I was stunned at how much the garden had filled out in the week we were in Cornwall. Its like the plants had put on weight, well the established plants. The dahlias and annuals don’t seem to have done much at all over the last week but hopefully they will get going soon.
Looking at the garden on Saturday it was back to the old situation of not knowing where to start which was surprising as I felt I wasn’t doing too bad before we went away. There are seedlings all over the place and I really need to prick things out. Some have gone too far over to successfully transplant I think which is disappointing but I suspect they were annual seeds and to be honest I have seriously run out of room in the borders for any more annuals this year. I still have a tray of Cosmos and Nicotiana to plant out and I think they will go into big pots on the patio. I declared today that next year I wasn’t growing any annuals for the borders as I really won’t have space. It was pointed out to me that I said this last year but then again I sowed loads for the new Big Border and it has worked as it is full.
Bog garden
I couldn’t get my head around pricking out seedlings which is very bad of me so instead I decided to go for maximum impact and re-do the border off the patio which has struggled for an identity for a long time. This has been re-designated a fern border and I will post about it later in the week. My youngest thinks it looks boring and prefers the chaos of the old Cottage Border which forms the backbone of the new Big Border. We shall see.
I spent today planting out the last few annuals that did have spaces allocated for them. Antirrhinum majus ‘Defiance’ have gone into the front garden, they are quite small plants so I’m not sure how they will do plus the front garden is very dry at the moment. I am quite pleased with the driveway border which is filling out nicely.
Elsewhere I have planted out lots of Delphinium consolida ‘Exquisite Series’ and a few Centaurea Americana ‘Aloha Blanca’ and it will be interesting to see how well they do. My back is hindering me so I had to give up early afternoon today to rest it. Luckily I have an appointment with the chiropractor on Friday which should remedy the problem. I don’t think all the driving over the last couple of weeks has helped.
I have to admit that my enthusiasm for the garden has waned a little since I came back from my holiday. I think this is because I have a sewing project I want to get on with, my back hurts and there is so much to do before I go away at the end of the month that I just feel a little overwhelmed. However, saying that I have done the major jobs so now it is a case a tackling the seedlings which I can do sitting at the patio table in the evenings. And dare I say it I would really like a bit of a downpour to give the garden, especially the front garden a good soak.