The Music Of Plants

The garden today. I only watered the hanging baskets, and cleared some nettles from the Strawberry planter.I spent two and a half hours at the allotment with Cat assisting, planting Gem Squash, and Leeks, plus weeding the beds.
The garden is so full of plants, even I have to pinch myself with how much is growing.
Flower buds are appearing thick and fast. Echinaceas, Butterfly Bush, Zinnias, Crocosmias,The Blackberry bush, and all the others...
It is a sea of green but varying colours, textures, and heights. My David Austin Rose Lady Emma Hamilton is tantalisingly close to blooming.
I have one more day off before nights. It has been difficult juggling work, the garden, the allotment, and visits to other peoples gardens/Harlow Carr..
Burning a green gardening candle at both ends.The energy of summer keeps me passionate about growing plants and watching them flower. A living breathing Orchestra..ready for an explosive finale (like the end of the 1812 Overture).

Scarlet Buds And Soil For The Soul

I looked back to March for this blogged picture of the plot when I got it in March.The top right hand corner has the black compost bin that marked the limit of my plot and Mr Saddiqs.

Fast forward, and this is the plot today.... From the bottom of the photo up there are Runner Beans under the A frame, then Peas, Borage, and French Beans. Onions and Carrots to the right, and the Potatoes to the left. The Cabbages and Brussel Sprout plants are next on the right, and the last bed furthest away has Courgettes growing. Mr Saddiqs grape vines have suprised me by actually growing mini grape buds.The sunshine we have had has been hot and for days at a time.I doubt they will grow fully but lets wait and see.

I caried up in a carrier bag my five Reserve Runner Bean Polestar plants. These five juveniles joined the plants growing already under the A frame. The local slugs and snails have decimated about three quarters of the seedlings before they had a chance to grow on. One advanced plant has scarlet flower buds on. The leaves glowed in the sunshine after they had been soaked by toerrential rain.

The Runner Bean flower buds today. I had spent a few hours trying to cut the grass and weeds between the beds with a knife. It was easier than using cutting tools that give me blisters.My beds have between 35 to 40 square feet of perimeter each!
The grass gives me a path to work around each bed, keeps the soil in place, and absorbs some of the moisture too when it rains heavily.I have not worked out how to keep it trimmed with no power source at the allotment. I thought about a battery run strimmer, or today an old fashioned push lawn mower to run between the beds.

I got a book from Amazon.co.uk called "Vegetable Growing: Month by month" by John Harrison. I needed something that had a guide as to what gets planted when, and a list of jobs month by month. I will review it when I finish it.
I have cleared the plot, dug six beds, forked them over, hand pulled weeds and grass out, dug manure in, planted plants and sowed seeds, watered, and weeded.
I feel the daily stresses dissapear as im working at the allotment. I feel more compassion for my vegetable plants than my flowering plants in the garden.I dont know why I feel that way..
I feel more in tune with the seasons and feel connected to the soil. I check the weather now for my days off to see if i can get to the allotment without getting soaked.
My horticultural skills are being stretched in the exposed, clay soiled plot, and I enjoy the challenge of growing something that can be cooked or used in a meal..
A quote from my new book is that " working the soil is good for the soul, as well as good for the muscles". It makes me quite lyrical about the allotment, despite the hard work, sweat, blisters, and blood.

Anemone And Allotment

Its been a lovely Sunday.I went to the allotment for four and a half hours to cut the grass by hand, and do a little weeding.
I brought some bounty back, a bowl full of Strawberrys, four Courgettes, and eight pieces of Rhubarb from my four crowns.The carrier bag was sweetly scented with the Strawberrys.
It poured down on me earlier untill I sheltered under Angies perspex Shelter with her..
The sun came out and warmed me up, and dried me off again.
I weeded four beds and put five more Runner Bean Polestar into the RB bed with the A frame canes.One plant had some beautiful scarlet flower buds.
I need to upload the photos then blog them.The sunshine and heavy rain has made everything grow really well.It looks very productive my plot and people keep saying it looks really good...
Mr Saddiq made a rare appearance.In the warm and wet his two exposed grape plants have got baby grapes on them.I will be suprised if the exposed conditions let them grow to maturity.Angie has grapes growing in her greenhouse, down from my plot.
I would not believe you can grow grapes outside in Yorkshire, maybe global warming is making it easier for them to survive the UK climate.
I have a few days off so i will return to the allotment tomorrow to finish the weeding, and to mark out the shed base, and see how much room is left for a Leek bed.
The kitchen has lots of plants waiting to go to the allotment.Gem Squash, Leeks, and a tray of French Marigolds to decorate the raised beds and to attract beneficial insects!I love their golden orange colour.
I have been thinking next year I want a bed set aside to grow cut flowers. Like Sweet Peas, Chrysanthenums, Dahlias, Carnations or Pinks...
What do people normally grow as a cut flower? That is grow to put it in a vase in your house.
More photos today when I can upload them.The photo is of a Blue Anemone growing in the right border.I love the complexity of flowers at close range.They are amazingly detailed and I love the swirling colours.

Goldfinches,Ladybirds, and Fabric

A small black Ladybird in the green giant, my Teasel.

I bought two Teasel plants from Harlow Carr a few trips ago to attract the Goldfinches.I needed patience though for them to grow, flower, and for the flower heads to turn into seed heads in the autumn.From the top this looks like a religeous icon, with the spikes radiating out like sun rays.

