More Garden Stuff...

We watched the film In Bruges last night.  Mainly because it's set in Bruges (duh!) and we've enjoyed several holidays there in previous years...  But I'd also heard it was a good film.

Gangster/heist type movies are very hit and miss with me.  Sometimes, they have an epic Shakesperean quality and I thoroughly enjoy them.  At other times, they're mindless shoot 'em ups featuring unattractive two-dimensional characters with absolutely no redeeming qualities and I end up wondering why I just wasted two hours of my life.

I'm pleased to report that In Bruges fell into the first category.  I really liked it, and will probably wind up buying the DVD.  I spent the first half of the film thinking when are they going to show that horrid 15th century painting of the unfortunate crooked town councillor getting flayed alive (it seemed appropriate in the context of the movie...) and sure enough, it soon made its appearance!!  And the finale was quite phantasmagorical - loads of folk dressed in medieval costume milling about as the story reaches its bloody conclusion.  It's well worth checking out.

I digress.  I said this was going to be a garden post, so here goes.

I spotted my first evidence of frost this morning.  Not in our neck of the woods - further out in deepest, darkest Ayrshire, where it's further inland and therefore more prone to cold nights.  But it's a sure sign that the years finally on the turn.

But it's very warm at the moment in the daylight hours.  The plants are putting on a final spurt, and so it looks as if there will be one last display of colour before Nature battens down the hatches for the winter.  The verbena in the Accidental Flowerbed might just make it in time, and the pots are still going fairly strong.  Even the petunia and surfinia aren't doing too badly, considering they've been slugged all summer long.

Yesterday, I was going to post a picture of our resident dinosaur, but it meant some photo manipulation was required and I wanted to get my post done quickly.  So I've decided to post it today, instead:-

 

He was originally a handsome wickerwork creature, but he's rotted down a bit since we got him, and now all that's left (apart from the eyes and the tongue!) is the frame. When he finally disintegrates, he'll be sorely missed!

And lastly, as I toured the borders today, I spotted this:-
 

 

I believe it's a sparaxis.  It's a summer flowering bulb that I've tried planting several times before through the years without any success, but this year I've had one in bloom.  Is this because the weather conditions have been better than usual?  Or is it because the Daily Mail does good bulbs in its plant offer,  Because yes, once again, I have the Daily Mail Free Plant offer to thank for this rather lovely flower.

 

Humph....  As I've said before, and I'm sure I'll say again...  At least they're good for something....

More Garden Stuff...

We watched the film In Bruges last night.  Mainly because it's set in Bruges (duh!) and we've enjoyed several holidays there in previous years...  But I'd also heard it was a good film.

Gangster/heist type movies are very hit and miss with me.  Sometimes, they have an epic Shakesperean quality and I thoroughly enjoy them.  At other times, they're mindless shoot 'em ups featuring unattractive two-dimensional characters with absolutely no redeeming qualities and I end up wondering why I just wasted two hours of my life.

I'm pleased to report that In Bruges fell into the first category.  I really liked it, and will probably wind up buying the DVD.  I spent the first half of the film thinking when are they going to show that horrid 15th century painting of the unfortunate crooked town councillor getting flayed alive (it seemed appropriate in the context of the movie...) and sure enough, it soon made its appearance!!  And the finale was quite phantasmagorical - loads of folk dressed in medieval costume milling about as the story reaches its bloody conclusion.  It's well worth checking out.

I digress.  I said this was going to be a garden post, so here goes.

I spotted my first evidence of frost this morning.  Not in our neck of the woods - further out in deepest, darkest Ayrshire, where it's further inland and therefore more prone to cold nights.  But it's a sure sign that the years finally on the turn.

But it's very warm at the moment in the daylight hours.  The plants are putting on a final spurt, and so it looks as if there will be one last display of colour before Nature battens down the hatches for the winter.  The verbena in the Accidental Flowerbed might just make it in time, and the pots are still going fairly strong.  Even the petunia and surfinia aren't doing too badly, considering they've been slugged all summer long.

Yesterday, I was going to post a picture of our resident dinosaur, but it meant some photo manipulation was required and I wanted to get my post done quickly.  So I've decided to post it today, instead:-

 

He was originally a handsome wickerwork creature, but he's rotted down a bit since we got him, and now all that's left (apart from the eyes and the tongue!) is the frame. When he finally disintegrates, he'll be sorely missed!

And lastly, as I toured the borders today, I spotted this:-
 

 

I believe it's a sparaxis.  It's a summer flowering bulb that I've tried planting several times before through the years without any success, but this year I've had one in bloom.  Is this because the weather conditions have been better than usual?  Or is it because the Daily Mail does good bulbs in its plant offer,  Because yes, once again, I have the Daily Mail Free Plant offer to thank for this rather lovely flower.

 

Humph....  As I've said before, and I'm sure I'll say again...  At least they're good for something....