Petit English Garden of MARPLE & POIROT

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.

庭の紹介

　夫婦で庭づくりを福岡の郊外で2003年に始めました.　赤土むきだしの斜面にまず階段や園路をつくって芝をはり、果樹やバラ、ハーブなどを植えました.

　2010年にイギリスの有名なガーデンの、シシングハースト、モティスフォントアビー、ヒドコートマナーなどを回り、その素晴らしさに圧倒され、それから自分たちで小さくても素晴らしい庭をめざして庭づくりをつづけています.

8/14/2026

THE SECOND BLOOM OF THE CHASTE TREE (セイヨウニンジンボクの二番目の花)

After the chaste tree bloomed for the first time in June, it continued to grow, producing side shoots and forming numerous buds, and by August began flowering profusely once more. The flower spikes, laden with countless small, bright blue flowers with a faint purple tinge, look refreshing as they sway in the breeze. In a garden where the intense heat persists, this flowering shrub offers at least a sense of coolness. Once these flower spikes have finished blooming, it produces more side shoots and buds, allowing us to enjoy its flowers right through to November.

セイヨウニンジンボクは6月に最初の花を咲かせた後、さらに成長して脇芽を伸ばしてたくさんの蕾をつけ、八月になってまたたくさん咲き出しました。わずかに紫がかった明るいブルーの小花がたくさんついた花穂が風に揺れると涼しげに見えます。猛暑がつづく庭で気持ちだけでも涼しくさせてくれる花木です。これらの花穂が咲き終わると、また脇芽を伸ばして蕾をつけ、11月まで花を楽しめます。

にほんブログ村 Another English Garden Ranking

8/12/2026

TODAY'S VIDEO CLIP: An Encounter with a Badger in the Garden

今日の動画：アナグマさんと遭遇

にほんブログ村 Another English Garden Ranking

にほんブログ村 Potager Garden Ranking

8/11/2026

HARVESTING VERY EARLY-SEASON EDAMAME (極早生エダマメの収穫)

It’s been about 70 days since we sowed the seeds at the beginning of June, and the edamame are now ready for harvest. We started by harvesting the very early-maturing variety. Perhaps because we’d been using insect netting since sowing, there was hardly any damage from pests. The harvest was much larger than we’d expected. We boiled them straight away and enjoyed them as a tasty snack with a beer.

六月の初めに種をまいて７０日ほどたち、枝豆が収穫の時期を迎えました。極早生エダマメから収穫をしました。種まきの時期から防虫ネットをしていたせいか、害虫の被害はほとんどありません。思ったよりたくさんの収穫でした。さっそく茹でてビールのつまみにして美味しくいただきました。

A few days later, we harvested the early-season edamame too. Although some grasshoppers had got in through gaps in the netting and eaten a few leaves, there were plenty of pods, so we were very pleased.

それから数日して早生エダマメも収穫しました。こちらのネットには隙間からバッタが入り込んで少し葉を食べていましたが、さやはたくさんついていて、大満足でした。

にほんブログ村 Another English Garden Ranking

にほんブログ村 Potager Garden Ranking

8/09/2026

TODAY'S VIDEO CLIP: What Became of the Small Watermelon

今日の動画：小玉スイカのその後

にほんブログ村 Another English Garden Ranking

にほんブログ村 Potager Garden Ranking

8/08/2026

CLOCK-SHAPED PASSION FLOWER (時計の形のトケイソウの花)

We grow two types of climbing plants—potato vine and passion flower—as a green curtain on the large windows of our garden room. Both are perennials that shed their leaves in winter. They are virtually free from pests and diseases, and have beautiful foliage.

Potato vine produce charming blue flowers that bloom continuously throughout the hot season, giving a refreshing appearance.