The central rosette has grown new leaves which arch upwards and out.Masses of flower buds are growing on the plant now.It is covered in green fly, hover flys, and a single two spot Black Ladybird.It is beautyifully architectural and nearly six feet tall.The second Teasel is growing more slowly on the other side of the garden.

Its latin name is Dipascus Fullonum.Its greek for thirst Dipascus. The leaves join together at the base to form little drinking cups that stores rainwater, and pitcher plant like drowns small flys whos nutrients are absorbed into the plant.
It has very spiny stems, and leaves.The dried flower heads were used by the textile mills for cleaning, grading, and raising the nap on fabric.A specific species was used called Fullers Teasel.They liked the dried flower heads as it would not tear the fabric.
I love the plant, a biennial, but like a green giant in the right border...

Photos From Bradford

Six images from Hils friends garden yesterday.I took a handful of photos of what appealed to me that was flowering.The pond had thisWater Lilly almost in flower.The only thing I want for my garden is water, either a water garden container or a small fountain.Still water reflects the surrounding plants and sky, and attracts wildlife.I can dream of a bigger garden with enough room for a pond.

Two Roses by the pond. Hils and Cat ponder water snails and foot tapping to make them come to the surface of the water.

A beautiful Blue Iris flowering in one of the curved island beds.The garden was massive, long and even had a field attached to it before.Holly bushes formed some of the boundarys with the cows next door in an adjoining field.Birds were singing and flying around.Its hard to believe a motorway was nearby, and the built up city of Bradford was somewhere near.

A pink Rose, which smelled lovely.Whenever you see a Rose you always cup it, and see if it has a lovely scent.Cat brought me the David Austin catalogue.Roses of all kinds with beautiful names and colours, the descriptions are artfully done.A bigger garden could have masses of DA Roses.

A Honeysuckle growing up the fence that seperated the island bed and pond from a vegetable patch. The colours of the flowers matched the scent.I love Honeysuckle.

The last photo is from Hilarys garden, the beautiful Passiflora Caerulia, or Passion Flower.this totally covers her garage (and maybe hold the garage up).I love these Blue flowers for the complexity of the design.Perfection in a flower.

Blues And Red

It rained today really heavily, torrential downpours throughout the day. The photos are of the poor wet Red Robin, and the blue Sea Hollys...
I went to Hils this morning with Cat to water Hils friends garden who was away on holiday. I was amazed at the long garden and these Eryngiums caught my eye..

I have two growing in containers and I'm sure I planted one somewhere but it has not grown. I love the colours and spikiness of this plant.Like stars orbiting the garden.

These Eryngiums are gorgeous. I brought back some goodys for the garden. A coffee coloured Geranium called Espresso, a Heuchera Raspberry Ripple, a Heather, A Fir Tree seedling, an unknown Geranium, a Bronze Fennell, and a Verbena Bonarensis.
These were spares in a plastic tray marked "free plants need a good home".
We went to Hampsons where I bought a gorgeous Japanese Red Blood Grass for the left border. It turns blood red in the autumn.
The rain is still falling now on my last day off.Back to work for two long days before an allotment day weather permitting on Sunday.

Poor Mans Orchid

My Butterfly Flower or Poor Mans Orchid flowered fully today. It is beautiful shades of lilac, purple, white, burgundy, and yellow.
I grew the plants from match book seeds, little packets of matches with seeds glued to the match sticks. You break the sticks off with the seeds glued at the top of them, put them into compost where a dark line is and water them.
I actually removed the seeds and sowed them in a pot without the matchsticks
The result of a few months of growing is a spectacular flower with a striking face. When I saw the picture on the matchstick packet I thought I want to grow thes beautys...
These are Chiliean native plants, and are annuals. You'll need to sow them every year. The foliage is very fern like and lush green.
I want to find more of this Schizanthus and grow lots of different varieties next year. The plants are in a clay pot and full of flower buds. It should flower spectacularly.
I read it is called a Butterfly Flower because it resembles a small butterfly, not because it attracts them. I have an Asclepias growing besides it so I will see if butterflys like their namesake plant.

A Garden Torch

As I worked yesterday the Rose bud fully opened, revealing the Red Devil Floribunda Rose.It really is as bright as the photo.It looks like an olympic torch glowing in the right border near the Monkshood, Hollyhock, and Nepeta.
I watered the garden yesterday and overnight it rained with more forecast for today.There are flower buds all over the garden.Its starting to fizz ready for summer.
I have Sweet Peas as a posy in a glass of water.They are delicate pastel colours and smell lovely.The trick I read is to keep on cutting them to induce them to flower even more.
It will be a fragrant summer with all the Roses and Sweet Pea's giving their scents.

A Tale of Two Flowers

Cultivated and Wild flowers are blooming in my small but densely planted garden.
The third Rosebush nearly in flower. This Red Floribunda is called Red Devil. I hope it will flower fully soon.The tightly packed petals glowed in sundays sunshine.It has a healthy five flower buds on the single growing stem.The colour is so bright, its torch like against the green foliage of the right border.

Margaret Merrill, A beautiful Tea Rose with sumptuous White flowers with a peach flush.Alas this plant has been ravaged by blackspot and is the strongest fragrance so far.Its so sweet and citrusy the scent.I will try to grow it again next year and try to preempt the blackspot.It was stored stacked up in a plastic bag outsideHampsons,along with hundreds of other bare root roses.The stems were not cut at the correct angle so its suffered from poor health. I need to give it tender loving care to make it flower more prolifically and with good vigour.

