今日の動画:暑すぎる夏の海
My wife and I started gardening in Fukuoka (Japan) in 2003. There was nothing but muddy clayey sloping land. At the beginning we made several structure such as steps and paths, and planted turf, fruit trees, roses, herbs etc. In 2010, we visited several famous English gardens, including Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Mottisfont Abbey Garden and Hidcote Manor Garden. We were shocked by the glory of those gardens. Since then, we have been trying to make small but glorious gardens by ourselves.
Lantana is a flower that blooms profusely from spring through to autumn. White lantana is a shrub with beautiful, pure white petals. Meanwhile, the small or creeping lantana is a vine, with long, trailing branches that continuously produce a succession of flowers ranging from pink to reddish-purple. Both varieties have leaves with a refreshing fragrance.
ランタナは春から秋までよく咲き続ける花です。白のランタナはシュラブで真っ白い花びらが美しいです。そしてコバノランタナはつる性で、長く伸びる枝咲きに次々とピンクから赤紫色の花を咲き続けます。どちらも葉には爽やかな香りがあります。
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| White lantana 白のランタナ |
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| Small (creeping) lantana コバノランタナ |
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| Potato vine on the gate 入り口上のツルハナナス |
The potato vine has been in bloom throughout the summer. Several large bumblebees (carpenter bees) have been coming to feed on the nectar, and it’s quite amusing to see the flowers swaying heavily as the bees cling to them. The agapanthus had been blooming beautifully for about a month, but as they’re now coming to an end, I’ve cut off the spent blooms. There were about 25 of them. This is a scene from the garden on a slightly cooler morning during the hot summer.
ツルハナナスは夏になってずっと花をつけています。そこに大きな花蜂のクマバチが数匹やってきて蜜を吸うのですが、花につかまると重みで花が大きく揺れてとてもユーモラスです。アガパンサスは1か月ほどきれいに咲いていましたが、そろそろ終わりになったので花がらを切りました。25本ほどありました。暑い夏のほんの少し涼しい朝の庭の風景です。
The potager looks a bit bare in the height of summer with so few flowers, but this year I’m growing echinacea and rudbeckia in the spot where I had a standard rose until last year. It’s their first year, so they haven’t grown very tall yet, but they’re starting to produce beautiful flowers.
Echinacea purpurea has pink flowers, whilst Rudbeckia goldstrum has deep yellow ones; both are absolutely lovely. I hope they’ll grow strong and produce plenty of blooms.
Apart from these, marigolds are in bloom, and amongst the vegetables, the cherry tomatoes are flowering too.
The small yellow flowers of the miniature watermelons also bloom from time to time, and we’re enjoying the fruit as they grow larger.
真夏のポタジェは花が少なくて淋しいですが、去年までスタンダード仕立てのバラがあった所に今年はエキナセアとルドベキアを育てています。一年目で草丈もあまり高くありませんが、美しい花が咲き始めています。
エキナセア・プルプレアはピンクの花、ルドベキア・ゴールドストラムは濃い黄色の花で、どちらもとても綺麗です。しっかり育ってたくさんの花をつけて欲しいです。
そのほかには、マリゴールドの花や、野菜ではミニトマトの花も咲いています。
小玉スイカの小さな黄色い花も時々咲いて、大きくなった実をいただいています。
I learnt on Instagram that Mr David Austin from the UK had passed away. He was the second-generation head of David Austin Roses.
イギリスのデビッドオースチン氏が亡くなられたことをインスタグラムで知りました。彼はデビッドオースチンロージズの2代目でした。
Our first encounter with David Austin roses was back in April 2005, when we were just starting out with our garden. It was at a local nursery that we came across ‘Gertrude Jekyll’, a wonderfully fragrant pink rose.
私たちのデビッドオースチンのバラとの出会いは庭づくりの初期の2005年4月でした。近くのナーセリーで素晴らしい香りのあるピンクのバラ、ガートルード・ジェキルとの出会いです。
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| April 2005 |
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| May 2012 |
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| David Austin’s signature 彼のサイン |
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| The picture in the garden room ガーデンルームにある写真 |
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| May 2026 |
I pruned the jacaranda, which had produced beautiful flowers last month, after flowering. If left without pruning, the branches grow too long and the tree loses its height. Pruning after flowering is also necessary to encourage more branches and, consequently, more flowers. I cut back the new growth and shaped the tree overall.
先月美しい花をつけたジャカランダの花後の剪定をしました。放置すると枝が伸びすぎて樹高を保てません。枝数を増やして花数を増やすためにも花後の剪定が必要です。新しく伸びた枝を短く切り詰め、全体に樹形を整えました。
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| Before pruning 剪定前 |
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| After pruning 剪定後 |
The potted hemerocallis has started to bloom. I’ve placed it in front of the arbour seat in the blue border. The flowers wilt within a day; indeed, the hemerocallis’s alternative name is ‘daylily’. There are plenty of buds, so they’ll continue to bloom for a while. Although the shape of the flower resembles that of a lily, it belongs to the Hemerocallis family rather than the Liliaceae family.
鉢植えのヘメロカリスが咲き始めています。青のボーダー花壇のアーバーシートの前に置きました。花は一日でしおれ、ヘメロカリスの別名はそのものずばり、デイリリーです。蕾がたくさんあって、しばらく咲き続けます。花の形はユリに似ていますが、ユリ科ではなくワスレグサ科です。
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| Hemerocallis ヘメロカリス |
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| Tiger lily オニユリ |