#carrots

Six On Saturday: Things to come

/ n20gardener / 19 Comments

It’s been a cold week but night time temperatures look to be on the rise for next week. I may try to sow a few seeds. I’ve been cutting back the brown stuff, admiring the ability of weeds to keep on coming at me and the patch on the lawn for a new flower bed has had the turf stripped. It is very dense with the old fig tree roots but I’m hoping a few annuals will find a home there. There’s much on the way in the garden but not much in flower, but six must be offered each week and here they are.

One

There’s always a cry to sow a few early carrots and over the years I have tried: buying early varieties, warming up the soil by covering it with cloches, waiting until the weeds start growing before sowing but it never comes to anything. Last year I didn’t sow until the end of May. This year I have been tempted to sow a few seeds in a deep pot in the unheated greenhouse. I have germination so I am intrigued to see how they will progress. I will update regularly.

Two

So very nearly, almost there. The first flowers on the clematis armandii ‘Apple Blossom’ have been spotted. This is mine but it sprawls wonderfully over to my neighbour’s side where it is much appreciated. I think it does better there!

Three

I have climbing hydrangeas growing up a fence on the North side of the garden. A few weeks ago the soil here was frozen but the hydrangea buds are now opening. They have taken a few years to establish but I think it is looking good for this year.

Four

An East facing corner of the garden is home to tulips, aquilegia, phlox, geums and hardy geraniums. They are all putting on good growth and although it will be a while before the flower explosion takes place it is very encouraging to see everything reappear.

Five

I’ve been to the garden centre for compost and of course their tempting displays of spring bulbs in pots called to me. I bought a trio of pots of snakeshead fritillaries to plant along side the hellebores. I couldn’t bring myself to plant them out last weekend as there was evidence of slugs and snails. That hasn’t changed but the plants are a little taller now and the flowers have formed. It’s time to be brave.

Six

Lastly, three pots of hydrangea macrophylla ‘Little White’ that I’ve had since Autumn. These are destined for the North facing border. It’s a dwarf variety that grows to approx 60cms. They are replacing the pittosporum that were lost over the winter of 2023. This whole border needs an edit so they’ll be in their pots for a few weeks more.

The compost heap was filling up with the March cut back material and so some turning was required. Gently does it as the toads over-winter there and I was pleased to spot one very fat one. There were plenty of worms too. No doubt there will also be a crop of interesting seeds which will reveal themselves once the finished compost in the last bin is used. There were no visits to the Daughter’s New Garden this week. I don’t think I’ll be back there until April by which there could be much more in evidence. Hopefully it will include a new lawnmower! Recommendations for small lithium battery lawn mowers gratefully received.

Wishing you a happy gardening week and hoping that a visit to Jim’s Garden can be fitted in as well.

Six On Saturday: I need to get going

/ n20gardener / 24 Comments

I’m hoping October will be mellow and fruitful. I have much to do and after longing for rain I have definitely had enough now thank you. I feel sure I had this feeling last year, I can see much in the garden that needs to be refined, cleared out, divided. It needs a good tidy up. So I need to get moving. On with the six then.

One

I was amazed to spot this gaura flower amongst the verbenas. Was it sheltered by them and also overcrowded by them? I hope it can last through another winter and I will thin the verbenas to give the gaura more of a chance.

Two

The hydrangeas are rapidly changing colour and this one has chosen the perfect autumnal red.

Three

I’ve called time on the tomatoes, blight finally got to them. But there is a good quantity ripening off inside. Not such a good quantity of carrots though! These are chantenay, so the shortness is good, but the germination was not.

Four

Here’s the frost shattered pot in its new home. Against a sunny wall, perhaps it will survive another winter more or less intact.

Five

New violas for the terrace pots. Cheap and cheerful and I’m hoping they’ll last a good while. The lobelia was definitely past its best so it was time for a change

Six

Lastly, I’m going back to the cactus dahlia because it is a firework of orangeness at the moment. It’s down at the shady end of the garden and looks much better in the afternoon sun.

I’m off to dig and divide geranium phaeums today. I hope you have good weather for your gardening jobs. Jim hosts the SOS links as usual, but unusually he has some great pictures of Cornwall! Have a great weekend everyone

Six On Saturday: Here’s one I prepared earlier

/ n20gardener / 13 Comments

I was half way through my six last week when I was derailed. Nothing dramatic just things to do and then Sunday was spent in the garden. In the shed to be precise. I was emptying it out in preparation for the delivery of a new shed. The weather was good and although the shed won’t arrive until November it was too good an opportunity to miss. I was tempted to share a photo of the now empty shed but on second thoughts I’ll save that for another day. Here’s last week’s three and three for this week.

One

I am going to upgrade my score for veg growing to a 6/10. I pulled the second sowing of carrots last week and was pleasantly surprised. A few nibbles from the slugs but no carrot fly damage. I am sure this is because they grew in a bed of calendular flowers. This may have made the competition for precious water a little greater but all in all it was not a bad haul.

Two

The salvia ‘Amistad’ really gets into its stride in October taking over from the ‘Darcy Bussell’ rose, but Darcy is still sending out a flower or two. I took cuttings of the salvia last year in case this crowd didn’t over winter. Of course they did and now I have an abundance of salvias – which is no bad thing.

Three

The appearance of mushrooms in the garden is sure sign that autumn has arrived. This atmospheric group are colonising an old tree stump. I think, from comparing them to those that Fred tweeted, that they are not edible. But I’m happy to enjoy them visually.

