Autumn really has arrived

Its November already, I can't believe how quickly this year has gone. And how long its been since I last reported back on my exploits in the Garden of Shaz.

The last few months has seen a new border in the garden. Just a small area in the right hand corner but it should balance the garden a bit better. I have approached the planting of this border differently that the main one. This time I have concentrated on evergreen shrubs instead of perennials. Once the shrubs are established then perennials will be added. This is to provide colour all year round.

The main border has also been planted with a few shrubs to give a bit more interest. What is more important and something I will tackle next year is height. There are no high plants. I may put an apple tree in the main border.

I had a little tidy up in the garden this weekend and came across two creatures. Firstly a butterfly which landed on the windowsill. The last few weeks have been quite mild and so probably good weather for them. This week is wet, windy and chilly so I hope the butterfly is hibernating happily.

I also came across a frog while digging in a shrub. It hopped along the fence towards the house and then disappeared under the fence and into next doors garden. They have decking which the frog may like. There is a garden two doors away with a pond, so perhaps that is its ultimate destination.

September brings an autumnal chill

There is definitely an autumnal feel to the air now. Time to start planning for the winter and following spring. But before that, what's been going on over the past two months.

Day lilies - The day lilies have done brilliantly in their second summer. A mass of buds and flowers which bloomed for almost two solid months. That is amazing considering each flower is only in full bloom for a day or so.

Tomatoes - I have four plants tied securely to poles to avoid wind damage similar to last year. There are a small number of flowers which are developing into fruits, but I will not overwhelmed this year. Must germinate and look after the seedlings better next time.

Caterpillars - The pest of the summer has been the caterpillar, (with the spring being taken over by greenfly). First to fall foul of these monsters was the carrots. I had noticed the leaves looking a bit dried and put it down to lack of water. On closer inspection though I found lots of horrid green caterpillars (or grub type things) munching away. I cleared them all off (swashing is the best way to deal with them) and every other day check again for other. Thankfully the carrots have been clear for a few weeks now and are looking a lot healthier.

Cabbage attack

The latest addition to the garden is a tub of one cabbage, 2 broccoli and 2 leeks. These few veggies are all I could manage to grow this year. Not too bad for a first attempt. I have added marigolds between each plant to stop greenfly attacking. However, this morning I found a neatly deposited bunch of cabbage white eggs on a cabbage left. I scrapped them off with my finger and saved the cabbage from caterpillar destruction but it shows how carefully I need to watch over my plants.

All these new plants are a long way off maturity (and eating) as are the tomatoes. Just as well the potatoes and peppers are doing so well, otherwise I would be starving!

Day lily's in bloom

The 1st of July brought the first day lily of the year. This year the day lily's have put on alot more growth and produced a huge amount of what will become flowering stalks. I had originally bought 4 plants, which produced a flowering stalk each. From each stalk you might get about 3 or 4 flowers. This year I have counted at least 20 stalks. Although the flowers only last a day (as the name suggests) I should get a long show.

As you can see from the photo, there are lots of buds ready to bloom.

Potato harvest

On Saturday I dug up one of the four potato pots I have been growing this spring. There was no indication from the leaves on top that anything was going on below the surface, and only a week ago a stuck my hand in the soil to try a find a potato. On that occasion I found something, something small, but something none the less. It gave me some optimism.

Anyway, I could not wait any longer. So this weekend I dug up one pot with the best foliage and as you can see from the photos, this is what I found. This large pot had 3 seed potato plants and from those 3 plants I harvested 4lb of potatoes. Wow. Big wow. I never thought I would get so much.

The Saturday harvest became the Sunday dinner. The skins fell off beautifully to reveal pale white flesh and they boiled quicker than the new potatoes I have been buying.

And the taste - beautiful, creamy and light. Well worth the effort and wait.

I have 3 more pots to harvest over the next few weeks. I am never going to be self sufficient growing in pots as I am now but perhaps now I have experienced this small taste of success I might feel a bit more confident if I ever got an allotment in the future.

Potato leaf spots

I have notice brown spots on some of the potato leaves in the last few days. It seems to be in localised areas at the moment. I've checked the books and the closest thing I can find that might be the cause is a beetle type thing.

The only beetle type thing I can find in the leaves is a strange light brown/green thing that jumps incredibly fast when you poke it. I imagine that this is the thing causing the brown spots.

Thankfully these spots should not mean the potatoes are in danger or diseased.

I shall harvest the largest of the potato pots this weekend and will report back on what I find.

Insect mystery

I noticed a strange mass of web attached to the underside of a leaf on my Sedum plant. Its about 2 inch's long and must contain some kind of insect or insects. I shall keep a close watch over it to see if I can spot what is growing inside.

The potato plants are getting really big and bushy. I've been thinking that maybe I should be harvesting these 'earlies'. So I excavated a bit of soil from around one of the plants to see if any potatoes had grown. It took a while but eventually I did find a very small potato. I left it where it was to grow some more and will leave it for a couple more weeks. Ive started to water the plants twice a day now as I have noticed the big pots always seem to be dry.