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.

The loneliest tadpole

There is only one tadpole left in the Garden of Shaz. Its been on its own for a few weeks now and I cant help thinking how lonely it must be.

About 4 weeks ago it had two companions, both well developed froglets and nearing their time to leave the pond. One of the two froglets had a very under-developed back leg and I didn't think it would make it out of the pond with only three limbs. But it has, its gone and I can only hope that it has survived with its back leg continuing to develop.

I noticed that the last tadpole started to develop its back legs last week. That's a good sign because now it should start to develop its front legs very quickly and then be able to leave. The worry with this tadpole becoming a frog so much later than the rest is that it has a shorter period of time to grow into a strong adult frog before the cold weather arrives.

I've been trying to make the garden frog friendly since the froglets emerged from their ponds. I've not weeded at all to avoid disturbing them and to keep more of the garden shaded. This last month has been very hot so shade has been important to keep them cool. The wide but slug ravished hostas and bushing day lily leaves should provide a dark and cool environment. The day lilies are in bloom now with the first flowering on the 20th July.

I've also made little hiding places with large stones and lumps of mud.  The birds are probably their worse nightmare and I've seen a blackbird darting into the foliage and coming back out with what could have been a little frog in its beak. I cant help lifting a few stones to see if there is a little frog beneath. Sometimes I'm lucky and its great to see the frogs growing larger.

I cant be sure but I think the frogs might be able to adjust their skin colour to suit their surroundings. I found two frogs on either side of one of the ponds. One was under a stone in the grass and was light brown. The other was under lumps of mud in a dark muddy area. This frog was much darker brown. However, I had also noticed a difference in colour as some of the first few were leaving the ponds for the first time. At that time they were mostly living in the pond so there was no difference in surroundings but there was already a difference in the shade of brown. So why would the same family of tadpoles look so different?

Tadpoles and frogs

tadpoles and frogs 2013, a set on Flickr.
This week I became the proud 'foster mother' of froglets. I've been looking after approximately 100 tadpoles this spring after frog spawn was laid in the bird bath. Its taken about 6 months for them to start to develop into frogs but now the first few have the rest are changing quickly.

I couldn't believe it when I first discovered the frog spawn in late January. Its never happened before but for some reason mother frog decided to lay her spawn in the not too suitable place of the bird bath. Its only an old frying pan but it had about an inch of water in it so I suppose she thought it was ok.

Realising that the birds would disturb or possibly eat the spawn I put a ring of chicken wire around the pan. Then all I could do was wait, top up the water when needed, and worry about the frosts that would freeze the water some mornings.

Its been incredible watching them develop; from tiny black dots in the spawn to miniature tadpoles, from huge tadpoles to tiny frogs. Its almost like observing evolution; a species changing in front of my eyes.
Once all the tadpoles had hatched the bird bath really was a totally unsuitable home. The water would cloud up with air bubbles very quickly which didn't seem right.

I separated them into three larger containers, two upturned lids from indoor green houses and a washing up bowl. They had a lot more room and I could change the water much easier too. Again, chicken wire was used to keep the birds away.

The next few months were quite uneventful. The tadpoles grew and developed very slowly. I fed them on goldfish flakes to start with but I wasn't convinced they were eating it and it made the water go cloudy. I also tried boiled iceberg lettuce but in the end I would just drop round lettuce and various leaves from the plants in the garden. They seem to like tulip leaves the best.

As the tadpoles became more like frogs the containers needed to be put into the ground to become more like ponds. That way the tadpoles could start to stretch their legs on land but still have the safety of the water. Once the first container was sunk into the ground it took only 5 minutes for the first froglets to venture onto dry land. It was incredible watching those first froglets experience their new environment.

Since then most of the froglets have left their ponds. I used to spend hours watching the tadpoles swimming around and froglets climbing out, exploring and jumping back in. Now there's a strange lack of activity and very little to see. Hopefully I'll be able to spot a few frogs in the garden, and who knows, maybe there might be some more frog spawn next year.

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.

The day of the Daylily

The third of July brings the delight of the magnificent Daylily. The buds began to open yesterday in the warm sunshine but it wasn't until this morning that the first buds opened fully. These large yellow trumpets tower over the Hosta's, Hebe and Heuchera. When I see these great flowers coming into bloom I know the summer has finally arrived.

Spring 2011 review - part 1

There has been lots going on in the Garden of Shaz over the last six months. Here then is a review of spring 2011 to chart the changes over the last few months.

After such a harsh winter the eventual thaw was so welcome. But it brought with it a water-logged ground that took weeks to dry out. So once the water logged ground had dried enough, I could get to the brussels and harvest. I had imaginged that I would be enjoying home grown Brussels and parsnip for Christmas dinner, by sadly they didnt make it to the plate because of the frozen conditions in December. I was concerned with the brussels and parsnip still at the mercy of the elements and how the freezing conditions would damage the vegetables. Apart from a little damage from what I suspect was caused by insect kind, I was quite surprised how good a condition the sprouts were. Once picked there was enough for a couple of dinners and actually tasted pretty good to.



The parsnip leaves had been completely destroyed by the frosts and snow which made it difficult to know where the dig. I decided to leave them in the ground until drier conditions and in that time noticed new leaf growth forming. It wasnt until February until the parsnips were eventually dug up and what a huge surprise it was so see what had been growing under ground. The was a mixture of sizes from the minisule to the massive and the weirdest growth on most. Few were neat plump and long like the supermarket type. Instaed they were mostly odd shapes with finger like growths forming miniutre parsnips. I believe this might have been caused because they were left in the ground to long and had started the growing process again, as with the new leaves.

Oddly shaped or not, they were still edilble and so with much cleaning and peeling a good amount of parsnip chunks were eventually cut.