A real, wild jungle is almost maintenance free (or rather self maintaining, striking its own balance).
Monday, July 25, 2016
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Pergola, Sicario, and Festive Lights
Funny how you can get inspired from the strangest of places or circumstance, like after watching a very violent film...
Last year after watching the film Sicario, I took note how lovely the pergola was that was featured on the film festooned with garland lights but with big round bulbs, rather than tiny fairy lights usually seen on Christmas trees. I won't go into much detail on what happened under that pergola in the film for the benefit of those who haven't seen it but suffice to say it was very memorable. Anyhow, I jotted it down as a garden idea for 2016.
Fast forward to June and in the midst of searching online for something similar to what we have seen on the film, we have received an email from Festive Lights giving us an opportunity to review one of their products. Lo and behold, there it was in amongst their products are the lights very similar to the one I was looking for, how lucky was that!
So I immediately requested for them and they sent them straight away for us to install and try.
They sent us a 15 meter bundle of the 5 meter festoon warm globe lights, interconnected with an outdoor battery pack as its power source. The length was perfect for our existing pergola on the bottom patio, to arrange them in a similar fashion as to how it was on the film (with a bit of slack on the wires as they hang randomly across the pergola).
We would have preferred lights that were mains connected as they tend to be brighter but this turned out to be fine and sufficiently bright running on size D batteries. Plus, with no wiring involved on to mains electricity, connecting and installation is much easier and convenient to place practically anywhere.
We are pleased with how they look installed on the pergola and how they illuminate the area when it gets dark. Makes hanging out at the bottom patio a tad bit nicer during the night.
Unlike the film, no violent endings on our pergola please! Or anywhere else for that matter!
Mark :-)
Last year after watching the film Sicario, I took note how lovely the pergola was that was featured on the film festooned with garland lights but with big round bulbs, rather than tiny fairy lights usually seen on Christmas trees. I won't go into much detail on what happened under that pergola in the film for the benefit of those who haven't seen it but suffice to say it was very memorable. Anyhow, I jotted it down as a garden idea for 2016.
Fast forward to June and in the midst of searching online for something similar to what we have seen on the film, we have received an email from Festive Lights giving us an opportunity to review one of their products. Lo and behold, there it was in amongst their products are the lights very similar to the one I was looking for, how lucky was that!
So I immediately requested for them and they sent them straight away for us to install and try.
They sent us a 15 meter bundle of the 5 meter festoon warm globe lights, interconnected with an outdoor battery pack as its power source. The length was perfect for our existing pergola on the bottom patio, to arrange them in a similar fashion as to how it was on the film (with a bit of slack on the wires as they hang randomly across the pergola).
We would have preferred lights that were mains connected as they tend to be brighter but this turned out to be fine and sufficiently bright running on size D batteries. Plus, with no wiring involved on to mains electricity, connecting and installation is much easier and convenient to place practically anywhere.
We are pleased with how they look installed on the pergola and how they illuminate the area when it gets dark. Makes hanging out at the bottom patio a tad bit nicer during the night.
Unlike the film, no violent endings on our pergola please! Or anywhere else for that matter!
Mark :-)
Sunday, July 10, 2016
Dusk in the Jungle
We haven't been that good at posting photos of our own garden recently. But that doesn't mean not much has been happening, in fact it's the other way around. It is summer after all and it's easy enough to get so immersed in doing things in the garden that taking photos gets sidelined.
Plus there's also a little element of being temporarily selfish too, taking delight in keeping most things to oneself and having a breather from sharing what you see, of one's own personal space.
But time's up now for being selfish and here's a quick look of how our jungle is looking like in early July, with photos taken at dusk today.
The lighting contrast was less than ideal this evening and many of the shots we took turned out blurred. Thankfully a good chunk still turned out fine and good enough for sharing.
We've been having so much rain recently, not that unusual for Britain of course and the ferns especially have been loving it! Much to our delight...
Some cutting back on the other plants in the jungle needs to be done in a week or so but we're mostly satisfied how things are growing so far.
Mark :-)
Plus there's also a little element of being temporarily selfish too, taking delight in keeping most things to oneself and having a breather from sharing what you see, of one's own personal space.
But time's up now for being selfish and here's a quick look of how our jungle is looking like in early July, with photos taken at dusk today.
The lighting contrast was less than ideal this evening and many of the shots we took turned out blurred. Thankfully a good chunk still turned out fine and good enough for sharing.
We've been having so much rain recently, not that unusual for Britain of course and the ferns especially have been loving it! Much to our delight...
Some cutting back on the other plants in the jungle needs to be done in a week or so but we're mostly satisfied how things are growing so far.
Mark :-)
Wednesday, July 06, 2016
RHS Hampton Court Flower Show 2016 - Show Gardens
Our coverage of this year's edition of Hampton Court Flower Show continues with a look at the show gardens.
Tuesday, July 05, 2016
RHS Hampton Court Flower Show 2016 - Floral Marquee
The 2016 edition of the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show opens today. Set in the sprawling grounds of Hampton Court Palace, it is the biggest flower show in the world with its many features and opportunities for shopping: food, sundries, and of course plants.
Sunday, July 03, 2016
Woburn Abbey Garden Show
Last Saturday we decided to check out the Woburn Abbey Garden Show. It's been three years since we've been and being only twenty minutes drive from ours, a couple of hours spent there sounded really appealing.
This gardening blog follows our journey as we create our Tropical and Exotic themed garden. We hope you'll enjoy the journey as much as we do. We started our Exotic Garden in 2005 and this site will show its development, as well as our travels, both abroad and within the UK to gardens, nurseries and friends.
