August brought a mixed bag of weather with both hot, sticky days (and nights) and some truly biblical downpours. The allotment went into overdrive and we were, as always, overwhelmed by runner beans and courgettes. Happily I bought new book on preserves and many jars of jam, relish and chutney ensued.
I don’t really have a particular colour scheme for the planting in the garden. Plant choices are made largely on the basis of whether I like them and whether the bees like them. It’s been noticeable in July, though, that warmer colours like yellows and oranges have come to the fore. These are are complemented by splashes of purple which I think creates quite a pleasing effect.
After the wall-to-wall sunshine of April and May, June marked a significant change in the weather with some torrential downpours. I don’t know whether it was the rain, or the cumulative effects of 3 months of lockdown, but June also seems to be the point at which I lost my mojo a bit. I took very few photos of the garden and, to be honest, those that I did aren’t of the highest quality. Still, I’ve managed to cobble together a few which tell the story of June, though to make it to 20 I’ve had to cheat and use some from the allotment as well as the garden.
May 2020 was another gloriously sunny month meaning the Spring of 2020 has been amazingly dry. Although it has meant a lot of watering in the garden, the weather has taken the edge off the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic with its various restrictions. I take part in a monthly photography challenge run by Jane Burkinshaw of Love Your Lens, where we post images related to particular a theme to a Facebook group for friendly critique. The theme for May was ‘nature’ and as such quite a lot of my photos of the garden this month were of birds and bugs and other beasts besides. I make no apology for this as an objective has been to attract more wildlife into our little patch and I’ve been delighted by the number of birds we have had visiting. It also gave me reason to practice a bit more with my macro lens.
Continue readingApril 2020 has been a full month of pandemic lockdown in the UK. The garden has been a genuine haven during this time – a place to relax, play with our little boy, and dry the seemingly endless laundry! At odds with April’s reputation for showers and unpredictable weather, it’s been almost wall-to-wall sunshine which has been a blessing, and such a contrast with the endless rain of February. I had always aimed to focus on the details of the garden with this project, but lockdown has brought a greater intensity, and I have used this as a thinly veiled excuse to buy a new macro lens for my camera. Some early attempts at using it are included but expect more from that as the year progresses.
Continue reading
Green City Gardens 