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Simply..rain, rain....

17/5/2022

9 Comments

 
Several days of constant rain, and I so want to be gardening. But I brought some of the outside in and am enjoying the summer rug which brightens the whole room.
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Wild cherry blosson is over now, but the crab apple is abundant in Coronation Wood and on the shore path.

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I am very grateful not to have lost my sense of taste or smell to Covid as scents this year are wonderful. Some fill the air like the leaves of the balsam poplar which could be smelled over much of the village for weeks. Now it is the delicious heady smell of azalea lutea  which fills the air. I have some in the sitting room and you can snell it as you come in the back door. Some though require that you get closer - peppery wisteria (mine has few flowers), vanilla scented clematis and astringent lily of the valley. Most flowers have some scent though it may be faint. I was surprised to find that a bought bunch of parrot tulips can scent a room.

I read about paperwhite narcissu being wonderfully scneted but when I finally grew some found the perfume so overpowering I coudn't have them in the house!
9 Comments

Simply..free gifts....

14/5/2022

8 Comments

 
..of the best kind.

I love self sown seedlings, or volunteers as a friend calls them. On the gravel floor of the greenhouse I keep some welsh poppies both orange and yellow, pink campion (not too many) and my favourite geranium robertianum Celtic White which I grew from a packet of seed decades ago and which have sprinkled themselves all around the garden, giving it a relaxed (some would say untidy) look!

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Writing about living simply in what feels like an increasingly complex world has kept me happilly occupied for more than twelve years now! Who knew I had so much to say? I didn't. (I know I have said this before but it truly still astonishes me.)

The category Simply Grow dominates, but some categories are very neglected, so I thought I would revisit them one by one to refresh both myself and the blog a litttle.

Depending what device you are using the categories are listed on the side bar, or you may need to scroll down a lot to find them..

I love this blog and the people who meet here. It's very much my happy place.
8 Comments

Simply..sparking joy....

13/5/2022

10 Comments

 

More colour appears day by day now in the garden.

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This cineraria was a birthday gift
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Clematis 'Freda'
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Vanilla scented clematis 'Elizabeth'
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Welsh poppies self sed in the floor of the greenhouse
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Hot enough to lie in the sun the other day!
10 Comments

Simply..how to....

11/5/2022

12 Comments

 
..manage a garden on your own.

You may remember, on Gardener's World,  Carol Bruce's amazing three acre garden which she gardens without any help. She said that with the right tools and methods it was not difficult.  See this post.

I wrote to her asking if she was perhaps planning to write a book to help the rest of us!
I got a friendly  reply saying that one of the best ways to get a bok out, she had heard, was to get more television exposure, so I wrote to BBC Gardener;s World asking to see more of Carol and her garden.  I need this book!

If you do too perhaps you would also like to tell BBC in a quick email to this address? letters@gardenersworld.com


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I scatter a few seeds of Shirley poppies in the centre of the wigwam.


PS  At the risk of sounding like someone from the Tourist Office, see here more of Argyll's  Secret Coast!
12 Comments

Simply..busy....

30/4/2022

6 Comments

 
A very apt card!
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If you are lucky enough to have a garden, you will know what a busy time of year it is. I have planted out sweet peas and the greenhouse is filling up with seedlings and bedding plants.

I have decided that if I work really hard in April and in October I can keep on top of this garden. We shall see. I am reading everything I can find by Carol Bruce who gardens three amazing acres by herself!

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The forget-me-nots planted on top of the tulips idea worked out really well - I will do this again.
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6 Comments

Simply..afternoon light....

21/4/2022

10 Comments

 
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Taking a little birthday break.

Have a good weekend.
10 Comments

Simply..perfect....

15/4/2022

8 Comments

 

In a forgotten pot at the back of the shed...a pocket of perfection for today.

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8 Comments

Simply..my photos....

13/4/2022

5 Comments

 
..give me hope that this..
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will once again look like this!
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The trouble with 'meadows' ie just letting the grass grow in my case, which is what I have done with much of the garden the last year or two, is that it looks really really scruffy off season. This year the moss is about four inches thick.  When I pull handfuls of it out, the bare patches  are alarming looking. I am just going to sow them with the native red poppy and see what happens.  It could look wonderful with the red gate. Do you remember Gwendoline's 'When in doubt, muck it about;'? Thas what I am doing! I;ve put in foxgloves grown from seed and and ox eye daisisest which had self seeded elsewhere in the garden.
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 Christopher Lloyd and Pam Lewis are the experts I consult, though they garden in very different conditions from mine, in gentler climates. Such skill, knowledge and commitment. And hard work. I have visited both their gardens and the meadows were magical.
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Have you tried letting some of the grass grow? Have you had good results?
5 Comments

Simply..there comes a time....

12/4/2022

6 Comments

 
..when you just have to grit your teeth and spend some money. The old chairs lasted 20 years and will now be recycled,  as will the cushions which were so faded you wouldn't know they once had a pattern on them. They were sparking no joy whatsoever!
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Breakfast outside on a sunny, if cold, spring morning is sparking joy! The tulips, Purissima, start out greenish, turn creamy  then white. They are also one of the very few which repeat in my garden.

