Sunshine & Sempervivums

I can't believe we are now on day three of SUN. It is a shame that the efforts to get some Vit.C to help the bones is being hampered by creepy crawlies - the total number of bites I have encountered these last few days would more than win the lottery - anyway, musn't complain because we do have some SUN.

Rain is OK for the plants and really good for the greenery but not so good for arthritics - so roll on some more sun before winter sets in.

One thing which struck me from this year's flower shows is that you can use just about anything to plant in. Add to that my love of Sempervivums and some inspiration from the likes of Anthony Samuelson and I have found that I can be quite inventive.

I have a large collection of coronation mugs and the non-china ones are not really worth anything so I thought how could I use these instead of just throwing them away? The answer came from my numerous visits to the flower shows - yes you guessed it I have planted some of them with Sempervivums. They look fab in the conservatory and you get to use otherwise unwanted objects. You have to watch watering and drainage because they are mugs without drain holes but I have managed quite well so far.

So the mugs didn't go to the tip as I had planned and I am smugly pleased with myself.

Sun still shining

The sun has 'still got his hat on' so it is still a joy to sit and look at the roses fighting the blackspot and still blooming. A miracle has entered my life in the form of a very active and energetic young lady, Kate, who has started up her own gardening business.

She appears, complete with white van, trowel, all the necessary implements and a pair of very study gardening gloves and she attacks the weeds with a delightful energy that has long since left me. There comes a time when either through infirmity or advancing years it is no longer possible to do the work in a garden that you once did. It is a sad time made even sadder by the fact that you watch your precious garden get rather run-down because you can no longer cope.

Now with my new secret weapon, I hope that some order will once again be restored. She filled the two wheelie bins in no time and got down on her hands and knees to really root out the weeds. I haven't been able to do that for years, my gardening, such as it is, is now restricted to dead heading and instructions - I am very good at instructing other people - rather like the lady of the house I suppose who would stand in her garden and tell the gardeners what she wanted.

Anyway, thanks to Kate I and several of my neighbours have now got someone to do the heavy work and keep our gardens tidy. Which brings me to thinking how important horticultural training is and that there is a genuine need for the likes of Kate. I can see that locally her client list is growing and she now spends several days in and around our village. So good luck to you lass and thanks for the weeding!