Flowers – Andrew In The Garden

The buds and blooms begin to brighten the garden

With buds fit to burst, and flowers opening all over the garden, there’s something new to see in the garden every day.

I had a walk around my garden this morning – the birds were singing, it was pretty mild even though the weather had cooled a little and there was some overnight rain/drizzle, but as I sipped my tea, I noticed that there were lots of new flowers open and plenty more buds beginning to swell.

Summer is en route, and my garden is ready for it.

The Foxgloves

I transplanted into the garden, some of the Foxgloves that had self-seeded into pots at my previous home a year or so ago. There’s lots of them – once you get a foxglove, then you’ve probably got them for life. These plants are descendants of the Foxgloves ‘Excelsior Hybrids Mixed’ plants that I grew from seed back in 2011.

Foxglove plants — The Foxgloves only a few weeks ago – no sign of the flower spires.

Thankfully they tolerate shade, and my back garden gets shaded at various times of the day either by the shadow of the house, or by one of the side fences. There’s one spot where I don’t think it gets the sun for very long at all, so these Foxgloves were perfect for this spot.

A foxglove flower stalk — A Foxglove ‘Excelsior Hybrids Mixed’ plant sends it’s flower spire skywards.

The bees love foxgloves, and soon rush to enter their bell-shaped flowers as they uncurl their colourful spires towards the sun. I suspect that in about 10 days, many of the foxgloves will be open or right on the verge of being open.

From memory, I’ve only ever had pinks and cream coloured foxgloves, with the pink colour seemingly more common in my gardens.

A pink Foxglove 'Excelsior Hybrid Mixed' on flower — A transplanted pink Foxglove ‘Excelsior Hybrid Mixed’ in 2017.

Despite their beauty, foxgloves are of course poisonous to humans, cats, and dogs, so use gloves when touching these plants, or make sure that you wash your hands thoroughly afterwards.

The Roses

Last year, when I broke the tired lawn, in the blank garden, I planted some roses. One of these, Rose ‘Just Joey’, led the way with the flowering and had opened a wonderfully fragrant peach-coloured flower by the start of the second week of June.

This rose, which I’m not entirely convinced particularly enjoys it’s spot in the garden, has budded up again for a second flowering year.

A Rose 'Just Joey' fragrant flower. — The fragrant bloom of Rose ‘Just Joey’ was the first rose to flower in the garden.

I’ll be pleased to see it on flower, and hope that it also puts effort into growing its structure a bit more – it looks a bit weedy. In contrast, the other Rose ‘Ernest H Morse’, has grown very large but shows no sign yet of any buds.

The purple Geranium Himalayense

In the corner of my garden is a Geranium ‘Himalayense’. I planted this last year and it sent out a number of bluey-purple flowers. My parents have always had one of these in their gardens, so I decided that I should get one too.

I wasn’t overly convinced that I’d planted it in the correct spot, and even though they die right back during the winter (and what a winter it was!), I was pleased to see the emergence of green shoots just a few weeks ago.

Geranium 'Himalayense' on flower — The Geranium ‘Himalayense’ has emerged and flowered again.

This morning I caught it with two flowers, and I’m really pleased to welcome it back into this corner of the garden – right near my backdoor.

Aquilegia

I bought three Aquilegia plants from my local market a week or so ago, and I’m still yet to plant them out (the hot weather has put me off planting them out, as they’re shade-tolerant).

However, two of them have begun flowering. Aquilegia ‘Spring Magic White’ has thrown out some delicate-looking white flowers, and it is joined by Aquilegia ‘Winky Red-White’.

Aquilegia Spring Magic White plant — Aquilegia ‘Spring Magic White’ with its delicate flowers.

I think it must have been a slow day when they chose ‘Winky Red-White’ in the Aquilegia department. Honestly?! Crimson? Love? Blush? Heart…? Surely they could have done better.

Aquilegia Winky Red-White plant — Aquilegia ‘Winky Red-White’ on flower,

The remaining Aquilegia plant (Aquilegia ‘McKana Group’) is not yet on flower, and it is also the same variety that I attempted to grow from seed at the back of my fridge months ago.

I saw a butterfly the other day – not sure what variety as it swiftly fluttered along in the sunshine, but hopefully it won’t be long before I can plant out all the plants that are making my windowsills creak, and fill the garden with flowers, veg, and fruit.

