I love pumpkins

I love pumpkins. Any pumpkins.

I love to look at them, carve lanterns out of them, chop them up, roasting them along with
their little seeds. I am Myrtle, Myrtle, pumpkin eater.

When I first came to England, long ago, the sight of a pumpkin would make me so very homesick. There were fields and fields of pumpkins near where I grew up.

But, now, pumpkins are everywhere. I am in heaven. I wish I could say that I grew my lovely, green pumpkin, above, but, no. I got it from a local farm. I have never had much luck growing pumpkins here. Even my squashes got a form of mildew this year, the fruit never grew to a significant size. I had to rip them all out last week.

Anyway, back to my stomach. The green ones are my favourite to eat - the flesh is bright orange and loaded with flavour. I will peel it, chop it, drizzle it with olive oil, sprinkle a bit of chunky salt over it, then whack it in the oven at a very high temperature until it is nice and brown on the edges.

Yum.

I also love figs, but not as much as pumpkins. These are in the garden, I hope they ripen before it gets too cold. This has been a good year for figs.

It has also been a great year for our apple trees - but we ate them all before I took any photos.
The apples, that is, not the trees.

Must dash, early start tomorrow.

Myrtle x

Susie's New Garden

This is Susie's new garden.

It has a strong Oriental theme.

It is being built by Martin and is coming along nicely.

A few floral details.

Scleranthus uniflorus - moss

The raised pond.

The fish will arrive on Friday.

Mummy told the white wolf not to stray from the path.

Children might be prowling about.

Laika's inspection

Sea view

Looking pleased (with the garden, of course).

The opening party is on Friday.

See you there.

Myrtle.

p.s. Photos of the finished garden to follow. M x x x

Thank You

Ginger Lily - Hedychium gardnerianum

Ginger lilies grow well in Cornwall. They are a welcome sight at the end of summer. This one is from a garden just down the road. They grow easily from a thick rhizome, which is also very good to eat. We love it grated fresh into carrot salad or carrot soup.

Just a quick note to say thank you to Kelly and Madeleine, Melissa and Nolan, all those at Garden Voices as well as family and friends who have been so supportive.

It wouldn't be any fun without you.

Myrtle. x x x

September in the Garden

Things are slowing down in the garden and greenhouse.

Time to clean up and put things away.

The Virginia Creeper has berries this year.

Passion Fruits, which look better than they taste.

Rowan berries, which I have never tasted.

And a brave, solitary Calendula, probably the last of the season.

Silhouettes on the Shade

It is getting colder. The days are shorter.

The children are back to school. They want hot drinks before bed
and then do not want to get out of bed.

Summer is over.

But there is some fun to be had with a lower sun and the direction of light. .

Silhouettes and shadows are everywhere.

Myrtle the Moocher

Morning contrasts.

Gates and fences.

Have a seat.

Misty is not impressed.

As black cats are shadow and silhouette personified
she finds the whole thing rather tiresome.

Ebony and Ivory

Please, let me introduce Laika.

Laika likes coming to our house for dinner and a play in the garden with the kids.

She loves going to school, the pub and our local oolong cafe.

She is particularly fond of salmon and children.

She likes to eat salmon, not children.

Laika has an interesting story, but I will have to clear up which parts she is happy for me to write about.

She is a private and sensitive soul.

She takes me out for walks, for which I am grateful.

Misty isn't so keen.

But she is coming around.

I hope.

Ruby and the Magpies

Here is Rosie - getting bigger every day.

I was rather excited to find her frolicking with a pair of magpies one evening.

The three of them seem to have a grand time, chasing each other around the garden.

I assume that is was friendly.

Rabbits don't eat magpies, or vice versa, as far as I am aware.

Strange, and yet, heartwarming.

Here is a bit of Cornish sky.

It pays to look up every now and again.

I Love Tea

I love tea. This is convenient, as I live in England. But, fond as I am of a strong cup of 'Builder's Brew', I especially love the delicate flavour of white, green, jasmine, oolongs, pu -erhs - just about anything made from Camellia sinensis.

Camellias have grown outside here in Cornwall for over 200 years. About five years ago, a local estate, Tregothnan, near Truro, decided to have a go at growing its own tea. They have thwarted by snails, slugs, the pheasants, rabbits and deer, all of whom wanted to nibble the raw product.

The harvest has been small, but it is early days, and things are looking very promising. If they succeed, they will have the first tea garden in Europe. Good luck to them.

I first read about Tregothnan, as well as Jasmine Pearls in a magazine from a Sunday paper, some time last year. Jasmine Pearls make a divine drink, that is almost impossible to describe. Let's just say that it is very beautiful. It is also very expensive and difficult to find.

I did find some some at Wholefoods in North Carolina (whilst on holiday) and have found it on the Internet. It is worth giving it a try.

More about Tregothnan, tea, pearls and dogs (don't ask) later.

Myrtle x x x

I am back

Hello.

