Buds are a Bursting !

This week - a trip out to Attingham Park and the walled garden - scrutinising the updated boards for January - and looking at the tidy garden beginning to wake up.- the picture above shows the parsley beds and the bell cloches cover the rhubarb crowns




Click on to read in detail -







My large pot on the decking planted up with spring flowers is doing fine - violas and bulbs - not sure what so it will be a surprise later on




Seed catalogues are popping through the letter box with endless decisions to be made . for choice of vegetables and seeds to grow for 2012.

Tour around the garden - showed that the Witch Hazel is about to bloom, this will be its first year in the garden. Red Currant and White Magnolia are in bud - but I can't find my yellow Winter Jasmine - the Japonica is starting to flower with the promise of more buds - see pic above.



On the kitchen window sill, cuttings are doing well and streptocarpus have rooted well - see the roots in the brandy glass = purely water I must add! they will be potted up soon and kept in a warm place to get established.

General tidy up of houseplants this week - but I must say there is definitely a feel of Spring in the air

New Year Garden Round Up

A New Year Resolution for 2012 - was to attempt to keep a weekly update of gardening stuff - ie plants flowering in the garden - jobs done - jobs not done - success and failure -mainly because I tried to get this blog up and running last year but failed dismally - and also that my 9 year old grandson has given me a RHS Allotment Journal for Xmas - where there are blank pages for entries on a weekly basis - now A will be watching closely to see that I am making full use of this book - last year he bought me a very nice flower vase.

So here we go ....

A tour of the garden .. and lots of summer plants are still flowering due to the mild winter so far - strands of blue lobelia - pot marigolds - the erigion rock plant - to name but a few - and the bulbs are beginning to push through - including a small snowdrop flowering in a trough.

My header pic is of the Camellia Japonica - it is flowering well and is holding its own amongst the variegated holly.

A quick look in my green house - shock horror - signs of mould and decay on my scented jasmine - and lo and behold a small green caterpillar - who I must say was hastily removed outside - I tidied up the plant and now I will keep a watchful eye - it may mean making more room in the conservatory for this plant - now the Xmas tree is down.
Peering closer it seems a Streptocarpus has had a bad attack of mealy bug - so another casualty otherwise everything else seems ok.

Planted up some Amaryllis bulbs - Xmas presents - I love them - so does all my family - so this is a well favoured gift by all.

B has been busy in his greenhouse - but I do have some stuff in there as well - reason being it is bigger than mine my green house and I am afraid there is a bit of an overspill.

B has planted a few pack trays with Shallots - varieties called Golden Gourmet and a French Banana Shallot (mild flavour - pink flesh) they are not in the propagator just on the bench - also B has sown all the year round lettuce - they are on the bench and Ailsa Craig onions are in the propagator but with no heat .

Just for the record - B has had a disaster in the Allotment - the garlic just coming through has been lessened -due to enthusiastic winter digging.

Bits and Pieces

We are now nearing the end of June and this blog is still not off the ground - I must say that does not apply to the veggies in the allotment they are flying - and so are the weeds!

B has a tremendous show this year - he is well pleased with his achievements and so am I- we are using our own lettuces, beetroot, potatoes and calebrese in the kitchen and picking sweetpeas - and what a gorgeous perfume they give to a room - better than any scented candle

Courgettes are in flower and butternut squash are looking good, peas have been hit and miss - as last year - although it is nice to eat your own peas - Sainsburys down the road have some good bags of peas in their freezers!

Purple podded peas bought from Delma at the Malvern Show are growing well in our do it yourself polytunnel - peas are in a large pot and are climbing up the canes - no sign of any flowers or anything yet - I wait in anticipation!

Hardy geraniums ordered last month have not arrived yet as we speak - I am looking forward to this - they are amongst my favourites in the garden - they never fail to surprise me by self seeding where least expected - fabulous colours too- I will list the names when I get the delivery.

Tomatoes - cucumbers and peppers are looking well in the greenhouse - fingers crossed for a bumper crop!




I have included the snippet above - by clicking on the pic I can enlarge the text -and refer back as and when required - I have already taken some primula seeds and followed the instructions - I have put them outside on the staging against the greenhouse in a seedtray covered by a wire basket to prevent the blackbirds scratching them out - something has already come through - could be primulas but is probably weeds we shall see!

Just Gardening

This blog is mainly a reference guide - so that I can look back on what was good and what was not so good in the garden over the year.

I shall use snippets from here and there - tips from fellow gardeners and friends, bits from magazines and own experiences.

Ideally I would have started to record events etc at the beginning of the year but it is now June and I can't wait to get started- cie la vie!

June - general overview - alls well in the greenhouses = I make this statement loosely - they need a jolly good tidy up - as ever - like pots to be stacked and a jolly good clean up.

As ever this blog has been interrupted - the school sports day that I thought would be cancelled because it has thrown it down with rain is now on so I must dash - camera at the ready - be back later to try and record June pluses and minuses - that is surely spelt wrong -

PS -the opening pic was taken this morning I love the aluims - it is made up with so many star like flowers - incredible and all from a bulb