As ever, happy gardening, and thanks a lot for reading. If you’re using instagram, go ahead and join me over there for a few extra photos of the garden 🙂

Andrew

Sowing Courgette, Squash, and Nasturtium seeds

With Spring in full force, it’s time to get the courgette and squash seeds sown.

The weather has been much more spring-like these last few days, with a few days of sunshine, and nature is bounding ahead with lush green foliage. I’m even potentially going to need to cut my lawn again.

Apparently there’s a ‘heat wave’ (by UK standards) next week. Although it’s chilly today, I headed to the shed with some more seeds, to get a few more sown.

Sowing Squash

First up was my Squash ‘Spaghetti Stripetti’ – I grew this for the first time last year, and whilst it completely invaded my garden – grabbing every plant, twig, and blade of grass in the garden as it spread 20 feet, it gave me about a dozen big yellow squashes to eat. In fact, I’ve still got two in storage, and they seem fine.

The largest Squash 'Spaghetti Stripetti' a few weeks ago. — The first Squash ‘Spaghetti Stripetti’ early July 2017.

My initial sowing last year saw me grow two, but after one being snapped by wind within hours of putting it out, and a second one being re-sown, it was really only the one surviving original plant that I needed – and it took over.

This year, I’ve sown just one seed on its edge (apparently helping to avoid it rotting off when being watered from above) in some multipurpose compost. I expect this to germinate in just a couple of days.

Sowing Courgettes

This is joined by 3 Courgette ‘Zucchini F1 Hybrid’ seeds. This is the first time I have grown this variety, as I’d always stuck to growing the ‘Black Beauty’ type, but let’s see how this one gets on.

a courgette and flower growing — Some sunshine and rain are all it needs to swell the fruit and open that Courgette flower.

Last year, I sowed 6 plants, and had a total glut of 45 courgettes weighing in at more than 15.5kg.

Whilst I’d like some courgettes, I don’t think i’ve eaten a single one since the end of last year!

Sowing Nasturtiums

I like nasturtiums, but have had trouble growing them in the past. Their bright yellows, oranges, and red flowers, with their greeny-blue waxy leaves attract a lot of useful insects into the garden – namely the hoverflies – which can then help address any aphid issues.

Sadly, they also attract the Cabbage White Butterfly, and their caterpillars can demolish a soft and tender nasturtium plant in a few hours.

A caterpillar eating a Nasturtium leaf — Caterpillars soon much their way through Nasturtiums.

I’ve found an older packet of Nasturtium ‘Whirlybird Mix’ seeds, so I’ve planted a dozen of these, hoping that at least a few will make it up out of the compost and eventually into the garden where they can climb and flower, bringing in those important hoverflies, without getting gobbled up too quickly by caterpillars.

Thanks again for reading, and I hope that you’ve had a happy weekend of gardening.

Andrew.

The Garden Springs Forward

We’ve just had a mild week here in the East of England, and so the garden has woken up to throw lush green leaves skywards. It’s been the perfect time to get out there.

The sunshine arrived this week, and it’s been gently warming the soil and luring some of the spring plants out of winter hibernation, and for some, this has been the signal to open their flowers.

I even cut the back lawn for the first time since about September.

Now that my shed is pretty much in order, I can begin using it as a space to sow and harden off (that means, getting them used to cooler temperatures) plants. My Broad Bean ‘Crimson Flowered’ plants have already been through this process and are doing well in their new raised bed outside.

Having saved the cardboard toilet roll middles over the last few months, I have collected these up, filled them with a multipurpose compost and sown a French Bean ‘Blue Lake’ seed into each one.

Sowing french beans in toilet rolls — Above: Tea, Shed, Toilet Rolls, Beans and Compost – a winning combination.

French Beans (like Peas and Sweet Peas) like to send their roots down deep, and therefore these cardboard tubes are perfect for them to grow in over the next few weeks. They won’t go out until late May, but this should give them a perfect start, and the cardboard tube will rot down when it gets planted out with them.

Meanwhile, the Crocuses and Tulips are out, helping to provide the early-emerging bees with food. I’ve seen a few bees around so far, so hopefully the bulb flowers are going to help sustain them long enough for more flowers to open.

This tulip is one of a trough of Tulip ‘Mixed Garden’ bulbs that I planted up last year. It’s the first in the trough to open, but the others (which are bigger) should be along soon.

