Living in a Box

Gardening News

Aaaahhhhhhh. I'm really going to enjoy my weekend.

Catch-up

I've had a busy couple of days with grandkids and neglected housework ! The garden is looking great, and I'm so happy that it's rained for the last couple of days (although the wind was bad on Monday & Tuesday!) More rain is forecast - I'm not complaining. I'll do a full garden roundup tomorrow (Friday). Where do the weeks go ?

I ordered a compost bin a couple of weeks ago, and it arrived today. I'm really pleased it's here, but it is enormous !! I really didn't expect it to be this big. This calls for some major re-arranging in the garden. (I'll take a photo of it tomorrow). Mind you, I have been re-arranging already. I've been moving plants around (a bit like moving furniture around I suppose). I was a bit rash in my initial planting (over enthusiastic), and now that the garden is beginning to fill up, I can see I was not very wise in some of my decisions. Nothing that can't be rectified though.

I'll post photos tomorrow - if the day is bright enough to take any !

15th May

Today is the day that gardeners take photos of what's blooming in their gardens, and leave a comment at Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

Wonderful Weekend

It was very much a gardener's weekend ! On Saturday, the Grove Horticultural Society had a plant sale in the Village Hall - a few doors along from my front door. It was great to see all the plants that the members are growing, and I picked up a couple of bargains. (I am only buying bargains these days - I've spent far too much on the garden lately !!)

I got this little fern.

And a few daylilies.

Yesterday (Monday) was a holiday here. What a wonderful afternoon we had. It was the May Fair in our village of Grove, and the whole village turned out. I just love this time of year - there is so much going on in the community. The highlight was the Wantage Silver Band.

Marvellous. The sounds of a brass band really make me happy, and when it's playing on the village green on a beautiful sunny day - well...I couldn't ask for more !

The weather was perfect, although a bit windy. There were stalls of home-made produce, loads of bric-a-brac (old junk !), foods to eat and, of course, plants to buy. So I bought a few. I bought a couple of Foxgloves that should flower this year, and they went into the back of the little raised bed.

I also bought a hydrangea. I have grown them very successfully in the past, and have wanted some since we got here to England, but am not prepared to pay the Nursery prices - they are so expensive. The stallholder had just one little hydrangea in a pot and I grabbed it for £1. Bargain !! I'll nurture it, and love it, and keep it in the pot. It's going with me to my own home one day.

I also bought this Sea Holly. I've never grown this before, so any info would be appreciated before I plant it out.

After my browse around the Fair, I walked home (about 100 paces), made a cup of tea, and played in the garden for the rest of the afternoon - accompanied by the brass band ! Joy !!

Update on Grandson

Grandson Jason is doing well. I took this photo of him in the JR Hospital yesterday. Today he is back at home - in pain, but improving. He is not allowed to bear any weight at all on the leg, so no school for a while. My daughter has taken this week off work to be with him at home, and from next week he'll get dropped off to me every day. Poor Jason - but, thank goodness, it should heal well. Of course, the only thing he wants to know is when he can get back to skateboarding !

Ouch !!

Oh - bad news !! My eldest grandson, Jason (this is a link to him on Motive Skateboards)- was skating in a skateboard competition this afternoon. He landed funny after one of his jumps, and has broken his leg !! Ouch. He was rushed to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, and is having surgery as I type this. I'm waiting up till my daughter phones to tell me how the surgery went. They are putting pins in. The break was across the shin. I nearly went to watch him skate...I'm so glad I didn't. I'll see him in the morning. I'm very worried but know he's in good hands.

Green Thumb Sunday

Join Green Thumb Sunday

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

The national flower of my home, Zimbabwe - Flame Lily (Gloriosa Superba).

A Thought for Madeleine

I don't know, dear reader, if you are inclined towards praying - but whether or not, please join me in prayer (or sending good thoughts etc.) to the family of little Madeleine McCann, who has gone missing while on holiday with her family in Portugal. You can read about it here. Having a grandchild the same age as Madeleine really brings this home to me. How absolutely devastating for the family. Please let her be found soon.

Garden on Friday

I have decided to take regular photos, every Friday, showing the progress in the garden. Of course I'll take photos during the week too - if anything interesting is happening. So this is a long post, filled with photos. Sorry if your connection is slow.

It's been rather cool today, much cooler than the last couple of weeks. But the sun is shining, and the garden doesn't seem to be suffering from the drop in temps, thank goodness. One thing I have noticed, particularly with the impatiens - they are growing very s..l..o..w..l..y ! They do need warmer weather to thrive.

The beautiful azaleas I bought have burst into flower. So very pretty. These have to be one of my favourites. Years ago, I had a huge shady bed of them, growing under pine trees. They were a wonderful sight.

The tomatoes are growing well. I only have 4 (Gardeners Delight) in the ground, but have a few in pots as well. I also have a few Tumbling Toms which I grew from seed. These will go in pots and hanging baskets eventually.

Sweet little violas are flowering.

The parsley is really doing well. I'm using it regularly and it is flourishing.

Sage is coming along nicely.

These are grandson Tim's beans. He is a very keen gardener, and looks after his plant very well, as you can see.

The lemon thyme is looking and smelling gorgeous !

Little spinach seedling are coming up between the lettuce.

This aubergine is taking it's time. Like most of us here in the UK, it's waiting for warmer weather. I have 4 of these growing.

And...did I mention I need another one of these ??? No ? Well...I do.

Grumpy Grandkids

Not much productivity today. I had my oldest grandson (14) here for the day today. His temperature was soaring on and off, and he was thoroughly miserable -obviously a virus or a cold coming on. His father picked him up after work. If he's the same tomorrow, I'll be taking him over to the Doctor. Granddaughter Meg is full of a cold too ! Her nose is blocked and she is as miserable as sin because she can't breathe ! Needless to say, we had a very grumpy time today, bless 'em.  Let's hope they feel better tomorrow !

As a result of the grumpy grandkids, I didn't get much done at all - neither in the house nor the garden. I spent most of today either mopping brows, supplying cool drinks or blowing noses. I went out into the garden late this evening when the children had gone home, and there is a really cold wind blowing. Everything looks fine out there, but I am keeping my fingers crossed that the temperature doesn't drop too much tonight. It really feels as though it's going to be cold ! Hope not.

So...I am tired tonight ! I'll spend another hour on the computer visiting a few blogs, and then it's off to bed. Tomorrow will be a much better day.