The Last Leaves

The last of the Acer leaves fell this week, lasting well until the last day of November.

Dogwood

Not quite sure which variety of Cornus this is but it has lovely leaves in autumn and hopefully when pruned properly next spring will show it's red stems off this time next autumn.

Acer palmatum 'Dissectum'

Our Acer palmatum 'Dissectum' has shown amazing colours this autumn but I have never seen these colours in leaves before going from green at the tips to orange then to red in the centre. Almost striated.

Autumn Hues

The colours this autumn have been wonderful. This one of my favourites trees which I love for its wonderful name - Prunus incisa kojo-no-mai the Fuji cherry plus it has beautiful flowers in spring and these amazing colours in autumn.

Coastal flowers.

So the success stories in the front garden in our first year living at the seaside are the ever flowering Sea Daisy (Erigeron glaucus) and the silvery foliage and cerise flowers of the Rose Campion (Lychnis coronaria).

Seaside Daisy

Erigeron glaucus is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common name seaside fleabane, beach aster, or seaside daisy. 

Wood Pigeon

Wood pigeons were not on the list of birds I expected at the seaside but they have certainly made a home an in fact nested in our rather large tree in the front garden. They bring the total number of different species in the garden to seventeen: Robin, Blue tit. Great tit, Coal tit, Long-tailed tit, Dunnock, Wren, Blackbird, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Sparrowhawk, Jackdaw, Collared dove, Crow, Herring gull and Wood pigeon.

Pretty in Pink

If there is one plant which flowers rain or shine during the summer months it's the beautiful Cosmos, they have flowered continuously since June even surviving a bad infestation of black fly in August.

Blackbird and Berberis

Whilst the Berberis darwinii berries are poisonous to some animals they are very nutritious for birds like this young blackbird which has been enjoying them in the garden the last few days.

The Villan

One bird I wasn't expecting to see in our seaside garden. I think he must have spotted the niger seed feeder, from past experience with Sparrowhawks I know they have a taste for Goldfinches. 

Cyril the Squirrel

Meet Cyril our resident red squirrel in our new garden. It didn't take him long to get a hang of the nut box, the Hazelnuts seem to be going down well.

A hot dry summer.

With no rain, at the coast for over the last few months, everything is turning. Berries are now wizen and flower buds have failed to open. We now face the first hose-pipe ban in the North West since the 1970's

Hebe "white gem".

We have had this Hebe in the garden of the cottage for a long time but this is the first time it had flowered. Must be something to do with the weather.

It's been a good year for the roses.

2018 has certainly been a good year for the Roses with all the sunshine we have had. This has always been my favourite of our Roses, Rosa Kimono. Sadly we haven't been able to enjoy the display of roses at the cottage. I don't know what happened to June it's just a drug-induced blur. 

Geranium "Johnson's Blue "

There is something new coming into flower all the time in our seaside garden. The flower of the week is this vibrant Geranium "Johnson's Blue ".

Apple Blossom

From cherry blossom to apple, perhaps we have some fruit this year.

The Dove

I have always loved the collared doves that we have had at the cottage over the years so when this statue came with the new house seemed quite fitting. We have also seen some collared doves around the sky this week along with some goldfinches tweeting in the large tree we have in the front garden which I have yet to find a botanical name for.

Cherry Blossom

I have always wanted a Cherry Tree and now I have got two a beautiful double and a single white, not a clue about the varieties but it is still early days.

Garden Bird Watch 2

More birds this week, a pair of Blue Tits. Woodpigeons, Jackdaws, Magpies and a Long Tailed Tit. So that's ten species excluding the pesky seagulls on the roof.

Garden Bird Watch

I was very worried that there would not be much wildlife in our new garden, especially after finding Seagulls roosting on the roof. There are several Robins and Great Tit's already visiting the seed feeder I put out. We have also seen a Wren, a pair of Dunnock's and there are Blackbirds in the rather overgrown conifers at the back of the garden. 

Gizzies New Garden

So this is the first post about our new garden. We are moving to the seaside and a large new garden.It's going to be a big adventure. I first need to learn the names all the plants and shrubs that are already there. Then to decide which of my plants will enjoy living in a sandy soil and which will need a bit of encouragement to survive.

The Beast from the East

I am a little behind with my blog, this Hellebore picture was taken in February before we had the "Beast from the East"  which gave a windchill of -12C and gave even the hardiest of plants wind burn to there foliage.                                                                                                                                                                         

RSPB Birdwatch 2018

1. Blackbird
2. Robin
3. Blue Tit
4. Song Thrush
5. Great Tit
6. Coal Tit
7. Bullfinch
8. Goldfinch
9. Woodpigeon
10. Collared Dove
11. Dunnock
12. Nuthatch
13. Great spotted woodpecker
14. Chaffinch
15. Long Tailed Tit plus four Grey Squirrels