I also found a (what i think is the last of the) Erin seed kits that I was given back in about 2011. This time, the kit is for Rocket, so I have once again opened the kit up and sown the seeds that should be sown ‘by 2012’. Let’s see how this goes!

An old Erin Wild Rocket seed kit – should have been sown ‘by 2012’.

Last time I sowed an old Erin seed kit, a forest grew, that gave me lettuces throughout the summer, despite being 5 years beyond their ‘sow by’ date. Sometimes nature deserves a chance, as it has other plans!

I think some wetter weather is now on its way, but I hope that you’ve been able to do something in your garden. I know that I shall be busy pricking out seedlings over the next few days.

As ever, thank you for reading, and happy gardening!

Andrew

A snowless Saturday and a windowsill of seedlings

It’s a busy Saturday in the garden as Winter eases off. There’s sowing, pricking out, and shed sorting to do!

Finally! A weekend day where it isn’t raining, snowing, or icy cold with the remnants of freezing temperatures and winds that chill you to the bone.

I was very pleased to be up and outside in the garden with RubyCat by 9am AND without a coat. I had loads of jobs to get done.

I was pleased to finally find a Daffodil that hadn’t been flattened by wind, rain, or snow. A cheery lone fanfare of Spring’s arrival.

A container-grown yellow Daffodil celebrates a lack of snow.

First up, was to finish putting up some more shelves in my shed. When i moved in, this shed was shelf-free, and I brought some cheap pine shelving with me, but with the demolition of the rickety old shed, this has given me enough planks to turn into shelving. The most significant shelf being the full length one that runs under the shed window.

To make this, I bought some inexpensive brackets from my local DIY store, and then took the old shed door and cut it down the length – thankfully it was 6 planks wide – so it made the perfect 3 plank wide shelves. I put those up with my new drill/screwdriver, and was then able to start pricking out some seedlings.

I planted some Cleome ‘Colour Fountain’ seeds a few days ago, and they have shot up, so I took the opportunity to use this new-found workspace to start potting them into individual plugs.

Cleome ' ' seedlings (left) with Cosmos 'Seashells Mixed' — Cleome ‘Colour Fountain’ seedlings (left) with Cosmos ‘Seashells Mixed’ (right) have been pricked out.

I also took the four surviving Cosmos ‘Seashells Mixed’ seedlings (RubyCat had been pulling them out of the pot and spitting them on the carpet until I moved them out of reach!!). I potted these on, and sowed some more as they were so pretty last summer.

Cosmos flowers in garden — Some of the Cosmos ‘Seashells Mixed’ reached about 4 feet tall.

I found a little pot of Honesty seeds that I must have collected from my parents garden a few years back. I added these to a pot of compost – not expecting much – but they had been stored carefully in a sealed container. You never know! Once you’ve got Honesty, you tend to have it forever seeding itself all over the place.

I also sowed some Lettuce ‘Red Salad Bowl’ seeds. I think that these were the variety that grew from that old out-of-date Erin seed kit. I’m growing these again because the slugs and snails did not touch them.

Ten days ago I also sowed some Swiss Chard ‘Bright Lights’ – my first ever time growing these – having been completely inspired to by the blog and videos by Katie at Lavender & Leeks (thanks, Katie!) and it turns out they’re packed with nutrients.

Swiss Chard 'Bright Lights' seedlings — Swiss Chard ‘Bright Lights’ seedlings showing their coloured stems.

These seedlings were up within a couple of days and now I’m staring at the pot thinking that I might have too many! 😀

In addition to my first-time Chard, my first-time Broad Bean ‘Crimson Flowered’ seeds have been growing on a cool windowsill in my spare room.

Broad Bean 'Crimson Flowered' plants — Broad Bean ‘Crimson Flowered’ plants are doing well

Whilst I’m only growing half a dozen, I’ve done two sowings and gotten 5 plants! The first 3 plants shot up, and the next 2 did too. Are Broad Beans usually temperamental?

The plants are now in the shed to begin a hardening-off process, and they joined the Lupin ‘Band Of Nobles Mixed’ (remember them?) which I sowed a year ago in 2017. These plants take a while to mature, and somehow they’ve survived a year on windowsills, despite the recurring threats of central heating. Hopefully the slugs and snails won’t eat them in the first evening.

