Gardeners Voice » Today http://gardenersvoice.com Showcasing the best UK gardening blogs from around the web Fri, 30 Jul 2010 05:46:23 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Where do Potatoes Come From? http://gardenersvoice.com/2010/07/where-do-potatoes-come-from/ http://gardenersvoice.com/2010/07/where-do-potatoes-come-from/#comments Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:00:00 +0000 down on the allotment Well, if you are gardening in the UK then the chances are high that you have planted potatoes with a name that begins with the word ‘Pentland’ - well that is where I am today, the Pentland Firth is a channel of water just North of the most North Easterly part of the UK. From here we get the finest Scottish seed potatoes with names such as Pentland Dell, Pentland Crown, Pentland Javelin…oodles more! The best virus free seed potatoes come from here because it is just too cold to suffer blight or other fungal diseases.
Tomorrow we are parking under the Forth Bridge and arriving at South Queensferry for a day trip to Edinburgh Castle. If any keen-eyed bloggers on the East Coast of Britain want a view of the Queen Victoria on Saturday morning, the Captain has promised that he will bring us close into the coast near Scarborough and Flamborough Head at about 7am on Saturday morning as we travel South back down to civilization!
]]> http://gardenersvoice.com/2010/07/where-do-potatoes-come-from/feed/ 0 Summer Holidays http://gardenersvoice.com/2010/07/summer-holidays/ http://gardenersvoice.com/2010/07/summer-holidays/#comments Wed, 21 Jul 2010 18:41:00 +0000 down on the allotment There is an anxious time in every gardeners year, this is when you go on your Summer holidays. So many things to do, worry about who will water the plants, how big will the courgettes get? If veggies are not picked then they will probably stop cropping. The fruit on my plum tree has just started to ripen all at once! pounds and pounds of lovely sweet eating plums will not wait for me to get back. Today I picked them all (thank heavens for dwarfing rootstocks!).
Halved them and bagged them up in ziploc bags in the freezer. Ready for jams, pies or crumbles when I get back. Maggoty plum ratio – about 1 in 20 – not bad!
One small success is my first crop of Hinomaki Red gooseberries. A two year old bush having its first crop this year. Stunning to look at and very sweet. Quite promising for next year.
So, dear readers, Buddy is going into kennels while we are away. I must admit to being a little anxious this time as he is now 14 years old and just beginning to show his age a little. He is an outgoing, confident chap and I am sure that he will make friends easily. I am off sailing around the UK, Scotland and Ireland on the Queen Victoria. I am excited to be meeting a fellow blogger Peggy in her home town of Cobh, during my very first visit to Ireland, having only corresponded via her Organic Growing Pains blog. I will be dropping in for one day to say hello – in person! I will be back on August 1st.
]]> http://gardenersvoice.com/2010/07/summer-holidays/feed/ 0 Rose MM http://gardenersvoice.com/2010/07/rose-mm/ http://gardenersvoice.com/2010/07/rose-mm/#comments Tue, 20 Jul 2010 11:58:00 +0000 Snappy's Garden Blog
The White Rose Margaret Merrill has just bloomed yesterday. She has the wanderful fragrance of a traditional old Rose. Her leaves are nice and green with no Disease. I can stand sniffing the white Rose for ages..
This is the third year it has flowered. It grows tall so maybe can be grown up as a climber. It needs planting once I decide where the Rose part of the garden will be.
I have been to the allotment today where it rained hard. Tomorrow its the RHS members day at Tatton Park.
The Chelsea flower show of the north of England. I will be there photographing all the gardens...
I spent yesterday after nights walking around reacuanting myself with the garden. Looking at the pond, the flowering Snapdragons, watching the first summer Butterflys flit around, and seeing the masses of birds feeding, drinking, and bathing in our garden.
When the sun was shining it was heavenly..
]]>
The White Rose Margaret Merrill has just bloomed yesterday. She has the wanderful fragrance of a traditional old Rose. Her leaves are nice and green with no Disease. I can stand sniffing the white Rose for ages..
This is the third year it has flowered. It grows tall so maybe can be grown up as a climber. It needs planting once I decide where the Rose part of the garden will be.
I have been to the allotment today where it rained hard. Tomorrow its the RHS members day at Tatton Park.
The Chelsea flower show of the north of England. I will be there photographing all the gardens…
I spent yesterday after nights walking around reacuanting myself with the garden. Looking at the pond, the flowering Snapdragons, watching the first summer Butterflys flit around, and seeing the masses of birds feeding, drinking, and bathing in our garden.
When the sun was shining it was heavenly..
]]> http://gardenersvoice.com/2010/07/rose-mm/feed/ 0 Celebration http://gardenersvoice.com/2010/07/celebration/ http://gardenersvoice.com/2010/07/celebration/#comments Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:20:00 +0000 Snappy's Garden Blog One of the unknown Roses is now in flower. I think it is a Rose Golden Celebration. The Rose is a lovely deep lemon yellow colour with a slight rose fragrance. It is blooming now, whereas all the David Austins have stopped flowering and have succumbed to various plant illnesses.

