Deck in order

If you have a wooden deck, you’ve got to maintain it. Sounds obvious, doesn’t it, but how many deck owners know what you actually have to do?

We did nothing with ours for several years. I thought the quality of hard wood was good enough to keep it as new. Nothing could be further from the truth.

With time the yellow-brown wood turned greyish. Green mould appeared in some places. It looked sad. Could we revive it?

In our Internet era answers, thankfully, can be found at a click of a mouse. The procedure is straightforward, but the job itself is 1) time consuming, 2) hard and 3) very dirty!

First I scrubbed the wood with a brush to get rid of superficial dirt. You cannot possibly imagine how much dirt the wood absorbs! Cleaning it with a jet might be a better solution, but I don’t have one. A hosepipe won’t do, the water pressure must be really high.

Then I applied a detergent that had to be left in for 24 hours. Next day it took me 4 hours to scrub and wash the deck clean. Then the wood had to be left to dry for minimum 24 hours. In my case, it was even longer because of the unforeseen rain.

Finally, the deck was oiled which was the fastest and easiest job.

I bought specialist detergent and decking oil, both by Bondex. The detergent removes mould and algae. It cost under €12.25 for 1 litre, but it is a concentrate that can be diluted 1:20. This will last me for many more cleanings. The oil, called Extreme decking oil, was €48.90 for 2.5 litres. It will be enough for 2 more applications.

I didn’t get the deck as new, like they show in ‘before and after’ pictures, but it is a vast improvement from what it was before the treatment.

#deck #terrace #cleaning #oiling #works

Lustrous buttercups

They appeared discreetly a few months ago – just nice small clumps. I wasn’t sure what they were. They looked similar to geraniums and I let them stay.

In early spring they started to grow, and then came their lustrous yellow flowers. Buttercups!

These buttercups are so different to the ones I used to see in my childhood. They were small and had a lovely sweet smell. These ones keep growing and expanding until they take all available space.  They are probably giant buttercups.

Buttercups, or ranunculus, are described as opportunistic colonisers. I cannot think of a better way to present them. They grow happily in the open space and in the middle of flowers and shrubs, pushing others out.

I like buttercups because they give extra volume and add colour. However, when they grow too big, they do look like weeds. They also get mildew which makes them even less attractive.

The common verdict of gardeners is to get rid of ranunculus as soon as possible, or it will be a lifetime fight. At the moment I do it gradually, pulling the plants out when they finished flowering or overgrown.

I put yellow buttercups in vases, thus prolonging their life and enjoying them a few days more in the house.

#buttercups #ranunculus #flowers #weeds #garden #spring

 

Azalea: A-lister April shrub

They are marvelous now, azaleas. They attract all the attention. They blossom profusely, creating inspiring bright spots.

I have two white bushes on the upper terrace, and three pink bushes on the lower terrace.

Azaleas are part of a large rhododendron family that counts up to 900 species. Then why do we commonly call some plants rhododendrons and some – azaleas? The difference is in stamens. True rhododendrons have 10 stamens in a flower, while azaleas only five.

I have two species in my garden. The white one is rhododendron ‘Palestrina’. It has with funnel-shaped, or star-like, flowers.

The pink one is called, unsurprisingly, rhododendron ‘Royal Pink’. This one blossoms with a profusion of bright pink double flowers.

I can’t decide which one I like better. They are both fab!

#azalea #rhododendron #shrubs #flowers #spring #garden

Vinca major

Now I know that this plant with contrast green-and-creamy leaves and large purple flowers is called variegated greater periwinkle.

It is one of the indigenous plants in my garden. In fact I used to think that maybe it was an indoor plant that was taken to grow outside and survived it.

In the past I didn’t like it that much. The periwinkle would shoot long prostrate stems with sparse leaves down the ivy-covered wall. The leaves would be munched by slugs and look unsightly. I simply didn’t know how to handle it.

Last year I encouraged it to trail in the open spots which were not covered by ivy or other plants. It took its time, but this year the results are showing.

Vinca major ‘Variegata’ has formed nice clumps of upward growing stems. They are adorned with large purple flowers. I need to keep an eye on the rooting stems, though. They must be eliminated, as the plant can be quite invasive.

Greater periwinkle is a big brother of vinca minor, which we deliberately planted in the garden last year. I told its story here. You do notice the similarity between the two. Vinca major is an enlarged version of vinca minor. It is bigger in everything – leaves, flowers, stems.

