Aah, what a gentle occupation gardening is. Full of quiet moments pottering among the flowers, pulling carrots, picking strawberries. Or are you, like me, engaged in the mad dash to get it all done before June!
One
The cold and the rain delayed much of my gardening efforts but this week I finally finished cutting back the hydrangeas. In my defence there are seven of them and only three have been waiting patiently. Here you can see that the first flowers are forming.
Two
Seed sowing for vegetables is happening almost daily. Leeks, carrots, red cabbage, spring onions, climbing french beans are all in the greenhouse. Some carrots have been direct sown along with parsnips, radishes and lettuce. The rocket sown in February is now out in the ground. And the last of the potatoes – Sarpo Mira and Belle de Fontenay have finally been planted. Phew!
Three
The onions and shallots planted out in November are enjoying some warmth. I have been very interested to see that many people plant their onions in modules and don’t move them outside until later. I am going to try this next year. I did protect these against the birds but that was all removed this week.
Four
Seed sowing for flowers is ongoing. The teeny tiny seeds of antirrhinum White Giant have produced teeny tiny leaves. Tithonia and nasturtium look a little stronger, but does that mean finding time for potting on? Zinnias and calendulars have pushed through. But I have yet to sow any cosmos! How is this possible I ask myself? I’m not panicking. Last year I direct sowed some in early May and planted some in modules as late as the end of April . . . Ok, brief panic!
Five
It has felt a little frantic but it is important that we take ‘time to stand and stare’ and I have really enjoyed the tulip display, the result of a mass November planting. These are Queen of Night, Shirley, Barcelona and Violet Beauty. I love them!
Six
And these are Angelique – a pink double, Spring Green – a viridiflora and China Town – a shorter viridiflora with white edged leaves, beautiful. These were quite tightly planted in two groups in a new border to leave space for some bare root roses that were arriving later. There is definitely room to spread them out a little, which is the plan, unless of course, I am tempted by some lovely perennials that I know will be featuring in a couple of local plant sales in May. Have space, will fill it!
And whilst standing and staring I noticed the irises and alliums are just about to open, and the first strawberry flowers are showing. Oh yes, we will soon be pottering!
If you’d like to stare at a few more Six On Saturday posts stroll over to The Propagator’s blog for all the links. Sit back and enjoy the display.
So this is the path looking shockingly new but I will soon get that sorted out with a few trips up and down with the wheelbarrow!
The clematis pruned before the last batch of cold weather has survived and is surging onward. It will soon be covering the trellis again.
A sure sign that everything is growing. This is most likely an ash tree seedling. Neighbouring gardens are well forested and every year I have to be super vigilant to pull up all the seedlings that come my way. Ash and sycamore are the most common and then the odd oak courtesy of the squirrels.
The tulips are coming through. This beautiful pink edged leaf could be from China Girl or Angelique. These two were planted along with Spring Green in a mixed clump in November. They should be in flower come April/May.
Right plant, right place I think. I planted half a dozen cowslips in a very wet border last year and this year there is a great crop of seedlings. I shall gently separate them and spread them around this border and elsewhere. Lovely free plants!
Don’t they look tempting. The first lush shoots of the delphiniums. I can just hear the slugs smacking their lips. More vigilance required.
My old path was broken, uneven and collected water. The new path will be well drained, carefully sloped and smooth. But I am already missing the patina and idiosyncrasies of the old path’s age. The builders are taking great care to keep the new path clean but I will be out there soon rubbing in the mud and possibly some yoghurt!
The laying of the paths sadly means that some things in the garden get trampled on or have been dug up to allow for the base to be laid. I don’t think I will see any fritillaries this year and I know that one or two tulips have been snapped off. As I always say ‘you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs’. And of course I will have the chance to add something new to omelette! On the upside I will lose the ugly concrete edges and gain a precious couple of inches of border.
I managed to get out the greenhouse this morning and was very pleased to see that the rocket seed sown on 16 February has germinated. The sweet peas sown at the same time are only just breaking the surface but they too are on their way.
My daffodils are still in bud, the pheasant eye narcissus are coming along but the pulmonaria is definitely in flower. The clump was planted last year from divisions given to me by a friend. I think I’m going to divide this up again this year and use it to soften the edges of that new path.
And here’s a couple of new ingredients for that omelette. Some nerines – bowdenii Ostara, and dahlias. The dahlias are a combination of greeny whites and are destined for pots. The path should be finished by Wednesday, whereupon I will become a gardener again.
This is the top end of the border. Sweet pea, cosmos purity and nicotiana lime green were sown from seed. The lambs ears in the foreground looked bedraggled in last week’s six. Will they survive after the freezing weather of this week? This path is staying. It’s not very attractive and if I had a magic wand it would be transformed into a lovely brick cottage garden path. I have also planted alchemella mollis and geranium brookside, both of which tumble onto the path edges.
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