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On Sunday night, as the rain lashed against the windows, I asked myself if it really was the end of Summer. I’m not so sure it is. I often get caught out like this. I assume the long hot days are behind us so I dig out my jeans and sweaters and then September brings some deliciously warm days with it and I end up sweating out in the garden in dark clothing. So this year I’m not entering the chilly time too early.
One thing that will be coming to an end no matter how much I wail and scream is the garden. The Paddock, which we started to plant so many months ago, has been a real success, seeing as it was a bit of an experiment. All I knew was that I had a vision for a space. That was the easy bit. All I had to do was to plan how to bring it to life.
You’ll remember that this was the plan, drawn out roughly, and not quite knowing how it would all turn out.
Here we were in May. Lots of green and blue but not much colour.
That all changed.
I decided to plant all of my Cosmos in one bed. I did that a lot with flowers this year. Partly to see how they grew and partly to create a really easy to manage cutting garden.
Here they were a couple of months later. An explosion of colour, so bright and cheery. I will definitely grow these again but I’ll spread them out along the borders. They need deadheading regularly but they produce in abundance and I love their cheery faces.
I also put Salvia in the same bed. Salvia is of course a magnet for bees and is now one of my favourite things to grow. Beautiful shades of Silver and Purple make this a real show-stopper but once again I think it is lost, in this quantity, in a raised bed. I’ll certainly grow it again as a border as it’s too magnificent not to.
If I have one tip for you when growing Salvia of this variety its to grow it in large quantities. That’s when it starts to look majestic.
Stocks are another flower that we had great success with this Summer. I got it right with these and they were planted in the border along the entrance to the Paddock. The syrupy smell hits you as you wandered in and the colours were delicious. I’ll most certainly be growing them again next year and I would heartily suggest that you do the same. They are fantastic!
They also look lovely when they are cut and placed in jam jars. Any impromptu supper would welcome Stocks as a guest and I miss them already. See you next year, guys!
Aha! Sweet Peas. Now these DID do well in the raised bed. They tend to get so very tangled that giving them support is an imperative. Otherwise they’ll grow in to a tangled bush and I don’t think they flower as well.
In just a few short weeks we went from a brown bed to this mass of hysterical colour. Way to go Sweet Peas!
And here’s my corn. I grew some corn last Summer but it didn’t do so well. This year I bought more plants and planted them in rows. There were enough of them to pollinate each other and before long they were looking……..
…er, really quite tall.
And I can say with my hand on my heart that they were really quite tasty too. Robert the Husband bought me one for supper the other evening as I lay on my backside and surfed the Internet – there are some wonderful websites out there that I am only just discovering, I can’t wait to tell you all about them – and it was unlike any corn I have ever eaten. Apart from the fact that it was so fresh it almost made a pass at me it also tasted so much sweeter than shop bought corn. Definitely worth the space it takes up in your garden.
Just thought I’d throw this in the mix. Look at this baby……..and check out the Bumble Bee.
Here is the Dahlia bed. They have featured in my garden posts a lot throughout the Summer as I’m so proud of them. You can tell when I’m proud of something as I’ll feature it a lot but I really am chuffed with these flowers as I’d never grown them until this year.
Here they were just getting started……..
…And this is how they are right now.
We had a horrid touch of Black Fly at the start of the Summer which also got my Broad Beans and Sweat Peas but we dealt with that with an organic spray. We also deadheaded when we had to and they just kept coming! I’m going to miss these guys also. This colour explosion has been on my garden landscape for weeks and weeks and I really do not want them to go.
DON’T SEND ME IN TO AUTUMN YET, I’M NOT READY!!!!!!
*hic*
*breathe*
*compose*
The past weekend can be summed up in this one picture.
Food, shopping and wine.
- Robert and I both ate food, you’ll be glad to know. In fact if you follow me on Twitter or are a member of my Facebook fan page (all the links are at the bottom of this post) you’ll know that we took the babies out to eat and had a lovely lunch on Saturday. “Have babies, will dine out” seems to be our current motto.
- I shopped. Nuff said. I felt like a different person having raided Top Shop and even though I am older than most of the other shoppers I don’t care. I will regain some semblance of my youth and if that’s the only way to do it then so be it!!!!! *breathe….again*
- And Robert drank wine.
There was some cooking done and by the end of Sunday evening the pans were worn out and slept haphazardly in the cupboard.
And there was also a whole pile of washing drying in front of the AGA…….
…and a whole pile more waiting to go in the machine. In fact this basket is still right there. Waiting to go in the machine. Oh, and there is another pile on the sofa in the kitchen waiting to go in. And another in my bathroom waiting to go in. And another on the floor on Robert’s side of the bed, waiting to go in. And I think there is some more on the floor in the dining room, you guessed it, waiting to go in. And let us not forget the HUGE pile waiting to be put away in the nursery.
Who would have thought that two babies this small could produce this much washing??? Perhaps one day they’ll stop puking and pooping on EV..ERRRRR…REEEE…THING
and we can go back to our neat and tidy one or two loads of washing a week.
