Fruit, Veg, Flowers and Slugs

What a strange spring we have been experiencing this year. Apparently, we have just gone through the warmest May and spring since records began in 1884 provisional Met Office figures show; the figures especially influenced by high overnight temperatures over recent weeks compared to the norm. It was also the wettest spring since 1986 and the sixth wettest on record with some areas in the South receiving over a third more rain than would be expected.  My garden is certainly in a different condition from what I would expect for this time of year, a number of plants flowering later, but there has been some success stories, nonetheless. The native Foxgloves have been particularly beautiful and stood up well to the wind and rain; I had one at nearly seven-feet tall. The climbing rose on the other hand, that is usually covered in blooms from late May through June, is noticeably less floriferous this year following the battering's that took through the winter winds and unpredictable sprin

May can be one of the very best times of the year to be in the garden. Beds, borders, veg plots and containers are alive with new growth and the earlier flowering varieties of plants are in full-bloom. Thankfully, the weather is finally warming up, the evenings are longer and you can now spend time relaxing in your garden rather than just doing jobs. I strongly believe there is little point in having a lovely garden if you never really get to enjoy it. I take time just to be in the garden as often as possible all year round and can often be found sitting by the chimenea with a coat on in autumn and winter but through spring and summer, especially, make sure to take a seat, kick back and relax, and simply enjoy being in your garden. Reclined in a deckchair, eyes closed, listening to the bees and hoverflies buzzing around the Lavender blooms on a sunny evening is time well spent as far as I am concerned. It is so easy to always be doing something in the garden, over the coming weeks and

I have for one reason and another unable to update the blog as regularly as hoped so far this year, all being well usual service can now be resumed.  In my monthly column for the Romford Recorder I have spoken earlier in the year  about how with the somewhat wild weather we have experienced through late winter and early spring a lot of my time in the garden has been spent repairing wide damage to fences and the climbing rose trellis along with retrieving a compost bin lid that had flown two-doors down and collecting various flotsam and jetsam that had landed on my plot! Between the numerous rain bursts earlier in the year copious amounts of homemade compost, farmyard manure and blood, fish and bone were added and dug in across the veg patch beds and a sprinkling of chicken manure pellets was also added.  The soil in the Greenhouse was similarly refreshed again with some fresh compost, farmyard manure, blood, fish and bone, chicken manure pellets and in there potash as well all added an

I managed to get a few hours in the garden on Sunday, on a cold and frosty morning as they say, undertaking the usual winter tidy jobs and, as it happens, it was just in time.  Having cleared the greenhouse the non-hardy plants in pots such as the numerous Agapanthus and the French Lavender are all now tucked up in the relative warmth under the glass. An hour or so was spent raking leaves from around the garden, all added to the leaf mould bin, and a general tidy of the veg beds and flower beds was done. The entire garden was covered in frost and looked quite beautiful so wrapped-up nice warm in several layers it was actually quite an enjoyable few hours and in the crisp clean winter air certainly it certainly cleared the hangover from the football the night before. Within a couple of hours of me finishing the snow arrived, see below, and boy did it arrive with around four-inches falling in total overnight.  A few of the plants have probably suffered, the Salvia Hot Lips for example lo

We had just about every type of weather known to man at my plot on Friday last week. A little snow shower to start the day, wind and rain, a lovely sunny lunchtime followed by a little more snow and then hailstones!  I have held off from sowing any seeds or planting out any seedlings as yet and that decision has proved to be the correct one with temperatures below freezing over the weekend. I have said it before, it is very easy to get caught out by Fools Spring and the last couple of weeks has just confirmed that, beautiful sunny and warm weather for a few days followed by wintery cold conditions almost changing over night. I have seen a few posts on Social Media of young plants decimated by frosts and snow, it so easily done, I have certainly done it in the past, but sometimes you have to fight that desire to plant and sow and wait for Mother Nature.  Space in the Conservatory and Greenhouse is at a premium with so many seedlings waiting to go out onto the plot. The forecast for this

