Friday 2 June 2017

DRY, WET, WET!!!, DRY


Stupid old geezer praying for a bit of rain as the garden was so dry but ma nature was unable to temperate her donation. Poppies and catmint flat, rhubarb and pond happy.


When we were recently in Inverewe Gardens in Scotland we saw this plant and I could not think what it was (just being thick). Was it a strange wallflower? So I emailed them and they replied - it is a Matthiola incana alba (night scented stock) - of course!
Another stupid old geezer moment.



In the garden there is a lot of flower on the azaleas - heady scent and on the hawthorn - now moving from bees to flies so was nice scent but now more like old meat!

Anyway lots of colour, self sown hesperis and the allium purple sensation is spreading itself. Forget-me-nots are nearly done.


There is a dead bit on a box ball - is it box blight - I hope not - watch this space?
A ceiling light went in our bathroom so I replaced it. As I did I was showered by dead bees - from the swarm we had two or three years ago that got into the roof space.
Tuesday - still cannot mow as grass wet and getting long.
 

The way to the wood is up the path above. At the end there is a choice, straight on between high beech hedging or right as shown here, up the now dilapidated steps - I must do those (one day). 

 When the garden is mown it does have a much tidier look, if only we had drier weather more often.


Now for a curiosity - this rather disgusting looking gelatinous growth has appeared in the middle of the path to the veg beds. It is Nostoc commune which is a cyanobacterium. It has been around on earth for about 3.5 billion years. Some people - e.g. in the Philippines put it in salads. I think I'll pass on that one. It is also called Star Jelly and Witches' Butter.

Now, by the stream (that is dry despite the rain) two of the candelabra primulas from by the pond have appeared. I cannot remember if I scattered some seed there or they have just done their own thing. The others are in fine fettle below the pond where the ducks are keeping the algae at bay - unfortunately they also make it muddy so it is a dull brown.
Have I voted? 
Yup but not saying for who - anyway it all seems a wasted exercise.  Getting on in years and I think that this chaotic world is best left to the next generation - though I wonder why we have heard so little about the real problems facing the earth such as overpopulation, pollution, the destruction of the natural environment. Old Nick has really played his trump card with the new President across the big pond, it seems a land of egocentric ostriches, burying heads in their bank balances. 

And finally a photo of the sward walking east from Rosemarkie on the Black Isle, bluebells and primroses. There were other plants of interest there - it is a site of interest - saxifrages and so on - too many to name. This walk was just after a coffee by the beach which was just after an hour with the dolphins off Chanonry Point.

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