Open Garden

Time is flying by. The posters have arrived with more to follow later. That means it only six or seven weeks before we open. Don't panic!

 One of the best things about being a local organiser is that I get to pop into all the gardens and talk gardening with enthusiasts. And  allay any anxieties. The garden owners here are an organised optomistic group of people and I'm sure they are all looking forward to the opening. Homemade teas and an amazing plant stall at Dorward House to look forward to. What a treat for all garden lovers

Our own garden is growing well with the odd bare patch.  It's a great time for verbena bonariensis to remind me they’re a short lived perennial hence the bare patches. We will have to replace them with some fast growing annual or potted up perennials from last year.. It's time to raid the store of plants lined up in rows for the plant stall on the open day.

Carol's Blogger Bloom Day

Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!" said the White Rabbit.
I hope I shall not be too late (well just a day) to post on Carol's Blogger Bloom Day! I had intended to do it but didn't remember until I saw other blogs this morning. Blame the visitors and the chocolate mousse - it addles the brain.

 This first photo was taken looking up the garden form the shade area.

 Lets start with a very special little hardy geranium that we have a connection with.  It's called "Tanya Rendall" This was bred by Richard Rendall in Orkney and named after his daughter. We knew Richard when we lived there and bought plants from him. This is the first flower this year.

There are several epimediums in flower at the moment. The leaves of epimedium peralchium themselves  are very striking.

The flowers of epimedium younganum "Niveum" so tiny and delicate. No wonder they are also known as fairy wings.

 Two cirsiums ruivularis are in flower and as you can see from the photos these vary slightly in colour.

 The elegant arching stems of the Solomon's Seal with their white and green bell flowers have been gracing the garden for a few weeks now. They look so effortlessly graceful. You can never have too many clumps. Ours are in the shade part of the garden with hostas, and gunnera for company.

 

My favourite Rose "Canary Bird" is not finished yet. It's been covered in blooms for the last few weeks

 

 Likewise the tree peony.

The only clematis in full flower at the moment is this white montana. It grows from a crack in the  wall between out neighbours and ourselves. So we have adopted it.

Life in the Scottish garden would be incomplete without at least one photo of mecanopsis sheldonii. This one is a real electric blue and lights up the shade.

 

 Our garden is probably at it's best in June. These buds are a prelude to that.

A Walk on the Wild Side

 St Vigean's is a small village near Arbroath in Angus. It was the site for an ancient monastery in the 8th Century and for Pictish Stones which are now housed in a former  cottage in the village. It's one of these places where you pop next door and ask for the key and then spend as long as you want in the museum examining Pictish stones and symbols.

Come for a walk along the old railway line at St Vigeans, part of the Arbroath path network. See our dog Freya has already gone on ahead.

The path runs along a river for about five miles surrounded by trees and fields and a few houses.
What is surprising are the number of wild flowers (and the odd garden escapee). It's a bit windy which made photography more challenging and some of the images are bound to end up fuzzy and just out of focus. However I hope some will good enough.

Red Campion.(Silene dioica) I think this is the red variety. If white and red are both present they tend to cross and produce the pink variety. The only difference in the appearance of the hybrid is taller than it's parents and may be pale pink. This plant is found widely in Angus.

Common comfrey((Symphytum officinale) is an erect hairy leafed perennial. It forms dense clumps and is related to the garden comfrey used as a compost and soil improver. Other colours of comfrey in evidence along the river were shades of pink and purple and are probably garden cultviars.

Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) Also known as May locally.This is a quick growing tree or is often used as a hedge. Has the most beautiful flowers and berries in the autumn. Great for adding to hedgerow jelly.

Water avens (Geum rivale) can be seen in abundance on both sides of the old railway line.
The flower is a dull orange pink in colour and is very similar to the wood  avens which was growing on the same banks on either side of the path.

Wood avens ( geum urbanum) This plant is closely related to water avens and is very similar in structure but is a yellow colour.

White Bryony (Bryonia cretica). I think judging by the height of the plant and the size of the flower this is the male flower. the female is much smaller. Can you believe that this plant is a member of the cucumber family?

Cow Parsley (anthricus sylvestris) is very common in Britain. It grows in hedgerows and has a pretty froth of white flowers.

These are only some of the wildflowers on the banks of the old railway line.

Sage Advice

Herbs are an integral part of our garden. Now is the time of year to start cooking with fresh herbs again adding them to salads, soups and other dishes. Another way of using them is putting them in a bottle of good olive oil to use over the winter.

 

 We have a herb border in the kitchen garden and also some baskets near the back door . These are for folk in a hurry or that can't be bothered going all the way to the kitchen garden especially when it's raining.

Many of our herbs are of the better known varieties but we do have some more unusual ones. But that's for another time and another post.

Sage comes in several different colours. It's a strongly flavoured herb and we use it sparingly in general cooking.We grow the plain green one and two of the variegated ones.They tend not to be hardy over the hard winters we've had recently and need to be replaced through overwintered cuttings. Tangerine and pineapple sage have got very fine green eaves and are not hardy at all. We grow them for their bright red flowers and they only go outside in high summer. They don't taste very pleasant although I'm sure they could be used in cooking.

The plain green sage bush overwinters well and gets cut back hard in early spring.It looks like twigs for a while but soon bounces back.

