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AURICULA

A year or so back I acquired some very sorry looking Auriculas from my step-dad, in need of tender loving care. I decided what was best for them was to pot up in small plastic pots and to allow them whatever time necessary to rejuvinate.

Having always planted Auriculas into terracotta pots, I decided that once healthy I would plant these ones straight out into the garden. So that's what I did and they have been a great success.



Often there is a covering of white powder on the leaves of an Auricula, and in Auricula circles this is called 'meal'. The flower can have a circle of 'meal' on their faces too.



Have you any terracotta pot casualties after last winter's heavy rainfall and frosts? How about placing a broken pot at the foot of a plant giving the illusion of the flower sprawling out?

I have more than enough crocks and by using much loved, if not broken, old terracotta pots in this way, I can continue getting use out of them for a good few years to come, hopefully!

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HAPPY EASTER

Have the happiest of Easters
And the springiest of Springs!



Violet is for faithfulness
Which in me shall abide
Hoping likewise that from your heart
You will not let it hide

The sweet scented and the dog violet are both classed as herbs, so can be used in a salad. Another use is in cordials, preserves and tea, and don't forget crystallised on the top of cakes and chocolates.

Violets can also used for medicinal purposes in the form of poultices to relieve ulcers, a tincture for sore throats, to ease the symptoms of catarrh and to lessen rheumatic pain.

The violet, such a tiny delicate flower with so many uses.

Watchfulness, faithfulness, I'll always be true

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ROSEMARY - Remembrance

There's Rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray you love, remember - (Hamlet) William Shakespeare. Rosemary is the herb of remembrance, and sprigs are often carried at country funerals or woven into wreaths.

I inherited this useful Rosemary plant from the previous owner, it is a hardy evergreen herb, and is still in little blue flower now in November! It likes dry soil and mine is more or less growing out of a paving slab, so that is how impoverished the soil is.

Rosemary is said to thrive in households where 'the mistress, not the master, rules', maybe that is why it thrives so well in my garden!

Rosemary Hair Rinse - Infuse a few stalks of Rosemary in hot water for several minutes, strain the liquid and allow to cool and bottle, this can be used as a final hair rinse, but always remember to keep it handy in the bathroom! This rinse will bring out the shine in dark hair, for fair hair replace the Rosemary with Chamomile flowers.

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SEEDHEAD

I love everything about the summer, the sunshine, the long days and of course the lovely blooms which give so much colour to the garden, but at this time of year as the days get shorter and the garden is starting to look past its ultimate best, now is the time to start admiring what has been in your garden, and this is what you may discover.

I took these pictures just before dusk started to fall and I think you will appreciate that they really do capture the beauty of autumn. Notice too the spider's web, at this time of the year they are everywhere in the garden and more often than not you forget and get entangled in the sticky mess, not a pleasure if you are a bit sensitive to spiders like me!

1st picture is cephalaria gigantea (giant scabious) which has lovely pale yellow flowers, it needs a lot of space to grow into, mine is in a metre square plot and it has filled it, a lovely plant if you have the room.

2nd picture is aquilegia which I do love, but only plant it if you do, as it will self seed everywhere. I have many different varieties in my garden ranging from pale pink, dark purple and yellow.

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STRAWBERRY

… not ready, nearly ready, definitely ready, for eating!

These strawberries are from plants which my dad gave to me shortly after we moved here, not the original ones, as every two or three years I start off new plants from the runners, it is very easy to do. I use lovely old terracotta pots for this purpose, and just hide them amidst the foliage until the time comes when I can cut the little runners free. The strawberries hardly ever make it to the kitchen as I just eat them as I go around the garden, but I do have to find them quickly, more often than not I find that the woodlice have beaten me to it!

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CLIMBING ROSE - Grace

I have only two roses in my garden, one I have already commented on, this is the other; it was a gift from my mother-in-law. It has a heady scent and a profusion of lovely pale pink flowers all summer long, as long as you keep up with the deadheading. I never really get time for serious pruning so basically it is allowed to do as it pleases, a few branches may be lopped off here and there but only when it starts to impede upon the garden bench.

In the summer I pick the young buds and add them to ice cubes, a simple idea but really effective, and it costs nothing.

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GRANNY’S PINKS - Pure affection

This variety in my garden have long stems so I have planted them to plunge over the side of a low wall, their perfume is absolutely ‘out of this world’. A relation of mine gave me the originals as every year she would take cuttings from the main plants in her garden, they are so easy to do, a necessity, as the plants do become untidy after a while.

Edible petals
First rinse the blooms in cold water, then remove the petals and discard the white heel (as this part has a bitter taste). Petals can then be added to sweet puddings or you could crystalise them and use as a decoration for cakes.