Gardening
A pleasant surprise on opening my kitchen blinds these mornings: a touch of the Mediterranean in West London! The flowers are Nerium Oleander, commonly known as Oleander. You see these pink flowering shrubs all over the Mediterranean area so they are also called the Mediterranean Rose, although horticulturally Oleander are not at all from the rose family. Note the King of the Pippins apples coming on well.
Plenty to trim after 200mm of rain in May has allowed a lot of growth in my cloud forest garden in Keswick. This is my fourth summer working this garden and the shape is now largely how I want it; so, this time round, it’s trimming new growth only. The hay fever season is well in swing; those masks we all have left over from 2020 turn out to be useful in limiting the hay fever symptoms
It’s been a good spring for the cactus garden on my balcony in Marseille; the new little plants that I was given for Christmas have grown amazingly in size whilst the previous generations have made good progress too. The oldest plants are pot-bound, cacti that I’ve been looking after for ten years or more. So time to get the gloves on and take on the spikes. There’s a handling technique and it’s not as daunting as it maybe looks, though best not to rush, so it took several sessions.
Plenty of growth in Terry’s garden in Preston Park, Brighton over the past few weeks. And the frogs have been busy in the pond so there are now a smattering of tadpoles swimming around in the mud and muck at the bottom of the pond. A full covering of the water surface with duckweed too, that’s unwanted and doesn’t help to keep the pond in balance. So baling, filtering, and returning any amphibians to the water before distributing the dredged solids over the flowerbeds.
Next time I need some elbow length rubber gloves...
Following the Mary Poppins motto - In every job that must be done there is an element of fun - my bit of fun jet-washing the moss and mulch off Terry’s decking and paving in Preston Park, Brighton. The high pressure water strips off some of the rotten wood as well so there’s muck everywhere. Yippee!
