Isn’t she lovely …

Hi there everyone 😀

Our David Austin Generous Gardener pillared rose really has surpassed our expectations so far this year and she’s only really just started to bloom.

She is looking so spectacular that I felt she deserved a post all of her own.

It’s the third year she has been in and this year she really seems to be loving where she is and is absolutely thriving.

You can see her here before she started blooming … but looking very green and healthy on 12 May …

… and here again, on 20 May, behind the foxglove … with lots of buds developing well …

With all the sunshine last week this is how she was looking on 26 May … just started to open up …

… and this was her the following day … another day of bright sunshine and looking absolutely stunning …

She is definitely looking a bit of a deeper pink than she did last year and I am just a little bit in love 💕💕💕

She smells sooooooo good too.

After the thunderstorms that very night we did wake to a lawn full of rose petals and she was looking a little less bright … but still lovely all the same …

I feel the next day or so I will be doing some serious deadheading, hoping to keep her going and looking fabulous for the next few weeks.

I’ve never really been that big on roses but over the last few years we’ve added three or four and all are doing really well.

I definitely need to find the space for a few more. I would really like one of these thornless ramblers that we saw at Erddig … 

… or Powys Castle but not sure where I would fit one of those …

One final photo … my initial inspiration for trying a pillar for a climbing rose … also at Powys Castle …

These both do look quite slim … maybe next year I need to wind and tuck some of my stems in 🤔

🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

In the Garden :: May 2026

Hi there everyone 😀

May is one of my favourite times in the garden. It used to be the only time of year we had any colour. Gradually over the last few years we have tried to extend our flowering season and now we do tend to have something going on for most of the year.

As is usual at this time of year a week away brings a huge difference in the garden and when we got back from the lodge at the beginning of the month things were really started to take off.

The roses and clematis are starting to do their thing …

The Rhapsody in Blue is looking the best it’s ever done and it smells absolutely divine …

The dark pink weigela we planted last year is starting to look fabulous …

There is plenty of activity going on in the greenhouse …

… and just look at my foxglove …

We are at home for the rest of May and, with a run of good weather, we have a list of garden jobs to keep us busy.

There was chance for a nice day out before we got cracking on the jobs though. We headed for Wightwick Manor with Jackie and Phil, a National Trust property which is about an hour away.  I will tell you more about it in a separate post.

Our first full day in the garden for this month was a warm one and a busy one. We started off out front … whilst it was nice and shady … and had a really good tidy up. I even shovelled the weeds from the gutter of the road …

We then moved round the back and plant pot washing was next on the agenda …

These have now been collected from every corner of the garden, sorted, washed and stowed away in one of the newly refurbished beer sheds.

That done …Martin moved on to some jet washing and I pruned a few shrubs.

At the moment we seem to have pigeons nesting at the bottom of the garden and our pergola seems to be their favourite spot to sit and deposit their poop all over the patio … which has already been jet washed once, but needed another go.

While Martin jet washed it again I dragged out the sewing machine and made some repairs to a fabric sail that we have re-hung … in the hope that it might stop some of the mess. Martin was all for buying and fitting those spiky things but I thought that may be a step too far …

By then we’d both had about enough. It was absolutely roasting so called it a day … apart from the watering that is 😀

All in all we had a very productive day. And just look at what a difference a day can make … this was my first peony this morning …

… and this was when we came in. Isn’t she a stunner …

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The Garden lately

Hi there everyone 😀

We are at home for a couple of weeks … in between lodge visits … and we’ve spent a lot of time in the garden making the most of the good weather. Why is it that when the weather is amazing we are at home and then when we go away the forecast does an about turn? 

Anyway … we have been pretty productive. Both of the old ‘beer sheds’ have been fully renovated and are back in situ. Here are the before and after shots …

There has been jet washing, shed and fence painting, planting, weeding and all sorts going on. 

I’ve had a quick wander round today in the sunshine and it’s starting to look quite colourful and more like a garden again, following the cold and wet winter and early spring. 

We’ve planted up the urn with nemesias …

… and tidied up the plant stand, which is now filled with a mixture of herbs and Bizzy Lizzies …

The pillared Generous Gardener is looking fabulous …

… and the frilly clematis is in full bloom …

… as is the lilac …

Also blooming well are the aubretia, cornflowers, red rhody, choisya and azalea …

There is plenty of other stuff starting to look like they are well on the way … including the strawberries and the Nelly Moser …

Whilst the next picture isn’t that good you can kind of get an idea of the overall layout …

Whilst things are coming on well there is still plenty left to do … including more jet washing, which is the next job. Then I can get my pots distributed around the garden into their summer homes …

… and hopefully spend some time out there just enjoying ‘being’. Though … if you are a gardener you will know … that it’s never finished … always a work in progress 😀

🌹💐🌺🌷🥀🌼🪻🌹💐🌺🌷🥀🌼🪻

‘Beer Shed’ Renovation

Hi there everyone 😀

One of the projects on the list for the garden this year was a bit of a renovation of Martin’s ‘beer sheds’ … two small sheds, behind a bigger shed, where he keeps all his brewing stuff …

Both were jam packed full of equipment for beer and wine making … 

As you can see … both are looking a little unloved … and the pallet bases that they stand on are beginning to collapse …

As Martin is no longer quite so active on the brewing front we decided it would be a good idea to sort out the sheds and just generally clean up the whole area. We are hoping to consolidate the brewing stuff into one shed and maybe turn the other into storage for either pots or the random bits of wood that Martin just can’t bear to part with.

We started by considerably reducing the number of bottles … keeping just enough to do a couple of batches of wine and a batch of beer … with a fair few hitting the recycling bin …

We decided to hang into just two Demi johns with the rest destined for the charity shop …

The Kilner style bottles we plan to clean up, with the hope of perhaps selling on Facebook Marketplace …

We did also find an old bottle of home made blueberry gin … which is actually pretty potent, but quite palatable …

Once everything was sorted we managed to comfortably fit all that was to be kept into one of the sheds …

… and set about dismantling the other …

After a good brush the roof looked pretty sound …

The sides would just need a coat of paint …

… but the base was not in a good state at all …

The more we took it apart, the more rot we found …

 

We were undeterred and Martin headed off to Wickes for a new piece of OSB for the base and a piece of wood to replace the bit that was rotten …there was then plenty of measuring, sawing and painting to get the new bits ready to fit …

The shed itself had a coat of paint … inside and out …

Whilst everything was out Martin made a start on painting the fence panel that was behind the shed and gave the area a good old tidy …

It was then time to fit the new base … which went without a hitch …

… before manoeuvring it back into position … this time standing on bricks rather than a wooden pallet and hoping that this stops any rotting from below …

We just need to re-shelve it and fill it now. 

One down and one to go 😀

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