It has the look of a Tea Rose when its buds start to unfurl its yellow petals. I think last year it only had one Rose on it. This year it has a half dozen rose buds. The leaves are also a nice green colour with no black spot or yellowing leaves.
I have been looking at the garden birds today. A family of Goldfinches are now regular visitors to the nijer seed and have also been feeding on the ground. The Blue Tits have also found my new peanut feeder. The round cage seems to attract them, more than the yellow sunflower shaped one which had no where for the birds to land on.
The Great Yorkshire Show starts today. We will be travelling tomorrow to Harrogate to the Yorkshire Showground. I will charge my camera batteries later.
There is a flower tent at this years show. I will take lots of animal photos. I hope it does not rain too much.
]]> One of the unknown Roses is now in flower. I think it is a Rose Golden Celebration. The Rose is a lovely deep lemon yellow colour with a slight rose fragrance. It is blooming now, whereas all the David Austins have stopped flowering and have succumbed to various plant illnesses.

It has the look of a Tea Rose when its buds start to unfurl its yellow petals. I think last year it only had one Rose on it. This year it has a half dozen rose buds. The leaves are also a nice green colour with no black spot or yellowing leaves.
I have been looking at the garden birds today. A family of Goldfinches are now regular visitors to the nijer seed and have also been feeding on the ground. The Blue Tits have also found my new peanut feeder. The round cage seems to attract them, more than the yellow sunflower shaped one which had no where for the birds to land on.
The Great Yorkshire Show starts today. We will be travelling tomorrow to Harrogate to the Yorkshire Showground. I will charge my camera batteries later.
There is a flower tent at this years show. I will take lots of animal photos. I hope it does not rain too much.

]]> http://gardenersvoice.com/2010/07/celebration/feed/ 0 Show Off Your Cottage Monday http://gardenersvoice.com/2010/07/show-off-your-cottage-monday-10/ http://gardenersvoice.com/2010/07/show-off-your-cottage-monday-10/#comments Sun, 11 Jul 2010 20:27:00 +0000 The House In The Roses Welcome to “Show Off Your Cottage Monday”, a blog party I host at the beginning of each week to celebrate the things we love about our homes and how we live.

The House in the Roses

My humble stack of crisp kitchen linen and tablecloths

Cut roses from the garden and the sweet combination of white and purple…

Friends… and the sweet aroma of friendship. Remember the box I discovered outside my door last week? A gift from the heart, from my dear blogging friend Sandra… for those of you who thought that anticipation makes the waiting sweeter, you were right! This is what was inside: A lovely fairytale Tinkerbell Treasure Box!