Climbing Rose Iceberg, in flower with no blackspot or leaf problems. It is perfectly happy in the shade of the out house wall growing in the pot. A few aphids have been the only problem. Niels tells me this grows really well and is famed for its masses of white blousy flowers! A star performer for this funny sunny and wet June.

The Fireweed is famed in Canada for predicting winter.The flowers grow up a pink minuet from the base upwards.When the final flower is done it is said that winter hits Canada within a month.
This is a perennial plant that is spread by the underground Rhizomes and by the feather like seed head after it has flowered.
I cut it down as it had outgrown the small garden and was taking over the left border. I have it as a cutflower in my glass with some freshly cut Sweet Peas.The plant is still blooming too so i can admire the delicate pink and purple flowers.
It grows massively along the long causeway that i walk to work along. I thought it was a gift from the ghostly gardener, It is just a well established perennial wildflower.
I wander if it has been cultivated as the flowers are beautiful?

The Fireweed flower close up.It is called Fireweed because as Canada has wild fires this plant colonises first in the burnt ground.The stems were as thick as tree branches.
Flowers both cultivated and wild growing in my garden side by side..

Gardening Shots

I was photographed tidying the garden up by Cat. After I had left it for four days I wanted to move the plants around so there is a clear path to the rose bench and so I could get into the right border to see whats growing. I swept all the debris and soil down to the end and added it to my compost bin. I have made it difficult to access by putting a Lilac Tree, Strawberry planter, and Mallus Braeburn apple tree around the bin.
The towering plant was a Fireweed. It has been cut down to allow light to the Daylily and Crocosmias. A Helianthus is also getting more light. The Fireweed was eight feet high and dwarfed everything else.

I needed to find some bare soil to plant a Ladys Mantle (which i was watering in here), and three seed grown Evening Primrose. I am not going to buy any more plants as I struggled to find homes for the new ones. A Clematis Montana Reubens is in a pot by the wobbly back fence. I want to grow it up along the fence where the compost bin is.
Still homeless is a Red flowering Camellia, so many plants so little space. I am waiting for my Butterfly Flowers to flower. The buds are expanding and the flower is nearly opening.They look like Orchids on the pictures I have seen. I grew them from seeds stuck on matchsticks.
Tomorrow I will go to the allotment to see whats growing.The garden is growing beautifully and ready to explode in colour for July, the height of summer.
It makes a change for me to be the subject of a blog post, a gardener at work.

Chocolate And Roses

They normally go together well on Valentines day, or as a romantic gift for your loved ones.In the garden they are represented by two plants.The Chocolate Cosmos flowered on the day i came back from Cheltenham.It is a sumptuous velvet soft burgundy flower that looks darker in poor light.It has a bejeweled centre like a crown made of sweets.On a warm summerss day the scent is of rich Belgian chocolates.Read Joanne Harris's Chocolat, and smell this great Mexican perennial.It is in a pot by the rose bench so I can smell its sweet chocolate/vanilla essence!
Pure poetary in a flowers scent.

The Climbing Rose Iceberg, which was only a pound (£1) from Hampsons. It has grown superbly in the pot by the outhouse door. I have planted two marigolds below it but this has made no difference to greenfly!The white flowers smell like roses should, not strong but pleasant and pleasurable every time you bend over to sniff the flowers.
Scent is one of the senses that is hardest to describe in words. I think David Austin has a team of professional Rose sniffers to write the blurb in the catalogue about what each Rose smells like..
I love the heady mix of Chocolate and Roses, this will by my favourite scent combination this summer. I have five more Rose plants to bloom yet.

Birds Of A Feather

Flock together, or so the rhyme goes.. Here the Parent House Sparrow is feeding the ever hungary juvenile on the fence beneath the rugby scrum above.

House Sparrows. I had read how they are scarce in parts of Britain and not far up the RSPB's list of commonest British garden birds in the big bird count. I had about fourteen of them today feeding en masse.

A mystery was how my fat balls (hidden behind a scrum of House Sparrows) went days after being put out.They used to last months. I looked out of the window away from the birds view. A whole flying troupe of House Sparrows flew down to feed together. Some sat, some flew in and knocked the others off, some watched from the safety of the clothes line or canes holding my tomato plants up.They ate most of one of the three fat balls over the course of a day.

Enter stage right. This Magpie swooped down and sent them all flying back into the safety of the tree's. He had the approach of Nosferatu with a black cloak on. His large size and bright colours scared the sparrows away.The prince of Darkness!
I had not seen Magpies in my garden at all since I moved in last November. He had been in earlier but flew out before I could work out what he was doing.
From the kitchen vantage point I waited to see why he had flown down and made the House Sparrow mob scatter...

Onto the bird table to take some nice peanuts. I would not have believed it. The Magpies normally hang out in the Privet hedge and Fir Trees, cackling and making machine gun noises.They are handsome birds, but not really garden feeders.
Maybe this one had seen the House Sparrow mob in action and thought I'll have some of that. He maybe discovered the food when I was away and the house was quiet.
A flying troup and rogue magpie today have brightened my garden.

Roses

The climbing Rose Iceberg had flowered massively in my abscence.It rained lots today.These blousey blooms are fragrant and pure white inner petals.The Rose buds have shown pink flushes on the outer petals.
It was too wet to go to the allotment so i went shopping instead.Two rectangular planters are planted now and joining the plant throng in the garden.
There is lots to blog about yet.

