From Sunflowers to Potatoes…
Around this time last year we completely cut down the honeysuckle as we needed to replace the fence it was climbing up. We were not careful with anything and really did cut it completely down to the ground as if we were trying to kill it. Since then, it has grown back much better that before and today it was time to tie it up a bit and tidying it up, trim it, and train some of the shoots along the fence.
Following the success in the lavender cuttings, here are their parents - all looking good and ready to flower in the next weeks. Hoping no more children fall into them, their cars seem to crash quite often. The plan is to build using some old pallet wood a bit of a frame.
Back in September I decided to have a go at taking lavender cuttings and I am pleased today as I have planted the first lot in a bigger pot outside - ready at sometime to be planted fully in the garden. I have four pots altogether and I put in four cuttings each. Two pots still have all four, another has three, while the last one just has one. The success rate for taking cuttings is not meant to be too high hence the reason for doing so many, so I am pretty chuffed at the results. When I get more pots I will plant out the others.
It was been quite a while since last post and that is mainly down to being out of the country and then various illnesses that have been going on. But, things have been moving. We had a long spell of sun followed by a long spell of rain (we seem to still be in that) which has been wonderfull for the garden and in particular the grass seed in the front. It certainly looks like a lawn now thanks to warmth and sun and rain.
We put up the second wigwam the other weekend and planted two of the bean plants and the rest of the sweetpeas. Some sweetpeas I have tied up against an old stump of a bush that has no branches or leaves, so will make a nice part instead of just a dead looking bush sticking out of the ground. This second wigwam is green, I am not so sure I like it as much as the red one.
These really did need planting. I was going to wait until I came back from my trip but I noticed some of them the leaves were starting to turn yellow and this it seems was due to the roots coming out of the bottom of the small pots and really it was time to do something about it. So they are now all planted out in the front garden. Let us hope no slugs get them.
It’s been a while, but I have been away from home. Last weekend we spent some time putting up the first of two wigwams for sweetpeas and beans and anything else that wants to, to grow up it. We planted the sweetpeas at the bottom and maybe when I get back I shall see some progress.
So much going on and so little time to do things! I have added a whole load of extra things this week, so comments are with the photos. It has been sun sun sun, hot hot hot all week, which has meant lots of watering although only on the small things. Everything else has to take their chance, including the new grass seed in the front garden which is a bit of a pity. I have watered it a couple of times, but it will come up eventually and if it doesn’t then a top up on Autumn will do the job I am sure.
Beans - only planted them a couple of days ago so no show as yet:
Rhubarb - needs picking, we have made some pies from it already:
Tayberry - this is a new one this week. One of the fruit bushes that we got reduced from Woolworths and it seems to have taken and has new growth on it:
Wild Strawberries - some nice little flowers and some small green strawberries starting to show. That and the two plants are now multiplying like it is going out of business:
Blackcurrents - this is the third or fourth year (I forget) and this year the bush never got pruned and so it is really looked after itself. Mind you, a good growth of flowers appearing:
Sunflowers - the ones that started it all. These are no four weeks old and no more slug problems after using pellets. They are well on their way outside while a couple more are just starting to show inside (to replace the slug eaten ones) as well as two planted directly outside showing now too:
Potatoes - I managed to get a couple more off freecycle, so now we have four seed potatoes in the pot. The existing ones the growth was about an inch above the soil, so I have now topped it up with more soil. The next time I have to do this, it will be at the top:
Grass - don’t be fooled by the photo, it is actually quite patchy and the hot sunny weather has not helped at all. Mind you, it does look like it is meant to be there and from a distance is a nice carpet of green. It is meant to rain tomorrow:
Tomatoes: now repotted and outside:
Chillies - now repotted outside. The stones are to keep them upright:
Clematis is growing very well, about an inch or more per day. It will soon be up to the wire and off along the fence:
Amaranthus - I really need to read up on what to do with these:
Basil - growing nicely and time to repot them I think:
Cress - more luck this second time and half of it eaten, yum:
Mini Sunflowers - ready to plant outside:
Sweetpeas - every single seed seems to have done something which is fantastic:
Salad - still growing but very slowly, and little bits of it dieing too, not doing too well. I think we will put some seed outside at sometime:
A weekend of planting beans and painting bean poles! We don’t really want too many beans, but do want some to climb up with sweet peas in the front garden, so we planted six beans each in a toilet roll. These are now outside and I hope in the next week or two to plant them complete with toilet roll in their final position.
In the mean time, we all spent time painting the dull canes to support the beans in a brighter green and red! We have a week or two to build the wigwams.
We are certainly in business now. Sunflowers have been outside for a week and while we have lost three of them, the remaining ones are still going. We have planted a couple of new ones straight into the ground and are awaiting them to appear, we still need to plant one indoors and then we would have had replaced all the ones the slugs had. We are using slug pellets now.
Potatoes showed above the soil this week and have now been buried under a load of new compost on top. We will keep an eye on them and keep topping them up until the soil is at the top of the pot. A long way yet to go.
Grass in the front is doing really well, we have had some warm days with sun and rain. These last days it is been solid sunshine and so tonight has been my first evening of watering it, with a watering can(!) - it takes about four goes but gets the main bits drenched in a bit of water.
Sunflowers:
Potatoes:
Grass:
Salad is growing slowly. I think a bit of over watering at one time as killed one or two plants, but we are starting to have some nice looking baby salad leaves:
Sweet Peas are coming up!!! This is fantastic. The seeds are from sweet peas that we got off family from Cornwall last year and we saved some of the seeds:
Sunflowers:
Basil is doing fine. I think I need to repot them now, so I have that on my list to do:
Chillies. Our of four, two have really got going whereas a third one has yet to develop any leaves, I don’t know if it will now. The fourth…. it is still somewhere not yet appeared:
Cress is much more of a success second time around. Less watering and it is looking good - ready to eat infact:
Amaranthus is in need or repotting now I think!
Tomatoes certainly in need of repotting!!
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