Wee Alpine Gems

We've always had alpines in our gardens, last time it was a whole rockery. In this case it's a few troughs and pots and a couple of sedum roofs. But they often get overlooked as I whizz by on some 'important"garden task.

And then I catch sight of a tiny veronica peeping out from a trough or a sedum spilling over the shed roof. And I stop to admire and make a mental note to photograph them next time I'm out in the garden with my camera.

So here is a post devoted to the wee gems.

All the alpines require sharp drainage and won't thank you for getting too wet. I try to put them somewhere dry and cold during the winter so they don't rot off.  All the plants on the shed roof have to make do with conditions as they are.

Sedums, Semerpvivums, sysyrinchiums and oxalis fill most of the pots and troughs.
Sempervivums about to burst into flower.

The exquisite pink or white rhodohypoxsis fills a pot . We have this one on a table so we can admire it in flower.

Raoulia forms a blanket of tiny silvery green rosettes. Nothing much to look at until you get up close.

 

 The succulent echeveria with it's silver leaves and  luminous flowers.

And up on the roof...

Yellow stonecrop

  Sedum 

And an alpine geranium
The alpines don't take up much space but are definitily worth a close-up.

Lunan Bay and Red Castle

The beach at Lunan Bay is one of the most picturesque places in Angus. We take the  dog there for walks especially in the winter when it is usually deserted.  In the summer its a favourite place families, dog walkers, horse riders and beach sports such as kite flying and kite buggying. 

Unfortunately, for some unknown reason our dog chases kites until she is exhausted. So we steer clear if we see any kites when we get to the  car park. On this walk we went to a quieter part of the beach via the ruins of the castle.

Lunan Bay lies between Montrose to the north and Arbroath to the south. The ruins of the Red Castle which dates back to the 1100s sits on a hill above the Bay and the colour of the stone gives it it's name.  As with many small settlements in the area fishing was the main way of earning a living. Wild salmon fishing with traditional nets is still practiced at this beach.
The river of Lunan Water flows into the Bay at the base of the Red Castle effectively cutting the beach in two except at low tide.The curve of the bay stretches from the old lime kilns at Boddin Point in the north to Ethie Haven village in the south
The bay is surrounded by sand dunes and low cliffs were fulmars nest in season. Its a favourite place for families, dog walkers, horse riders and beach sports. When I get the Aberdeen train south to Edinburgh I always try to sit on the side of the train to see the panoramic views of Lunan Bay.


The surrounding countryside to the north. Lunan Water below.

 

The castle is a great vantage point to see the beach and Lunan water flowing down to the sea. The dog is interested in other things.....

 

Looking north from the ruins towards the Lime kilns at Boddin Point.

Wildflower meadow of red campion, gorse and elders about to flower.

 

Down the path from the castle towards the beach

The beach inspired garden of one the houses.

Fisherman's sheds. You would you risk parking here?

The cliffs and caves at the north end of the beach. Lunan Water cuts the Bay in two.

The traditional nets catch the salmon as the tides recede.

 

Ethie Haven Fishing Village marks the south end of the bay.

One last view of the Castle and a buttercup meadow from road.

Strawberry Fields Forever......

Lots of people (bloggers included) are talking about strawberries. Well, it is that time of year again. Wimbledon, fresh peas, new potatoes, elderflower cordial and of course, strawberries.

The Angus area of east Scotland is known for its commercial fruit farms. The area produces large crops of strawberries and raspberries. These are usually grown under plastic nowadays to extend the growing season. The strawberries taste so much better than the tasteless ones that appear in the supermarkets out of season. (who wants to have strawberries all year round anyway?)

But I have to tell you that the strawberry grown organically at home and not under plastic are the sweetest! The best way to eat them is warmed by the sun straight from the plant with no embellishments. Not even cream...

Some of the strawberries find their way into the fridge to be eaten for breakfast with yogurt and muesli the next day. It's good to take them out some time before so that the fruit have a chance to get to room temperature. Coldness seems to dull the flavour and the sweetness.

The ones we grow in our strawberry patch are Honeyeo, Elsanta and Cambridge Favourite. All tried and tested (or should that be tasted) favourites.

• Honeyeo This early fruiting strawberry likes sandy soil and full sun. It produces large sweet fruits which are ready to be picked about the middle of June and crops through to July.

• Elsanta This is a slightly later strawberry and is used by commercial growers for supermarkets and "pick-your-own". It crops well and the fruit is fragrant and sweet.

• Cambridge Favourite. This is another well known strawberry which produces sweet succulent fruit for several weeks from mid June through to July. It is tolerant of most soils.

We bed the strawberries in the old fashioned way by tucking straw round each plant to lift them off the ground as they begin to ripen. This method helps prevent slug damage and rot. It also keeps soil of the fruit when it rains. And this is why strawberries got their name.

We then net the whole bed using a metal structure about 18ins of the ground. Birds have been known to get underneath the nets so we pin them into place with metal hooks. It's a bit of a nuisance when it comes to picking but worth the effort. Perhaps I shouldn't comment on the effort involved as I'm not the one that picks the strawberries.