Spring Watch Moment

I'm back in Wakefield after four days at mums down in Cheltenham. I spent my days doing her garden and cooking dinners, before watching Springwatch specials on BBC2.
This is my own little part of wildlife, A bee flying into the New Zealand Hebe.
The garden was as I remembered it, and in it were old friends. Plants from years ago that were still there.
I tidied up gently, with my clippers kept busy doing zen maintenence on shrubs. I read the best Japanese gardeners can prune a shrub into a delicate shape and the overall effect is that it has not been shaped by mans hands.
I went plant shopping twice to put in some new plants. Not as many as I would have liked, but Mums gardening time is much less than mine.It is still her garden, with a little of my green fingers giving it magic..
I made her garden neat, tidy, and colourful. I will post some photos later on. My camera batterys are recharging ready for me to photograph my garden tomorrow.
I had not thought about my own garden much so it was a suprise to see it again. After looking at it daily a break was good. I did miss my garden birds though, even the pirate Pidgeons :)
I'll see whats new tomorrow in daylight. A Robin, Blue Tit, and a few House Sparrows welcomed me back.
Spring Watch is a series of programmes that concentrates on native British wildlife and insects, that gets people from their tv to the outdoors to meet nature.
Foxes,Badgers, Deers, White Tipped Eagles, Otters, Seals, Frogs, Newts,Slugs, etc were all mentioned and shown over several nights of programmes. It showed you can find wildlife within urban environments when you look for them.
I looked this morning for some wildlife in Mums garden and photographed some busy Bee's..

Oxeye Fly

An au revoir post to last untill friday.I have watered all my pots that looked dry in the garden and the hanging baskets.
An enormous flock of twelve house sparrows descended on the garden today to feed on the fat balls and peanuts.I wandered why the fat balls were being demolished in a week.
A photo from the allotment showing an Oxeye Daisy with a metallic looking fly.
I'm going back to my home town to see my mum and revamp her garden after the last tenants let it grow wild.
I've been told by Hil's and Cat to take it easy.My foot was painfull after Hils garden and the allotment.Taking it easy is not easy for me.I'm too active.
I hope all your gardens are growing and that your flowers are blooming.I will take photos and blog from Friday.
I hope the weather is nice and that I get into the garden lots down in Cheltenham, in the Cotswolds.That garden is the one that launched me into growing plants and flowers.Its the original garden.My original inspiration :)

Wild Garden

As it was said in the Kevin Costner film Field Of Dreams "Build it and they will come".I have made the garden beautiful where there was nothing before but weeds, grass, and brambles.I have picked a mixture of traditional plants that attract Bee's, Butterflys, and Birds.
The Robin is an ever present garden spirit sitting on the fence and hopping around my pots.He has brought his new fledglings out with him.I have masses of bird families attacking my eight bird feeders.The rich food and flowers sees a stream of visitors.

This is the baby Robin who is even more cheeky than his parents.He sat about two foot from me for this lovely close up on the bird table.

The acrobatic Blue Tits have lovely feathers in blue, yellow, white and black.How they can hang upside down to feed is amazing.They are also so quick but light on their feet.They crash into the bird feeders, have a snack, then fly off into the privet.Many a photo is just a post or fence where they have alighted as I press the button.

A House Sparrow hanging onto the biggest weeds?They are seven feet tall now and tower above the Viburnum.They have pendulous pink flower buds at the top end of the plant.I love how his feet are gripping onto the bendy stem as he is looking down at the feeders from the unusual perch!

A few days ago I saw the plants on the right border moving Jurassic Park style on a windless day.I saw a glimpse of a furry brown body.I wandered if Amazon the field mouse was back, but grown larger? This cheeky one broke for cover after darting between the borders and scurrying between the many pots around the garden.Perfect cover for a daylight raid...

A juvenile House Sparrow keeping watch. As one watches the adult and juveniles were feeding at the fat balls below..

The clumsy and crazy Wood Pidgeon.They keep raiding the bird table and ground feeders and deat all of the seeds.They are damaging plants as they fly out of the garden.These are a pain and damaged my Gem Squash this morning.They are the pirate of the garden..

Another juvenile House Sparrow.They are quite scared of me and fly off sometimes and hop around my feet at other times.

My daylight raider with pink ears, dark black eyes, and pale brown fur.A rat maybe?

To capture him on film I placed some nuts on the pavers and waited.He was quite photogenic even with me two feet away from him.He must have seen me before from the cover of the plants in the borders.He seemed unphased by the camera and me kneeling close to the ground.

The Rat got the nuts yesterday.I am going back home to Cheltenham tomorrow for five days.I will be back on Friday evening.
Snappys blog will have a siesta for five days. The wild life will have the run of my garden.I love trying to capture some of the wildlife in my own urban oasis.

Serene Green Sunday

An Anemone first flower is nearly open.Its a very cool light lime green colour.The centre looks like a sweet.
I am working today before going away to Cheltenham tomorrow for five days.Enough time for one more post tonight before a short siesta.
I had some interesting wildlife yesterday in the garden.They will be posted tonight.
Enjoy all your weekends!

ps The flower is an Anemone that has grown though the middle of the Chamomile.I looked again today and thought it does not look like a daisy type flower.

Yesterday

To start the post three photos Cat took of me working in Hils garden on Friday the thirteenth.