My windowsills are now covered in trays, propagators, and seedlings. It finally feels like spring has arrived and the garden of 2018 is coming.

What jobs did you get done in the garden this weekend?

As ever, thank you for reading. Go-on, share this blog post somewhere, and have a happy gardening weekend!

Andrew

The Crocuses and Daffodils awake

The snow reminds the Spring flowering bulbs that Winter hasn’t quite finished with us yet.

Over the last couple of days there’s been a lot of snow in the UK, and whilst my garden is somewhere under this icy white blanket, I feel like I’ve gotten off lightly with just a few inches compared to other places in the UK or Europe.

Bursting out of the snow are little dashes of colour in the garden this week, as yellow Crocuses begin to flower. I managed to catch the crocuses before the snow fell. I planted these Crocus ‘Golden Bunch’ bulbs back in about October/November.

Yellow Crocuses on flower before the snow.

They’re being closely followed by the Daffodils, which I was hoping would be on flower in time for St. David’s Day, but whilst they have a tinge of yellow, they are still tightly in bud.

Daffodil buds — The Daffodils are beginning to turn yellow.

But for now, they are all but buried under the soft, cold, white carpet. A few more days, and we’ll be back on track for Spring (hopefully).

Going….

Yellow crocuses in snow — Yellow crocuses begin to get surrounded by snow.

Going….

Crocus in snow — The yellow flowers of Crocus lay buried in the snow.

I don’t think my part of England is due any or much more snow, so it looks like those bright yellow flowers will escape being completely buried.

I have planted loads of other Crocus varieties in the garden, and transported some in pots from my previous house, but these yellow ones are the first out, and it’s a welcome sight.

Looking back to 2017 and 2012, I can see that the crocuses are fairly close to previous flowering times, albeit without the snow. However, this same variety flowered in mid-February in 2013, even after the -11C temperatures.

Feed the birds

I’ve also been making sure that my garden birds have fresh water and filled feeders during this snowy weather. They’re pretty desperate right now, and I’ve seen a load of species in the garden tucking into the peanuts, sunflower seeds, niger seed, banana, wild bird seed, and the fat balls. I’m trying to put out as many types as possible, so that there’s something for all kinds of bird.

If you’ve got any fruit that’s beginning to turn in the house, pop it out for the birds – you’ll please the blackbirds at least, but probably a few other species too.

Whatever you’re doing this weekend, keep safe and warm, and happy dreaming about all that warmer Spring weather!

Thanks for reading,

Andrew

Planning for the shaded garden

Whilst most of us are dreaming about the sunshine, I’m thinking about the shade.

There’s a part of my garden that spends a fair amount of time in the shade. The clay soil is pretty tough here – like the stickiest glue in the winter, and like concrete in summer. I’m hoping to improve this with compost, bark, a little sand and grit, but this will take time to accomplish.

When I moved in, nothing but weeds lived in this corner of the garden, which is up against a tall perimeter fence, and bordering the side of my patio and instantly visible from my lounge window.

I realised that it was shady, and transplanted a number of young Foxglove ‘Excelsior Hybrids Mixed’ seedlings into this space. I first sowed these back at my old house in 2011, and they have self-sown into my garden pots from my old garden, and come along for the ride when I moved house.

These are growing well, and I added a fern too (they’re so ancient and elegant!).

The uncurling fronds of a lush green fern. — I’ve had this Fern in a pot for years – I love its curled fronds of lush green foliage.

Now it’s time to add another shade-coping flower – i’ve opted for Thompson & Morgan’s Aquilegia ‘McKana Giants’. Strangely their website says ‘full sun’ yet the packet reads ‘full sun or semi-shade’, so I’m going to hope the latter works.

These come in a range of colours, and apparently they can reach a height of 1 metre, and so alongside the foxgloves, they should add a nice bit of height against the fence.

This afternoon I sowed these tiny black seeds into some multipurpose compost, lightly dusted some on top, and then sealed them in a bag and put them at the back of my fridge. Yes, you read that correctly. The fridge.

Apparently, they have to stay there for about 3 weeks (or at least until they begin to germinate, after which they can hop out and into my propagator. I assume that this simulates Winter, as my mother has many that happily self-sow in her garden each year, so they’re not fussy about the cold.

