Fruit, Veg, Flowers and Slugs

It says on the catch line of this blog that it is  chronicling my successes and failures as an amateur gardener on my plot in Essex on the veg patch and in the flower bed, well the first major failure has happened and the Limoncito and Black Cherry seedlings have all wilted and died. I think, despite being inside under cover, the lack of light and warmth over the last few days has done for them. With hindsight, a wonderful thing, I probably should have kept them on the windowsill of my back bedroom until stronger rather than moving them to the unheated Conservatory; I may also have made the classic error of overwatering.  It is annoying but most years something goes wrong, you can't get it right all the time and that is all part and parcel of gardening.  On the plus side, the Gigantomo and Beef Steak Tomato plants are growing by the day in the Greenhouse and strong and healthy - sometimes it is just bad timing, these seeds were of course sown earlier than the  Limoncito  and  Bl

Firstly, as we were rain free in my neck of the woods at the weekend, the  Lillum Casa Blanca  bulbs are in. I have placed one in front of the two bulbs that were already in-situ forming a nice little triangle of lilies with two new bulbs planted either side around a foot apart which will hopefully produce a lovely backdrop to the border come summer.  As mentioned in the original post a few days age I have been thinking of other plants to add and have ordered six C hrysanthemum Silver Princess bare roots which are  clump-forming herbaceous perennials that have single daisy like flowers that should bloom from early summer through autumn. I have also ordered a packet of  Chrysanthemum Polar Star seeds, completely new to me, they are an annual with  tricolour daisy flowers described as a  white bloom with an intriguing inner yellow halo surrounding a central darker cushion. The picture I have seen they look great and will sort the White Border perfectly.  As it was a nice sunny if chilly