I spent yesterday at Hils house helping revamp her back garden. It is a series of raised beds against descening levels of stone circles. I wanted to beautify her garden as her back was hurt recently. From ten am to seven pm I took on the large garden..

Two brown garden waste bins were filled. One garden spade shattered in my hands, and one fork broke in two. I do not know my own strength. The hardest part was digging out years old shrubs that had grown to gargantuan proportions. The shrubs were cut apart then the root balls forced out of the ground. Hils had to go to the allotment to get more tools after I destroyed two within five minutes. However the shrubs were vanquished to free up some much needed space.

At seven Pm I took my first photo.The garden had been pruned, weeded, top soiled, planted, and swept up. I had removed the shrubs, pruned back and shaped all the remaining ones: A Box plant, a Camellia,a Hydrangea, A Euonymus....
I had planted the two main central raised beds on either side of the middle patio level.

I replanted the left raised bed after removing weeds and straggly plants.I put eight bags of top soil on the two raised beds to darken the soil. It brings out the plants. In went Lupins, Coreopsis, A gorgeous Dahlia,a Geums that will have yellow or orange flowers, and Poppies to compliment the yellow Snapdragon and the yellow lupin. The plucky Snapdragon survived the onslaught to clear the large shrubs. I worked around the plant so not to damage it. Hils bought a willow panel for the back of the raised bed. A big Coreopsis will hopefully flower well and screen the greenhouses.

The Dahlia Fiesta or Carnival?.The colours are absolutely gorgeous.Rain drops adorn the party coloured Dahlia.It rained intermittantly on me.I soldiered on, a foul weathered gardener.

The Lupins around the clipped Hydrangea.It had the most sumptuous blue flowers last year.It should stand out against the whites, yellows, and oranges in this bed..

The raised bed to the right newly planted with Echinaceas, Poppies, Geums, and the shrubs trimmed into nice shapes.The Salix tree, and the Camellia to the right are the stars, and the other new plants will be under their watchful gaze.

My delicate trimming and moving an plant from the front to the back opened up the beds potentials and allowed some fresh planting.I used little clippers to shape the shrubs into more formal shapes and to push them back a bit where they had got wild.

I cut the trees in the corner so you can now sit on the bench in a leafy woodland glade with white flowers trailing down next doors fence into Hils garden. You can sit and watch the birds and bee's.I want to make a little path to this bench which is cool and scented by flowers on both sides.The end border is a project for another day!

The clipped Ceanothus that attracts all the bee's in Walton village.The trunk is now visible and the lovely wood logs and sculptural piece are visible. It reminds me of a cloud tree.The plant is fifteen years old and was festooned in a sea of blue flowers that smelled strongly of honey.The floor was covered in blue petals underneath.

In the second photo of this post is the gorgeous Astrantias. These I photographed in the wet evening light before supper. Poached Salmon, New Potatoes, and Vegetables.I was so hungary after the garden day..

The star flower for me was this Physocarpus Dark leaved shrub in flower.The flowers are exploding out like fireworks. A great end to a good Friday 13th!
It was nice to help out a good friend who was unable to garden because of injury, and to repay her back for her many kindnesses. I hope she likes her garden and the photos.

Kitchen Garden Thoughts

Outside the kitchen window is a windowbox planted with Virginia Stock and Scented Night Stock. These white flowers smell fragrant in the evening, whereas the Virginia Stock smells fragrant during the day. Gorgeous flowers to sniff both night and day.

The White climbing Rose Iceberg looks silky in the evening glow. They smell very sweet too and the petals are just perfect.They are in my view from the sink in the kitchen climbing up the left side of the outhouse on the wooden trellis. I was thinking about the garden as I looked outside...

The garden today supplied the New Potatoes, Baby Carrots, Spinach, and Parsley.These were cooked with some Garlic Piri Piri chicken.
I dug the New Potatoes up today as the leaves were dying and discolouring. I unearthed five and a half pounds of New Potatoes from the two grow bags I got from Marshalls.
I grew all the vegetables and Potatoes in my small twenty foot by fourteen foot garden. I planned on paper a kitchen garden before I got the allotment.
I have lots of containers and grow bags. For example the African grow bags (hessian sacks with a stone column in the centre and sticks to keep bag open) are growing Mustard Greens, Rocket, Spring Onions, Dwarf French Beans, Beetroot, Parsnips, and Perpeptual Spinach Beet.They are compact in the corner on raised paving stones.
A lack of soil has not limited me. It has made me more creative in how to cram as much as possible into a small space.
I read somewhere the popularity of growing your own fruit and Veg in the Uk, means for the first time Vegetable seeds are outselling Flower seeds.
Jamie Oliver has led the charge, along with other celebrity chefs getting people into growing edible plants. I was a chef before so i can see the attraction of growing fresh produce to cook with. You cannot get fresher than pulling it from your own garden and taking it into your kitchen to cook it.
Allotments are booming now and people have to wait for ages to get one.A large chunk were sold off during the 1980's when it was not in vogue.
I saw on gardeners world some people in London had turned a vacant building lot into a mini allotment. Builders two tonne sacks were filled with soil to give people maybe four or five square feet of soil. Row upon row of Bag gardens for the gardenless people in London. There were no empty bags and people were on waiting lists to get one.
Another reason for me to try and create a functional kitchen garden was to see how these plants grow. I have bought Carrots and Potatoes in the supermarket. I now know how they are grown, and what the plant looks like. I had no idea how Cabbages grow, or Brussels Sprouts for example. I was used to them being vacuum packed and in a box. Most of the time they have had the soil washed off them.
In the old days people knew where the food they ate came from, as either they grew it or bought it locally from someone who had done. Maybe the dirt was still on it when they bought it.
Supermarkets have taken us away from the earth where the food has grown.They have turned people from Farmers and Growers into consumers. Maybe change is not always good.
The Jamie Oliver/Allotment/Growing fruit and veg is the antithesis to consumerism.Taking up a spade and trowel is making people feel better about themselves and reconnecting them back to the earth and the growing seasons.
I have been inspired this year, and the plate shows my first results.

