A day off

No gardening for me yesterday as I had a day out at the Festival of Small Nurseries at the Museum of Gardening in Lambeth. In the grounds I was surprised to see many things in flower including Roses, Peonies, Geraniums, Lilac and this beautiful Calendula. I can only assume the high walls on two sides create a micro climate.

There were a fair number of stalls and despite the fact I said I'd only buy plants on my wish list, needless to say I came back with half a dozen unplanned purchases! For the semi-shaded border I bought a large Ajuga reptans, Polemonium yezoense 'Purple Rain', Cimisifuga ramosa 'Brunette' and Polygonatum biflorum. I think they all look rather attractive together. I also bought a Monarda didyma which I will grow in a container in the hope of keeping the slugs off and an Alpine Strawberry as my attempts at growing from seed this year have failed miserably.

Georgie

Edibles update

These are my Swift potatoes planted on 14 March. The photo was taken today before I earthed them up for the third time. There is scope to do this once more before they reach the top of the old compost sack.

I have my first flower bud on my Peas, quite a few flowers on my Strawberries and the first of the Broad Beans Witkiem Vroma have germinated as have some of the Watercress. On the down side the snails have eaten the new shoots on the Par-cel (again) and two of the Beetroot seedlings. The red Onion sets are going great guns and there are flower buds on the Chives.

I've potted on my Parsley, Chillies and Physallis today and pricked out the Mustard seedlings which were sown last weekend. Three of the four Passiflora edulis seeds sown on 29 March have germinated and look nice and sturdy. And the Oriental salad leaves and Radish Scarlet Globe are looking good in the greenhouse. So quite a good start to the growing season I think.

Georgie

Walk on the wildside

I am gradually turning over my planting scheme into plants which in one way or another are beneficial to wildlife. At the last count I had just over 60 such plants and I want to start recording how effective they are. So I've set up a card index box with a card for each plant and will make a note of what each plant attracts and when. At the end of the season plants which don't appear to have earned their keep may well end up on the compost heap!

Today I had my first sighting of the year of a Large Red Damselfly pictured here on one of my Rue plants. If you click on the photo you will be able to see this beautiful insect in more detail. Also earning their keep this week have been the Ivy which has attracted a number of Small White and Large White butterflies and is home to a large number of Butterfly/Moth pupae and the Dicentra, Pulmonaria and Wallflowers which have been buzzing with Bees.

The new pond is a hit with a number of insects coming to have a drink but since the frogspawn sank there has been no sign of any tadpoles. I'm just hoping it's still a bit early. And on the bird feeder front the only visitors are still wood pigeons and starlings from what I've seen.

Georgie

Timmy Tiger rebels!

Just look at my daft cat. Over the last few weeks I have been gradually cat-proofing my sunny border (adding cocoa shell mulch, Pyracantha cuttings and short sticks to protect young plants and seeded areas) and today he was at a loss where to sit. So he jumped right into the middle of this Euonymous Silver Queen and I think the look on his face says it all.

With the exception of earthing up my Potatoes, today has been all about gardening for wildlife. After reviewing my seed collection I hit on a plan for the area of the sunny border next to the main veg plot. At the moment it has Ivy growing up the fence, the Euonymous Timmy is sitting in, a Buddleia trained as a standard on dwarf rooting stock, a number of Fuchsias, self-seeded Nicotiana affinis white and Crocus Ruby Giant at the front. So in the gaps from back to front I've sown seeds of Flanders Poppy, Calendula Sherbet Fizz and Nasturtium Empress of India. If they come up and flower this should attract lots of bees and hoverflies and provide a riot of colour.

Then it was on to some serious seed sowing in small pots which I put straight into the greenhouse. I sowed Oxeye Daisy, Fleabane, Hemp Agrimony, Red Valerian, Knautia, Birds Foot Trefoil, Nepeta, Mustard, Cuckooflower and Coriander. I don't really have a plan for these yet but I'm sure I'll squeeze them in somewhere.

Georgie

Ornamentals

This is Tulip Pieter De Leur which has matured to a pleasing deep scarlet after a shaky start. The Wallflowers are out now as is Dicentra Formosa, much to the delight of the bees. Most of the Narcissus have gone over with the exception of 'Chinita' which has produced a second flush of flowers. And I've got a good show of flowers on Vinca minor this year after they were so poor last year.