We have had  few problems with disease or slugs on this strawberry bed but the plants do tend to lose some of their vigour after three or four years. New plants can be grown from the runners taken of the old plants and grown on in pots until they are big enough to plant out.



This is my favourite fruit. Next week I shall watch some Wimbledon and eat our strawberries.
Enjoy!

 

Our 15 Minutes of Fame...

Well, it isn't actually fifteen minutes more like six and a half.  Tern Television came today to film our garden for the well known and well loved Scottish Gardening programme "Beechgrove Garden" .

What's the angle ? The Tern television team of (from left to right) Jim McColl (Presenter),  Gwyneth Hardy (Director), George Leslie (Camera) and George  Mitchell (Sound).

It was a long, long day The weather changed from sun to rain and then back again. There was plenty of time for chat and discussion with Jim about different plants, pronunciation ( seemingly I've been saying anemone wrongly all these years) and the challenges of a seaside garden. 

We now have a list of things to be sorted...... and how to sort them. It was a very educational day not only from a gardening point of view  but also watching the process of filming a few minutes for a programme.

Reminiscing about the last time we were on Becchgrove Garden with Jim McColl in 2002 in Orkney.

Gosh, is that mildew I see? Jim identifying a problem with our "Egremont Russet" apple tree.

So that's it. The day flew by. We're both shattered. An early night and a long lie tomorrow.

PS if you want to have a dander at us on the telly (yes all six and a half minutes) the programme will be shown on Monday 27th June at 7.30pm (I think). I will be watching from through my fingers  saying "Do I really sound like that?"

Foliage Follow-up: A Green Tapestry

Gardening inspiration came to me on holiday in the States several years ago in that wonderful bookshop Barnes and Noble. I was tentatively exploring an early interest in gardening and came across a book called "The Foliage Garden - Creating Beauty Beyond Bloom" by Angela Overy. 

It has been a inspiring resource for foliage planting ever since.

 I love the colour combination of fresh green with the deep red of these pots. The plant is a viburnum tinus.

 The bamboos form a screen round the table at the far end of the garden. We chose Bamboo phyllostachys  which has a very attractive golden stem  

And Bamboo phyllostachys nigra, the well known black stemmed bamboo. Both have formed a shelter at the far end of the garden..

 

The amazing zingy colour of the euphorbia robbiae

Miscanthus sinsensis in the sunshine

The next plant is not in our garden a the moment (but soon will be). It has stunning architectural leaves. of the  Ligularia .

Last but not least is the rodgersia podophylla leaves tinged with pink.

  

Tapestries of silver and gold

Flowers fair and foliage bold, 

Shining glints that only fade

When winter's mantle is fully laid.

                                

                                  Anonymous

Carol's Blogger Bloom Day 15 June

It's the middle of June already. It seems to be a bit of a hiatus in the garden just when we're about to be filmed for Tern Television's  Beechgrove Garden. It will be great advertising for the Open Gardens of Montrose and Hillside on July 3rd. And of course I shall mention it at every opportunity.

Let's have a look. Sometimes there is more in flower than you think.

The Ceanothus "Concha" is still going strong. the most heavenly blue which now also covers the deck below.

Two shrub roses are in full bloom. The first is called" Rhapsody in Blue".  It starts off as more of a pinky purple and fades to more of a purple blue.

The other rose is a new one called "Champagne Moments" It's a warm creamy colour and supposed to be heavily scented. I tried it out on Paul and he thought the scent was so light that it was hardly there.

The delicate shade plant anemone rivularis is still in flower. It has to be admired in two ways. One is looking into the flower at the delicate centre.

The other is to admire the blue flush on the back of the petals. A must have plant in our garden.

The Solanum crispin is  relative of the potato plant and native of Chile and Peru. It grows in a sheltered sunny corner on our back wall. The last one we tried to grow was the less hardy white variety and it didn't seem to cope with the position that we planted it in. A bit of sun and some fleece during the winter and this one is growing away and producing lots of flowers.

When asked what my favourite plant is. I often answer with the following flower that is just coming into bloom. This will be the star of the Beechgrove programme,  The flowers of the Paeony lactiflora "Jan van Leeuwen" don't last long so it must be photographed and admired as often as possible.

 

 

A real splash of colour next with the Schizostylis coccinea. These seem to flower for weeks and the vibrant pinky-red always catches peoples' attention.

Gillenia trifoliata was much in evidence at Gardening Scotland this year and rightly so. This clump forming perennial is also known as "Bowman's Root" which doesn't seem to describe it at all. I'll have to "google" that later unless anyone can enlighten me as to the origins of the name.

Last but not least we have one of the ariseamas also known as "Jack in the Pulpit"  We've had several of these over the years and have lost some due to poor drainage. (memo to self; add more grit when planting). Arisaema sikokianum has been dwarfed by the hostas sieboldina which seems to get bigger every year and covers them up. However Arisaema consanguineum manages to rise above the hostas.

 If you remember the photo of the shade border that I took last month Carol's Blogger Bloom Day you can see how much that border has grown in spite of the lack of rain.

Both cardiocrinums are about to flower and should be out for the Open Garden Day. It's a shame that I had to prop one up with a stake to stop it falling over in the wind like last year!