Four

On to this week’s contributions. The hydrangeas are looking fabulous in their new colours. At least something in the garden is enjoying the endless rain. So much so that some of the other hydrangeas have put out new flowers.

Five

The hesperantha is brightening up a corner by the rosemary. As I write, I am thinking that I should try to spread these around a little more. They offer a good splash of colour at this time of the year.

Six

A little late perhaps, but this is anemone ‘September Charm’. It’s neighbour did do the charm thing in September but this one was a little later into bloom. It’s sharing a space with salvia ‘Mystic Spires’ and the second flowering of skimmia ‘Lime Green’. This is one of the more recently planted borders and needs to fill out a little more or have some more plants added. It’s a shady north-ish facing border which is always an interesting place to plant up.

I am hoping for a dry spell so that the bulb planting can commence. I have forgotten what is hiding in the boxes, tulips for sure and some more camassias and possibly some other delights. It will be like Christmas! Oh, sorry, not sure we allowed to talk about that for fear of jinxing it. Wishing every one well and hoping that the garden exploits of SOSers revealed at The Prop’s will cheer us all up. OMG, thanks to Jim’s words of wisdom, I have sort of managed to edit the url link. I dare not try to tidy it up a bit, I’ll see if I can do better next week.

Six On Saturday: The veggie report

/ n20gardener / 20 Comments

The harvest is in and it’s time to plan for next year. My SOS usually features the garden but there has been some action on the veg patch this year. Onions: fail. Dwarf green beans: not bad. Carrots: a handful. Tomatoes: slow to ripen but the outdoor ones have done well and no blight! Strawberries: better than last year. New potatoes: not many. Courgettes: just enough. Each year the list of what to grow gets smaller. No more leeks for me, no more swede and no broccoli, psb or otherwise. I had a go at red cabbage again this year and the slugs have stripped every last leaf from all six of my seedlings. That could be a last outing for cabbage. Enough words, time for some photos.

One

San Marazano tomatoes, which are delicious for making a passata. A regular favourite for growing in the greenhouse.

Two

Parsnips growing for later in the year. These are ‘Tender but True’.

Three

These are Pink Fir Apple potatoes, another great favourite and the crop wasn’t too bad.  Last night they were cooked jacket potato style and Sunday night they will be roasted as wedges.  

Four

I have two patches sown with Green Manure this year.  Both sown in September.  They will stay in the ground until November.  My plan is to dig them in just as the manure for feeding the veg plot arrives.  

Five

Carrots.  WilI I, won’t I grow again.  These are Nantes, they have a fantastic carrot smell and taste very good too, so on balance I will grow again.  Perhaps I will sow later in the season so that they are ready for eating now.  The danger is that the slugs start nibbling away at them underground.  

Six

This is as far as the melon got.  I tried hand pollinating this year to get some to grow before the bees arrived to their job.  It was not successful.  I am going to accept that my greenhouse, which is in shade until the afternoon, is not the best place for melons to grow.  

Six On Saturday: How does your garden grow?

/ n20gardener / 30 Comments

Quite contrarily is my answer! After the slug onslaught the aphids have arrived. Blackfly on the dahlias, nasturtiums and echinops and greenfly elsewhere. It hasn’t rained here in yonks, the onions are ‘delicately’ sized and the parsnips are refusing to play ball.  They are tempting me with one or two possible cotyledons but maybe I am deceiving myself. I continue to water in hope rather than expectation.  Let’s see if there are any silver bells or cockle shells to be found:

One

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The containers, planted up in May, are coming along well.  Cheering me up on the whole, until I realise they are verging on the dessicated!

Two

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The carrots, that were also proving a little reluctant, finally came good in a third direct sowing.  This time I cast them onto the soil and sprinkled a little potting compost over the top.  Who knows why they decided to germinate this time!  I just have to keep them watered now.

Three

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The courgettes, bought as small plants from the Finchley Horticultural Society plant sale, are no trouble.  Oh, I forgot.  They do need watering.  But maybe the drought conditions will keep them on the manageable side.  The lovely flower and yellow fruit cheer me up on the way to the parsnip inspection.

Four

The gooseberries had quite a late pruning and the crop does not seem so bumper this year.  But is this because I have yet to net them from the birds? Sigh, I do have a lot of netting to do.  The blackcurrants, which I really took in hand – thinning them out ruthlessly – are doing well.  They are beginning to ripen, but you guessed it, they haven’t been netted yet either.

Five

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Contrary, but in a good way, is the lemon tree.  Looking for all the world like it was dead and gone after a good chilling in the greenhouse over winter, it was subjected to not one but two cut backs and has responded well.  The glossy green leaves and the beautiful scent coming from the one or two flowers it has put out more than make up for the odd shape.  Good to see.

Six

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A rose, Scepter’d Isle. Absolutely lovely.  These are my pretty maids all in row!

I hope your plots, veg patches and gardens are giving you joy.  There are lots of superb photos of the strawberry crop out there on twitter, which are underlining the need to replace my tired specimens, inherited from previous owner and cropping poorly.  Visit  The Propagator,  our host’s blog for more gardening encouragements: good things we can aspire to and duff things that we share the pain of.  No grammar corrections please! 🙂

Six on Saturday: The race is on

/ n20gardener / 27 Comments

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.