September 12th 2015

Late beans and a bee magnet

At last the tomatoes are ripening, which is a relief because I thought I’d just be making green tomato chutney. The crop isn’t as heavy as in previous years, but all four varieties are full of flavour. Unfortunately the same can’t be said for the courgettes. From two sowings I ended up with just two plants and have harvested just three courgettes. Runner and French beans were sown late and beans are just forming – hopefully they’ll bear a decent crop. I’ve been busy taking cuttings from scented-leaf pelargoniums, penstemons, rosemary and lavender. One of my favourite plants at the moment is a myrtle that’s covered in white, fluffy flowers – a real bee magnet. Currently, I have two long-term projects on the go. When we moved in we uncovered a curved brick wall and paved area from beneath a mass of ivy.  Now I’m trying to make a feature of the area, which I look out on from the kitchen window. I’ve planted ferns and hostas both in the ground and in containers and also a Virginia creeper to clothe the wall. I’m planning to trim back some branches and reduce the height of an old yew tree that overhangs the paving. Last autumn I planted Erigeron karvinskianus, Osteospermum jucundum, marjoram and helianthemum to soften the edges of our gravel drive. All seem to be growing well, so my other project is to extend the planting in this area with phlox, grasses and Helichrysum italicum.