Topic: Lottie today 18/9/04

[ina]

This part of the veggie plot is starting to look very bare. Just some courgettes and the strawberries left.
 
     

The flower section of the lottie still has some color.

                   

[budgiebreeder]

Yes Ina everything has taken on the "Autumnal " look. i did my first leaf rake up this week.

[ina]

oooooooooh, I love that worm BB hehehe.

[Palustris]

Love those Autumn colours though, oranges and reds and yellows, smashing!

[Spurdie]

Ina, what well behaved pampas grass you have!  :) What are the purple flowers at the front right of your picture? I don't think I've encountered them before!

[ina]

Had to get the book out for that one.
It's a physostegia virginiana, we call it scharnierbloem (hinge flower). The blooms actually spiral around the stem.

[Kerry]

looks great ina, thankyou for the photos! it's the kind of picture i aspire to, the flowers look great all mixed together :)

[busy_lizzie]

your flowery patch is still looking good Ina, nice splashes of colour.  We have started digging up some of our beds that are past it now too, and even been making tenuous plans for next year. Your soil looks very good, what are your plans for  that bit?  :D busy_lizzie

[ina]

The bare area will be the salad garden, beets, green leafed veggies and herbs. The veggie section on the right will get the beans next year.

The soil actually feels good. I'm surprised as to how quickly the soil improved. When we first started, the soil would just stick together in solid clumps when I dug it over. Now, 5 years later, after digging lots of compost and some manure in, it's a very nice texture.

Thanks for the compliments.

[Wicker]

Are your flowers mostly perennials, Ina?  Looks a pretty biggish bed - lucky you.  I keep "stealing" bits of ground but think I have reached my limit now.  At the start of the year I sowed two packets fo acquilegia and tried bringing them on - out of the lot I have got 9 whcih are coming on nicely in the ground!  Have another six to come and some carnations. Lots of spring and summer bulbs permanently in place as well as a few shrubs and then the lavendars, cornflowers, hollyhocks etc etc!! I love my flowers in the lottie.

[ina]

Yes Wicker, mostly perennials and some spaces left for bright flowering annuals. I too tried to take some space from the flower section for veggies but no luck so far. Mr. C is kind of in charge of the flower section and I of the veggie part but we do the work and most of the planning together.

Next spring we are going to move the main terrace. I wanted to have one side of it bordering on the veggie section and surrounded on three sides by the flower garden. At the moment it's all surrounded by the flowers but I enjoy seeing the nice clean rows of veggies from the terrace too.