A gift from a friend....

As a gardener, receiving a plant from a friend is always a wonderful present and even more precious if it's been home grown. 

Walking around the garden after all the extremely cold weather we've had recently in northern Brittany, there is still relatively little colour in the garden apart from this rather stunning Iris reticulata - which I received last year as a gift from a gardener/designer friend in London.  It was beautifully potted up with its own wooden label (a recycled lolly pop stick- an idea worth considering)  which had been marked in pencil and which I planted out in the autumn.  It now occupies a sheltered spot near to the house and has been in bloom now for a good couple of weeks despite the freezing temperatures.  Its vivid colouring certainly brightens up the garden and definitely a spring bulb worth considering.

It's lovely to have reminders as you walk around the garden of friends and family (past and present). When we moved to France some 8 or so years ago I know the plants in my garden in Bristol, UK that I was most keen to bring with us were those that I had received as gifts - a rose ( Jacques Cartier) that I'd received as a leaving present from another gardening friend is now flourishing in our garden here and is a lovely reminder of our visits together to garden centres enjoying the odd bacon sandwich with a cup of coffee as we did.... something unfortunately that we don't get in France! 

There are also many reminders of the many visits to Cornish gardens & nurseries with my Mum and Dad over the last number of years during my visits to see them when they lived down there. 

Another favourite of mine is the Rose Sourire D'Orchidee which a client gave me - one they'd grown themselves from a cutting.

Why not consider something which is both easy and  fun, and that is to save both cuttings and seeds to give as gifts - it doesn't take a great deal of effort but there is a lot of joy in being able to share something that you've either grown yourself or that comes from your garden. 

Knowing as you wander around the garden as I love to do when time allows (normally accompanied by a mug of coffee) that different plants were given to you from different friends and family is very special.

Belated Happy Valentines....

This just seemed to be the perfect Valentine posting.... being that this day was supposed to mark the point in the year when birds paired up with their mates, I thought this was perfect!  We've only ever had, in the 8 yrs we've been here - 1 lonely Goldfinch ever visit our bird table and it was great excitement when yesterday I spotted 2 on the niger seed feeder... and they're there again today so maybe here to stay... I do hope so!   

 So if like me you like Goldfinches, do put out a feeder filled with Niger Seed and be patient... it's all worth it :-)

Brittany winter garden visitors...

One bonus of the cold weather is the variety of birds it brings into the garden... best not mention the quantity of bird food I'm getting through at the moment!!  This little ceramic feeder was a Christmas pressie and the birds love it... they can get right inside it and just enjoy a good feed of the mixed seed/nuts that I've got inside... a bit like a bird version of Santa's Grotto!!

After everyone's comments about the feeder, I thought I'd just post some info on where you can buy one... and they do send overseas as well - http://www.capitalgardens.co.uk/ceramic-wild-bird-seed-feeder-p-21463.html - hope this helps!

Having seen all the advertising for the Garden Birdwatch which took place in the UK recently it's been interesting to see a few changes in the numbers and species of the birds visiting our garden this winter too.  We have many Blue and Great Tits, Robins, more Chaffinches than normal, Greenfinches (not so many), Dunnocks, Blackbirds, Sparrows, Wrens and Nuthatches too but I've not seen many Song Thrushes, Redwings or Fieldfayres either, but maybe they are yet to arrive.  I have also spotted the odd Gold Crested Wren as well which is v. exciting.

We've never had many Goldfinches visiting our garden which is a shame - we had one it's own that came last year and despite putting out a niger seed feeder we still have only one... they're quite a splash of bright colour in the garden at this time of year!  Maybe it really is Billy no mates and the same lonely bird that keeps returning?!

The weather in Brittany this last week or so has been pretty cold - I think it was about minus 7 degrees C last night so we've done our best to provide the birds with a number of feeding stations this year - their favorite spot though, is in the trees where there's a bit of shelter and protection from the Sparrow Hawks around here.

One thing not to forget about is providing enough water for the birds which they desperately need when the weather is this cold.  Our water feeder has been frozen solid every day!

This rather handsome male Great Spotted Woodpecker (they have red on their head as well as their tummy!) spent quite a bit of time on the fat balls today.  It's a good time of year for spotting they around here with the lack of foliage on the trees.

Do hope you're keeping warm and that it's not as cold where you are... 

Do consider our little feathered friends in the cold weather as they really do depend on kind people putting out what they need in winter just to survive.  If you live in the UK I could highly recommend BRINVALE BIRD FOODS - I ordered some fat squares when I was last over and their service was EXCELLENT - so helpful and very reasonable and if you order over 10kg delivery is free - my order arrived in 24hrs!  If you decide to give them a go do let them know that you got the contact from this blog (I don't get any payment for this but it's just good for them to know!)... many thanks

Very Happy New Year for 2012.... much to do in the garden at the start of another year

A rather belated Happy New Year for 2012 and what a contrast of weather we've had in Brittany in just three weeks... I'm confused, so it must be even more confusing for the poor plants let alone the birds - at this rate they'll be starting to nest! 

