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August 2013

Greetings to all beloved gardeners and everyone interested in gardening. We’re now in the month of August and I'm always amazed at how quickly the months pass by. The date is 9 August 2013. I'm taking a walk in the garden and almost knocked out by the wonderful scent of the lilies and phlox. As far as I'm concerned, phlox and lilies are THE August flowers. The end of the summer is clearly approaching, but there are still a few weeks to go. However, today there is rain in the air and heavy clouds in the sky.

There's something incredibly pleasant about the garden in August. There aren’t so many things that absolutely have to be done. Having a small plot of land on this earth means that one needs time to enjoy it, to reflect on what has passed while looking forward to what is to come. Dreams of the future are part of life

I'd like to give my heartfelt thanks to the Botkyrka Red Cross for the excellent cooperation we’ve have enjoyed this season, just as last year. This has been the second year in a row in which the garden has been open to the public (the first Sunday in each month between April and August), with an entrance fee going directly to the Red Cross. It's been great fun. I'd also like to thank the various gardening societies that have visited the garden during the season. It’s been a pleasure, and stimulating, to meet members from the Nyköping, Norrtälje and Sundsvall gardening societies who visited our garden this year. I hope that there’ll be similar visits next season. It’s a joy to open the garden to visitors who are appreciative. And what would life be without meeting others, without sharing knowledge, experience and dreams? I'm a firm believer in sharing with others.

A garden never stands still. Although this isn't a particularly hectic time of year, there's always something to do. Ideas pop up when least expected – wait a minute, I should do this, I should do that. I’ve just now planted a couple of American blueberry bushes, and knowing nothing about them I was grateful to Maria at the garden centre for explaining that two different types must be planted so they can cross-pollinate.

A garden changes from season to season, month by month, and at present the garden is luxuriantly verdant. Among the masses of lilies currently in bloom, one of my absolute favourites is Casablanca, a white beauty which first appeared as late as in the 1980s; part of the garden is filled with the heady scent of the Casablanca lilies, particularly in the evening.
Going round the garden, I can see that next year will be a fantastic year for rhododendron and magnolia, of which we have a fair number. As far as rhododendrons are concerned, an experienced gardening friend advised me that, in addition to watering liberally (which one must do in the autumn), it's also good to water the rhododendron leaves, for they absorb moisture from the leaves as well as from the soil. This was something I didn't know, and so I'd like to pass on the advice with you. And so, if you have any rhododendron in the garden, don't forget to give them a really good shower!

At the moment I'm enjoying a respite from planting until the bulbs arrive from Holland in a few weeks’ time. I know what awaits me then: a crazy planting season in which thousands of bulbs must get down in the earth in September and October, before the onslaught of winter.

In a couple of weeks we’ll be taking part in the ?Sigtuna Möte’ market on 24 August, and I’d like to thank Berit from Sigtuna Bookstore for inviting us to take part. A couple of weeks later, on 7 September, we'll be taking part again (for the fourth year in a row) in the garden market in Skolparken in Enköping during the annual Garden Day.  Although (as last year) the weather isn't always the best one might hope for, it's nevertheless always great fun to be there, and to greet familiar faces.

My thanks to all of you who read these chronicles. A big hug from us inTumba.

Stefan

A Gentleman Gardener

 

 

 

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