Summer is a busy time - there is still so much to do, but accompanied with children.

Bored children. Often hungry children. Children, whose internal radar knows instinctively when they are at precisely the furthest point from any sort of civilized toilet. (My girls are persistently aghast at the thought of using a bush for cover).

Bless them.

They went back to school yesterday.

Bliss.

I have been doing some research for a tea project.

High quality, whole leaf tea is delicious, restorative and healthy.

Tea - black, white, green, oolongs etc, all come from the same plant - Camellia sinensis.

It was one of China's greatest secrets for hundreds of years.

I have much more to say about tea - hope I don't bore you all too much .

It's good to be back.

Myrtle. x x x

I am Myrtle

Well, not really. But I do love Myrtles. In particular Myrtus luma, or Luma apiculata - sometimes known as Chilean Myrtle in England.

It is a species of tree, genus Luma, family Myrtaceae, native to the central Andes mountains between Chile and Arengentina.

Lumas grow very slowly, eventually forming a small tree. They are rarely more than 20 metres. They have a contorted trunk with a smooth, cinnamon coloured bark, which peels as the tree matures. It is evergreen, with small, oval leaves, and is covered with white blossoms late summer. It has edible, small berries, either black or blue, after flowering.

In their native landscape, these trees are known to live up to 650 years.

Myrtus luma is a common sight here in Cornwall, where it has naturalized.

A Plant a Day, Keeps the Baddies Away

Well, maybe not. But, it doesn't hurt. Honest.

Plants hardly ever hurt anyone, unless you eat them. (Except for Audrey II, in Little Shop of Horrors, he would eat anyone . . . ).

Good rule of thumb - find out if a plant is poisonous before eating it.

It is my personal rule and, I am still alive.

P. S. Okay, a few are toxic if you rub up against them, but not that many . . .

I Love Plant Hunters

Ernest 'Chinese' Wilson

I love plant hunters. I find it amazing how many plants that we take for granted come from far and exotic places.

One of my first, romantic plant hunter interests was with Ernest Wilson, better known as 'Chinese' Wilson (1876-1930).

Ernest was born in 1876 in the Cotswolds. At sixteen he was an apprentice gardener's boy. He then moved onto the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. He won the Queen's Prize for Botany.

He then began work at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, where he won the Hooker Prize (named for Joseph Hooker plant hunter extraordinaire) for an essay about conifers.

He turned down the opportunity to become a teacher to become a plant hunter in China for the Veitch & Son Nursery. The rest is history.

At that time, French missionaries had been collecting plants in China. They would dry and ship specimens back to their colleagues in Paris.

Wardian cases were unavailable to poor missionaries. Wardian cases were a type of transportable terrarium, invented by Dr Nataniel Bagshaw Ward, to enable the transport of live plants. Wardian cases would prove invaluable for later plant hunters. More about them later. . .

Wardian Case

Needless to say, the dried plant material arriving from the depths of mysterious China was whetting the appetite of nurserymen and botanists in Europe. They needed a knowledgeable, but tough and rugged man for the job of finding live specimens and seeds. Someone who could send back live plants and come back alive himself. Ernest Wilson was the perfect man for the job.

What a hero.

In 1899, on his first expedition, Wilson traveled west, via the Arnold Arboretum in Boston. Here he learned the latest techniques for shipping seeds and live plants under the guidance of Charles Sargent, who was to play an important role in Wilson's life from that point forward.

He arrived in in Hong Kong on June 3rd, 1899, along with an outbreak of plague. Although his journey was slow and the countryside was affected by political unrest, Wilson made his way towards the region of Szemao (Simao), looking for the legendary Dove Tree or Handkerchief Tree, Davidia involucrata. Having travelled halfway around the world, tasked with finding this extraordinary tree, Wilson was to find that it had been cut down in order to build a house.

It was the only one known of its type. According to his diary, he was devastated.

Davidia involucrata, Dove Tree, Handkerchief Tree

But, Wilson continued his search for new and interesting specimens. During this trip he discovered the Kiwi Vine/Fruit - Actinidia chinensis - a native of China, despite its common name (although it is sometimes called a Chinese gooseberry here in England).

Actinidia chinensis - Kiwi Vine/Fruit or Chinese Gooseberry

It was while Wilson was collecting other plant specimens, that he stumbled upon an entire grove of Davidia involucrata. He was able to send home a large quantity of seed. He arrived home safely in April, 1902.

Success.

All in all, Wilson collected thirty-five Wardian cases full of tubers, corms, bulbs, rhizomes, dried and live specimens, of over 900 plants species as wells as seeds from over 300 species. The list of his plant introductions runs into the thousands. And this was only his first trip.

It must be noted that, despite Wilson's heroic effort, the credit for the introduction of the Davidia involucrata was given to Pere Paul Guillaume Farges. He, too, returned to Europe with some seed (reputedly only 38 seeds) in 1897 and his germinated faster than Wilson's. Wilson and his patrons did not realize that it took eighteen months for Davidia seeds to germinate. Luckily they persevered and soon they had thousands of seedlings.

