Having a rest

I've caught a nasty cold so I'm resting at home today. But the sun came out this afternoon so I decided to take a walk down the garden 'to clear my head'. There were lots of small and large white butterflies around but what caught my eye was a number of speckled bush-crickets, the one pictured is on a Tomato plant. I've always wondered what the difference was between a cricket and a grasshopper but my trusted guide to British insects put me straight. Crickets have fine, hair-like antennae, often longer than their bodies whereas grasshoppers have much shorter, fatter antennae. You learn something every day. Time for another lie down now!

Georgie

The rain held off

This is the second of the three types of 'experimental' hanging baskets I'm growing this year, with Dianthus 'Siberian Blues' replacing the Cyclamen from the winter arrangement.

Today's gardening started with yet more seed sowing, this time Parsley, Chives, Hesperis, Radish and Spring Onions. I took half a dozen cuttings of scented Pelargonium 'Candy Dancer' and after giving the Tricolour Sage a 'haircut', I put about 10 cuttings in a glass of water to root. I have no need for 10 new plants of course but if more than a couple take then I'll pass them on to anyone who can use them.

I rearranged some of the containers (again!) and as I did so, I found quite a number of snails lurking. I threw them in the sack of woody cuttings for recycling and hope they don't escape! I also discovered that the slimies had completely eaten one of the Nepeta plants (which was about 30cm tall) leaving just the stalk. On the other hand the last of the Calendula plants - which I thought they'd also completely ruined - has made a come back and has three flower buds, one just beginning to show some colour. It's in the area I now refer to as 'the sanctuary', a narrow passageway which runs down the side of the house where I have one of the greenhouses and my potting bench, pots, compost etc. It's concreted there so less 'slimy friendly' and it's the only place where I can grow Tagetes with a reasonable chance of success.

But the main job of the day has been painstakingly pulling out all the dead flower heads from my various grasses. This must have taken the best part of two hours but it was well worth it as they look a lot better for it. I've saved some seeds which I'll offer in a swap on A4A.

Georgie

About to reap what I have sown

This is the first of my Tomatoes beginning to ripen. It's a bush variety called 'Whippersnapper' and I can't wait to taste it as I've not grown this variety before. I've eaten my first few Physallis this week and continue to pick Alpine Strawberries and Raspberries. Some of the Courgettes are nearly ready to harvest and the Cucumbers are going great guns too, particularly 'Crystal Lemon' which is one of my favourites. The Beetroot has fared less well but I reckon I'll be lifting my first two or three next weekend.

I've had lots of seeds germinating in the last week or so and have pricked out Welsh Poppy, Polemonium, Dicentra Alba and Aquilegia Chrysanthia. And at long last, on the third sowing, I've managed to get some Ox-eye Daisies to germinate - fresh seed sent to me by a kind poster on A4A. But it doesn't stop there. Today I sowed seeds of Evening Primrose (thanks Lorna) and self-saved seeds of Aquilegias Goldfinch, Clementine White and McKana Hybrid.

This week I've noticed far more hoverflies about who are enjoying the Lilies, Dianthus, Laurentia and Fennel in particular. The Birds Foot Trefoil is just beginning to open, the first flower on the Soapwort is out but the Centratherum and Heliotrope remain stubbornly in bud. But at least they are doing better than the Typha mimima in the pond - there's still no sign of any buds whatsoever.

Georgie

Six hours in the garden - and still more to do!

I am in love with this plant, Monarda didyma, despite the difficulties in growing it due to slugs/snails (the slimies) and powdery mildew. The leaves are aromatic, it's happy in semi shade and bees love it. And it sets seed freely I gather so hopefully I'll be able to grow more plants next year.

Well, standing pots of Tagetes on saucers of horticultural sand didn't keep the slimies away I'm afraid. I had to throw three plants away today which means I've only got three containers of these plants left. The slimies have also ruined two out of three of the Sunflowers, the Mustard, the Watercress (again, third sowing) and one container of Garlic Mustard.

At last I've finished pruning the Buddleia and I have a huge vase of beautiful blooms on my dining room table as a result. The plant looks a bit bear now (although it still has some flowers) but it'll bounce back I'm sure.

It's been a day of mainly sowing, pricking out and potting on: satisfying, but time consuming. I've sown seeds of grasses blue Fescue and bronze Carex for my winter baskets/containers. If they don't put on much growth between now and autumn I'll plant them in small 'bunches'. I pricked out more Viola seedlings into modules and planted out the larger two plants into a container along with a remaining Birds Foot Trefoil which was a 'spare' in the greenhouse. I also potted on some Fuchsia cuttings into 5" pots, two of which have flower buds.