I love that the box has a mirror inside and that it was covered in dried petals from Sandra’s rose garden…

The sweet fragrant of friendship and sisterhood forever sweetly kept in my “magic box”!

But oh there was more! There was the unexpected; the best left till last! Wrapped in white tissue was Tinkerbell herself! “That’s the thing with magic. You’ve got to know it’s still here, all around us, or it just stays invisible for you.” (Charles de Lint)

I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone, best for both the body and the mind… What makes you happy? What are you celebrating today about your life, family or home? I would love to hear it!

If you are participating in “Show Off Your Cottage Monday”, please be kind and link back to THE HOUSE IN THE ROSES. Linking back allows the readers of your blog to find the other participants, thus increasing visits for all who are joining in.

]]> http://gardenersvoice.com/2010/07/show-off-your-cottage-monday-10/feed/ 0 Five Things Today http://gardenersvoice.com/2010/07/five-things-today/ http://gardenersvoice.com/2010/07/five-things-today/#comments Wed, 07 Jul 2010 13:45:00 +0000 Snappy's Garden Blog Today post is five photos taken today on a wet Wednesday from the garden. They are five things that are growing.
The Teasels I grew from seeds have grown now into the architectural plants with the spikey stems and comb like flowers. These spiny flowers were used in textile mills before to sort out threads. Apparently Goldfinches are addicted to the black shiny seeds within these flowers. I will watch to see in the autumn if they attract birds. I grew six plants from the seeds from a Trilby Street flower head. Originally I bought two Wildflower plant Teasels from the RHS garden at Harlow Carr. Since then I have seen them growing wild alongside a farmers field, and at Pugneys lake. I love how they grow tall, and that the leaves form pouches that collect water and insects. Like a basic fly trap design? They are a bit wobbly though as their rapid vertical growth makes them top heavy and prone to leaning. My six look like drunken sailors on shore leave.

Cats Hosta's are magnificent in pots. They have all started to flower. Some people do not like the Hosta's flowers. We have a new batch of half dozen plants ready to be put into barrel planters to join the five mature Hosta's we have growing already. We also bought some copper tape to see if it stopped the slugs and snails from wreaking havoc on the green leaves. There are so many varietys of Hostas all with fancy names. The leaves are beautiful when you water them. The waxy leaves cause the water to form a ball, and it rolls around the Hosta leaf like a pin ball. It hits where the stem is and slides down into the centre of the plant. Watering Hostas is therapeutic for the pin ball way it collects water off its leaves..

The Busy Lizzies skirt my garden nymph statue. She is dwarfed by the foliage of the New Potatoes growing in bags. These are so easy to grow. You only need one grow bag, about five small seed Potatoes and some compost to fill the bag with. The soil just covers the foliage until it breaks through the top. Each grow bag averages about five pounds of new Potatoes. Yummy with butter and parsley. It is so easy I have been extolling the virtues of it to people at work. It is a simple grow your own project anyone can do even with the smallest space!

The Pond today is slowly being surrounded by the growing plants. We have three Frogs that take it in turns to bath in the cool waters. There are lots of flies walking about on top, and black larvae hanging under the water surface beneath. According to the forums we should just let the pond achieve a natural balance of pests and predators. We attracted the Frogs within a few days of putting the oxygenating plants. I love pond watching and seeing what wildlife has moved in already. I want more marginal plants around it to keep it cool during the very hot days. The birds already love this. Its like a House Sparrow car wash with them splashing around on the stone steps.