Seeing as we have a new ice age branded ‘polar vortex‘ coming this week (I guess it sells newspapers, right?), I could probably just put them outside instead!

Whatever your weather, stay safe and warm, and happy gardening.

Thanks for reading,

Andrew.

The first plants spring to life in 2018

The garden and the seed trays begin to wake up with the first flowers and the first seeds germinating. Here comes the Spring! (hopefully)

There’s some early signs beginning to appear in the garden and in the seed trays now – a welcome diversion from the cold, frosty starts of this week.

First to note is the Cyclamen, which has uncurled its leaves and crowned them with pink flowers in one of my wooden troughs.

A pink cyclamen on flower — The Cyclamen, nestled amongst the uncurling tulips in a garden trough.

This Cyclamen is one that I found in a little shop pot in the garden of my late-uncle when we were clearing his house. Along with the trough, I brought it home and planted it. It’s a reminder, not just of him and his garden, but also that life continues on, with it’s bright flowers when so much is still dormant in the garden.

Meanwhile indoors, the first of the seeds have germinated – with Sweet Pea ‘Cupani’ leading the way after 8 days. They’re the oldest of the sweet pea breeds with origins in Sicily in 1699, and I’ve grown these since at least 2011.

Whilst these aren’t the first seeds to have been sown in 2018 (that’s the Cineraria ‘Maritime Silverdust’), two small little green shoots have begun to push the compost aside as they reach upwards.

The first up are the Sweet Pea ‘Cupani’ seedlings.

There should be 10 more Cupani, and they sit on a cool windowsill alongside a dozen Sweet Pea ‘Royal Mixed’, and 6 Broad Bean ‘Crimson Flowered’ all of which I sowed on the same day.

I can’t wait to see these climb my fence and cover it in fragrant blooms in the summer.

Sweet Pea 'Cupani' — Sweet Pea ‘Cupani’ on flower

Which reminds me: I need to re-do the climber web on my fence this weekend with wire. Last year the Sweet Peas grew and flowered, but, they didn’t like the string/twine that I hung for them to climb up. They simply flopped over onto the lawn and wouldn’t go upwards. I’m hoping wire will be better for them. It sounds weird that their tendrils have preferences, but it’s my only explanation why they wouldn’t touch it.

Anyway, as the plants of 2018 begin to come to life, have a great week, happy gardening, and thanks for reading,

Andrew

Garden Review 2017 – the Flowers

As February rolls on, and flashes of greenery and flowers begin to appear, let’s take a look back to the summer of 2017 with my top 5 flowers in my garden.

Following on from my recent review of the top 5 vegetables in my garden in 2017, it’s time to share the most successful flowers that grew in my garden last season.

I can’t wait for Spring to really kick off, and for the flowers and lush foliage to return. For now though, here’s a quick fix:

Rose ‘Ernest H. Morse’

I’m a sucker for Roses, and this Hybrid Tea bush Rose ‘Ernest H Morse’ was one that I picked up from a market stall in Ely, where they were doing a 3 for £15 deal.

Ernest H Morse rose on flower — The Ernest H Morse rose flowers heavily.

This heavily fragrant rose has grown about 3 feet since I planted it into the ~~soil~~ concrete-like clay when I broke my lawn in April 2017. In fact, the day I picked up my keys to my new house, this rose was in my car and amongst the first things I dropped off.

Sweet Sultan ‘Mixed’

A family friend gave me a load of seeds that she’d saved from the front of her gardening magazines, and amongst these packets were Sweet Sultan ‘Mixed’. I’d never heard of them before, so thought I’d give them a try.

A white Sweet Sultan 'Mixed' flower. — A white Sweet Sultan ‘Mixed’ flower.

I’ll definitely be growing these again in 2018, as they work well with the Cosmos.

Gladioli

A lone Gladiolus stem — Up goes the Gladiolus stem…

I found just one Gladiolus bulb whilst picking the plants to move from my old house to my new one, and in its new home in the fresh border, it performed the best it ever has done.

Pink and white Gladiolus flower — The Gladiolus flower was well worth the wait.

However, this Gladiolus was clearly not the same one that flowered in the old garden in 2013-2016. I hope that that one brought a dash of surprise deep pink colour back there to the new resident.

I have purchased some more Gladioli bulbs, and will be adding more to the border for this year.

