Harvest!

It doesn't matter how many times I harvest my compost I'm always amazed by it - isn't nature wonderful? This batch has been in the bin for about nine months and as you can see it's very well composted. I wanted it to top dress a small area of the border so there was no need to sieve out the little bits of woody plant material still in it.

The compost was for where my Ox-eye Daisy was growing last year but which for some reason died over winter. In its place I planted out a Rue cutting I took last year and later on I'll sow some annuals to fill the space until the reaches a decent size. At that point I'll be able to take out one of the other Rue plants which is too near the front of the border (and a bit passed its best) thus making space for some lower growing insect friendly plants.

I sowed seeds of two tropical climbers today having soaked them over night to soften the outer coating. They are Passiflora edulis and Clitoria ternatea. Neither are easy to grow but I'm hoping they will germinate on my sunny windowsill. If they do take I'll be growing them at the back of the sunny border to cheer up the Ivy. If they don't take I've got plenty of climbing Nasturtium seeds which are very reliable and will do a similar job.

Georgie

Lots in bloom

We've had sunshine and showers all week and lots more things have come into flower as a result. The picture is of one of my Honesty plants which has been flowering for a couple of weeks but newly out (and yet to be photographed) are Pulmonaria,Leucojum aestivum, Narcissus Chinita, Dicentra Spectabilis f.alba, Spotted Laurel, Marsh Marigold, and Tulips 'Yellow Emperor' and 'Praetens Fusilier'. There are lots of buds on the Kerria and a good few on the Dicentra Formosa too.

A cold wind and frequent heavy rain/hail showers meant I couldn't get out in the garden today so I had to content myself with turning my kitchen into a potting shed! The first job was to pot up the six Galtonias I grew from seed last year into a large container. Last year the leaves looked like spring onions but this year they are far sturdier - although I suspect that the plants will not flower until next year. Staying with the same theme I potted on five Dianthus 'Siberian Blues', seven Pelargonium 'Candy Dancer', six Pelargonium Quercifolium and a couple of red zonal Pelargoniums. I also pricked out the best six Pineapple Physallis into individual 9cm pots.

Then it was seed sowing time. On the edible front I sowed some Radish edible leaf and three varieties of Tomato - Tumbling Tom, Micro and Whippersnapper. And on the ornamental side French Lavender, Welsh Poppy, Pansy, Thunbergia Fragrans, Centratherum, Aquilegia Clementine White, Laurentia, Geranium Pratense and Heliotrope Marine. Where I am going to put all these flowers if they grow (not to mention all the ones I have yet to sow) I have no idea! Some will go in pots on the patio and the rest will be squeezed in where I can find space for them in the border or given away to friends.

I did manage a quick walk about today and I have to report a minor disaster. The three 'slug resistant' Hostas I planted out back in the autumn are all showing signs of growing but one, 'Invincible', has had its leading main unfurled leaf almost completely eaten through. Not very well named is it? Still the plants were free - I only had to pay postage and packing - and nothing ventured, nothing gained. I often read queries on garden message boards asking what plants slugs and snails don't eat. I'm beginning to get a fair idea now. Maybe there is a book in that when I retire?

Georgie

A Happy Mothering Sunday

Another beautiful day here and I was in the garden at 8 o'clock. I planted the marginals into baskets and managed to get them into the pond without disturbing the frogspawn. The Marsh Marigold (Caltha Palustris) is in the foreground by the pond. I'm doubting now that I will have room for the floater, Water Soldier (Stratiotes Aloides), but I'll see how it goes.

The Lily of the Valley must have heard me yesterday because today when I looked there were quite a few shoots emerging from the compost. I am so relieved as they were sent to me by a friend.

I didn't get the Parsley planted out as planned because I spent hours potting up various plants into 10 and 12 inch pots and top dressing the ones already in their final containers. After about six hours out there - only stopping for half an hour or so when my daughter arrived with a lovely card and bouquet of flowers - I'm so stiff now I can hardly move. Time for a long soak in the bath I think.