There are buds just beginning to form on my Elder (Sambucus nigra), Sweet Rocket (Hesperis) and Aquilegia vulgaris. And some of the Allium buds are just showing the first sign of colour.

I've pricked out the Centratherum and French Lavender and moved them to the greenhouse and sowed some Tagetes to replace those I lost in my unsuccessful trial to overwinter them. Oh and the last of the Sweet Peas I sowed on 4 April are just beginning to germinate.

Georgie

Edibles update

This was a welcome sight today, the first flower on one of my Alpine Strawberries. I only have two plants at the moment (from seed last year) and I'm trying to grow more this year. I lost the first ones which germinated on a hot day. The second lot I sowed have come through now so I'm keeping them more shaded. The seed is so tiny and germination rate so poor it's a labour of love but well worth the effort when you taste the fruits.

The Tomatoes, Chilies and Physallis on the kitchen windowsill are all looking healthy and the Radish and Oriental salad leaves in the greenhouse are just starting to germinate. Outside some of the Onion sets are sprouting green shoots and I earthed up the Potatoes for the first time. But something has eaten my Par-cel either a slug or snail no doubt. I'll see if it comes back but might have to sow more seed.

Finally I was surprised to find some self-seeded Tree Spinach (Chenopodium giganteum) in one of my hanging baskets. So I pricked them out into individual pots. That's one lot of seeds I don't have to sow this year.

Georgie

UFI

Yes, it's an unidentified flying insect! Someone on the A4A forum thinks it might be some kind of wood wasp which to my relief does not sting. It was a beautiful creature whatever it was.

No gardening to speak of today just a bit of pottering and tidying up. Lovely sunny afternoon though.

Georgie

Easter Sunday

Where does the time go? I thought I'd been in the garden for about an hour and a half today yet when I decided to have a little break it transpired I'd been out there for nearly four hours! And what had I been doing? It's hard to say. Too much plotting, planning and 'butterfly gardening' as I call it. Starting one thing then noticing something else which needs doing that's more interesting and thus getting distracted. So today's post will not cover everything I did ( or perhaps to be more accurate started) but I'll cover the main two areas.

Edibles

A dear friend, sadly departed for two years now, taught me to germinate my Beetroot on damp tissue paper before sowing. So I always follow this method and I was pleased to see that five days after sowing my Cylindras are up. I sowed the remainder of my Peas, Watercress (in a pot which stands in a saucer filled with water) and two lots of Broad Beans. Having read up on the Beans I sowed five each of Witkiem Vroma (kindly supplied by Flighty) and Crimson Flour'd (a heritage variety). Both are in 31cm pots filled with a 50:50 mix of peat free compost and loam.

The photo shows how quickly the main veg plot is filling up.From back left to right there are the Potatoes, Peas and Garlic Chives. Next row is two lots of Broad Beans, Red Onions and Strawberries and front Thyme, Chives, Hyssop, Mint and Parsley.

Wildlife

Despite the overcast day there were bees buzzing around the Pulmonaria and Dicentra Formosa, a few hoverflies and some strange insect landed on my greenhouse which I have yet to identify. At one point there were five wood pigeons lined up on the fence to take their turn on the bird feeders (yes I know they are far too big for them) and the starlings are so brazen they pretty much land on my head to get to the feeders! And now for the unwanted wildlife. There were tell tale signs of Lily Beetle larvae on some of my Lilies so I got out the organic gardeners' friend - a hand sprayer filled with water set to 'full blast'. A few minutes later there were no signs of the little piles which resemble bird droppings. :D

Georgie

Indoor gardening

Last night I managed to get out and give all my plants in containers an organic granular feed. It rained heavily overnight and has been drizzling on and off all day so apart from going out to take some photos I confined my gardening to indoors.

Edibles

This is one of the over-wintered Chillies - Thai Hot - I mentioned yesterday. It's getting on for 60cm across and is taking over! I may have to move it into the dining room. I pricked out 18 Tomato plants - six each of Micro, Tumbling Tom and Whippersnapper. This is far more than I need so I'll be giving some away. I sowed seeds of Sweet Basil, Greek Basil, Oriental mixed salad leaves and Radish Scarlet Globe. The latter two went in the greenhouse but even so my windowsill is now full.

