Now the wet and windy weather has subsided a little, I have lots of catching up to do in both the garden and on the allotment!
As well as digging and planting jobs, I have a fence and gate to repair at the side of the house which have been taken by strong gusts of wind – let’s hope we have a good summer to make up for the disruption the weather is causing at the moment!
This week I have visited Notcutts and purchased my vegetable seeds. I always like to look at flower seeds as well – often there are some that take Mrs McGregor’s eye for the cutting garden or colourful annuals that can be sown in April to fill patches in the borders with summer color. Virginian Stocks and Candytuft are two of my favourites, along with bright orange Californian Poppies that seed year after year.
Of course, no cutting garden is complete without Sweet Peas although I usually grow these on the allotment. They attract bees that will in turn, pollinate some of the vegetable crops including my runner beans which were very successful last year. As usual there were plenty of Sweet Pea varieties at Notcutts in tempting shades from pastel pink to deep inky purples and bi-colours as well. We came home with several packets of seed that I have soaked overnight and sown individually in deep modules in the greenhouse. Soaking the seeds in water overnight encourages them to germinate more quickly. Once they are large enough to handle, I will transfer them into 9cm (3 inch) pots and grow them on again until they are ready to plant in the ground on a wigwam of bamboo canes and supply the house with their beautifully scented flowers through the summer. One of the joys of Sweet Peas is that the more you pick them the more they flower so there should be plenty for friends to enjoy as well!
It is also time to sow my tomato seeds in the propagator. This year, I will be growing them in grow bags in the greenhouse and keeping the heater on until the threat of frosts and cold weather are gone. Tomato plants actually turn blue if they get cold! Starting early with tomatoes, chillies and peppers means that they get a longer growing season and should ripen through the summer rather than producing a glut of green fruits towards the end of the year that need to be used up in chutneys or have to be brought inside and ripened on windowsills!
When the sun does shine, it is gaining in strength and plants are starting to feel the benefit of it. Snowdrops are now in full flower along with Crocus and early Daffodils. Perennials in the garden are also starting to shoot – Day Lilies and Phlox are making green patches in the borders along with the lacy, blue green leaves of Grannies Bonnets (Aquilegia). Euphorbia robbiae (Spurge) is packed with acid green flower buds, soon to be a picture in our shady border under the Sycamore trees, where it will be joined by the golden flowers of Forsythia in March.