Georgie

Busy times

It's been a lovely week here with sunshine every day and what a difference it has made. I've already had to start watering my container plants and lots of things have had a growth spurt.

My first job today was to try and get some more New Horizon peat free compost. The nearest stockist only had one 60 litre bag of multi-purpose left so I snapped that up and in desperation picked up 6 x 25 litre grow bags for a tenner which I will empty and use in containers. I asked the lad at the checkout when they'd be getting more multi-purpose in but he didn't know. No wonder I hate giving garden centres my business!

Then I popped into the water plant specialists and was able to pick up the three marginal plants for the pond I wanted - Caltha palustris, Typha minima and Veronica beccabunga. I was informed that they will be getting their floaters in in a couple of weeks so hopefully I'll then be able to get the Stratiotes aloides. Of course now that the pond is full of frog spawn I have no idea how I'm going to get these plants in place. I guess I'll have to scoop it out into a container, put the plants in (just two - the Caltha is being planted at the edge of the pond) then put the frogspawn back. Nothing is ever simple.

On the edibles front the Physallis and Chilli seedlings are looking good and the Peas I sowed under a cloche on 1 March are germinating. My two over-wintered Chillies were potted up in fresh compost today with some slow release organic feed and the six Parsley plants in the greenhouse are looking really sturdy now so I think I might plant those out tomorrow.

I spent a fair bit of time reorganising my containers again and as you can see from the picture my Narcissus Jet Fire are still look great. I've got Tulips in bud now and the first of my Hyacynths are starting open, as are the buds on the Skimmia Kew Green. I was pleased to see that the Bluebells are just beginning to shoot as are the Galtonia I grew from seed last year. And lots of the hardy Fuchsias are showing signs of new growth including Alice Hoffman, Beacon, Hawkshead and Tom Thumb. But there's no sign of the Lily of the Valley yet and my Hellebores are producing new leaves but no flower buds. Ho hum.

Georgie

Getting ready for the main seed sowing

I've put up the shelf on the kitchen window sill today which almost doubles the amount of space I have to start off my seeds indoors. This is the third year in a row I've used this method and it works well for me. On the far left of the photo you can see Chilli Thai Hot which has been flowering non-stop since last summer. I've also managed to over-winter my yellow Chilli (variety unknown). I cut it back to about 15cm a few weeks ago and it already has new leaves and a couple of flower buds forming. It's in the black pot top right. So that's two varieties of Chillies I don't need to sow this year.

Yesterday I spent a while putting up new horizontal wires to support my Passifloras across the bottom of the garden by the shed. I already grow Caerulea and Constance Elliot (both were from seed) and this year I'm adding Edulis in the hope of some tasty fruits next year.

On the wildlife front there are a few bees around enjoying my Narcissus and I saw a huge queen bee today. The ants are busy marching up and down between the pots on the patio so I'll have to keep my eye on them in case they get any ideas about nesting in the pots or worse, farming aphids. I gave all the bird feeders a good wash and filled them up with nuts, seeds and fat balls. This is the first time I've put food out since last summer when I had a rat living under the shed and I spotted him scaling the feeding pole and helping himself to the bird food! Anyway starved of his food supply he must have gone elsewhere and been poisoned because we found him half dead on the patio a while later: the OH had to finish him off. I blocked up the hole under the shed and it hasn't been reopened so I'm hoping none of his friends and relations take up residence this year. I don't keep the bird food in the shed now unless it's in old biscuit tins. I've learnt my lesson.

Yesterday I potted up my Ilex Crenata Fastigiata into a half barrel. This was quite a task as it has put on a lot of growth in the year I've had it and is about 5 foot tall. Thank goodness it isn't one of the prickly Hollies! Then I potted up three strawberries into slightly larger pots with some slow release organic feed and top dressed with polished river pebbles. These will keep the weeds off, add weight, reduce water evaporation and stop the compost splashing the fruits. I also potted on one of my ferns (Dryopteris erthrosora) which had been slightly damaged by last month's heavy snowfall and top dressed my three Lychnis Arkwrightii Vesuvius with a few centimetres of fresh compost and sprinkling of organic feed.