On the edibles front I potted on the four Tomato Micro plants into their final, three litre, containers and these are on the top shelf of the greenhouse with three Greek Basil plants, potted on into 5" pots. The 'spare' Tumbling Toms were getting too big for the greenhouse so I put all three into a 12" container where they will have to take their chances. The Strawberry runners were well rooted in their little pots so I cut them off the parent plants and popped them into 5" pots. I've got eight plantlets which I will keep in the greenhouse until spring. Finally I potted up the purple Chilli plant into a three litre pot and that sits along side the yellow Chilli and Chilli Thai Hot on the kitchen windowsill.

Georgie

Hanging baskets

I've mentioned before that my winter hanging baskets kept so well this year that I decided to keep them going and just replace the Cyclamen (which rotted in the wet) with plants raised from seeds in the greenhouse, giving them a top dressing of fresh compost mixed with slow release organic fertiliser.

Well Jo, one of my followers, asked for a photo so here it is. In the centre of the basket is bronze Carex which has very attractive seed heads. I have no idea what the trailing, Ivy-like, green plant is and the colour is provided by trailing Sweet Pea 'Cupid mixed'. I have two basket like this. Two others contain Dianthus 'Siberian Blues' which are also looking good. The final two have Bird's Foot Trefoil in and these, so far, are the most disappointing as the plants are taking a long time to put on any decent growth and have yet to flower. But the plant has very pretty leaves and if it does eventually flower then I think it will be fine. Ever the optimist!

Georgie

A trip to the Nursery

I needed a few bits and pieces - seed compost, organic tomato feed, pea shingle and six ornamental containers for my pot stand - so I took a trip to my favourite nursery, Clockhouse, opposite Forty Hall, yesterday. Sadly they didn't have six suitable matching containers and slightly disappointed, I decided to treat myself to this beautiful Fuchsia instead. It's a hardy bush type called Gartenmeister Bonstedt and is already over 60cm tall. I love everything about it from the distinctive leaf colouring and the ruby red stems to the wonderful coral/brick colour of the flowers and the way they hang in bunches. (It's very similar to 'Thalia', a Fuchsia I've always admired but never thought about buying before.) I've placed it at the house end of the shady border to replace two Lilies which have just finished flowering.

I gave all the edible plants a good liquid feed yesterday. I haven't bothered with this in the past because I always add a slow release granular feed to the containers at the start of the season but I thought I'd give it a go and see if it makes any difference to the yields. I think I'm doing this partly because I'm slightly sceptical about the peat free compost after the low yields with the first early potatoes and partly because everything I read seems to suggest regular 'quick acting' fertilisers.

I've continued pruning back the Buddleia and Jasmine as the flowers go over because both continue to grow at an alarming rate. Newly in flower this week are Eucomis, Lily White Paradise, Passiflora and Fuchsias Hawkshead and Rocket Fire. The Agapanthus will be out any day and I have tiny buds just appearing on Centratherum and Heliotrope.

I'm still harvesting a variety of seeds although my Wallflowers seem to be taking forever to dry properly. And it's cutting time for lots of plants. I've taken a dozen from the prostrate Rosemary as I have it in mind to try them in the winter hanging baskets with Violas and Bronze Carex, both of which I'll grow from seed. (The Violas are already pricked out into modules and I'll sow the Carex this week.) The next task will be taking scented Pelargonium cuttings and then Fuchsias, as I find non-flowering stems.

Georgie

It's worth having a few spare plants

This is the 'surprise' Pansy I mentioned in my last post which came from self-saved seed of a very simple yellow-flowered plant. I think it's rather beautiful so I am going to try and breed it. I'll gather and sow seeds and also attempt some cuttings when I find out how to do them.

Thank goodness I grew two Courgette plants. The bigger of the two in the veg plot was attacked by slugs/snails and the growing tip was completely eaten away. It had about half a dozen flower buds in various stages of development but as they were all male I decided to ditch the plant. Fortunately the one in a container in the sunny border is doing well(filling the gap where I was planning to grow Ipomoea but not one seed germinated) and I think I have two female flowers although it's hard to see with all the foliage.

Removing the Courgette plant I noticed that the slugs/snails have also had a good nibble of the leaves of the Passiflora edulis I planted out in its final container last week. I'll give it a week or so to see if it recovers, otherwise I'll have to bring out the spare which is still in the greenhouse.

None of the seeds I broadcast in the sunny border have come to anything so I planted out Knautia and Red Valarian which I have been growing in small pots. If these take then the border is full for this year.

I was cross to see that two flower stems of the Monarda had been completely snapped off. The culprits are either my cat, Timmy Tiger, or the wood pigeons I think. Timmy is a large, daft and clumsy cat who is forever chasing things real or imaginary in the garden. The wood pigeons are also clumsy and the plant was rather too close for comfort to the bird feeding station so I've moved it back a few feet.