Beneficial Beetles

Its cloudy and raining today on my first day off. It was sunny all my working days too. The garden and allotment needed watering though so they dont mind the rain.
I took these photos of Ladybirds at the Allotment last week when it was sunny. I love Ladybirds for their bright red coats with black spots, and white spottted faces. They will happily walk around your hand as you photograph them.
They feed on aphids and I need them in my garden to keep my Roses healthy.
They are beneficial beetles and I have planted French Marigolds to try and entice them into the

garden. The second photo shows a Ladybird on a flowering plant. I do not know what its called. It looks like a trampoline with the Ladybird jumping on the centre of it!
The camera batterys need recharging so I'm blogging old photos. I am usually armed with the camera every day in the garden.
I want to do blog posts about Harlow Carr from last week, and Pats garden...
I enjoy watching for the insects then working out how they fit into the gardens ecosystem. A world within a world.
Their are lots of pollen rich flowers planted in the community garden where both photos were taken. I always encounter Ladybirds up there.
Its a good sign of warmer weather and that Spring is nearly over when they appear.

Whirring Wings

The Robin flying at the fatballs in a blur of whirring wings. I have seen Robins, House Sparrows, and Wood Pidgeons this morning.There is always a lot of birds in the garden now. I have turned my garden into an oasis for the birds.There is always food and water, and in return they have dropped a pea plant and multiple sunflowers.
It is calming watching them come and go, and you can spend ages just looking.

Serendipity And Iceberg

The climbing Rose Iceberg opening its flowers tonight. Four white sweetly scented buds have opened during the day. A blue Dutch Iris has also flowered today. Another suprise was that the red flowered Astrantia has four white flowers on it. I wanted an Astrantia Major (like at the top of the blog page) but could only find the red one...it may be serendipity.
Back to work again tomorrow.The Rose smelled divine though.

Butterfly Dreams

A small dark coloured butterfly landed in the mint pot yesterday( just to the middle left of the pot.)
I have growing a Butterfly bush, an Asclepias, Catnip, Echinaceas, Purple Coneflowers, and Lavenders.All butterfly attracting plants..
Only the Catnip is flowering, but this Butterfly was flying around for ages.
I hope that more Butterflies follow him. I am back to work for two long days now.
The birds and the butterflies will have the garden to themselves untill Thursday.

In Flower Today

These are a random selection of some of the flowers in bloom today.I have picked out nine of about sixteen plants.This is a beautiful pink/salmon coloured Geranium.I love the white edging contrasting to the dark leaves below.

The Catnip Six Hills Giant.The purple flowers are good for attracting butterflies to the garden.I did see a baby one today though so maybe the scented flowers and leaves are sending out Butterfly Pheremones.

The Orange/Copper coloured Broom.These flowers are gorgeous and a complete contrast to the other Broom which had white flowers but has finished flowering now.The sunlight illuminates the deep warm colours.

Four Dutch Iris are in flower now, only another fifty one to go!I love the Iris flower shape on the long stiff edged strappy leaves.These were almost turquoise in their colour.I want some bearded Iris for next years garden..

The plants awaiting a hanging basket.A pink panther Fuschia in flower.The Blue flowered Winston Churchill has not bloomed yet.I also have the Candy Pink Fuschia from last year that survived the damp flat.I have taken cuttings and planted them around the parent plant.They have taken too!

A pink flowered Verbascum from Hils plant stall.It needed staking to keep the floppy flower stem aloft.I love the detail of the flower and the pink colour.It flowers from the base upwards..

Virginia Stock....

Another Virginia stock with a hitchhiker on the second photo.These smell sweet during the day, and the night stock is supossed to smell in the evening.These are growing in front of the kitchen window in the box.

The last photo from the garden is these Sunriver Daisys in the Hanging basket by the outhouse.Daisys are so cheerful, thats why I love them.

In Flower Prolugue

I am off today from work, a day off between four long days.I have worked two already.
This is a beautiful white/pink double flowered Petunia for the hanging baskets.I think white flowers look great against green leaves, and when the light is fading they stand out too.
The sun is out again this morning.I want to go to the allotment to do some watering and weeding.The garden is starting to put on its summer clothes.
The Dutch Iris have flowered by the Raspberry bush, the Geraniums have flowered, both the Upright ones and the bushy ones.
Flowers have appeared on the Catnip Six Hills Giant.The cat damage from Blackspot might prolong the flowering by having a second flush later in the summer.A feline version of the Chelsea chop (when Gardeners across the country cut back half of the perennials to leave two rows of diffferent sized stems.the shorter ones flower after the longer ones.Two displays of flowers are made by the judicious trimming of some stems above leaf nodes).
I put four fat balls last week in the feeder and by last night they had been totally eaten.I wander how many birds have been eating them!They had lasted weeks before.I will try to observe to see whats feeding in the garden.
My Roses have Rose buds on them.The climbing Iceberg Rose has White flower buds now nearly open on two.The other Floribundas and Teas have small buds on them but are a few weeks away from flowering.
I will do a second post today about whats in flower and photograph all the flowers.Many plants have flower buds on too.I can feel the energy levels growing in the garden.
Winters for gardening dreams, Spring for garden preperation, and summer is the Fireworks Finale when masses of flowers bloom.