 This cold weather finally left today but we've had about 5 days of beautiful sunny days, clear blue skies and white frost everywhere for about half of the day - some areas of the garden that don't get much sun at this time of year have been frosted over all day. This cold weather finally left today but we've had about 5 days of beautiful sunny days, clear blue skies and white frost everywhere for about half of the day - some areas of the garden that don't get much sun at this time of year have been frosted over all day.

 

A few days ago I'd been around the garden taking pictures of all the plants in bloom and for the beginning of January we've an interesting mix already.  The Helebores never disappoint and couldn't imagine the garden without them.  One word of advice though, if you don't have a large garden and you don't want your beds over run with Helebore seedlings it's advisable to cut back the seed heads before the set seed!  If you do have the space though it's great to see all the cross bred varieties that you end up with. 

Another tip is to cut back the large leaves that they produce before the main flowering starts - that way the flowers have the chance to grow more upright and a bit taller too giving a much better display.

I'm also v. pleased to see the developing Camellias this year - SO much earlier than usual.  We don't normally get them in bloom much before the end of February.  Following the poor show of blooms last year I did take a lot of care to water our plants a lot during the very dry summer of 2011 and also fed them with Miracle Grow plant feed for ericaceous plants which seems to have done the trick... more pics to follow as they bloom!

This little Camellia - sasanqua "Evangelica" was the first to flower in late December - smaller blooms than many of the other varieties and SO pretty.

Amazed to see that we've got Campanulas blooming in January - v. unusual!

The winter flowering Honeysuckle is a must for any garden - this is a great plant for anyone wanting to spoil the bees who don't exactly have a great source of pollen in January.  This shrub looses most of it's leaves in autumn and then produces a mass of pale yellow/cream coloured small but amazingly fragrant flowers in January - it flowers for at least 2 months.  Now that this has grown somewhat, I'm planning on growing a clematis through this to give some colour later in the year too.

Another favourite... Viburnum x bodnantense "Dawn" - another shrub producing incredibly fragrant blooms on bear stems at this time of year but be warned it does not like to be too dry - best given a good layer of mulch to help prevent it drying out in summer!

Catkins on their way out already.

A mass of bright yellow Gorse that I spotted out on a recent walk.

Even the odd clump of vivid Red Campion is flowering in our woodland.

Little pale yellow primroses have also been out since the beginning of January which is something I've not seen here before.

And then came the cruel frost of about a week ago now ... an amazing morning for a walk as well - I've never seen so many frozen cobwebs which seemed to envelop much of the plant life either side of the track that I was walking on... an incredible sight and one difficult to catch on camera in the bright morning sunshine.

I did go a bit mad on the photo taking but it was so beautiful I wanted to take as many shots as I could - all said and done I'm not sure they do the whole spectacle justice but I hope you enjoy them!

Giant Hogweed which grows extremely well here makes a great subject for a winter photo... here...

& here!

Back to the confines of our garden the remains of the Echinops seed heads also make interesting frosted photos too.










I wouldn't be without Honesty either - both for its' decorative seed heads and






















also for its' pretty flowers - normally showing in mid spring... but unfortunately these blooms didn't last long with all the frost.

I couldn't do this posting without adding these of the fox that I spotted on my walk as well - v. exciting but a shame it wasn't that bit closer.  The wooded area behind the fox stretches for quite a distance along the bottom of the fields and there's quite a drop below to a small river.  There are masses of holes all along here - obviously quite an active series of dens.  We walk along here quite regularly but it's not often you see a fox in broad daylight.

Unfortunately once the fox had spotted us it made a speedy exit... hopefully I'll get the chance to take more photos in the weeks to come!

Do hope you are all having a really good start to 2012 and I much look forward to sharing more from our little corner of Brittany and beyond in the months and weeks to come.

A special gift for all plant and nature lovers...

I just had to add a posting for the benefit of all who read my blog on a beautiful gift that we received from our lovely friends Liz and Mike Fraser who spent 12 years living at the Cape of Good Hope.  They have just published this truly stunning book on the amazing variety of plant life at the Cape, together with the stories of  plant collectors'  expeditions to the Cape over the last 300 years - entertainingly written by Mike, whose "day job" is a Conservation Officer for the RSPB and with gorgeous illustrations by professional artist Liz.

You can see some sample pages of the book and find further information on their website.