Georgie

A good tidy up

A little bit of rain and plenty of hot sunshine in the past week has meant lots of plants are in bloom or bud and some of the shrubs have gone berserk! So this weekend I've had a good tidy up and a bit of a reorganisation.

Ornamentals

The first of my longiflorum Lilies, White Heaven (photo), opened yesterday. This plant has a very strong, lemony scent which is just gorgeous. It has been a bit of a Lily beetle magnet this year I'm afraid but I've just about kept on top of them by squishing the beetles and removing the larvae with damp kitchen roll. A disgusting job but very necessary.

Another plant out this week was Monarda didyma, also known as Bee Balm. It has the most beautiful flowers which bees love but sadly is very prone to powdery mildew. I've been spraying the leaves regularly with a bicarb solution which helps but doesn't cure the problem.

I've had four surprises on the flowering front this week, only one of them pleasant. First was the Dianthus 'Siberian Blues' which was billed as the first true blue Dianthus only it isn't: it's deep lavender. Second was Nasturtium 'Empress of India' which is supposed to have deep wine coloured flowers. I thought this would look lovely in front of some of my Fuchsia Beacon plants but unfortunately the flowers are deep orange so there's an awful clash. Third was Fuchsia Ant & Dec which rather than white and dark purple is in fact pink and pale lavender. Then finally the self-saved seeds of simple yellow pansies came up the most wonderful creamy-yellow with a lilac tinge to the petal edge and with very distinctive markings. You win some, you lose some.

I have finished potting on the last of the Tagetes and these are now dotted around the Tomato plants, each one standing in a tray of horticultural sand to see if this will deter the slugs. I also potted on Hebe, Fuchsia Rocket Fire, Calendula and some Sage cuttings I'd rooted in water.

Now that the Strawberries have finished I've taken them off the ornamental iron pot stand and replaced them with six Pelargonium Quercifolium plants which are in full flower. They look really attractive there and as you brush past (something you can't help doing in a garden as narrow and packed as mine) you get a lovely whiff of their Cedar scented leaves.

The shady corner needed a good reorganisation as some things have gone over and others (like the Monarda and Fennel) are coming into their own. As I moved the containers around I found dozens of slugs and snails clinging to the pots so I 'rehoused' them over the fence!

As the first of the flowers on the Buddleia are fading I'm cutting the stems back by two-thirds. This will bring the plant back to a more manageable six feet of so, rather than the ridiculous 10 feet plus it's reached in the last week. And I've also cut back some of the Jasmine nearest the house as it was casting too much shade over the plants on the patio. This has also had the added bonus of letting more sunlight reach the Passiflora which I have growing through it.

There are quite a few plants temptingly showing colours to their buds now including Agapanthus, Eucomis, Galtonia and Centratherum. A few new Poppies open every day but I do wish they would last a bit longer. It's been quite breezy and I'm lucky if they last a day.

Wildlife

The garden has been full of large white butterflies in the last few days, favouring the Nasturtiums and Buddleia. The bumble bees are enjoying the Digitalis and Jasmine and I have too many Harlequin ladybirds to count. The latter is good news on the aphid front but bad news for our native species and lacewings too I gather. I've read that there's nothing that amateur gardeners can do about them to make any difference so I'll leave them be.

Georgie

Edibles update

I have never grown Courgettes before so I was pleasantly surprised by the size and beauty of my first flower which opened yesterday. There must be at least ten buds on both of my plants so far so hopefully it won't be too long before I get some fruits forming. They do take up a lot of room though, so the acid test will be in the taste.

I harvested my first Broad Bean pod this week: it contained three delicious beans which I ate raw. The other pods are still tiny but I'm ever hopeful that they will reach harvesting size.

Another first of the season was a ripe autumn fruiting Raspberry, hopefully the first of many from my half dozen or so canes.

I've got quite a number of good sized cherry tomatoes on Whippersnapper and Micro now but they are all still green. That said, if only half of the flowers out so far set fruit and ripen I'll be giving bags away because they are just so prolific this year.

My Strawberries have finished now so I'm waiting for the runners to put down decent roots before I discard the old plants. On the other hand the Alpine Strawberries are only just beginning to give a decent crop so they should keep my granddaughter going for a while!

I think I'm going to give up trying to grow Coriander. Of my three plants, two just wilted and died over night and the third I noticed has started to run to seed.

But to end on an positive note all my little Greek Basil plants are looking good and the one Sweet Basil plant is growing really well. I love the smell and taste so can't wait to get picking.

Georgie