I love these Baby Apples. These are the first fruit that has formed after three years of growing. The picture of the Apple tree could have been done in a trade description act. It showed a mature tree laden down with masses of fruit. The first year I had one flower which the slugs ate, and the second year there was no flowers at all!
This third year there were masses of flowers and finally some Apples have formed. The Apple Tree is growing in a pot at the moment. I think I will plant it once it has gone back to sleep in the Winter. I want to get more Apple trees for this garden. I want to grow Bramley Apples, especially for freshly baked home made Apple Pies.
]]> Today post is five photos taken today on a wet Wednesday from the garden. They are five things that are growing.
The Teasels I grew from seeds have grown now into the architectural plants with the spikey stems and comb like flowers. These spiny flowers were used in textile mills before to sort out threads. Apparently Goldfinches are addicted to the black shiny seeds within these flowers. I will watch to see in the autumn if they attract birds. I grew six plants from the seeds from a Trilby Street flower head. Originally I bought two Wildflower plant Teasels from the RHS garden at Harlow Carr. Since then I have seen them growing wild alongside a farmers field, and at Pugneys lake. I love how they grow tall, and that the leaves form pouches that collect water and insects. Like a basic fly trap design? They are a bit wobbly though as their rapid vertical growth makes them top heavy and prone to leaning. My six look like drunken sailors on shore leave.

Cats Hosta’s are magnificent in pots. They have all started to flower. Some people do not like the Hosta’s flowers. We have a new batch of half dozen plants ready to be put into barrel planters to join the five mature Hosta’s we have growing already. We also bought some copper tape to see if it stopped the slugs and snails from wreaking havoc on the green leaves. There are so many varietys of Hostas all with fancy names. The leaves are beautiful when you water them. The waxy leaves cause the water to form a ball, and it rolls around the Hosta leaf like a pin ball. It hits where the stem is and slides down into the centre of the plant. Watering Hostas is therapeutic for the pin ball way it collects water off its leaves..

The Busy Lizzies skirt my garden nymph statue. She is dwarfed by the foliage of the New Potatoes growing in bags. These are so easy to grow. You only need one grow bag, about five small seed Potatoes and some compost to fill the bag with. The soil just covers the foliage until it breaks through the top. Each grow bag averages about five pounds of new Potatoes. Yummy with butter and parsley. It is so easy I have been extolling the virtues of it to people at work. It is a simple grow your own project anyone can do even with the smallest space!

The Pond today is slowly being surrounded by the growing plants. We have three Frogs that take it in turns to bath in the cool waters. There are lots of flies walking about on top, and black larvae hanging under the water surface beneath. According to the forums we should just let the pond achieve a natural balance of pests and predators. We attracted the Frogs within a few days of putting the oxygenating plants. I love pond watching and seeing what wildlife has moved in already. I want more marginal plants around it to keep it cool during the very hot days. The birds already love this. Its like a House Sparrow car wash with them splashing around on the stone steps.

I love these Baby Apples. These are the first fruit that has formed after three years of growing. The picture of the Apple tree could have been done in a trade description act. It showed a mature tree laden down with masses of fruit. The first year I had one flower which the slugs ate, and the second year there was no flowers at all!
This third year there were masses of flowers and finally some Apples have formed. The Apple Tree is growing in a pot at the moment. I think I will plant it once it has gone back to sleep in the Winter. I want to get more Apple trees for this garden. I want to grow Bramley Apples, especially for freshly baked home made Apple Pies.