Ornamentals

I potted on two Aquilegeia William Guinness and Fuchsia Ant & Dec into 13cm pots. I've still got lots of half hardy seeds to sow but they are going to have to wait until I can make some room on the kitchen windowsill. The hardy seeds will be sown later this month - some direct and some in individual pots. More about this later.

Georgie

Good Friday

I managed a few hours in the garden today before I was rained off - typical bank holiday!

Edibles

The photo shows the plant stand I bought last weekend and which I'm using as a Strawberry tower. I need some nicer pots for it but there's no rush. This week I've planted the remaining Onion sets, sowed the Beetroot seed I germinated on damp tissue and was delighted to see that the Liquorice I over-wintered in the greenhouse has four sturdy little shoots on it.

Ornamentals

The first of my Wallflowers is out and looking (and smelling) rather lovely with the cream and yellow Tulips. There are some nice fat buds on the Alliums (Cristophii and Purple Sensation) and the Laurentia has germinated well. I've cut out all the dead shoots off the Passiflora and in doing so I see that there are lots of leaf buds just beginning to open.

Greenhouses

The aluminium lean-to mini greenhouse is pretty much full to bursting now. But most things in there will have to stay put for a good few weeks yet before I can plant them out in larger pots.

The four-shelf plastic greenhouse was leaning to the left for no apparent reason. So I took everything out and the cover off but I still couldn't fathom the problem. So all I did was turn it round and refill it and now it's fine! Only the top shelf has plants on it at the moment so there's scope to add more plants as the kitchen windowsill gets over-crowded.

Kitchen windowsill

The over-wintered Chillies continue to flower and fruit and everything which has been pricked out so far is thriving. The next job will be pricking out the Tomatoes some time over the weekend and having a rummage in the seed box to see what needs sowing next.

Georgie

So much to report!

There has been a lot happening over the last few days including this beautiful Narcissus Bellsong coming into flower.

Border

I have continued to work on the sunny border planting out a wild Poppy (bought yesterday) and a Lavender and Hebe I grew from cuttings. I started adding some cocoa shell mulch and as I did so found a few things coming up I don't recall planting! I have no idea what they are yet but time will tell. I also put in some plant supports for my larger Fuchsias and trimmed the grass edges.

Containers

I bought a Trachelospermum asiaticum yesterday and I've planted it in a 30cm pot against the fence in the shady border. This meant rearranging a few of the containers to accommodate it but hopefully it'll cover a fair bit of the fence with its evergreen leaves and lovely scented flowers in the summer.

Edibles

I've taken the cloche off the Peas as they were growing too tall. I've got about half a dozen shoots up on the Potatoes and my three types of Tomato and Radish edible leaf sown last weekend have germinated. I've sown red onion sets and I have Beetroot Cylindra germinating on damp tissue paper. I've also eaten my first lot of Greek Cress of the season. To save space I bought a gorgeous wrought iron pot stand yesterday which will hold six eight inch pots comfortably. I'm using it for my Strawberries and I think it will look very attractive once the plants come into full growth.

Propagation

In addition to things already mentioned the French Lavender, Centratherum, Thunbergia and Heliotrope sowed last weekend are starting to germinate. I've sown the remainder of my Sweet Peas, this time soaking them overnight and only sowing the ones that swelled (after poor germination rates last time). And would you believe I've bought even more seeds! I got chatting to a chap from the Butterfly Conservation charity and came away with five types of flowers to try.

Wildlife

The garden was buzzing with bees today and I see that once again I have a Bumble Bee nest under my shed. Hurrah! The jelly on the frogspawn is disappearing so hopefully that means I'll have tadpoles before too long. I've spotted Starlings using the bird feeder this week but no other species as yet. And some very fat green caterpillars have been gorging on my purple Sage. I picked up a bug viewer yesterday for my grandaughter but she probably won't get a look in. It has both 2x and 4x magnification and I'll probably use it most to suffocate Lily Beetles!

Georgie