To buy a copy - you can purchase this through Amazon UK or at a number of other websites

If you're looking for a special present for a friend or family member for a birthday or Christmas or a wedding present even... look no further - IT'S FABULOUS!

Look on the Blight side!

Whilst watching the TV programme Coast last weekend I was reminded of  the horrors during the Great Famine in Ireland during the mid 1800's or perhaps better known as the Potato Famine?  It was said that approximately one third of Ireland's population were dependant on the Potato crop for food and as Potato Blight ravaged their crops resulting in over 1million people dying and another million emigrating - cutting the country's population by up to 25% causing devastating effects.

Phytophthora infestans is the fungus responsible for Blight and can affect both Potatos and Tomatoes alike - brown patches develop on the leaves, and the fruits of the tomato start to go brown in patches until the whole fruit shrivels and unless the affected leaves of potatoes removed in time, the fungus will get into the soil and wipe out your whole potato crop as it did in Ireland (although maybe on slightly smaller scale!).  The fungus seems to strike predominantly in moist or wet weather in mid to late summer and does not take long to take hold.

With potatoes, I've found that if you remove all the foilage above ground, then usually the potato tubers will carry on and develop okay without being affected.  Obviously there is the option to spray the plants but I prefer not to.  With tomatoes, many people will opt for growing them under cover or if grown outside the best thing is to remove as many of the diseased leaves and fruit as quickly as possible and in many cases plants will recover.  ONE IMPORTANT THING - do NOT compost any of the diseased plants or fruits - dispose in a rubbish sack.  If this goes into your compost, the disease is much more likely to become a real problem especially where the compost is added to planting areas where you will grow potatoes or tomatoes the following year.   

TIPS TO AVOID BLIGHT: 

• Do not to grow these two crops in close proximity to one another.
• Try operating a good crop rotation system which helps avoid pests and diseases getting established.
• Ensure the plants are correctly spaced out.
• Try growing more blight resistant varieties if this is a problem. 
• For potatoes; earth up the tubers well - this will offer greater protection for your crop.

A walk on the wild side along the south Brittany coastline...

Amazing how the weather really does play such a large part in the gardening year and this year has not been a typical one by any means!  Usually July/August is much quieter on the gardening front leaving me ample time to share things on my blog; with the rest of the time taken up with watering a very thirsty garden... This was not the case this year however, and by the end of August the grass here was growing more prolifically than during the month of May!  After persevering with both the grass and weeds in many of my clients' gardens not to forget our own place, we did manage to get away for a break - the first in two years!

Somehow we managed to pick the stormiest week we could have done and it even managed to rain pretty much every morning we were there :-( No lovely lazy days on the beach with a book or swimming in the sea as I'd envisaged, but we did get some good beach walks in and enjoyed many of the sea birds which  were happily feeding along the shore line.  It's a beautiful stretch of coastline near to the Pointe de Trevignon (lying between Concarneau and Pont Aven on the south Brittany coast) with deserted white sandy beaches at this time of year incase you're tempted!

So out came the bird book ... amongst the birds we saw were the little Sanderlings who were extremely entertaining to watch as they scurried along the sand at incredible rates - any wonder the poor little birds didn't get cramp in their legs! Others we saw were Turnstones also smallish in size with much darker plumage than the Sanderlings.

There were plenty of gulls around too - here a pair of Black Headed Gulls!

And not to forget the Cormorants who seemed to fair well being battered by waves on the rocks out to sea!

Having been down to this area before we decided to explore a new section of coast line going towards Concarneau one day - equally beautiful and more deserted white sandy beaches...

Out to sea, we spotted Oyster Catchers as well as little Plovers - you'll need to click on this photo to see them properly!

More Sanderlings!

A lone Herring Gull...

Stormy seas...

From the Birds to the local flora and fauna... of which there is an amazing variety - and lots of late flowering wildflowers were a welcome sight - the colours of some of the lichens quite amazing too.

Spot the lizard basking the sunshine... a rare thing that week!

The pale pink Armeria was easy to spot against the bright orange background provided by these lichens.

Chestnuts ripening...

More Armeria and stormy seas

And finally our last evening the weather was starting to improve!

So we decided to go into Pont Aven to have that traditional French dish... Pizza on our last night!  After finishing our meal we left the restaurant we met one of the local residents who clearly knew where he was going!!

He finally headed off into the sunset and we did the same...

If you like the look of this area and are interested the place we rented - La Maison Rose was fabulous - a 5 minute cycle to the coast, 5 mins cycle to the local boulangerie and yet in total seclusion and peace and quiet - take a look!

Since returning back home there has been masses to catch up on in all the gardens I look after not to mention here and with the abundance of fruit around this year I've been very busy making fruit Jellies - it's the first time I've done this and love the results... will do a further posting on this in the next day or so - watch this space!