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The Mitcheldean Garden 2026 |
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This page is part of a series of garden blogs from 2026. Click here for the index. For all sorts of reasons, Spring 2026 is unlikely to match 2025's version. Whisper it not to BB but, for a quite modest investment, it now has a sibling in Penang which, 'at a stroke' has removed our major variable cost there and when Singapore Airlines came up with the right fare for an unprecedented 5 month 2025/6 stay, we took it without hesitation. It was an overwhelming success and we have already booked a 2026/7 repeat, but thanks to Donald Trump and his cronies, the air fare was 25% more. Penang is definitely not the 'heaven on earth' it used to be but the cost of living crisis which we and millions of others face in the UK is not replicated there. It is still true, like the infamous curate's egg, that parts of today's UK are excellent but there is an awful lot about it from top to bottom which I could well do without. It doesn't help that already it seems to be widely recognised that much of my life has passed in what was a golden era. A warning - before you start, if you don't like tulips, I'd look away now. Click on a picture for a larger version and click on that to return to this page. The Lovely Laura in #35 had watched over the bungalow and helped when again the gas boiler 'threw a wobbly'. However, there had been no such problem with the garden. On the left is what things looked like before departure. On the right is how we found it when we got back and gave the grass a quick trim..
One bed good, two better! It didn't happen by
accident and proper preparation is
everything in this game. It was a measure of Yuehong's recovery from her
knee operation that she was able to help with the planting out. The dahlias
were nothing like finished so they had to be left in. I am told it was a mild winter and
Well that was my first draft of this page but when Yuehong went to tidy the bed she found that almost all were rotten. Disaster! We are now working out what that means for for the garden in the future
These camellias are low maintenance plants and were obviously pleased we were back home. The pictures on the right below was taken on the first morning when the hyacinths were still going well and the tulips had yet to reach their zenith.
We had missed the best of our #1 magnolia, the soulangeana on the front bank, but this year turned out to be a good one for our Juneberry. The flowers last only a couple of days at best and we were lucky to have a sunny day to record them.
With the gum tree gone, we took the decision to once again dig up the lily bed and the tulips took their chance well.
We respect our bluebells, we don't cut them until they have completely gone to seed. As a result, they are now turning up all over the garden including in front of the house. It's difficult to see how well the little Braeburn apple is going but the leaves are budding and the flowers will soon follow.
After 12 years our delightful wooden tubs have disintegrated and we had just enough Lidl exotic tulips to fill the patio shelf with less attractive plastic pots. Each room at the back of the house has a great view of the display. If you look carefully then you can see where the two parts join...
As our late friend in Penang, Brian Everett, famously lamented, "It's no fun getting old." It takes longer each year to get over jet lag and our bodies seem to complain more and more after a gardening session. At the time of writing we have the prospect a dry period ahead and we have a long list of maintenance tasks to complete. All the usual suspects (lawns, hedges, shrubs, trees and so on) are waiting to overwhelm us although Yuehong has already laid in a supply of snapdragons for the front and a fair number of hanging baskets are 'ready to go' in the greenhouse. From now, it's also the steam fair season to swallow up our weekend and It's easy to forget that most likely the deer will be back soon too! Click here for the next part and click here for the 2026 index. |
