This time of year the colours of autumn are a joy whether viewed in the countryside as you drive or walk around or with the more up close views in the garden. I mentioned in my previous post during wet days the bird feeders have been popular this year especially with the Blue Tit family, … Continue reading Autumn Colour in Our Garden@19
July this year has been one of the wettest on record here in some areas of the united kingdom. Last year we were experiencing 40°C heat at this time of year. Learning how to garden with these changing conditions, is going to prove very difficult It must be even more so for the wildlife around … Continue reading Young birds in Our Garden@19.
With a second period of cold weather here in sunny Worcester I thought it was a good time to repost this article. 'Feed the birds tuppence a bag' goes the song from the film Mary Poppins. I feed the birds in the garden all year round, it costs a little more these days. Observing … Continue reading ‘Feed The Birds’
When I was sitting in the garden yesterday, I was delighted to see the birds were using these pot saucers as a water supply.
A calendar showing pictures from Our Garden@19 during the year.
I have previously written about St Wulstan's Nature Reserve being a favourite walk. These pictures are from our visit yesterday. Even a wet December day can provided some photo opportunities. Photographs taken with a Canon EOS1100D with a Canon 18-200mm lens.
With encouragement from the Government and countryside organisations such as the RHS and NT there is an increasing interest in planting trees and the benefits to the environment of doing so. While most of these reported on are on a large scale, if chosen correctly there are some wonderful ornamental and fruitful trees for even … Continue reading Trees for the small garden.
This is the first time a Nuthatch has visited the garden bird feeders
Goldfinches feeding on sunflower hearts. Vitis ' Spetchley red ' Fuchia 'Mrs Popple’ Malus Golden Hornet and Tithonia ‘Torch’ The Alpine Boxes and pots. Nerine Bowdenii Please select Watch on YouTube then full screen for video. https://youtu.be/ShCKEqdnLeQ What is giving you Autumn Joy in the garden or countryside?
This is the first time this colourful garden visitor has been seen this year. These markings are of a juvenile, thankfully it stayed feeding long enough for me to fetch my camera.
With the tentative easing of lock down restrictions our first garden visits have been to Spetchley Park Gardens with 30 acres to roam there is space for everyone. Spetchley Park, Worcester has been privately owned for over 400 years, with a good garden history due to its connection with Miss Willmott. It also has tea … Continue reading Spetchley Park Gardens in May.
Why you should allow some ivy to grow in your garden. https://youtu.be/Ct2GOuKMFlI I do grow some cultivated variegated forms, ivy does not produce any flowers until their adult growth stage when the leaf shape changes, usually at around 10years. They can be kept pruned to their juvenile stage and leaf shape when they will at … Continue reading Ivy and the Bees.
A favourite walk of ours even before lockdown was St. Wulstan’s Nature Reserve. Before it became a nature reserve, it had a fascinating history as a US army hospital, a TB hospital and a psychiatric hospital, it is managed by Worcestershire county council. These pictures are from a visit in early July, the open areas … Continue reading St Wulstan’s Nature Reserve.
This weekend six gardens in the village of Hanley Swan should have been opening in aid of the NGS nursing charities. Due to the Covid-19, this has been cancelled, so together with the other garden openers, we have created a video tour of the gardens. Please make yourself a cup of tea or any beverage … Continue reading The Six NGS Gardens of Hanley Swan.
When we purchased the house, I designed the garden and the rear of the main border, now named the blue border, was planted with climbing roses, trained to rope swags. Unfortunately, the rope soon rotted and was replaced with trellis. Now several years later the trellis along with some of the posts required replacing this … Continue reading A Winter Project and a Wildlife Friendly Experiment.
...........and the bee! The Spider and the Fly, by Mary Howitt. 1828.
Asters, Michaelmas Daisies or Symphyotrichum, as some of them have now been renamed, are one of the autumn garden flowers I have always loved to see. This is probably because of the wonderful stand that grew in my parents and grandparents gardens. There are many to choose from, for October's plant of the month, in … Continue reading Plant of the month.
Choosing a plant of the month at this time of year is a little like choosing your favourite child. Daucus carota, the wild annual carrot, flowering in the blue border mainly from self sown plants is my choice. I grew it two years ago from seed, there was none in the garden last year, now … Continue reading Plant of the month.
The end of the summer holiday saw us, with the grandchildren, visiting the Knapp and Paper-mill reserve of the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust. Link                        The reserve lies in the Teme valley and the Malvern Hills area … Continue reading The season of Mellow Fruitfulness & Pooh Sticks.
Those of you living and gardening in the UK do not need me to tell you that we are 'enjoying' one of the hottest June/July periods for some time, with day time temperatures reaching 30c. Whilst for many of you reading this in other parts of the world this may not be unusual, but here … Continue reading Drought Busters July 2018.
Today's snow brought a new visitor to the garden, for this winter, the Pied Wagtail. From the RSPB website: "The pied wagtail, Motacilla alba, is a delightful small, long-tailed and rather sprightly black and white bird. When not standing and frantically wagging its tail up and down it can be seen dashing about over lawns or car … Continue reading New Winter Visitor.
The snow has brought on extra demand around the bird feeding stations with the arrival of the Thrush family, most notably the Fieldfares and the Redwings. they come in search of any berries on the holly bushes and remaining crab apples. I usually add to this natural supply with cut up apples. To … Continue reading Feed the Birds. March 2018.
I along with many fellow bloggers enjoy watching and feeding the birds that visit our gardens throughout the year. Â New visitors to our garden@19 this winter have been, a fleeting glimpse of a Gold Crest, a male Bullfinch and on the niger seed feeder, the male and female Siskin. They are sometimes referred to as … Continue reading New Visitors.
Today (Friday) was the first day of sunshine here and after too many days of rain, it does bring a song into your heart. I ventured out into the garden to finish pruning the climbing roses, before I began, I decided to do a tour with the camera. The gardener's friend, was as usual, keeping … Continue reading The Birds and the Bees…
I am joining Chloris and her many followers in posting my Top Ten for November, please visit The Blooming Garden to see what their Top Ten are. Number one, the seed heads of the Lunaria, which provides a silvery shine in the low November sunlight. This plant provides interest through out the whole year, from the young … Continue reading Ten Top for November.
On Thursday here in sunny Worcestershire the day turned into a very wet one. One thing I have observed over the years feeding birds in Our Garden@19 is the feeding frenzy that develops during wet weather. I predominantly feed sunflower hearts, which all species of birds enjoy... I also feed Niger seeds especially for the … Continue reading A ‘Charm’ in the rain.
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