I wrote back on the 23rd August how I planned to sow  White Ishikura Spring Onions  and  Carrot Amsterdam Forcing 3  carrots to grow undercover in the greenhouse through autumn and into winter in the hope of having some crops for the long dark months of winter and perhaps even few carrots for the Christmas Dinner fresh from the garden. I also sowed a line of Carrot Amsterdam Forcing 3 seeds in the veg patch outside to compare with those in the Greenhouse.  Firstly the outside sown Carrots failed, no great surprise as they are not a 'winter hardy' variety and were sown very late. As for the crops in the Greenhouse I didn't manage to have home grown carrots with Christmas Dinner sadly but will be having some this evening, I am very happy to report 😃 Both the  White Ishikura Spring Onions  and  Carrot Amsterdam Forcing 3  are now ready for harvesting; okay a little later than hoped but it's fresh veg off the plot in March that isn't Winter Lettuce or Spring Greens. Th

It had to happen sooner or later I suppose, I have failed a Covid test and find myself somewhat under the weather and stuck at home for a few days. If that in itself isn't annoying enough it was lovely down my neck of the woods on Monday and looks to be set fair for the rest of the week; perfect weather for getting on with all those jobs in the garden, if only I could!  Luckily, I am not suffering anywhere near as much as others I have known and though I am not about to get out on the plot and dig over the veg beds, climbing the stairs wore me out yesterday, there are a few little jobs I can, and will, be getting on with. As room in the conservatory is at a premium I have moved the Runner Bean seedlings down to the greenhouse where they are sheltered, will get plenty of sun during the day, and acclimatise to the colder evenings and harden off somewhat at the same time. The  Leek seedlings have been moved to the woodstore, somewhat more open to the elements but still under cover fro

We probably all have some plastic that we use in our gardens and gardening but with a little thought, and often simply returning to the good old practices used for hundreds of years before plastic was invented, we can greatly reduce the amount we use and hopefully one day eliminate all together. If you do have plastic, I have several plastic seed trays for example, please take good care of it so it can be used year after year. My seed trays are cleaned after every use and stored in a cupboard in the potting shed out of direct sunlight when not in use so as not to become brittle as some will if left in sunlight for too long. I have a plastic watering can that is equally cared for to insure it can be used for many years yet; a galvanised watering can is high on the wish list. Below is a list of a few things we can all do to cut down on plastic use in our gardens.   Biodegradable Fibre pots. I have been using fibre pots for a few years now and the benefits are multiple . I sow many of my

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

I have decided to create a 'white border' in the garden, basically by making over one of the existing flower beds. It is a classic case of having a bit of time on my hands on a cold and wet January afternoon sitting in the conservatory and coming up with a great idea - all I have to do now is make it happen!  I already have two Lillum Casa Blanca lilies at the back of the border in front of an eight foot fence. I like these a lot so I have purchased five more bulbs from J Parkers which will be added to the back of the border. Lilies aren't everyone's cup of tea but I like them, Lillum Casa Blanca especially for their huge white blooms, and they certainly liven up a boring old garden fence when in full bloom. I have also purchased a new Myrtle (I mentioned in an early post I had consigned the old one to the compost heap) and all being well this specimen will be happier in the border than the old one was in a pot and I have learnt my lessons in regard pruning and care for

A totally self absorbed post I admit but the first of my monthly columns in the Romford Recorder has been published - www.romfordrecorder.co.uk  if you happen to live in this part of the world you can read mu musings once a month in your local newspaper.  I was also busy in the garden at the weekend for the brief moment the rain stopped as the C ornus  sanguinea  'Midwinter Fire' ,  Dogwood  plants arrived from Thompson and Morgan so were planted into the border without delay.  Cheers 🍺

The seed order for the year has arrived from Thompson & Morgan. As is often the case I have probably over order and will now spend a few hours mulling over plans of what to sow where . I have also been gifted a ‘sack of seeds’  at Christmas  containing all sorts of wonderful things  that I am now also trying to work out which to grow this year and where, hopefully, I can squeeze them in – in  short,  I need an extra half acre or so to the garden to fi t  it all in!    The vegetable seed order for the coming growing season consists of  Runner Bean  Benchmaster  a real success story in 2021 for me so on the list again ,  Tomato Buffalo  S teak , new to me   and  I am hoping for some nice juicy toms from this variety ,  Tomato  Gigantomo  another I have grown before ,   as the name suggests this plant can grow huge tomatoes of 2lb  - 3lb each  and   Tomato  L i moncito   that fruits lovely yellow  mini plum tomatoes and was   another big su cc ess for me in 2021 so back on the list. I