Day 128 - Wedding Cake

Right in the middle of a big soft landscaping project, I decided to multitask. I bought a wrought-iron centrepiece for the kitchen garden, and had to erect and plant it. It was a fairly straightforward distraction, but time-consuming. It had to be wire-brushed to remove rust, and then painted black. I had to construct a base for it to sit on, and I had to plant it up.

It was going in the centrepiece where the previous summer I had had annual flowers and a wigwam of bamboo canes for height. My new structure would give the height in future -

I chose this picture carefully. I did set it up with a spirit level, but as is the way with gardens, with the rest of the surroundings being wonky, many of my photos make it look like the leaning tower of Pisa. Leaning tower of peas. Damn, to late to use that idea as a visual joke!

As it was going to be a permanent feature, I now felt it appropriate to grow long-term climbing plants up it, and in the true spirit of kitchen gardening, I planted two vigorous soft fruits, a Loganberry and a Tayberry, to tie in on the outside. Inside I placed a number of Sweet Peas to clamber up the metalwork, as I felt the scent would be a fine thing when I eventually completed the path leading into the centre of the structure and set a bench in there.

And just one more pic for luck -

I didn't turn my back on the rest of the job for too long, however, and by the very next day, 22nd April, I was wandering round with my camera keeping a check on other developments. The Wedding Cake Tree with the Violas beneath had been tidied for weeds and heavily mulched. This reminds me that a major event had taken place in my private life the previous September, when my partner and I had got married back in the Scottish Borders where we had been so happy. Stan had been Best Man. He carried the rings, but as he couldn't make a speech, that honour fell to the friend I had made on our Apple Day over a 'Guess the weight of the Pumpkin' competition. Henceforth he styled himself 'Second Best Dog' which is a status not accorded to many.

The ground cover effect was no longer as lush, but they would soon spread and seed around. The great advantage was the suppression of volunteer weeds, and the colour of the fresh mulch would soon weather down to a nice dark brown.

The other feature which was looking good at this time was my squares of bulbs in the orchard. Three photos in quick succession will show how they were coming on. first a longer view -

Then one of the Fritillaries -

And finally, Anemone blanda -

Oh, go on, then, one more shot, from 13th May -

I suppose one of the reasons why there aren't too many photographs between mid April and mid-May might have something to do with the landscaping work which I was continuing with throughout. Tomorrow....