Ps Hils needs healing vibes as her back has given out. Gardening is good when you are not injured with sunburn, blisters, cuts, or bad back after digging! Get well soon Hilary :)

First Dutch

After I finished work yesterday I did my daily walk around the garden. What struck me from the door was the beautiful yellow Dutch Iris that had flowered as i worked.
The fading light brought out the Yellows and Whites. I will photograph more I think as I have 50 planted around the garden.
Some Virginia Stock has also flowered in the kitchen windowbox. I need better light to photograph it as the flower was quite petite.
I'll be at work when this is published.Its amazing what flowers when you do not observe it!

Peony Bloom Saturday

One of three Peony Blooms from yesterday in my garden.These have grown below the clipped Viburnum Tinus.They started off as red coloured Asparagus spears, and grew flame red copper leaves.As they grew upwards they needed staking and have sweetly scented flowers.
The compact flower buds are amazing is saving space.Its like the clean clothes vacuum packed in clear polythene.
As it opened every petal unfurls untill its a good six inches across in colours of white, tinged with pink, with the yellow centre.It is so light compared to the dark leaves that half the time the flower looks suspended in midair.
These have grown beautifully, a remnant from a previous gardener.I heard they can grow undisturbed for twenty years or more.Self suficient.
I can understand why these flowers are cultivated in the Far East.It is cultivated in Luoyang in China and they are renowned for their blooms.
It was named after a Greek gods physician (Paeon) , who found it on Mount Olympus.It is said to be a Shy flower because after it is moved it will not flower for a few years.

End Of Play

The garden this evening before I went out for tea at Pats. I took more photos of her garden too, but that will be another post. As Spring moves into summer the amount of things growing has exploded exponentially. The winter days of what to blog about have been replaced about which thing of many subjects and photos to post about...
My five large hanging baskets were taken to work for the lady I made them for. They had been chilling for a month and were growing on beautifully.Sixteen inch baskets with masses of trailing Lobelias, Busy Lizzies, Trailing and Upright Fuschias, Million Bells,Geraniums, Petunias, French Marigolds, Bacopa Snowflakes and Bacopa Double Flowers.I hope she likes them outside her house, my green fingers and planting combinations.
I repotted two Shuttlecock Ferns (bottom left hand corner), and watered everything. The Strawberries and Raspberrys both have fruit on but it needs to ripen in the sun. I planted Blue flowered Ageratum, and a Fuschia Winston Churchill in the big blue pot to join the Ranunculus. I removed a tree seedling into a deep pot. I need to identify it but it looks like a horse chestnut tree seedling..
I moved my hanging baskets onto the vacated hooks and restocked the bird feeders. I will not be gardening for five days due to working four long days. The rain began to fall this evening on the very green garden. A rare long shot is at the top of this page.

I spent three hours this morning weeding and watering before having to go to bring the hanging baskets into work. Everything looks green and lush. Potatoes are growing to the front right, Cabbages and Brussel Sprouts to the left with green netting on.
The polythene covered Courgette bed is to the right of the chair. In the fore ground there is the onions and carrots, followed by Peas, French Beans, and Borage. The A frame has a few tough Runner bean plant seedlings.They have been mined with slug pellets now. I felt a pang but so many seedlings have been eaten before getting out of the ground...
Three of Mr Saddiqs beds to the left have been dug over and planted by me. My excess Courgettes, Cabbages, and Onions went into three beds. I covered his Strawberrys with some netting. The sun was shining and the birds singing. Time passes imperceptibly up there. Its very calming spending a few hours up there.
There is an open day at the Allotment on June 22nd. I hope to be back from Cheltenham to attend and see if the local community comes to the community garden at the front of the allotments.
Thats the state of garden and allotment at the end of my days off. Work will stop play untill Thursday next week.

Harlow Carr VI

A taster picture from Harlow Carr today. I spent four hours wandering about in plant and flower heaven with the sun shining again.
I have been lucky that all my time off coincides with nice sunny days :)
I spent more hours in the garden this evening repotting Chilli and Sweet Pepper plants, cleaning the outhouse and organising the pots into sizes... how many plant pots do i have?
(Hundreds and they were spread out all over the patio untill my obcessive compulsive disorder kicked in and i stacked them according to size and shape)
I planted my seed grown French Marigolds around the left border Roses, and the two Heleniums on the same side, put the Chocolate Cosmos in a blue pot after evicting the Hyacinths.
The photo is of an unusual Aquilegia in the Gardens Through Time displays at HC.It was full of beautiful flowers, water, and birds.I will post about it tomorrow.
I find visiting a favourite garden helps you find your energy and makes you go back into your own space to garden. I have been six times now and it never fails to inspire me, and my ever ready camera.

Robin Under Gardener

The Robin yesterday kept coming back to my garden to check on my progress. He is almost American looking with an orange breast. I think he might be moulting..
He will look after the garden today as i'm going to Harlow Carr. My new under gardener could apply for a job as the curator of HC. The current one (Mathew Wilson) has left for gardening education.
The sun is shining here, the camera is loaded with newly charged batterys.Will post later.

