I don’t think I have ever planted bulbs in autumn and got too hot doing it. But I did this week. It was 23 degrees C in my area of Brussels on 28 October, breaking meteorological records. As I popped tulips, alliums and iris into the ground and pots, I wondered what the future hold for them. Bulbs benefit from cold winters, so what happens … Continue reading Balmy October
I was dodging hailstorms shortly prior to typing this, foolishly thinking there was a big enough sunny gap between showers to do a spot of work at the allotment. There’s a chill in the air too, autumn creeps ever closer. The leaves are starting to shed – living right beneath a row of deciduous trees means I am acutely aware of their rituals and there … Continue reading Leafy Mouldy Six on Saturday: 17 Sep 22
This is shameful, it’s been just over a month since I last put out a post. There have been multiple distractions, upheavals, a holiday and a new school to fit in to that bumpy thing called life. Now it feels like a new chapter, both with the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, feted as ‘Une grande Dame‘ by the Belgians and admired it seems the … Continue reading High time for Six on Saturday: 10 Sep 2022
It’s going to be a tough month, with little rain and more hot days of 30 degrees C forecast for next week in Belgium. We had a very welcome couple of hours of rain on Thursday evening, but that’s not enough. No hosepipe ban here yet, but they have had to pump water into the canals in order to keep barges and boats moving, and … Continue reading A challenging August: Six on Saturday
It looks like this is going to go down as one of the driest summers in Europe – so far, I say with trepidation. Despite the lack of rain, the allotment harvests have been incredible. I can hardly keep up with processing all this food in the kitchen. It’s hard work, of the old-fashioned sort, but I haven’t had to go out and buy fruit … Continue reading Vegtastic Six on Saturday
A brief Six on Saturday today from my phone. I have been ill and under the weather this last week, so I did some ‘slow gardening’, of the not very energetic sort. I hope my energy levels go up soon as I need to sow some biennials and some veg for the autumn-winter season at the allotment – yes us gardeners need to plan ahead … Continue reading Hotels: Six on Saturday, 25 June 22
Far too hot here to do any gardening, 35 degrees C forecast for later today. Not one for huffing and puffing, I embrace it and like to sit out in the shade with a cool drink (Pimm’s with a few borage flowers thrown in would be nice, or a sparkling elderflower cordial) and read a good book. It gives a relaxing holiday vibe, this kind … Continue reading Six on Saturday 18 Jun 22
The Victorians were famous for being mad about tulips, which I think is totally understandable. They are gorgeous. So a warning for today’s post, there are a lot of tulip photos, well over the allotted ‘6’ but I’ll make a gallery and try to get away with it. To be truthful, I often return from holiday feeling a bit deflated, especially from a warm, bright … Continue reading Tulip mania, Six on Saturday, 16 April 22
The whoosh is what the plants are doing now after a few days of much, much appreciated rain. They are growing like the clappers, everything is fresh, the ground is soft, the colour green is dominant, pure and zingy, it’s all rather thrilling (after some rather shocking snow on April fool’s day, we hope that’s over and done with). There’s lots to do now: more … Continue reading Whoosh! Six on Saturday 09 Apr 22
Hello from sunny Brussels! There’s no competition for the top slot on this week’s six on Saturday garden tour – it has to go to the Clematis armandii ‘Apple Blossom’, full of the joys of spring, and the incredibly lovely weather we’ve been having makes it even better. Its browning leaves are forgiven and forgotten. This year I will try to water it in summer, … Continue reading Clematis steals the show: six on Saturday: 26 March 22
