It’s not rained…

this week, which has given the ground time to start drying out, and  I’ve been plotting every day except Tuesday which was really dismal.

I’ve cleared, weeded then hoed over the last part of the main flower patch opposite the shed, and yesterday I did the same on cosmos corner. That just leaves the sunflower patch to do.

 

I was really surprised to see that one lot of crocuses have started to appear. It’s way too early so I’ve covered them with some compost.

It’s going to get noticeably colder from tomorrow with a couple of frosty nights over the weekend and by midweek  daytime temperatures only a few degrees C above zero.

If I do any plotting it’ll be starting to dig out and sieve the compost heap which will keep me warm.

Have a good weekend, and take care!

My apologies…

but I’m not really in the mood for blogging, or indeed plotting, today which is mostly down the still miserable weather and the time of year.

I want to do a post about the pot marigolds Flighty’s favourites meantime how about this almost white one from May 2020.

Have a good week, and take care!

Plot pottering

With the weather having been so unsettled recently I’ve not been to the plot as much as I would have liked.  I go most days, weather permitting, even if it’s just to have a quick look round before heading back home.  It gets me out for some exercise and fresh air for a short while which is always welcome, especially at this time of year and yesterday I did that as it was dry and sunny.

 

Although there’s been plenty of rain the plot is soggy but thankfully not waterlogged, as other parts of the site now are.   The rose Pretty Lady has lost most of its leaves but there are still a handful of flowers on it.

 

 

Looking closely at the sedum (iceplant) I can see new growth already starting to appear.

 

 

The cornus(dogwood) is now shedding leaves which I’ll collect and put in a couple of old compost bags for now.  Once I’ve emptied the compost bin, a job I’ve not yet started, they’ll go in that.

Having spent an hour plot pottering, and chatted with the robin, I was ready to head home for a cup of tea and a couple of biscuits.

Have a good weekend, and take care!

Armchair gardening

The weather continues to be unsettled this week with lots of rain.  Even when it’s been sunny the ground is too soggy to any plotting so it’s not surprising that I’m doing plenty of armchair gardening.

If I’m not sorting some of the saved flower seeds then I settle down after lunch with a cup of tea and a couple of biscuits to browse or read one of the various gardening books I have.

Two are all about organic vegetable growing and as I’ve not looked at them  for a long time I look forward to rereading both over the coming weeks.

The paperback is Planning The Organic Vegetable Garden by Dick Kitto published by Thorsons Publishing Group in 1986. It was republished a couple of times, the second time by Harper Collins in 1995 when there was a slight change in the title with Your replacing The. It’s only 160 pages and includes plenty of diagrams and pictures.

The bigger hardback is Grow Organic in association with Garden Organic, which is a leading UK organic growing charity. It was published by Dorling Kindersley in 2008, and the 352 pages, with colour photos on nearly every page, covers just about every aspect and subject on gardening you can think of including chapters on Plant Health and Water and Watering.

Have a good weekend, and take care!

Early November

This morning it’s dry and sunny, although breezy and chilly, and with all the rain over the past week the ground is rather soggy.  Needless to say my plot visits have been just to take a look round to make sure that all is okay after the days when it’s been very wet and windy.

Not surprisingly the last of the annual flowers have now finally finished, with these cosmos being being the only ones left worth taking a photo of.

Once the ground has dried I’ll be clearing the flower patches, after collecting  more seeds .

 

The sedum is still providing plenty of interest.  It has lost most of it’s leaves exposing the very pale flower stems.

The red flower heads have all changed to a chocolate colour, except this one.

This coming week looks like being mostly dry and sunny, which will be most welcome if it is.

Have a good week, and take care!

On the windowsill, 2024

Having decided what I’m going to grow on the windowsill next year I’ve been sorting what pots I’m going to use.

The largest one is a 5.5 in/ 14 cm terracotta pot in which I’ll be growing a sunflower Bambino as that will be the biggest and tallest plant.  I’ll be growing three daisies Tasso White in the 5.5 in/14 cm chocolate coloured plastic pot, made in Denmark, which is called a Dwarf Pot as it’s only 3.5 in/9 cm tall.

The black pot in the picture is a 5 in/12.5 cm B.E.F Growers pot recognisable by the rounded top rim and pimples on the base.   I’ll be using that to grow a dwarf tomato Red Robin which only grows to 12 in/30 cm. I’ve tried growing various varieties of dwarf tomatoes in the past without much luck so didn’t try this year but have decided to have another go.

 

I’ll be using a mix of smaller pots, between 3.5 in/9 cm and 4.5 in/11.5 cm for the pot marigolds Flighty’s Favourites/Daisy Mix and yellow viola.

 

 

 

The only ordinary plastic pot I’ll be using is this 4 in/10 cm one which will be hidden as it’s a perfect fit in this white china container.

 

Have a good weekend, and take care!

 

Following on…

from Sunday’s post it’s not been a reasonable plotting week as it’s mostly been damp and dull with plenty of rain.

On Monday I cut the comfrey for the fourth time this year then put the leaves in the plastic compost bin.

I also moved a few errant raspberry plants, and surprisingly I’m still picking a few fruit.

 

Yesterday I went to the plot in the afternoon, as it was dry and sunny after a wet morning. I dead-headed the asters that are by the shed, and when I put the prunings in the plastic compost bin I found it was really warm.

I forgot to mention that about a month ago I received a lovely card and three packets of saved flower seeds from online friend Debbie, who lives in Plymouth.  She wrote…I was sorting out some seeds and thought you may like to give these a try on your plot and/or windowsill.  They’re a blue Aquilegia, Geum Oranges and Lemons and a yellow Viola. I’m looking forward to growing them on the plot, and the Viola on the windowsill as well.

Have a good weekend, and take care!

The past few days…

have been damp and dull, with plenty of rain and windy at times, but thankfully the stormy weather didn’t affect here much.

 

My visit to the plot today was the first since last Wednesday.  It was dry and sunny, and the ground was nowhere near as soggy as I expected it to be.

 

 

 

Not surprisingly the weather has just about finished off the last of the annual flowers with only a few cosmos and sunflowers not looking past their best.

 

 

 

A good indication that we’re now well into autumn is the colour of the leaves on the cornus (dogwood).

As you see the bottom half is still green whilst the top has changed to a deep brownish-red.

 

The week ahead is looking quite reasonable weatherwise so I look forward to doing some autumn plotting.

Have a good week, and take care!

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