Have you had any meals outside yet?
6 Comments

Simply..in the garden....

11/4/2022

10 Comments

 
One crisp edge has given the whole garden a lift.  This is a principle that might be applied to other things...
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10 Comments

Simply..hellebores....

9/4/2022

6 Comments

 
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6 Comments

Simply..the soap trick....

8/4/2022

7 Comments

 
To deter deer place slivers of leftover  soap or beter still, cubes of the cheapest, smelliest supermarket soap close to special plants and/or around the perimeter of your garden, or where you knw they are getting in. They don't like the smell. Works for me!

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The vinegar trick. Vinegar will kill off the weeds n a gravel drive.
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And the hose trick from Bath Chatto. To mark out curves lay out a (warm) hose and cut the line either side with an edging iron.  I am planning a metal strip along this edge.
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.

Life is tripping over itself to get going, to get on.

Lia Leendertz    As The Season Turns

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7 Comments

Simply..pockets of perfection....

2/4/2022

4 Comments

 
No matter what is going on in the wider world, or what is going on in my world and yours,  there is perfection around us.

In working on the garden this year I am looking for little pockets of perfection - a corner here, a pot there,  a plant combination , a happy accident....

There was a time when this garden was pretty close to perfection. We opened it for charity under the yellow book scheme for several years and worked hard to make it as near to perfect as we could. There was great pleasure and satisfaction in that, but withoout Barry I can't keep up that standard, nor do I need to!

Here is today's perfect thing -when the bee found the barely opened miniature iris.

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4 Comments

Simply..next up....

31/3/2022

4 Comments

 
..for the Carol Bruce treatment (ie the disciplined approach) is another seating area, under the study window.

I have read many gardening books, and followed many gardening gurus .There is a spectrum  between Carol Bruce's disciplined and methodical ways and Mirabel Osler (author of A Gentle Plea For Chaos). I vary along that spectrum from year to year and even at times, from day to day! Carol Bruce's approach inspired me when I was feeling a bit downhearted at the state my garden had got into. 'Roll up your sleeves, get your hands dirty  and see what you can do.' Garden design is an art and a brilliant subject and I nevver tire of it. There is always something to learn.

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I ha've decided the more disciplined approach is what is required here, though I am starting as Carol Bruce does with 'What feelings do I want this bit of the garden to evoke?' This is the seat I stretch out on after a good lunch on a warm sunny day. Deep relaxation is key. Heady scent a must.

The bench and chair are now stained a lovely grey (Cuprinl Silver Birch) and the magenta geranium Ann Folkard looks wonderful beside it (sorry I can't find the photograph), and I have just bought some roses called Timeless Purple which I think will look sumptuous and smell divine. I also plan to bring on two Chocolate Cosmos for their rich colour and amazing perfume.

That's the dream, meanwhile the reality is that there are currenly at least 11 different plants growing in the space around the bench, and as you can see above, the chair is drowning in alchemilla mollis. The clematis is sagging and the pots are broken....

Sleeves rollled up and getting hands dirty!
4 Comments

Simply..one of the nice things....

29/3/2022

2 Comments

 
..about writing a log/diary is being able to look back and remind myyself just how different the garden will look quite soon. The feelings I want to evvoke in the main sitting area of the garden (see yesterday's post) are pretty much what I have achieved in the last few years...It can seat about  12 and we have had sme wonderful family clebrations around that table.
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Today
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Tulips in spring
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Summer abundance
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Self-sown foxglove in the perfect spot!
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I like to grow something different in the black pots each year
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and have only recently begun adding canes to them



The cane wigwams provide just enough screening. This year I am growing sweet pea 'Matucana' up them for their strong scent and vibrant colour.. I plann to have magenta with maybe a dash of lime green or even orange.

The black chair in phot two collapsed under someone last year! Thakfully she was not hurt but new chairs are on order.

Apart from that feeding the wisteeria in the corner to see if it will flower better is the only change required for this area. It's a very happy part of the garden. Do you have a happy spot? Or plans to make one?
2 Comments

Simply..new inspirations....

28/3/2022

4 Comments

 
I watched with interest a feature on Gardeners' World about Old Blenbean Stud Garden, created by Cariol Bruce. A gorgeous garden though what interested me most (and they didn't elaborate on it) was that she is the only gardener. She said that with the right tools and methods it wasn't difficult to do all the gardening herself. I wanted to know more!

On her quite extensive website I  especially liked this piece Making The Garden Step By Step

Also worth reading are the FAQ's which give insights into her rather unusual approach.

She begins by asking herself what kind feeling she wants the garden to evoke, so I am going around the garden asking myself that questin  of each different area. In the main sitting area I want to feel relaxed, at home, at ease. I want scent and abundance and am willing to take a relaxed attitude to a few weeds in the gravel, and to be happy about self sown this and that...I want plenty of seating (safe seating - must replace some very old chairs) for family and friends...

I like this approach and several other ideas from Carol Bruce. I hope she is writing a book.
4 Comments

Simply..thrilled....