We like to do sage leafs in tempura batter and then fry them. They come out very crispy and are a real treat!

Parsley. Do you like yours flat-leaf or curly?

 I think they taste much the same but the curly parsley has a better texture. Flat leaf is great for decoration. and garnish. We use them both in general cooking as they have a great flavour and a bright fresh colour. The hens are also very partial to the odd stem and make straight for the parsley whenever they get a chance.

Chives. The prettiest of herbs with their straight stems and frothy and pale purple flowers. Freshly

chopped they add a real zing to potato  salad. We also keep chive (and parsley) butter in the fridge for fish and chicken dishes. It also makes a lovely garnish and decoration. The flowers are a great addition to a summer salad as are nasturtium flowers and leaves.

 Tarragon. French, that is not Russian. For years we used to grow the Russian tarragon because it could be grown from seed. French tarragon was hard to come by except from specialist growers. But is it often said that the French variety has a finer flavour. I have never compared the two so I really couldn't comment.....

 When we moved south french tarragon was added to the herb garden. It's got a reputation for being on the tender side but so far it has coped with two harsh winters and comes back better than before.

It's great in sauces especially with fish or chicken. it's also reputed to aid sleep if taken as a tea before going to bed. 

 

Mints. The varieties of mints are many and we only grow a few. As every knows they are thugs and should be grown in pots or in the ground with some sort of restraining order.

At the moment we grow apple mint and spearmint. We also have orange, Russian and ginger mint.

Most are great for making mint tea and putting with new potatoes and in soups.

 These are some of the commonly used herbs that we grow. Others include basil, coriander, bay, thyme and oregano.

Plants for sale???

Well, would you buy these?
I'm always tempted by plants that need a bit of TLC but these needed total resusitation! This DIY shop has got a reputation for not looking after it's plants but why leave them out for sale when they look half dead? They should have found their way to the great compost heap in the sky by now.

I nearly asked the member of staff putting out yet more trays of plants (still healthy but for how long?) if the horticultural expert was on holiday.  Maybe  killing off new plants is something that comes naturally to the staff there. Just don't water the plants very often or give them any light that should do the trick!

It's just a very sad sight to see all these yellowing decaying plants.

It's still raining...

 It's been raining off and on for nearly three days and everything is looking much fresher and greener as well as having put on a spurt. If plants could have sighed with relief at the rain fall they would have done. In spite of brief glimpses of sunshine the soil is too wet to work, so I went out with my camera in between showers..... The following photographs are a white peony, hosta sioboldiana, epimedium, mecanopsis sheldonii, clematis armandii and box.

It's raining again....About time!

It is weeks since it has really rained in this part of the east of Scotland. Our sandy soil was like a dust bowl in spite of my efforts to add lots of home made compost. I even go as far as to add wet newspaper and compost to trenches for really  hungry veg such as potatoes, beans, peas, courgettes and the like. So in spite of this lots of watering has been the order of the day. In fact it seemed to take up a lot of my gardening time.

I have a philosophy about watering. There is no much point in little and often. It tends to make the roots come to the surface instead of spreading out and searching for water deep in the soil. Give plants a good soak. The plants in the flower garden only get a good watering (from me) in their first year or until they become established. After that they have to fend for themselves. They may get a bit of mulch after a shower if there is enough compost left.

The vegetables and fruit are expected to put on a lot of growth and  produce in one season so they need more cossetting. We have a drip hose round the main bed and I supplement this with the watering can. The hose is all very well but you don't know how much water you are giving to the plant.
A good way of finding out is to scrape back the soils and see if it is wet more than an half inch below the surface. You'll be surprised how dry it may still be.
You can also tell with pots by how heavy they are (or not). Terrca cotta pots hit gently with a tool sound more hollow when dry.

Rain was forecast yesterday and today and tomorrow. It certainly rained heavily during the night. But next afternoon it was dry and I ventured out to plant a lot of modules of small but perfectly formed vegetable plants that had been waiting patiently in and around the cold frames. I managed a couple of rows and then the heavens opened. I rushed for cover thinking the shower (one of the many forecast) would soon blow over. It didn't and I retreated to the house leaving everything where it was.

The Farmer's Market

We have  always been fans of Farmer's Markets and have frequented them both in Orkney and in Montrose.  We tend to go for the organic food and the plant stalls. The one here has been going for several years and has witnessed some changes. I still miss the stall that sold hot Arbroath smokies.....

For those that have not come across this delicacy, it is smoked haddock. See the following link:

http://www.arbroathsmokies.net/arbroathsmokie.php

The Montrose Farmer's market has a lot of variety and happens on the first Saturday of the month between 10am and 1pm. You got to get there early mind to get the best choice of products.....we got there so early that my photos are rather devoid of people.

 

The plant stall by Ashwood Nurseries

Stunning  willow structures made by Rachel Bower. I was sorely tempted but decided to have a look at the available space in the garden first.

The delightful Myerside Organics stall. It's early in the season so all the greens are grown in a poly tunnel but they look so much better than the limp efforts from the supermarket.

We came away with fennel and lemon sausages a piece of wild boar and some organic curly kale. The meat will be stored in the freezer for a meal with our next visitors. I also bought another plant (now there's a surprise!)  It was a heuchera this time.

I'm still tempted by the willow...