September 2021

Wind, rain, a bit of sunshine and weeds.  That pretty much sums up September.

So many weeds. I try to philosophise to myself that a weed is just a plant in the wrong place and sometimes I actually enjoy the solitude and methodical nature of weeding, but when I am on my knees in damp dirt, fork in hand, carrying out an extensive archaeological excavation of an evil Vinca root because I know, I KNOW, any root left behind will create a million of new Vinca plants, I feel a tad resentful about it all.  But still, it’s Spring and somehow you can’t help but feel optimistic about the seasons to come so…

Moving on.

September at Crofton Garden has been:

• Magnolias coming into bloom, and we have a collection here usually starting with ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Vulcan’.  The second act is from these glamourous ladies is Magnolia stellata, ‘Elizabeth’, ‘Butterfly’ and ‘Little Gem’.

• Early bulbs galore! Erythroniums, Narcissus, Cyclamens, the list goes on.  It’s a wonderful time for little treasures to pop up and delight you. And let’s not forget the Hellebores, early perennials are always joy, even if it’s just relief that they have survived.

• Prunus, Malus and Pyrus blossoms lighting up the garden.

• We’ve been feeding our Lonicera hedges Urea (to green up) and general fertilisers (for all round health) to help them recover from a very traumatic (for them and us) haircut in August, which halved their size. We’ll give them another Urea treatment beginning of October to ease our consciences. It was worth doing though as you can now actually see the plants in the garden bed behind it.

• Closely examining the 3 bare rooted Cedrella sinensis we purchased a couple of months ago for bud activity.  One has opened up, one is nearly there and one is sulking.  Two out of three ‘ain’t bad, I guess.

• Cleaning up the Japanese Maples.  We get a bit of dead limbitis in our Maples.  Sandford is a stressful environment for them to live in due to the heat and lack of rain.  We try to keep them watered but things sometimes get away from us.  Dead limbs (well, sticks really) removed we then attempt to remember all their names.  Another thankless task as our book says one thing and Nursery catalogues say another.  Perhaps Nurseries just make up a new name to replace the Japanese name as it is easier to say or sell? Who knows? It can be very confusing, even with a plant naming powerhouse like my Mother.

• Wisterias coming into flower.  Wisterias drape themselves all over our verandas and arches every year, putting on a spectacular show (even after Dad pruned them to within a inch of their life causing Mum some distress).  The back (east) and north side of the house are already in bloom and we are waiting for our two lovely pink species in the Front Garden and our stunning double Wisteria over the Side Pond to strut their stuff.

On a darker note, we had a nasty accident here a couple of weeks ago.  There appears to have been a spot of trouble at the Snail Catcher Pond.  What can only be described as an act of malice, our Snail Rider was attacked and beheaded.  That’s right, I said beheaded.  His head knocked completely off of his body. I was shocked by the discovery, Mum was horrified by the knowledge (I did try to hide it from her as she’s had a few deaths in the garden recently, mostly the plant variety, and thought she might not be able to cope but she saw me furtively trying to put him back together in a dark corner of the garden). 

Thankfully, we were able to carry out emergency surgery to repair the damage and returned him safely to his home.  We have questioned a number of suspects but no charges have been laid.  Yet…

They know who they are…