalum thyrsoides
Fuchsia bolivianum var. alba
Part of Moira's expanding succulent collection looking
fresh and bright : no autumn colour needed here!
P
What is, was looking good
Clematis tangutica in full seed head glory. There a
numerous forms to choose from but for me "Lambton Park" is the best
with larger flowers and seed heads. Yellow Orange peel type flowers
all summer
Wildlife and countryside
Having commented last month that I had not seen many blackbirds
for some time, all of a sudden they were back again, attracted
perhaps by the windfall apples that had been beyond my picking
range.
Starlings are everywehere now, en masse but no special
murmurations here unfortunately as it is quite a sight, but
rarely one we see here
Visits
Apart from the fleeting visit to Aberglasney, our nearest
garden, there were no other visits this month for obvious
reasons
However I have been holding back pictures from a visit we made
in August to the National Memorial Arboretum in Burton on
Trent. A fitting and amazing memorial to the dead of many military
campaigns over the centuries. It is really moving
The site is on a massive scale and has a quality gift shop and
cafe
Moira and our friend Diane who we stayed
with
All the arboretum largely surrounds an elevated area
where the main memorial area is situated, and all the names
of the fallen are recorded . What we found very distressing
is all the space that exists for future combatants and it
really causes you question the futility of war.
Out in the arboretum there are many monuments
commemorating aspects of famous regiments, notable conflicts
and the role the commonwealth and other nations played in their
support of the British effort
It was a relief to old codgers like us to have a
land train to get us around
And a nice note to finish our visit was supplied
by 2 meadows with a range of wild flowers, in particular some
marvellous examples of echium vulgare, otherwise known for some
reason by its common name of Vipers bugloss. I don't think we have
seen such fine stands