22/3/2022

14 Comments

 

.. to be picking daffodils from my own garden, but not so thrilled with the positive Covid test this morning!
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However I have no symptoms at present and enjoyed a beautiful sunny day working in the garden. I hope you have stayed Covid free..
14 Comments

Simply..good to have plans....

14/3/2022

4 Comments

 

You may remember I decorated the litte 8 x 6 greenhouse for Midsummer laast year. See  here. 
I plan to do the same again and some of the gypsophila will be brought on in pots to add to the frothy pretty effect I am after.  I will have schizanthus too , and perhaps gaura lindheimeri, and there is a tender euphorbia called frosted something that would look very dainty along the front edge of the staging. I will have candles and tiny lights and we will drink Bellinis......plans and dreams, I love both!

Do you?
4 Comments

Simply..fragile....

13/3/2022

8 Comments

 

Isn't it amaziing that these fragile things can grow into sturdy plants tht will cover a couple of squarre metres and flower for months?

It's gypsophila Covent Garden, a real favourite. Although it was last year's seed they gerninated in about a week in a small heated propagator.
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8 Comments

Simply..my peaceful gift to you....

10/3/2022

6 Comments

 
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..is this picture of beauty, hope, light and pleasure. 

I do love Lia Leenderz' suggestions for marking the seasonal changes.  (See link in yesteday's post.) In February she suggested lighting candles, for the equinox in March  (20th) she suggests sharing seeds.

What a lovely thing to  do. I will be sending some easy to grow annuals - night scented stock and poppy Angels' Choir and Mother of Pearl.
6 Comments

Simply..in the garden....

7/3/2022

9 Comments

 


Sunny and I  sit in the garden just listening. Birdsong including the mew of a far-away buzzard, and a woodpecker is down in Coronation Wood; the rumble of the wonderful machine which is washing my clothes as I sit here with a cup of coffee; several really big bees buzz  by, and a dog is barking somewhere in the village.  The tractor rushes past. A faint tannoy message drifts, distorted, across the water from the military base on the other side of the loch, reminding me...

But the garden needs me and I need the garden. Gardening is one of the few things I do inot thinking of somehting else at the same time.

It's a mess! I get pen and paper and walk round identifying what needs done first under my  formula for not being overwhelmed.  I set a time limit for each of four tasks:

1. An ongoing job. That will be cleaning out the greenhouse. Some progress wil be made.

2 A rescue job. Thee is always a rescue job! That will be to clear away the dead foliage on the hakonechloa before it blows all over the place.

3 A start and finish job. Clean out the wintner rubbish from the water dishes and fill with fresh water. Satisfying to finish somehting.

4 A job I just want to do for the pleasure of it.  That will be tidying around the wine red lupins I grew from seed last year for my daughter's garden, ready for her to lift when she has the ground prepared. Beautiful healthy young plants.


I don't have much influence on the world stage, but I can and will make this garden a haven of peace and beauty.

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Surprisingly thick ice on the water dishes in the morning, and surprisingly warm sunshine in the afternoon.
9 Comments

Simply..snowdrop S Arnott....

21/2/2022

6 Comments

 
.

I am thinking about daughter with Covid, friend in a remote cottage with a power cut, latest storm (three in a week!) keeping up with Covid rules and threats of war, but I am also choosing, for  20 minutes or so to think about  Galanthus S Arnott.

I have only one clump of this delectable snowdrop. It never seems to spread and I hesitate to divide it as snowdrops are very temperamental in my garden.  It is taller than the common snowdrop, very elegant and has a slight honey scent, and in sunshine or in a warm room it flings its outer petals very wide in a most charming flamboyant way. Wider than in my photograph.

Enchanting.

A little enchantment and beauty is a necessity to stay sane, don't you think? And we must take the time to find it.


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6 Comments

Simply..brighter....

16/1/2022

8 Comments

 
..buttercuppy days..
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8 Comments

Simply..nice things....

24/11/2021

10 Comments

 
..about November.

One of the nice things is the anticipation of spring!  I have planted up the three black pots with tulips and overplanted them with forget me nots in pink, blue and white which I grew from seed.

A friend and I are gardening together through the winter. Just half an hour now and then in each others gardens. We raked leaves in hers and planted tulip Purissima in mine the other day (that sunny one!).  Twice the pleasure, half the work.

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10 Comments

Simply..time....

5/11/2021

6 Comments

 
.. to make wreaths while stems and branches are still pliable. I use the bines of the golden hop which grows by the front door and I am trying dark clematis stems. The leaves will fall off, but I think just a few strands of the plum coloured stems might make a beautiful minimal wreath.

I find it best to always weave in the one direction, and to dry them flat.

A lovely occupation for an autumn day.

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I will be at the gallery tomorrow at 2pm for a Meet The Artist session -heavy rain and strong winds are forecast, so I hope I do meet someone!  See Studio page for details.
6 Comments
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    Live Simply
    Live Simply
    Simple
    Simply Beautiful
    Simply Bin It
    Simply Chill
    Simply Christmas
    Simply Christmas
    Simply Do A Good Deed
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    Simply Draw
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    An artist seeking a simpler life - (but not too simple!)

    All words and images copyright Freda Waldapfel 2010 - 2020

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