He married his sweetheart, Nellie, in June 1902, but . . .

Wilson was again commissioned to go to China. This time in pursuit of the Yellow Poppywort, Meconopsis integrifolia, reported to grow in the mountains of Tibet.

He left Britain again in January, 1903, on a two year expedition.

But, such was the life of a plant hunter. There is much, much more to tell . . .

I have had a Kiwi vine in my gardens for several years now but have yet to get any fruit. There is a massive and very old vine at the Duchy college in Redruth which is covered in fruit every year. I will try to get a photo next time I am there . . .

Myrtle.

P. S. I can highly recommend The Plant Hunters, by Toby and Will Musgrave and Chris Gardner.

Rain Rain, Go Away

It has been raining and raining and raining.

Good for the garden, but rather sad for the holiday makers.

View from the Three Mackeral

First born and I went out for lunch yesterday. We sat outside at a fashionable café overlooking Swanpool Beach. Whilst waiting for the waitress, the heavens opened.

There were raindrops the size of teacups. There was thunder and lightning. There were even a couple of diminutive tornadoes in Helston, the next town over, but we didn’t find that out until evening.

We sheltered and then dashed over to another fashionable café at another beach, which has more indoor tables. We laughed, as the sewers overflowed all over the beach. Victorian drainage systems struggle to cope with sudden downpours, as well as modern washing and toilet habits.

Anyway, on a lighter note, I have included some photos I took on the way to lunch. We walked through Queen Mary Gardens, which has a respectable display of late summer blooms.

Crinium Lilies

Sedums - just starting to turn pink


Salvias and Daisies

Cosmos, Salvia and Daisies

Myrtle x

P.S. Apologies for the lack of photos and posts lately. I have had a busy summer. Blogger is quite bogged down with its new beta-blogger service. There seem to be a lot of teething troubles. Mx

Slugs

I love many things.

Slugs are not one of them.

This is due to the swift damage they inflict on tiny, tender, or tasty plants: lettuces, lilies, lupins, dahlias, delphiniums, hostas, horseradish and sunflowers. And that’s just for starters.

Slugs are voracious, feeding machines. They are fierce and focused. They roam gardens in large packs, terrorizing their victims by night. They have a one track mind – food.

I know they cannot help themselves. It’s as if they have an eating disorder. They can’t just nibble a few leaves and go home, under a rock somewhere. My garden is a Smorgasbord, an All You Can Eat All Night establishment.

They have no shame. You will never see a skinny slug in Cornwall.

They can achieve mammoth proportions. I once met a big, beafy slug, six inches long. When I tried to take his photo, he grabbed my camera, ripped out the film and told me to get lost. I didn’t have to be told twice.

Even the cat is afraid of them.

Some slugs eat meat. I don’t know how I reached the age of 40, thinking that slugs were vegetarians.

I had nightmares for a week after hearing that. Just think, if you died suddenly in Death Valley, your body might be eaten by some sort of carrion eating bird or a scorpion or two. But if I pop my socks in my own back garden, with no one finding me for a day or two, it will be the slugs who get me.

They are also cannibals. I have heard that if you snip a slug, his mates rush over to finish him off. I have never seen this spectacle myself, but nothing surprises me anymore.

They don’t like me. I can tell. I don’t blame them really. I have resorted to every method known to man to reduce their presence in my garden. I may have won the odd skirmish, but they have won the war. There is just too many of them.

But hope does spring eternal.

It is an annual traditional in my garden for the slugs to eat ALL my sunflowers.

But fool that I am, I was weak and bought a few more at the garden centre a few weeks ago.

I have heard and read a lot about coffee being an effective deterrent – I have included a few links if anyone is interested.

Earth Easy

New Scientist

Self Sufficient - ish

I have put the plants into pots. I have put them up on the deck (the slugs aren’t keen on the decking). And I have been sprinkling them regularly with coffee – either a light sprinkle of instant or using the grounds from the pot. I have also sprinkled a circle of coffee around the base of the pots.

I feel as though I am protecting them from vampires. I have visions of the slugs circling my succulent baby sunflowers, hissing hideous things to them.

But, so far so good. The coffee seems to be working. I know this is very subjective and anecdotal. It is also possible that I bought some weird, genetically modified sunflowers that slugs don’t like. Maybe I will look out in the morning and find they have been cruelly cut down to their little stubs. They were about two feet high this evening when I last saw them. Wish them luck.

Not everyone dislikes slugs. I was intrigued to read that students at University of California at Santa Cruz have just elected the Banana Slug (which are gigantic and bright yellow) as their official mascot.

I know of many ways to kill a slug. I won’t use chemicals, so I have to think creatively.

Does anyone out there have horror stories of, views on or feelings for slugs? Drop me a line.

Myrtle x x x

P. S. Great photos at Middle-fork.org