Georgie

So pleased

Just look what has appeared in my new little pond overnight! I'm delighted as you can imagine and I really hope the tadpoles develop into baby frogs this year after last year's disappointment. I've also seen a couple of bees around the flowers and spiders scurrying about in the border so it's certainly feeling very spring-like now.

Wandering around the garden I have two Honesty plants in flower - at least three weeks earlier than last year - and flower buds on Dicentra Spectabilis f.alba, Kerria and Wallflowers. This is the first time I've grown Wallflowers from seed and I'm very pleased with them so far. I can't wait for their lovely scent to waft over the patio.

Watering the plants in the greenhouse I saw that there are flower buds on a number of my scented Pelargonium cuttings and on Fuchsia Circus Spangles. A few more of the Sweet Peas have germinated and I decided to pinch out the Dianthus ' Siberian Blues' plants I grew from seed last year to make them into bushier plants. The seeds were given to me by a friend and they are billed as 'the first blue Dianthus'. It'll be interesting to see if the flowers are as blue as they look on the packet.

The next job was the one I'd been looking forward to all week - planting out my seed potatoes. I added 15cm of New Horizon organic and peat free compost on top of the crocks in the compost sack and mixed in 10-15g of organic potato food. (This is a slow release feed from Vitax which I will be able to use for all my other container grown fruit and veg.) I popped the four seed potatoes in and covered them with another 15cm of compost, firming it down well and watering thoroughly. Then it occurred to me that the cat would think it was his new loo, so I covered it with a bell cloche, vent open, to keep him off!

Last year I grew one pot of Eucomis Autumnalis and I was so pleased with them I decided to get some more this year. They arrived in the week (along with the cocoa shell mulch I'd ordered) so I planted them up in two pots. They are called 'White Dwarf' and should flower in July/August.

The last job of the day was potting on. First up were two Hebe cuttings which went into 12cm pots then Chives, Parsley, Mint, Thyme, Hyssop and Allium Neopolitanum all went into 25cm pots. Lots of other things could do with potting on or at least top dressing but that was enough gardening for one day.

Georgie

More done today

These are my seed potatoes 'Swift' which I hope to plant out next weekend. They will be grown in an old 56 litre compost sack which I've prepared by turning it inside out, folding down the sides, adding lots of drainage holes and putting a good layer of crocks in the bottom. I'll add at least 10cm of potting compost to the bottom of the sack before I plant the potatoes, then as I earth them up I'll turn up the sides of the bag. I've never tired this before so it's a bit of an experiment. Watch this space.

It was a lovely sunny morning so I was in the garden early. In the sunny border I dug out an old Lavender bush which had gone rather woody and replaced it with the Salvia (common Sage) I bought yesterday. It was a tricky job because there are lots of Alliums coming up and some other bulbs too - which for the life of me I can't recall planting so I have no idea what they are! I added lots of short sticks to keep my cat off the newly dug soil and put in some plant supports for the Aquilegias which are a mound of lovely fresh new leaves.

I emptied a few more pots of their contents from last year and planted some bulbs of Lily Longiflorum 'White Paradise'. These are heavily scented and should be out in late June/early July. I potted up four over-wintered plants of Hesperis (Sweet Rocket) and found space to squeeze them into the shady border. Then it became very overcast and I just had time to grab seed compost, pots, seive etc before the heavens opened.

In the kitchen - it's just as well I'm the cook - I started to prick out some of the seeds. The first were Asclepias incarnata (Milkweed), then Chilli Trifetti and finally Alliaria petiolata (Garlic Mustard). Then I decided to sow just one lot of seeds and opted for Physallis (the Pineapple flavoured one). These were so successful last year that three plants produced more than I could eat and I was taking bags into work to give away. I hope they do as well this year.