I like the fact that our periwinkle is variegated. It looks great next to dark-coloured ivy.

This is quite a nice shot of the periwinkle flower after the rain.

#periwinkle #greaterperiwinkle #vinca #major #variegata #garden #spring

 

Shabby chic chairs

We have a couple of old chairs with which I am reluctant to part.

Why not give them a new look?

A morning’s job – and voilà! Now we have two good looking pieces of garden furniture.

#chairs #shabbychic #garden #furniture

Spring ideas from forest

While I toil to create beautiful arrangements in the garden, the nature does it effortlessly in the woods nearby.

I spotted periwinkle and ferns, wild strawberries and nettles, and many more beautiful flowers and plants which are yet unknown to me.

I may borrow some of the nature’s ideas for my garden!

A path leading to the forest

Gorgeous little flowers

Small plants look great among the stones

Another pretty idea for a rock garden

Ferns with their caterpillar-like coils

Wild strawberries

A stream running down the hill

Nice small plant

#forest #plants #spring

Lily of the valley – singled out for scent

My garden wears different perfumes in spring – violets, hyacinths, daffodils… Now is the time of lily of the valley.

As its Latin name Convallaria majalis suggests, lily of the valley flowers in May. The climate is mild on Lake Como, so our flowers come earlier – in April.

Last year in June the gardeners brought pots of scrawny plants. Garden designers said the flowers were out of season. We had to excuse their unpresentable appearance. Within weeks, all leaves were gone. I wrote them off as dead.

Then one of them flowered in September. Was it a joke? No signs of others. They have a reputation of temperamental flowers. Well, I forgot about them.

In early March I was replanting part of a sunny terrace and found some roots with new underground shoots. Why were they planted in full sun, I wondered? Lilies of the valley love shade! They were duly replanted in a shady spot next to fairy wings.

As if by magic wand, in the past 2-3 weeks lilies of the valley started to appear in different parts of the garden! Of course, they had been planted there last year, but I no longer remembered. Some of them are even growing well in warm sunny spots.

The best thing about lilies of the valley is their mesmerising perfume. I wish I could wear it!

#lilyofthevalley #ConvallariaMajalis #spring #garden

 

Fairy wings are flying

Fairy wings is one of the names under which hybrid epimedium is known. The other names sound not so magical. They are outright queer – barrenwort, bishop’s hat. The scientific name of this plant is  Epimedium x versicolor ‘Sulphreum’.

Epimedium was chosen as a cover plant for a small shaded triangle behind the house. It tolerates the shade, and that’s exactly what is needed there. Epimedium has heart-shaped leaves, and is principally grown for its foliage. Its green leaves are speckled with brownish spots.

In April epimedium burst with constellations of yellow flowers. When the flowers are closed, they remind me of little UFOs, and when they are fully open, they look like stars.

Our epimedium was planted last summer. It wasn’t doing well, I feared I had to throw it away. This spring it is very different, though! It is vigorously growing and spreading around. This is how the patch looks right now.

#Epimedium #fairywings #bishopshat #flowers #spring #garden

 

Japanese iris

I wrote about the Japanese iris only a couple of weeks ago here, but I cannot help making another post.

Most plants are in blossom now. They are so delicate and so beautiful. Their silky white petals with a bluish tint are hand-painted with orange and purple patterns.

It’s as if many exotic butterflies landed on a patch.

#JapaneseIris #IrisJaponica #flowers #spring #garden

Yellow crown for a tulip

Yellow and purple are two dominant spring colours in my garden. Not intentionally. It just happened to be so. I have purple violets and vincas. Yellow are crocuses, daffodils, buttercups and mahonias.

All my tulips are yellow, too. Honestly speaking, I wanted them in a variety of colours. Here’s a funny story to tell.

A few years ago I was at Orticolario which is a major garden show in Como. There was a stand selling all sorts of tulip bulbs. The vendors were French.

Rouge et jaune s’il vous plaît, I said in my best French. I wanted twenty bulbs, a mix of red and yellow. The vendor, obligingly, marked the bags. R for red, J for yellow.

Next spring all my tulips came out… yellow. She gave me two different varieties instead of two different colours!

Never mind. I still like them, though I don’t know what they are called. One type has classic oval petals, the other has petals in a shape of a teardrop.

The latter opens like a princess crown. A graceful crown indeed!

#tulips # flowers #spring #garden