Cosmos ‘Seashells Mixed’

I’d never grown Cosmos ‘Seashells Mixed’ before, nor any Cosmos from seed, but I had previously purchased a couple of these plants from a garden centre and enjoyed their cheery daisy-like flowers.

This time, I grew them, although I admittedly sowed them so early that I worried that they would be too straggly to come to anything much. They spent too long in their secondary seed modules before planting out.

Pink Cosmos 'Seashells Mixed' flower in sunshine — Cosmos came in many colours.

However, after a few weeks, they had recovered and within a few months had become huge plants that filled my garden with cheery pinks, purples, and white flowers, set upon sturdy green stems and delicate leaves.

Cosmos flower with bee — White Cosmos ‘Seashells Mixed’ with a happy bee

I’ll definitely be growing these again in 2018.

Tulip ‘Mixed Garden’

tulips on flower — My Tulips in pots at my old house in April 2017, just days before I moved.

I bought a pack of Tulip ‘Mixed Garden’ back in 2016, and planted them into a few wooden troughs that I rescued from my late-uncle’s garden when we were clearing his house.

At that point, I was living at my previous house, so I made sure that I didn’t plant them in anything I couldn’t pick up and move with – and I remember driving to my new house with a car boot full of beautiful tulips gently swaying in the rear-view mirror.

They put on a beautiful show in my old shady garden, and they continued that in my new sunny one.

They’re emerging again right now – with their waxy green leaves curling out of the compost. I’m hoping for a similarly beautiful display in the next couple of months.

That’s it!

So, if this hasn’t cheered your February winter blues up, then I don’t know what will.

With bulbs poking through the soil, green buds appearing on shrubs, and even the first blue tit inspecting my as-yet un-used birdbox, it feels like winter’s grip is loosening a little.

There’s seeds sown in my propagator, the shed is tidied, and I’m getting ready for what 2018 can bring.

Will you be growing any new flowers this year? What worked well for you last year? Let me know in the comments below.

As ever, thank you for reading, and happy gardening!

Andrew

The final bulb goes out in 2017

It’s a pre-Christmas rush to get the last of my rescued Tulip, Daffodil, Snowdrop, Hyacinth, and Crocus bulbs into the ground in 2017.

As the final days of 2017 head towards that blurred and dazed week of Christmas to New Year, I’ve finally gotten the last of my bulk-rescued bulbs into the ground.

In the last few weeks I picked up a load of discounted bulbs from my local Wyevale, and also rescued some that were just a few pence in a branch of Poundstretcher.

Tulip bulbs in a bag, waiting to be planted out.

I know it’s late to be putting these in, but I did the same at my last house, and miraculously the flowers were out at the usual time in Feb/March… plus, if I don’t save them, who will?

The snow delayed me in planting these straight out, so today – a somewhat mild Christmas Eve – I was out in the morning with trowel and spade, and setting lots of Tulips, Daffodils, Crocuses, Snowdrops and Hyacinths. Fingers crossed.

bulbs planted in ground — Some of the bulbs I planted a few weeks ago.

I did manage to get a few in a few weeks back, and I inadventantly checked on them today as I dug up what seemed like a good spot, only to discover I’d previously claimed it.

If you can remember from last year, I have a load of tulips and daffodils in pots – I planted them there because I knew I was going to move house. They put on a fantastic show.

Elsewhere, the daffodils that I planted in the pots are up by several inches, in what will be their second season with me.

In all the digging that I’ve done in my new house’s garden, I’ve not spotted a single bulb – it was all tired lawn and no borders.. so this introduction of bulbs will be interesting. The soil here is more clay than my previous house, which itself had a shady garden, so it will be interesting to see how they fare.

I’ve planted:

32x Snowdrops ‘Galanthus’
6x Tulip ‘Red Impression’
6x Tulip ‘Gorilla’
12x Crocus ‘Flower Record’
12x Crocus ‘King Of The Striped’
16x Daffodil ‘Quirinus’
6x Tulip ‘Grand Perfection’
3x Hyacinth ‘Mixed’

If only half of them come to anything, then it will still have been a bargain. I hope the rest of the ones in the shop found a home rather than a bin.

I’m really looking forward to the cheery flowers in the spring. The flowers from snowdrops and crocuses are really important for bees as they emerge from their hibernation.

tulip gorilla and red impression packs — Tulip ‘Gorilla’ and ‘Red Impression’ should offer some colour to my garden from Spring 2018.

