Bordering on Perfection

For years I've been meaning to get to Arley Hall to see the legendary long borders in all their glory. When we decided to visit today I did think that maybe we might have missed them past their best. I needn't have worried.

They are truly magnificent; deep, double borders of sumptuous planting that weave tapestries of perennials into a splendid display.

The atmosphere on this grey, late summer's afternoon was languid and precious. Swallows swooped all around us, low to the ground, while giant blue and green dragonflies chased about. 

There's still much more colour to come in the long borders, plenty of asters coming into bloom which I completely love so I might just have to pop back again soon.

Late summer colour can be a real challenge in the garden but at Arley Hall they know keep the colour going right through the year. It's a style of planting I really love, late summer might just be my favourite time for flowers, and there was so much to inspire today. 

Do you love a late summer garden?

And finally a huge thank you for all the lovely comments lately. I hugely appreciate them and Archie was chuffed to bits with all the kind birthday wishes. I'm trying to reply as often as I can via the comments form so if you click "notify" I think that means you get my reply by email. Hope so. Its great catching up on and discovering some beautiful blogs too. xxx

(*iphone pics today as my camera battery died. It was very breezy too so apologies for some blurriness! You can see more pics on my Instagram feed. Click the camera icon above my profile pic.)

p..s I'm finding that viewing my blog on ipad in mobile mode makes the pictures do very strange things! If that's happening to you, try viewing in web version and that seems to fix it?

On the Turn

It's that moment in the garden now when you can sense everything tipping over from high summer into late.

I love the languid feel of August when hot colours fill the pots, everything has reached for the skies and our view is seen now through a swaying, elegant trellis swamped by butterflies and bees.

I don't use any pesticides in my garden so what gets lost to slugs and snails, is made up for by the whole range of wildlife visitors from our little ecosystem. 

There are insects galore, frogs and toads, a snuffling hedgehog, Mr Mole, house martins nesting above the bedroom window, all sorts of bird life, bats that flit around the birch tree at dusk, a buzzard family soar high overhead and a glorious, menacing sparrowhawk swoops low on occasion.

It's a precious space to us and I'm enjoying watching the changes day by day as we slide into summer's end and wait for Autum's glory to come x

Waking Up

Now I'm not going to tempt fate and say that it feels like Spring might be in the air, I feel a bit suspicious that we haven't seen any snow yet. Remember March last year?  But over the past week the storms have definitely left us alone a while and the sun has peeped out. Last weekend my potting bench was looking quite serene in shades of green and white as the snowdrops stole the show.

Now real colour is emerging. Cyclamen coum and Iris reticulata are astonishing shades, especially when the rest of the garden looks very brown and grey.

I can see this little bench from the kitchen window and it's cheering me up no end. It was a gift from the family of my next door neighbour. Sadly she died last year at the grand old age of 93. We often chatted about flowers and plants so it's very nice to be using her bench to keep the gardening going on. 

There aren't that many bulbs and early flowers in my borders, they don't tend to get going until April, so I've been buying up a few little pots to enjoy from the window and then I'll pop them into the ground for next spring.

This afternoon I spent a good couple of hours messing about in the front garden, cutting back and clearing up all the old stems and leaves. I think this is where my tiny pots will find a new home. They'll make a really nice show for these cold, dreary months at the start of the year when we hurry into the house and don't linger long.  

So maybe not the end of winter yet, but time I think to start making space for Spring.

All About the Garden

At the moment, my favourite time of the day is just about 7.05am. The house is still quiet, the kettle is on the hob and I pull on my wellies with my pyjamas and go out into the garden.

First job is to let out the hens, feed and water them and then there's a quick five minutes to say good morning to my garden. And at the moment everything is just about to come into it's prime.

The patio pots are all a little green and quiet this week. I've re-potted them, replacing the tulips and primulas with the cosmos, ammi majus and nasturtium seedlings I've nurtured through our Arctic spring. A couple more weeks and there should be a really good show and this lull means the borders get to really stand out.

Everything is pretty crammed in and will probably be a flop by the end of July but for now it looks just how I love it; abundant and fit to burst. This damp, humid weather we're having this week is just what the plants need to really hit the top of their form. There's so much colour to come.

Some things have happened by accident really, like the geranium that's made itself at home next to the bleeding heart. I couldn't have planned it better if I tried. I love this other accidental combination too of self-sown lime achimilla, lovely rosy pink astrantia and the regal purple of the alliums just going over.

The honeysuckle on my cheapo arch is looking really mature now too and there are tons of buds. Just hope I get some balmy evenings to sit by and enjoy it.

I'm not out for long but it really sets me up for my day stuck at my desk in the city.

And at the other end of the day 7.05pm looks like this sometimes from my bedroom window. Happy Valley!

A Grand Day Out

Sunday was such a lovely day up here. We fancied a trip out and ended up at Chatsworth; the playground for the boys while Grandma and I had a good old saunter around the gardens.
 

I was ever so tempted to paddle in the Cascade, it was properly hot and now I'm even sporting a bit of a pink nose incredibly. We got so distracted by the water we completely missed the kitchen garden, which was a bit of a shame, but we really enjoyed just wandering where our feet took us.

There aren't all that many flowers, there's more landscaping than planting really, but these tulips were amazingly vibrant close to the mansion.

They had a great time climbing and exploring the sculptures. To be honest I'm not absolutely sure they were really supposed to do this, but that's daddy in charge for you! Very sorry Chatsworth.

Look at that bright blue sky! Perfect, lovely. A happy day x

Time for Flowers

They say winter this year will last until well past Easter. I'm holding onto the fact that compared to recent years at least the weather is doing what its supposed to by the seasons - for now.

Spring doesn't properly start until next week anyway so I'm gritting my teeth against the frost and cold.

And flowers are really helping. Woody saw these hyacinths wrapped up in brown paper at a little village florist last week and thought I'd like them.

 

They're perfect, not too blowsy or heady and such a pretty mix. Spring in a jug.

Outside too, things are beginning to bloom

Every year I turn to primulas for a shot of colour for the pots and planters on my patio. This year they're mainly crimsons. orangey-reds and  ruby shades. I've popped some bellis daises into old terracota pots to keep them company.

Love this rich shade to perk up dreary, chilly mornings.

 

Waiting for spring is at least a little more colourful now. xx

Late Summer Sunday

Hot bright colours are creeping back into the garden at long last; echinaceas, dahlias, cosmos, and rudbekia steal the show on my weedy patio at this time of year so I spent the morning pottering with the feathered girls, enjoying it all, dead heading and pegging out the washing.

 

Not especially warm or sunny so far this Bank Holiday weekend but dry after an all night soaking and for that we were all very grateful.

Across the valley the trees are looking tired and raggedy and the crop in the maize field has been harvested already. I can feel the "summer" beginning to roll up and gather in; autumn is just around the corner.

So before the rain returns we decided to explore a footpath in the village we'd never ventured along before although we drive past it lots. Not that it was everyone's first choice - small boys and the magnetic pull of Lego as ever!

 

I try and remmeber how much I resented having to "go for a boring walk" when I was young, but we always had fun. In the end so did we today and we got an amazing view of a stoat popping out of a dry stone wall to see what we were up to.

 

It was a great afternoon; Lego forgotten for a few hours and lots of imagining and adventuring done instead. Smashing.x