But until that day arrives, on a Sunday evening in the month of August I shall be found flaked out, basking in the blue glow of the television with my favourite magazine by my side. I shall read it for about five and a half seconds and then I shall be asleep.
Gotta get some rest, I’ll be up to do another feed in a couple of hours!
I love you wherever you are and thank you so much for reading this.
Cherry xoxox
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The advantage of living out here in South Africa is that even in Winter it can still be sunny – it might not be as warm but when the sun is out you feel so much better!
Your garden is looking great Cherry
Kady x
WOW – your garden is looking amazing!! I can’t believe how much it has changed since you built the fence!
I tried growing my own veg this year – only a couple of things. The cucumber, baby sweetcorn, salads & shallots did really really well. Only one tomatoe plant survived the dry spell – still waiting for them to go red though. The jury is still out on the carrots!!
Will so be doing it again next year – might even try broad beans & potatoes since you made it look so easy!
I love Elle Decor too!!
The garden looks great Cherry & Team – all that hard work has certainly paid off!!
Your photo’s of the garden are really beautiful – especially the sunflower & the bumble bee! (so sweet!)
My sunflowers didn’t do that well this year – oh well, you win some you loose some!!
Cherry – please please PLEASE tell me where your handbag is from?!!?!?!?!?
It is AMAZING!
Poppy x
I LOVE cosmos and have loads in my garden as they bring such colour. Mine are still going strong so I’m not giving up on the summer just yet!!
Washing is a never ending chore in my house!!! With 4 kids all under 10 I have ENDLESS washing piles.
I have a rule of no washing, cleaning or tidying on a Sunday – it is my chill out day before the week starts again.
Love the garden pics Cherry
Linda S
I can’t wait till I have a garden so I can grow lots of flowers and my own fruit and veg – fingers crossed for next summer!
A lovely and productive garden indeed! So happy you have shared your paddock photos and progress with us all. Wishing you many warm September days to keep those sweaters stored away a bit longer.
The white picket fence, the cream gazebo, the bright green grass, the colourful flowers, that is my idea of a perfect country garden. One day I plan to do something very similar (all be it in another lifetime of course…)
Amazing job.
Kelly
Oh those laundy piles….!!! I don´t want to dissapoint you but those piles never end. You still have to go through the mud and grass stuck in everything, the colors and little treasures left in the little pockets then you will have to clean all the football practices and the equipment for ballet lessons. And when you think everything has finished you will find yourself cleaning and ironing huuuuuuge sizes of shirts, jeans, dresses, t-shirts etc. I think it´s better to do the garden!!!
Have a wonderful day.
I know that I should be complimenting you on your lovely blooming garden but what I really want to know is, where is that fabulous green bag from Cherry?
Rachelx
Your garden is enchanting. Thanks for sharing Cherry.
x
Salvia is favourite of mine too, I have it everywhere in my garden. It makes me smile wherever I see it planted.
You have created a very pretty garden.
Sue from Shipley, West Yorkshire
Wow! Check out the size of that bumblebee!
G x
That’s an amazing transformation, looks like a lot of hard went into creating that space.
p.s. I LOVE Elle Decor too.
Love Hannah
Boy you are brave taking your new twins out to eat, I don’t think I left the house for the first 6 months with mine, let alone went out to restaurant with them! I love your garden, it is so lovely to see that all that hard work paid off. Well done to you. V x
Oh no, I’m sorry. Perhaps it was the soil you have?
Oops, wrong person….
Year after year I try and grow sweet peas with absolutely no success, I can’t understand it
Yours looks so vibrant and healthy. What is your secret?
Oh no, I’m sorry. Perhaps it was the soil you have?
Gorgeous photo’s Cherry.
Cat x
Still some summer to come I hope? Not thinking about autumn until late September.
It will only get worse over the next 18 years! At least you have your beautiful garden to hang it out 
Your garden is coming on a treat, what beautiful flower beds.
Laundry, ahhh it takes up too much time
Your garden looks beautiful. I’d love to have the same effect in ours, unfortunately I didn’t get around to the replanting, I just managed to dig all the rubbish out of the garden left by a previous owner. So next year I plan to have an explosion of colour. I did grow some potatoes though. My children took great delight in digging them up and I roasted some last night (with a free range chicken) for a very tasty dinner! As you said, vegetables taste very different when grown in one’s own garden.
Re the washing, my two are 8 and 4 and there are still piles of things to wash. They just don’t stay clean, esp during school holidays!
Enjoy your lovely garden, and here’s to a few more warm days………
Lynn x
Now that’s what you call a garden in full bloom, those Dahlias are amazing. Will definitely be planting some of those next year. Thanks for sharing Cherry.
Hi Cherry, I also grew corn this year and mine turned out pretty well, it even tasted good! It’s a first for me as I’m a total novice at gardening but I so enjoy growing my own. You are an inspiration and I love your site. x
Wow, what a transformation! Gorgeous photos.
Kimmy from Liverpool
Seeing all the blue sky in your lovely pictures makes me miss the summer already. I feel the same as you Cherry, I am not ready for Autumn, not yet.
Lovely post and have a great day.
Chloe x