Passion flowers produce flowers with a very unusual shape. They are single-day flowers that open in the morning and wilt by evening. The pistil is divided into three parts, resembling the hour, minute and second hands of a clock, whilst the petals are arranged in a circle to resemble a clock face; this is why they are known as ‘clock flowers’ in Japan. As they are single-day flowers, those that bloomed the previous day will not bloom again. The number of flowers varies from day to day; some days there are few, whilst on others there are many. Occasionally, the wilted flowers bear fruit, but this is not edible.

ガーデンルームの大きな窓には二種類のつる植物、ツルハナナスとトケイソウ、を緑のカーテンにして育てています。どちらも冬には葉を落とす多年草です。病害虫はほとんどなく、葉が美しい植物です。

ツルハナナスは可愛らしい青い花をつけて暑い季節に咲き続けて涼しげに見えます。

トケイソウはとても変わった形の花をつけます。朝開花して夕方にはしぼんでしまう一日花です。、雌しべが３本に分かれていて、時計の長針、短針、秒針のように見え、花びらが円形に並び文字盤の様に見えるため、「時計草」と日本では呼ばれています。一日花なので、前日に咲いた花はもう咲きません。花の数は毎日異なり、少ない日もあり、多い日もあります。しぼんだ花にはたまに実が付きますが食べられません。

Passion flowers with potato vine flowers
ツルハナナスの花とトケイソウの花

A wilted flower　しぼんだ花

にほんブログ村 Another English Garden Ranking

8/05/2026

ROSES IN MID-SUMMER (真夏のバラ)

The shrub roses beside the central steps in the main garden are thriving even in this sweltering summer heat. They are putting out new shoots, forming buds and blooming. Although the flowers are smaller than those in May, they are blooming beautifully.

メインガーデンの中央階段脇のシュラブローズは猛暑の夏でも元気です。シュートを伸ばして蕾をつけ、花をつけています。五月の花に比べると小さいですが、元気に咲いています。

Mary Rose　メアリーローズ

Scarborough Fair　スキャボロフェア

にほんブログ村 Another English Garden Ranking

8/02/2026

TODAY'S VIDEO CLIP: To Protect the Leaves from Intense Sunlight and Extreme Heat

今日の動画：強い日差しと高温から葉を守る

Agapanthus exposed to the afternoon sun are prone to leaf scorch in the height of summer; as this year’s particularly intense sunshine and high temperatures have persisted for more than three weeks since the end of the rainy season, we have covered them with a silver shade net. We have also covered the entire shade garden to protect plants such as hostas, whose leaves are sensitive to strong sunlight.

西日の当たるアガパンサスは真夏になると葉焼けを起こしやすく、今年は特に強い日差しと高温が梅雨明け後3週以上も続いているため、銀色の遮光ネットを被せました。シェードガーデンにも全体にかぶせて、ギボウシなど強い日差しに弱い葉を守っています。

にほんブログ村 Another English Garden Ranking

7/31/2026

FLOWERS NOW IN BLOOM IN THE POTAGER, PART 2 (続・ポタジェに今咲いている花)

The roses in the border of the potager are in bloom. One is a single-petalled pink rose called ‘Dainty Beth’. The other is a rose called ‘Tiffany’, which is also pink and has a wonderful fragrance. I’ve been growing them for quite some time now; although they’ve lost some vigour and don’t produce many flowers, they do occasionally rebloom from May right through to autumn.

ポタジェのボーダーのバラに花が咲いています。一つはデンティーベスという一重のピンクのバラです。そしてもう一つはやはりピンクの香りが素晴らしいティファニーというバラです。ずいぶん長く育てていますが樹勢が弱って花数は多くありませんが、5月に咲いた後も秋まで時々返り咲きします。

Dainty Beth デンティーベス

Tiffany　ティファニー

The ruellia, which I’ve been growing for several years, are also blooming every day. Although they are day-blooming flowers that open in the morning and wilt by evening, they produce numerous buds and bloom one after another throughout the long summer months.

数年前から育てているルエリアも毎日花を咲かせています。朝咲いて夕方には萎れてしまう一日花ですが、たくさんの蕾ができて次々に夏の長期間にわたって花を咲かせます。