]]> http://gardenersvoice.com/2010/07/five-things-today/feed/ 0 White Virgin Flower http://gardenersvoice.com/2010/07/white-virgin-flower/ http://gardenersvoice.com/2010/07/white-virgin-flower/#comments Mon, 05 Jul 2010 11:29:00 +0000 Snappy's Garden Blog
Today my Madonna Lily finally flowered. This is the second year that it has bloomed. The white virginal flowers have massive yellow stamens dripping in pollen. It is extremely perfumed, and you can immerse yourself in its scent.
It is a perennial bulb that has been grown since the middle ages. I looked for a long time before I finally found the bulb at an Autumn flower show. Over the winter it produces slim green leaves from the crown and stores its energy ready for these magnificent July flowers.
It is an overcast day today. I'm waiting for the rain to fall and wet the garden and allotment. My pond needs topping up too through the rainwater.
I hope that after the Madonna Lily has finished blooming that I can plant it in a border somewhere in the garden. They can grow upto six feet high! I hope that the bulb increases in size too so I get more than one flower stem.
The flowers are so beautiful to look at. As white as freshly fallen snow.
]]>
Today my Madonna Lily finally flowered. This is the second year that it has bloomed. The white virginal flowers have massive yellow stamens dripping in pollen. It is extremely perfumed, and you can immerse yourself in its scent.
It is a perennial bulb that has been grown since the middle ages. I looked for a long time before I finally found the bulb at an Autumn flower show. Over the winter it produces slim green leaves from the crown and stores its energy ready for these magnificent July flowers.
It is an overcast day today. I’m waiting for the rain to fall and wet the garden and allotment. My pond needs topping up too through the rainwater.
I hope that after the Madonna Lily has finished blooming that I can plant it in a border somewhere in the garden. They can grow upto six feet high! I hope that the bulb increases in size too so I get more than one flower stem.
The flowers are so beautiful to look at. As white as freshly fallen snow.
]]> http://gardenersvoice.com/2010/07/white-virgin-flower/feed/ 0 Awake Spotlight: Faces in the Garden with Nancy’s Arts, Crafts and Favorites http://gardenersvoice.com/2010/07/awake-spotlight-faces-in-the-garden-with-nancys-arts-crafts-and-favorites/ http://gardenersvoice.com/2010/07/awake-spotlight-faces-in-the-garden-with-nancys-arts-crafts-and-favorites/#comments Mon, 05 Jul 2010 04:59:00 +0000 Awake with Charm & Spirit

I would love to share a link with you all today..
If you recall my Faces in the Garden post
 http://awakewithcharmandspirit.blogspot.com/2010/06/faces-in-garden.html back in June

Well…..here is another beautiful magical offering  from
Nancy’s Arts, Crafts and Favorites..

She has a wonderful Video of All her Faces in the Garden…
And Boy she has ALOT
Enjoy! It is wonderful!
http://nancymccarroll.blogspot.com/2010/07/faces-in-garden.html

And thankyou Nancy for your gorgeous contribution and wonderful sharing! Yay!
Kiki~

]]> http://gardenersvoice.com/2010/07/awake-spotlight-faces-in-the-garden-with-nancys-arts-crafts-and-favorites/feed/ 0 Show Off Your Cottage Monday http://gardenersvoice.com/2010/06/show-off-your-cottage-monday-8/ http://gardenersvoice.com/2010/06/show-off-your-cottage-monday-8/#comments Sun, 27 Jun 2010 18:00:00 +0000 The House In The Roses Welcome to “Show Off Your Cottage Monday”, a blog party I host at the beginning of each week to celebrate the things we love about our homes and how we live.

The House in the Roses

Do you love textile? Are you like me in my obsessions with pillows and table linens? The other day I realized that I have boxes full of tablecloths and fabrics just waiting to be used for something… Are you like that too? Oh yes, I’m in love with textile, the charm of fabric, the softness, the blending of colors and different textures… There is something rich and dazzling in the mixture of fabrics. There are blues with hues that remind you of the beauty of aquamarine, and there is the romantic colors of beryl, and there is the lushness of pinks and the warmth of yellows and celadon, peach, lilac and other rich pastels…. their combination is just pure bliss… So, can you already guess what I’m celebrating today?

I’m such a fabric fanatic, and these pictures are so beautiful… unfortunately I can’t remember where I got them from, so you’ll have to forgive me for not giving the proper credit… and what are you celebrating today? I would love to hear it.