White Rose Wednesday

Its been a good day off today. I spent three hours on the allotment with Cat earlier, then another three hours this afternoon in the garden. The sun was shining most of the day.
The photo is a damp rose from Tuesday when it rained all day. I only briefly got outside to take photos, but the long days had taken their toll on my energy levels. I was too tired to do a post..
I'm energetic today and have taken lots of photos.I will do a slide show I think of the beautys from the folder marked to blog yet...
I checked my blog for the colours of the Roses I planted in December. Red, white, peach, and orange..No yellow so that will be on my wish list tomorrow when I go back to Harlow Carr.
Butterflies, Bee's, and Birds all came into the garden today, and the same wildlife up at the allotment. I took some photos of the communal garden so they can use them to illustrate what they are doing. I can do a blog post of the prints that I will give the committee.
I forked over the untended Mr Saddiq's beds and planted Cabbages, Brussel Sprouts, Borage, and my Courgettes. I have one more bed to clear of grass and weeds. I think I will plant some Spinach and Leeks there.
I have cleared nine beds now, both my plot and his. He can sit and watch but it looks better already. The paths need trampling between the beds as the grass keeps growing. The rain seem to encourage everything to spurt in growth.
Back at home I repotted the last of the hanging basket plants. Trailing Fuschias,Double flowered Petunias, and Lobelia Fountain mix. I repotted Gem Squash to grow on ready to be moved to the allotment. A tray of French Marigolds is waiting to be taken to the allotment.
One Poppy Bactreum, and four Evening Primrose were moved into bigger pots.The greenhouse has Tomato plants (I finally have some grown by me from seed), a Venus Fly Trap, Garden Mint, and ten repotted Geraniums.
My homeless plants include a Chocolate Cosmos, two Heleniums, and three Blue flowered Ageratum.
The garden is nearly completed now.It just needs weeding, watering, and tending.In the sunshine I realised I was nearly done.Time to sit back and watch the garden grow!

My Gardening Week Ahead

Welsh Poppies with flowers like liquid Sunshine.They self seed all over Hilarys garden.I am always taking photographs of her garden flowers when i visit.I took these yesterday between rain showers and in the rain too.
I am working today, with Tuesday given over to helping Hils clear her garden, wednesday for Allotment, Thursday is Harlow Carr again (Sixth trip since last year), and Friday for the allotment.I am working Saturday and Sunday.
Thats where my photos will come from this week.

Walton Plant Stall 2008

After getting up early I was at the Walton village hall by quarter to nine. Hils and Fran were there with the larks setting up the tables and adorning them with vegetable plants, perennials, and bedding plants. A friend of Hils brought a car and trailer full of more plants, and a gazebo which was erected after an hour of rain. The BBC weather site had said light showers but it rained heavily for most of the day..

The star flower and only one photographed from the plant stall was this Lewisia, with its spectacular pink and white flowers. I had not seen this plant before in flower at the stall. Last years were just leaves.

The damp snappy gardener topping up my coffee levels in the village hall kitchen.All the moneys raised go back into the Walton community for the elderly, childrens groups, the girl guides and rainbows etc. I love the fun of selling the plants and chatting to the people who came despite the rainfall.

Fran helping making a sale.This was a dry shot showing the tables. As we sold the plants we moved them up the stall to reduce the number of tables. When the rain was really heavy the Gazebo went up. What a brilliant idea putting the stall under a temporary shelter.The rain ran down my neck, on my face, and soaked my coat. But it did not dampen my enthusiasm!

Me, and a rare photo of Hils. You can see the rain on the roads.The people came despite the weather to buy the plants from the stall. It had been advertised by posters in the village, and within the whats on section of a local newspaper.

Tomato plants nestle by the perennials. There was a good selection of plants available.The first customer was a lady who came as we were putting the plants onto the tables after nine am. She rang her friend up to tell her to come down to the village hall.

The light above from the Trees canopys which gave some shelter in places from the rain. The cardboard boxes got damp early on. I worried the bottoms would fall out as people carried away their bounty from the plant stall to their cars, or to church (The local church must have had bags and boxes of plants in the pews with the parishoners who bought from us on the way to church, before the service).

Half past twelve, the plants packed up, and gazebo taken down. We had sold for three hours, and later found out we had made £441, fifteen pounds under last years total. Hils has a small amount left so her neighbours might make up the fifteen pounds :)
What that means is in the two years I have helped out at the plant stall we have made £900 for the local community. Amateur gardeners growing plants, that spread their healing power
I love the way that gardening and growing plants can benefit community groups, and bring out Walton and surrounding areas to come on down. A meeting place for getting new plants for the garden!
Cant wait for next year...(Hils swears this one will be her last..)

The Name Of The Rose

The first Rose flower of the year, but it is confused. I think I planted a yellow Rose bush, but the flower looks white. It has opened steadily since Thursday, just in time to be blogged on plant stall day. I need some coffee to wake up before going with Cat to Walton village hall. The weather is overcast and only 14 degrees Centigrade.Hils took up thirty six boxes of plants last night..

I need to wait for it to fully open and see how scented it is. I have lost the name of the Rose somewhere. I must find my book with the names of all four Rose bushes in the borders. The ants love it. Do Ants damage roses as this one has loads playing between the petals?
Plant stall awaits, more posts later today.Its Sunday morning and I wont see Countryfile..