plants

With Alice returning back home soon from university she has been clearing out her old bedroom throwing out things she doesn't need any more. One thing she was dispensing with was a pink plastic basket. I thought it would make an interesting planter in the garden. Before I filled the basket with compost I placed chunks of polystyrene in the base, so as not to use or waste too much compost. Once planted, with a few annuals, I parked the basket on an old bench in the garden. The handles will make it easy to place the basket where ever the fancy takes me!

Today I was looking at some of the photographs, I had taken, from the past couple of months and a lot of them are of the garden. In the main we had some decent crops from the garden but there were winners and losers. Cherry tomatoes in hanging baskets and window boxes were winners but the butternut squashes were a no show. The biggest harvest was from the wild plum trees, almost too much to handle!

This morning we went to Butterfly World in Chiswell Green, we were very impressed and when it's finished in 2011 it will be even better! We took lots and lots of photographs not only of the butterflies but of the Future Gardens too.

On Tuesday morning Sylvie introduced me to Sanuk  in Potton End. It was a delightful revelation, a charming tea room, shop and plant nursery located off the beaten track in Potton End. My initial impression of the place was English eccentric/shabby chic!

This is another idea for painting terracotta pots, Laine at Lanie J. and Co.  has cleverly painted the body of the terracotta pot with black paint. A greeting, in chalk, can be written on the pot, a perfect present for a favourite teacher, maybe.

On Thursday a friend and I went to Much Hadham, a quintessentially English village if ever there was one, to Hopleys (High Street, Much Hadham, Hertfordshire Tel: 01279 842509). This is one of the nicest independent garden centres I have ever been to, they exhibit at Chelsea, set in an inspirational garden. It's well worth a visit and through October their plants are half price!

It may look like this post is an excuse to show pretty pictures of plants, but I will give it some validity by saying I grew most of them from seed and I'm chuffed with the outcome. One of my favourite plants is a climber called Cobaea Cathedral Bells. This has the most beautiful, large, bell-shaped flowers that turn from bright green to a deep rich purple colour and look spectacular. I have been really pleased with the variety of tomato I planted, small and compact, easy to grow in a hanging basket, just groaning with fruit.

Yesterday I bought six 15 cm (6 in) terracotta pots (three for £1 In Wilkinson's at the moment), with the intention of painting them. It was a lovely day to sit in the garden and paint. I decided on a kitsch theme, bright primary colours and polka dots. I used acrylic paints (sample pots of kitchen/bathroom emulsion can be used, they work just as well), applied with a sponge, this gives a more even finish than a paint brush. The polka dots I made using a piece of doweling dipped into white paint then dotted on to the pot at regular intervals.

One of my favourite flowers, Snake's Head Fritillary, is out in the garden at the moment. I love their painterly chequer board petals. I have always liked the water colour painting, of the flower, by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, it's beautiful. Last year we were plagued by the scarlet lily beetle, it decimated them. I think the winter snow, we had, may have killed off the lily beetle, as they are originally from warmer climes.

On Thursday I spent the afternoon at Capel Manor Gardens, 30 acres of themed gardens in Enfield. It was a lovely sunny Autumn day. Not many visitors but a few students as it's a college of horticulture, the college owns and runs the gardens. Angie, the friend I went with, has completed two courses at Capel. So a good person to show me round and name some of those unusual and lesser known plants. The official guide says "30 acres of richly planted and beautiful themed gardens, to inspire and indulge the senses. All surrounding a Georgian Manor House and Victorian Stables.