]]> http://gardenersvoice.com/2010/06/show-off-your-cottage-monday-8/feed/ 0 Bugs And Beds http://gardenersvoice.com/2010/06/bugs-and-beds/ http://gardenersvoice.com/2010/06/bugs-and-beds/#comments Fri, 25 Jun 2010 14:30:00 +0000 Snappy's Garden Blog This is my second post today about another of my projects: the allotment.
I have spent the morning at the allotment just weeding and clearing, photographing, and drinking Coffee. I was looking at a Ladybird in the Globe Artichoke when this mini yellow spider ran out of the segments thinking there was some prey sat above him. I was amazed to find him waiting inside the leaves. After I took this he crept between the plates of the Globe Artichoke to wait for his meal.

This shows some of my small plot. The Runner Beans are growing up the Canes. The Courgettes are looking healthy with their pop bottles wedged in to water them. The Cabbages are forming beautifully beneath the Black netting on the left. The Winter Onions are behind the Runner Bean Canes. The Summer Onions are to the right. Behind them all rows of Potatoes are growing on in the dry summer heat.

I have this beautiful Gallardia in flower in my hexagonal planter next to the Shed. It has a little aphid hanging on it too. My allotment has two small planters, a miniture garden for when im away from the new house.
The allotment is always alive with the sounds of the birds and bee's. Insects are running wild. I heard a Woodpecker today, and saw a little Hawk hunting high over the allotment plots. The only sounds was bird song and my scraping Hoe.

The Hot weather has thrown up some problems however. The Carrots have barely germinated, and there seems to be a serious infestation of little white flys on the Swedes, Cabbages, and Broccoli's.What can i plant to stop the White Flys? The Garlic leaves have picked up a Rust infection from somewhere. Why is that?
I am not a Vegetable expert so I will read up and google these problems.I am trying to keep on top of the Weeds, but forgot about the pests. It will be an ongoing struggle to keep them all in check.

Despite the sunburn, nettle and thistle stings, and sweat pouring off me, I love the peace of the allotment. I photographed this magnificent Shield Bug walking down a blade of grass. The allotment plot may be manipulated by me, but nature is always all around me. My camera is a regular companion always ready to photograph Bugs or Beds (Vegetable ones that is).
]]> This is my second post today about another of my projects: the allotment.
I have spent the morning at the allotment just weeding and clearing, photographing, and drinking Coffee. I was looking at a Ladybird in the Globe Artichoke when this mini yellow spider ran out of the segments thinking there was some prey sat above him. I was amazed to find him waiting inside the leaves. After I took this he crept between the plates of the Globe Artichoke to wait for his meal.

This shows some of my small plot. The Runner Beans are growing up the Canes. The Courgettes are looking healthy with their pop bottles wedged in to water them. The Cabbages are forming beautifully beneath the Black netting on the left. The Winter Onions are behind the Runner Bean Canes. The Summer Onions are to the right. Behind them all rows of Potatoes are growing on in the dry summer heat.

I have this beautiful Gallardia in flower in my hexagonal planter next to the Shed. It has a little aphid hanging on it too. My allotment has two small planters, a miniture garden for when im away from the new house.
The allotment is always alive with the sounds of the birds and bee’s. Insects are running wild. I heard a Woodpecker today, and saw a little Hawk hunting high over the allotment plots. The only sounds was bird song and my scraping Hoe.

The Hot weather has thrown up some problems however. The Carrots have barely germinated, and there seems to be a serious infestation of little white flys on the Swedes, Cabbages, and Broccoli’s.What can i plant to stop the White Flys? The Garlic leaves have picked up a Rust infection from somewhere. Why is that?
I am not a Vegetable expert so I will read up and google these problems.I am trying to keep on top of the Weeds, but forgot about the pests. It will be an ongoing struggle to keep them all in check.

Despite the sunburn, nettle and thistle stings, and sweat pouring off me, I love the peace of the allotment. I photographed this magnificent Shield Bug walking down a blade of grass. The allotment plot may be manipulated by me, but nature is always all around me. My camera is a regular companion always ready to photograph Bugs or Beds (Vegetable ones that is).

]]> http://gardenersvoice.com/2010/06/bugs-and-beds/feed/ 0