Garden visit: West Dean

This afternoon we made an unplanned visit to West Dean Gardens near Chichester.
Despite the cooler weather, we managed to see some late summer blooms in the walled garden, not to mention an unrivalled variety of pumpkins and squashes, peppers and chillis.
As it had been an unscheduled visit, I hadn't taken a camera, but here are a few pictures I took on my phone...

Spring bulbs

I've just made an impulsive purchase of spring bulbs.
I promised myself, after getting the veg plots going, I would turn my attention to the rest of the garden, which is currently one giant, bumpy lawn.
I have already planned a wild flower mini-meadow and I managed to pop in a few narcissus in time for last spring.
I'm not sure what anyone will think of my choice of bulbs but I was seduced partly by the colours.
I've bought some white 'Miss Vain' crocus, a black fritillaria persica, some white anenome, 10 black single tulips and some nectaroscordum siculum honey lily which, from the photo, look a beautiful creamy-white.
I'm excited to see the results.

Garden visit: Wakehurst

Here are some long overdue photos of my last visit to Wakehurst.
Every time I go there I see something new - one this trip I discovered a forest of carved tree stumps, some beautiful paths through the woods and some late summer blooms in the walled garden.

Squash and pumpkin harvest

I spent much of the weekend tidying up the garden ready for winter.
Plenty of plants are still cropping and on Sunday I picked the sweet dumpling squashes.
One was soon put too good use in a vegetable curry, also starring other home-grown ingredients such as dwarf French beans, courgettes, carrots, tomatoes, spinach, peppers and chillis.
All this was accompanied with a side serving of Bombay alloo, made with my meagre crop of King Edwards (I'll definitely water them more next year).
Nonetheless, it was a good reward for a hard day's graft.

Common blue suffers after cold summer

The numbers of common blue butterflies has fallen by two-thirds because of the cool summer, according to experts.
The insects, which are frequent visitors to my garden, were among the butterfly species to suffer most as a result of the weather, with numbers falling by 61%.
The figures are a result of the Big Butterfly Count survey involving 34,000 people who recorded 322,000 sightings of butterflies.
Wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation said it had expected a bumper year for butterflies because of the hot, dry spring but the prolonged spells of rain meant many of the insects were unable to fly, feed or breed.
I have plans to rejuvinate the wild flower corner in my garden next year to encourage more butterflies and other insects - perhaps I should supply a few umbrellas too!
PHOTO: alber1ch

Getting to grips with technology

It has been far too long since I posted on this blog, mainly because I've been working so much and rarely have time to sit in front of my computer at home.
All of that, however, is about to change as I have finally caught up with technology and got myself an internet-enabled phone.
All those hours spent bored between shifts will no longer be wasted.
My only immediate problem is the dozens of lovely photos stored on my PC waiting to be uploaded... They, I guess, will have to wait for the time being.

Sparrowhawk pays us a visit

I just looked out of my window to see what birds were on the feeder - expecting to see a woodpecker or a couple of great tits.
Instead, the feeder was looking rather deserted and, rather than the usual array of garden birds, I saw a sparrowhawk perched on the edge of my compost heap, surveying the area - no doubt looking for some lunch.
It's not the first time we have seen birds of prey in the garden - sparrowhawks and kestrels are regular visitors here in the winter - but this is the first time we have seen one at this time of year.
It was a browny colour, so presumably a female, and had white feathers on its wings and back.
It sat there for ages, looking about. I managed to get a couple of shots but decided to watch it through my binoculars.
What a treat...