Georgie

Going Peat Free

I have decided that the time has come to go peat free in my garden. I haven't used chemicals for years and as I move towards a wildlife friendly environment it has occurred to me that this is the next natural step. I have been put off in the past because there has been a lot of bad press about peat free composts, but more recently I am hearing good things about a product called New Horizon. I know that my local nursery doesn't stock it so I went off to Wyevale to take advantage of their 3 x 60lt bags of multi-purpose for £12. So imagine my disappointment when I got there to find they had completely sold out! They had towering stacks of every other type of multi-purpose compost needless to say. However, I did get two 60lt bags of New Horizon 'vegetable compost' for £10 so I have made a start. And whilst I was there I bought some herbs - Sage, Tricolour Sage, Mint and Golden Thyme - and a little Fuchsia called 'Ant n Dec' - thanks for that tip off Jo!

Back at home the first task was to transplant my lovely Phontinia 'Red Robin' into a half barrel. It had been drying out so quickly in its pot so hopefully it'll be much happier now. Then I carried out the tiresome task of plucking out all the dead strands from some of my Blue Fescues. This takes ages but I never have the heart to cut the plants right back so there's no choice. Another dull task was emptying some of the pots of dead annuals and bagging up the spent compost which I pass on to a friend to use on her allotment. I can only do a few at a time before I'm itching to do something more interesting. But one thing did make the job more enjoyable. I was tipping out the Par-cel - which I'd assumed was a biennial like Parsley - when I noticed a few tiny green shoots. So I potted up the plant in fresh compost - that's one lot of seeds I don't need to sow this year.

Wandering around the garden I couldn't resist snapping my Crocus again now that the buds have opened. I also have Narcissus Jet Fire out as well as a few flowers on the Forsythia. There are buds on Narcissus Chinita, Pumonaria and Hyacinth City of Haarlem and two of the three Hostas planted in autumn have small shoots. And in the greenhouse the first of the Sweet Pea Cupid Mixed seeds sown on 15 February have germinated.

Georgie

More Surprises

What a difference a week makes at this time of year. All the Crocus Ruby Giant are up now, many with two or three flower buds each. I found it hard to know which photo to put up but opted for this one to depict the flower and leaf detail - I'm really pleased with them. (The little sharp sticks are to keep my cat off by the way!) When the bulbs have finished flowering I will give them a feed with chicken pellets and a top mulch in the hope that they will put on a similar display next year. The other things newly in flower this week are Narcissus Tete a Tete and Vinca minor, whilst the Forsythia buds have coloured up nicely but have yet to open.

The weather today was overcast but mild so I was able to spend a good few hours in the garden. I sowed some Peas, cut back the remainder of the hardy Fuchsias and pruned back the Buddleia in the border to about four feet. Then I trimmed the lawn edges and thinned out the Briza maxima seedlings (self-seeded) which were threatening to choke some of the other plants.

Pottering around there were lots more signs of new life. Perennials Lychnis Arkwrightii Vesuvius, Cuckoo Flower and Welsh Poppy all have new shoots emerging, the Hermodactylus Tuberosa planted in late autumn are beginning to peak through the soil and three of my Lilies - White Heaven, Lollipop and Emporium - have broken their dormancy. On the other hand there is no sign yet of the Lily of the Valley or the Bluebells.

On the seed front at long last the Garlic Mustard - which has been in the greenhouse since July - has germinated, whilst on the kitchen windowsill Chilli Trifetti and Asclepias emerged within about 8-10 days. The seed potatoes continue to thrive and have sturdy shoots about one centimetre long. I haven't sown any more seeds indoors indoors yet. I'll leave that for a couple more weeks at which point I'll need to set up my windowsill shelf to get the double-decker effect and make best use of the space available.

Georgie