Colour on the Top Patio

Last year I created a mixed display of mainly succulents in pots on the top patio. I really liked the effect that was achieved and had so much fun preparing the display. Inspired by that I decided to do something  similar again. This time bigger, better, more colourful, more vibrant, and more dramatic. 

I love it! I'm in love with it!! And I really, really enjoyed making the display and looking at it!

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A Quick Peek...

...at some of the succulents that didn't make it out of the greenhouse this year.

The top patio is once again home to a succulent display, similar to how we did it last year (albeit on 'steroids' this year, coming up on a post soon). And because we haven't really bought that many plants this year, at least compared to our usual rate of plant buying in previous years, I used a lot of what I had already to make the display.

Still a few didn't make it out for various reasons. Here's a quick peek:

Some of the succulents are either too small to be displayed this year, or extras that don't need to be out for now. As you can see at the middle shelf, we also have an excess stock of pots that didn't make it out this year.

After just saying we haven't bought that many plants, the above two photos are new purchases. I couldn't resist picking up the possibly Aloe ferox above because of its vivid red spines. Not that I need another one but it was hard to resist!

A closer look at some of our small succulents...

and finally...

The sole survivor of a batch of three. It's looking promising and has put on a lot of growth this summer. Aloe 'Hercules' - thanks Gerhard!

Mark :-)

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The Table is Set

I didn't get to finish the planting of the succulent table the other evening so the following evening I finally managed to and here it is now...

And it was oiled too! Until I saw again what it looked like last year did I realise how much the wood has aged to grey. Nothing wrong with that and such a finish is nice in its own right too but I much prefer it in a deeper sheen like how it was before. Two coats of Danish oil later and that deep sheen was restored.

Before

After

If you notice on the background that the area by the fence is still in disarray. The pot display on the patio is as good as finished already but both areas where the fences are still needed some extra attention, which it got this weekend...

Mark :-)

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Come Dine With Me Again

As summer is looming the time has come to plant up the succulent table again. 

It was exactly a year when we featured it on our blog and a year on it beckons a new display of bedding succulents. Before we proceed, a reminder on how it looked like last year...

Which also reminds me that we need to oil the surface again once we're finished replanting it and when dry weather comes, to get that nice sheen on the hardwood back. Exposure to the elements and one winter and the wood has now gone grey, which is also nice in its own right.

The succulents we put in did well during the course of the summer and stayed out all winter. To our pleasant surprise half of them sailed through winter fine and survived well...except that they all got nibbled by vine weevil larvae in early spring! I treated all pots with anti vine weevil last year, except for the succulent table. Lo and behold,  the succulent table got infested. That'll teach me to treat the table planting too next time I do my treating rounds. Anyway the survivors of winter and vine weevil onslaught are now repotted in a couple of dishes, one of which is below:

Back to the table, it is relined with landscape fabric, filled in with some styrofoam and plastic pots are put in position to mark where the succulents will be planted and to leave gaps as I backfill the space with compost.

Four echeverias will go in and a clump of Aloe aristata. 

They are nice, big clumps of succulents already, almost a shame to just treat them as bedding only. But who knows, they might also sail through winter. I just need to make sure the succulent table is treated this year against vine weevil.

Finished product coming up soon! I need some warm and dry weather soon though so I can re oil the table.

Mark :-)

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Autumn Beckons

It's October now and autumn has definitely begun. Although the garden is still looking very lush and only a few plants have just started changing leaf colours and shedding them, preparations have begun for the coming colder months.

First things first, start treating and shifting our pots of succulents. It wasn't easy to break up the display we created for the summer but I took a deep breath and just went on with it.

I really ought to get a potting bench. This squatting malarkey isn't good for my back long term. Still one has to smile...

For the whole of last week it was sunny and dry, albeit with significantly cooler temperatures than the previous month. The week before though we had so much rain which helped most of the succulent to bulk up even more.

But there are lots of pots to shift so one must carry on.

As expected we didn't get to finish moving them all. We weren't expecting to anyway. Autumn preparation usually goes on for weeks but we've had a good head start already.

I'll miss the succulent display we had last summer...

But they don't look too bad under cover either.

They'll keep me company as I spend more time once again, during the colder months in the koi shed.

Mark :-)

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One Two Three

Early this year I said 'Don't worry, it'll only be temporary. No commitments. Let's not spend too much so it won't be much of a loss if we decide to do something else next year'.

Let us take you on a tour of the top patio this year. First, the view you see when you enter the garden from the street through the side passage...

The photo above is my favourite point of view when looking at the display. You can almost see the full breadth of the succulent display, framed by lush greenery courtesy of not so warm yet comfortable British summers. And you get a glimpse of the 'flying fish tree' from here too.