I’m particularly looking forward to checking out the new Tulip ‘Gorilla’, with it’s deep frilly burgundy petals, and the bright red of Tulip ‘Red Impression’.

Now, with my feet up, cat on my lap, the Christmas tree lights twinkling in the corner, and a nice hot cup of tea, it’s time to sign-off for Christmas.

Have a wonderful end of year break, and I’ll be back in 2018 with more adventures in gardening Cambridgeshire.

Happy Gardening!

Andrew

The Sunflowers begin to open and nature pays a visit

Finally, summer has arrived with the opening of the cheery sunflowers, and nature decides to pay me a visit!

It’s been a long time coming, but some of the sunflowers have begun to open.

I sowed the first wave of Sunflower Helianthus Annus ‘Autumn Time‘ back in March, and these sunflowers went up a bit, then round, then down, then horizontal, and they looked rubbish, as if unable to tell where the sky was.

I then sowed a second batch of them at the end of May, and then a few weeks ago I planted them out into one of my newly created borders in my back garden. Some frantic slug ‘meet and greet’ sessions ensued but they’ve reached for the skies, throwing big lush green leaves out, and now the flowers are uncurling.

These sunflowers aren’t the variety that you’ll ever win a height competition with, they’re about 3 foot tall, and rather than the traditional large-headed yellow flower, they’re smaller and a bit more reddy-brown (hence the ‘Autumn Time’ name). Even so, I’m really pleased to see them, as are the bees.

a red Sunflower Helianthus Annus 'Autumn Time' — a red Sunflower Helianthus Annus ‘Autumn Time’

Sunflower Helianthus Annus 'Autumn Time' with a bee. — Sunflower Helianthus Annus ‘Autumn Time’ with a bee.

Over the last weeks, my garden has become home to what seems to be about 35 Sparrows. Blackbirds have fought over my garden, there’s usually a few Blue Tits on the peanut feeder. Nature sure is visiting this once blank plantless (aside from grass) garden, and late one night some neighbourhood cats were in my garden making weird sounds. They woke me, as it was hot and my windows were open, and when I looked out, I could see that the cats were clearly upset about something (not each other). I could hear movement near the shed, so I dressed and headed out with a torch, only to be met by a hedgehog. I don’t know what the time was, but I’m pretty sure I said ‘Oh…. Hello Mr Hodgepodge‘ out loud in the garden at about 2am. It snuffled and waddled off hedgehodging.. or whatever they do. I’m pleased to find it in my garden, as there’s still SO many slugs.

Amongst the many bird feeder battles between the fat little sparrows, the bird seed has inevitably been getting spilt across my garden. Sometimes there’s a few big black Crows that swoop across the garden, and make the birds scatter, and so this perhaps accounts for my discovery of finding two self-sown Sunflowers in the garden. By coincidence, they’re in the same bed as the others, but right at the front. I’m wondering what kind these will be, as both look like strong plants. It’ll be a while before the flowers arrive, but I’m just enjoying having them there.

Speaking of things I didn’t plant, the fence at the bottom of my garden is my responsibility. It’s a tall wire fence, and it adjoins the bottom of the garden of an empty property behind (where there’s a fantastic pear tree fyi). This fence not only has my sheds close against it, but it is also laden with brambles, and of course, I’ve been watching these lethal spires shoot up since moving in, and watching them flower, and now they are literally dripping with fruit.

I picked these blackberries from the bottom of my garden, ate them, didn’t enjoy them. Meh.

I don’t really like Blackberries, but i showed willing and picked a bowlful. Had them with porridge and kind of regretted it. Definitely need to turn them into a cake or crumble.

Anyway, that’s it for now, there’s loads more things going on in the garden – really keeping me busy, but I’ll share more real soon.

As ever, thanks for reading, and happy gardening!

Andrew

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The Foxgloves

The Roses

The purple Geranium Himalayense

Aquilegia

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Sowing Squash

Sowing Courgettes

Sowing Nasturtiums

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Feed the birds

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Rose ‘Ernest H. Morse’

Sweet Sultan ‘Mixed’

Gladioli

Cosmos ‘Seashells Mixed’

Tulip ‘Mixed Garden’

That’s it!

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