Flighty's plot

every year on the plot, usually the red variety Gardener’s Delight and yellow Golden Sunrise.  I only grow a handful which I start off in pots on the windowsill at home, then plant out on the plot around this time of year.  This year the seeds either didn’t germinate or did then hardly grew so it reached the point where I’d decided to throw them away and just buy a few plants at the recent horticultual society plant sale.

However I didn’t have to do that as I was very kindly given some.  They include at least one Moneymaker, a standard red variety, and some red and/or yellow cherry tomato plants.

They’ve all done well at home and I’ll be taking them to the plot in the next few days to harden off before planting out.

Have a good weekend, and take care!

didn’t do well this year with most of the stems no thicker than a pencil and flopping with the leaves dying back noticeably quickly. Plenty of other people seemed to have the same problem, if the online forums were anything to go by, and most blamed the weather, in particular the mild winter.  I cleared both clumps then covered them with compost and between now and the autumn will hopefully decide whether to leave them be, move them elsewhere on the plot or dig up and discard.

This morning I finally finished rough cutting the grass paths edges around and across the plot.  It’s one of my least favourite jobs and the only good thing is that the grass has been added to the compost heap.

Both the cornus/dogwood (below left) and the dog rose ( below right) are now flowering, and have been buzzing with bees.

Have a good week, and take care!

What a difference a few weeks and some recent good weather has made to the plot.  I started planted and sowing just over a month ago and so far everything is doing well.

The onions Sturon all have several inches of leaves and, apart from a handful, all the potatoes are now visible.  Even the carrots Short and Sweet, which I only sowed a couple of weeks ago, are now appearing.

All the annual flower seeds I sowed are showing, except the nasturtiums Tom Thumb which I only sowed early last week.  Cosmos corner has lots of seedlings,  as has the area where I sowed the sunflowers.  The candytuft and cornflowers have taken longer to germinate and show but are now doing so.  There are lots of pot marigolds Flighty’s Favourites seedlings  now covering much of the main flower patch. These orange ones I grow back in 2015.

It’s always pleasing, and a relief, when planting and sowing flowers and vegetables direct to see them appear then start growing.

Have a good week, and take care!

Yesterday morning started rather overcast and I wasn’t really in the mood to do any plotting but I went anyway, and was glad I did as by the time I got there it had brightened up.  I hoed and weeded all round the onion patch, between the two rows of the first early potatoes Pentland Javelin all of which are now showing, as well as the raspberry and strawberry patches.

Joining me whilst I was doing the onion patch was a young robin which has yet to get it’s red breast.  When I finished it all looked better and I certainly was in a more cheerful mood.

 

On Tuesday I was looking at the numerous bees on the Poached Egg Plant flowers when a Peacock butterfly joined them for a short while before fluttering off.

 

It won’t be long before the Cornus/Dogwood is flowering.

 

It’s been sunny since Tuesday but sadly I’m not there today but I will be tomorrow as usual enjoying the rose Pretty Lady.

 

Have a good weekend, and take care!

 

The rose Pretty Lady is covered in flower buds and starting to flower.

That’s all today except to mention that this is my 1900th Flighty’s plot blog post.

Enjoy the rest of the long weekend, have a good week and take care!

There were several unworkable areas, including cosmos corner, where I had forked the ground over a couple of weeks ago but as of last Friday were still the same.  However  by Monday, after a rainy weekend, I was able to easily use a hoe to break up the lumps much to my surprise.

The onions have grown noticeably and I’ve replaced less than a handful which were still dormant, and sowed the rest of the spares.

Yesterday I noticed a couple of the first early potatoes Pentland Javelin were now just showing.

 

I haven’t sown any Poached Egg Plant (Limnanthes douglasii) seeds as the few plants last year freely self-seeded and plenty have already appeared and flowered, including the all white variety Meringue.

There was a thunderstorm early this morning, along with bursts of heavy rain, and the next few days are looking rather unsettled so I probably won’t be doing much plotting again.

Have a good weekend, and take care!

I sowed some annual flower seeds Candytuft Fairy Mixed Colours (Iberis umbellata), Cornflowers Polka Dot (Centaurea cyanus) and Pot Marigolds Flighty’s Favourites and Daisy Mix (Calendula officinalis).

I also sowed a double row of carrots Short and Sweet,  and also prepared the areas where I’ll be growing beans, both dwarf French and Runner, and the sweetcorn.

One of my least favourite jobs is rough cutting the grass path edges but I made a start, and the compost heap is now covered in a grass duvet which will keep it nice and warm.

Yesterday was damp and dull, today is cold and rainy so it’s back to an armchair gardening weekend.  Hopefully it should be dry and noticeably warmer next week so I can resume plotting.  I’ll be sowing lots of sunflowers, a mix of varieties, with saved seeds (mostly Musicbox) and some I was given (including some lemon yellow ones). These two summer sizzlers are from July 2011.

Have a good week, and take care!

Yesterday I planted out the last of the potatoes, the main crop Picasso, and can now turn my attention to making a start sowing the annual flower seeds on the flower patches.

The onions Sturon are now starting to grow leaves, and so far the birds haven’t pulled any out of the ground as they often do.

At home on windowsill the first of the tomato seeds, a Gardener’s Delight,  has germinated and started growing.  They’re taking longer than usual, I guess due to the cool, dull weather.

Some good news is that new growth has finally started to appear on the white flowering Aster/Michaelmas Daisy Twinkling Stars which I thought I’d lost.

 

 

There are lots of flower buds on the rose Pretty Lady, which looks like it’ll be flowering early this year.

 

Have a good week, and take care!