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Fresh From the Oven!

There was a point that I actually had more succulents that needed a pot than I had...pots. Plus I wanted to beef up our display with more splashes of bright colours. It's amazing how difficult that can be (at least here) especially when you go out there and deliberately look out for them.

On one of our trips out to the shops I had a mission to buy a few more pots that were colourful but still within our taste and scheme (if that makes sense). But on that day I didn't find any. Then an idea spurned, what if those 'things' are not in the garden and decor section? They could be in the kitchen! And so why not add a touch of kitchenalia into the collection. And so we did!

So back into several shops and out I came with things not for the kitchen, but for the garden...

Like baking dishes...

Bottle caddies...

Mixing bowls...

Water jug...

Did I say mixing bowls?

Bottle caddy again... (plus the colour picks on the chairs)

And back to jugs, as some of you may have noticed I have a thing for brightly coloured jugs (the one you pour drinks from, not 'that' jug). The yellow one below I spotted in an antique/bric-a-brac shop in Cambridge last year and instantly fell in love with its bright colour and angular shape. Trouble was, it had a sin. It was a jug that had the logo of a cigarette brand, harking back to a bygone era when smoking was so common and legal in public spaces. Fortunately I still found a way to hide that sin.

Oh, and there were the Japanese soup/rice bowls too. Gotta have them and I love the patterns!

Funny enough, the jugs below were actually meant for the garden. Go figure...

Anyway, the only thing with using kitchenalia is that they rarely come with drainage holes, unless it's a colander. So you'll have to have some drilling to do. And those that were meant to go in the oven have very thick bases and can be difficult to drill holes in. So my suggestion is to use a quality masonry drill bit in the first place and the job will be done nicely.

Have to say I'm loving all the colours, patterns, and shapes on some of these kitchen items. A sharp contrast to what we actually use in our kitchen which are either clear glass, stainless steel, or pure white!

Mark :-)

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Succulent Spotlight

So we've been pot crazy this year. And we've just featured lots of overall and combination shots on a couple of our more recent posts. Now let's take a closer at some of the occupants of those pots, the succulents. And as I focus the spotlight on them, once again feel free to be distracted by the pots...

Dyckia 'Morris Hobbs'

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Pot Crazy (Avant Garde or Whimsy?)

Someone remarked to us last week that Europeans don't do whimsy, but do avant garde instead. Or is it it's just not called whimsy here but avant garde instead?

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Not Much Left Now!

As we enter summer and the growing season continue to progress (yes, even when summer solstice has just gone past) the potted plants under cover tend to also go on an exodus outside.

That includes the potted succulents in the koi shed. Not much is left there now. It started off like this during the winter:

By last week it was like this:

This weekend:

The only ones left are the ones that are either too small to make it outside and needs to grow on a bit first, needing TLC, or simply just waiting for a pot appropriate for it.

So where did most of them go? Those who are 'friends' with me on Facebook will have a clue already. Let's just say I haven't been collecting these goodies without a plan all along.

One thing that has piled up inside though are the plastic dishes that used to line them. Quite a nice happy looking tower it is I must say, very rainbow and very appropriate for the current turn of events too!

Mark :-)

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Come Dine With Me?

Mark set me a two part challenge at the weekend, to build him a table with a planting area. Ok, so far so good, the second part was to recycle timber we had in the garden.

Hmmm well I know I do hang onto off cuts or useful buts of wood from projects long gone but do we have enough useful pieces of wood to build a table.

The table top was the easy part, we had several off cuts left over from the decking by the pond, fortunately we had 5 pieces roughly 4 feet long (about 140cm each) and several smaller bits. Ok so thats the table top, but it wouldnt be very impressive if it was just placed on the ground. A hunt in the shed and there was a decent sized bit of 2x4". Ok thats one leg....

Then I remembered we still had quite a lot of wood left from the old deck that is now home to the conservatory - result! enough for the rest of the construction.

A basic frame built from the old deck base.

Using a counter sink on the deck boards so the screws will be flush to the table.

Boards fastened on, its starting to look like a table.

Taking the rough edges off the old timbers.

A shelf was added under the table to support a planting area. This is lined with weed membrane to hold the compost in place. A free draining mix was used. A coat of decking oil was added to help preserve the colour of the wood.

Getting planted up and removing the excess membrane.

And ta-da! the finished table, all set for some enjoyable meals on the patio this summer. Both parts of Marks challenge were completed, 100% of the materials used for the table we already had in the garden or shed, all we had to do was add plants.

Gaz

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