The first day lily of the year

This morning I was greeted by the lovely sight of the first day lily of the year; a bright yellow jewel singing out to the summer. My day lilies always start to bloom at this time of the year but it is always wonderful to see the first one.

The garden has gone through a bit of a transformation this year and I have been a little concerned that some plants wont do so well. Thankfully, as the season progresses it looks like everything is doing fine.

Early this spring I began to move established plants forward to make space for taller, bushier new additions. The day lilies were part of that transformation. The clusters needed splitting but that meant I had a huge amount of plants (in a small garden). Some plants have been moved closer to the path to allow the leaves to spill over the edge. The rest had to go into pots and they are doing also doing really well. The pots have two advantages; they add a little more height and can be moved, meaning I can change the arrangement in minutes.  

I have noticed a few malformed flower head on the day lilies though. I'm not sure why they would grow like this and there is always one or two each year. 

Finally spring is here and on the weekend. It's warm and sunny and just the kind of Saturday morning I want to spend in the garden. Last weekend I dug up and split the day lilies but I had to squeeze them into pots that were not big enough. So today's task was to re-pot them into bigger pots they can grow into.

There is a slight problem though. My next door neighbours have a dog which is left in the garden when they go out. While they are away the dog barks at anything that makes a noise and that includes me. I've told them about it a number of times in the hope they will do something to change his behaviour but on today's evidence nothing has changed.

I won't say any more about it but I will share a few minutes of my gardening/barking experience with you in this film.



To get back to the gardening, my second task of the day was to start planting hedges along the new fence. Hedging is at the heart of the new look garden. I've realised that I've planted low growing plants at the back of the beds meaning I am limited for depth. I want to fill the whole left section with plants so I am bringing the low growers forward and planting taller hedging plants at the back.

Today I have bought 3 Ribes Aureum (golden currant) hedges, with their roots bundled in soil by plastic. The roots were soaked for a while but maybe I should have removed the soil too? Anyway, these 3 hedges have been planted closest to the house about 50 cm apart and this group will hopefully create a nice big, thick cluster.

Shaz is back

Its been almost two years since my last post to the Garden of Shaz. Far, far too long but now I am back and raring to get into the garden and share my adventures.

To be honest I've been in a bit of a gardening doldrums, stuck in a rut thinking the garden was fine one day and it needing to change the next. I just couldn't work out what to do, so I did nothing.

But that is about to change. I have finally got a plan and I've already been out in the garden all weekend in a wonderfully cold, strong wind digging up and splitting the day lilies to move away from the new fence. Its really boggy mud and heavy going but it was so worth it, especially when I spied a single snowdrop nestled between the hedges.

I have also starting to clear the shed. Its leaning more and more to the left and will eventually collapse. So I'm throwing away what isn't needed and moving the rest indoors. I cant see this shed lasting another winter so I plan to get a new one installed this summer.

Until next time...Its great to be back.

Day lilies in bloom - at last

Our grey and miserable summer continues to dampen all things in the garden, including my enthusiasm. But all that might finally be about to change with the first day lily in bloom in the Garden of Shaz.

And according to my own records of the past few years, this years day lily bloom is about 14 days later than  usual. Confirmation, I think, that even the plants and flowers have had a miserable summer too.

This years day lilies have also struggled to produce flowering stems and some of those that have made it, have been distorted and weird. I'm not sure what this distortion or lack of growth is caused by, but I suspect a combination of insect damage, such as beetles or ants, and the poor weather.




The slugs and snails have been having a great time munching on the hostas, but have only affected the smaller plants and those in the dampest areas. The largest hosta is thriving so well that its flowering spear rivals the apple tree for height.

Im glad the see the runner beans in flower providing something at least for the bees to get up for. I do wonder if the delayed flowering of many plants is having an effect on the bees. Might I predict a shortage of honey next year? Perhaps.

The last day of the day lily

The eighteenth of August see's the last of the day lilies shrivelled and wilted. That means the day lilies flowered for over six weeks this summer. The demise of these flowers however brings with it the realisation that summer is nearing the end and autumn is slowing creeping closer. Its been a strange summer weather wise this year with the best of the sunshine in Easter and the summer being warm, but often wet but more often cloudy. Ive not had to water the garden as much this year and when I have its been because the wind has dried the potted plants rather than the sun.

So while the day lilies fade away the garden is still bright will pink and purple fuchsia, bright yellow Rudbeckia and and the small red blooms of the runner beans. Ive had a great crop so far from the runner beans and given the amount of flowers still displaying there is still loads to come. The hosta's have bloomed and have now set seed, their huge leaves showing the first signs of dying off. Ive also had a good crop of garlic this year with the bulbs now dried and hanging in the shed.

There is the first hint of the ice plants tiny flowers starting to bloom and I would expect a brilliant display in a week or two attracting the bees back into the garden.

Lastly the four apples on the apple tree are doing well. Three of the apples are really growing well and developing a lovely red glow but its still some time before they might be ready for harvest. One of the apples is on the disappointingly scrawny side. Its tucked low down beneath the nearby hosta's and has probably missed out on its share of sunshine. Its an odd shape and what amuses me most is the strange way it is attached to the very end of the branch as if its just been stuck on as an afterthought.