Tua Pek Kong Rules, the Mitcheldean Garden 2019
September Song

This page is part of a series of garden blogs from 2019. Click here for the index.

It's September, August just flashed by, perhaps not surprisingly as we journeyed to three corners of the country (Kent, Dorset and Lincolnshire) and were only denied the fourth (Cheshire) by a weekend of rain. Yuehong was (and remains) a happy bunny as after vanishing for 25 days, Garfield reappeared. However, he was a troubled cat, he has the feline version of OCD which leads him to scratching himself  which creates itching scabs which lead to more scratching. He was clearly unimpressed by our frequent absences and would pop in briefly a couple of times a week for a snack. Not surprisingly, since we haven't been away for the last 10 days, he's now back in 'house and garden' almost full time. Yuehong is naturally delighted but it's not a sustainable situation and he will be out on his ear come November.

The clock is ticking, the sun is rising ever later and further and further south, this was 06.40 on 4th September. 

So Yuehong had her cat back, shares in milk producers have rocketed and we have a ready 'prop' for new flowerbed pictures.

Depending on his mood swing, cooperation may or may not be granted. 

We have a wild animal and the former sheep field was a giant adventure playground but it's now covered in (human) head high ferns and is not fit for purpose as a private cat trail along the back of houses to the north of us, one of which we assume is his official residence. Our other visitors have left us though, the wasps moved on as expected and when it rained the nest on the summer house veranda started to break up.

The centre of gravity of the garden has now shifted upwards. Yuehong's replanted lily bed has given us hints of joys to come next year and the honeysuckle on the arch has now reached the top and is wrapping itself round it. There have been a few flowers, but for the most part we have again depended on the hanging baskets for colour.

We rarely pay the full price for lilies, they come as special offers or even 'free gifts' from our regular internet supplier. As seen below, most have a year on the patio before moving to the lily bed. Yuehong needs more space and so these white flowers were to get moved to the top bed which will finally get proper attention now every single conifer / Leylandii on the south side has gone, Richard in #35 having recent completed the clearance. (In the end the white flowered plant ended up in the vegetable patch.)

Runner beans are only photogenic when flowering but this year we have a superb crop, reflecting near perfect growing conditions and the removal of the last Leylandii which shadowed them. Unfortunately, the glut coincided with our absence at the Great Dorset Steam Fair for 5 days and there was a mountain awaiting our return. I did my best to demolish the better specimens while Yuehong worked her Chinese magic on the rest as part of her healthy eating diet. The patio plants are probably past their best as are many of the plants in front of the house. Roses top and bottom are again 'resting', they tolerate tap water but don't thrive on it. About half the fuchsias are glorious and the other half just look bored.

The view from the road is now more than a bit of a cliche but once again Yuehong has weaved her magic although most of the time much is hidden behind BB which was shunted for the picture. It helps greatly that the front gardens in both #31 and #35 are now kept neat and tidy with the grass cut regularly. Actually, most people in our road can manage this too but we have a couple of families who advertise their dysfunctional lifestyle by letting their patch grow unchecked. We feel very sorry for their neighbours as the two worst offenders separately occupy one half of a pair of semi-detached houses.

The begonias (left lower) have reached an extraordinary size compared to their containers, while on the steps, the busy lizzies this year have been outstanding. Three of the tubs contain fuchsias which overwintered successfully in the vegetable patch. They are now finally doing quite well, but they were the weakest specimens left over when I filled the area in front of the new wall so they were never expected to be stars.

I confess that all my energy this year has been put into the enlarged top dahlia bed. In theory, the lower bed had a similar mixture but the soil is inherently inferior and even now not all have flowered. However, I do rotate the choicer specimens and next year some will have their turn in the sun no doubt.

Finally here are two versions of our new view looking up from behind the house. That on the left was taken at the beginning of August with just half a dozen blooms and a few gladioli flowering spikes. Four weeks later the African marigolds are ablaze with colour and there are dozens of blooms, so tall that the gladioli are almost hidden. However, behind the African marigolds are rather more which will not be obstructed and in between are some fuchsias which would have benefited from being planted out at the beginning of June and not the end of that month.

Yuehong now walks to Cinderford on a daily basis when we are in Mitcheldean, she is unbelievably fit and I puff along behind her every now and again. I have all sorts of website projects in hand but progress of any kind visible or otherwise has been very limited. Around the framework of 18 steam rallies we have had seven weekends away, often with an extra night which has allowed us to visit National Trust properties (22) for which we splashed out on annual membership. Each is a star in its own right, but if pressed I would rate Petsworth for its 'house' and Stourhead for its 'gardens' as my top picks. We've cherry picked the best and I doubt we shall repeat the investment next year but at under £3 a head per person per visit, we've had a total bargain and when we travel east later in the month we'll have a few more no doubt.

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