Friday 28 February 2014

A Rose ...

Good Morning!
Today's post is short and sweet but I just wanted to share with you the rose I got from my Grandad last weekend. The rose is of a Climbing variety and is a cutting that has been rooting for the past 2 years.
I have decided to grow it against the side of my shed once I have given it a re-paint and dug out the Jasmine around the base that is currently there. Until I am able to plant the rose in it's final place I have decided to pot it up.
Here is a look at what the rose 'Heidelberg' is meant to look like ...


Before potting up the rose I removed any leaves that didn't look too healthy and placed it in a deep pot.


 I have made sure that I buried the exact same part of the rose that was underground with the compost in the pot. In the base of the pot I mixed a little manure and multi-purpose together then topped the rest of the pot up with Rose, Shrub & Tree Compost. 


Equally you can just put the rose cutting in the ground somewhere until your ready and a lot of people may have different opinions on what they would do, but this is just the way I have decided to do it this time. 

I shall be back tomorrow with another post for you all.
I do hope you are enjoying the blog so far, it's a little bit daunting but I hope I am doing an okay job!
HAPPY GROWING!
XXX

Wednesday 26 February 2014

Sowing the Seed ...

Good Morning!
Well I bet you have pretty much already guessed what today's post is about, SEEDS! Just like crafting I seem to have a bit of an addiction when it comes to collecting these, even though I only have a small garden there is no way that I need over 85 packets *blushes* but I just can't help it! 
Luckily seed can keep for around 2 years or more, depending on the type, and I always try to sow atleast a couple of everything each year.

TIP: Store your seeds in a cool place out of direct of direct sunlight to prolong the quality of the seed. I keep mine in a tin on the bottom shelf of a table in my conservatory at the moment but I will move them to a cool cupboard in my kitchen during the Summer.


Here is a look at the latest things I have sown. Usually it's best to sow your tomato seeds back in January / early Feb but seeing those that I did haven't germinated yet I thought I'd try another sowing (this time in a propagator) to see if that would make any difference. The rest is just an assortment of others that I sowed alongside them in the propagtor. 
Traditionally you can sow Cornflower seeds directly into the soil but I always like to give my seeds a head start in the Greenhouse (plus I'm forever changing my mind about where things will go!)


A close-up of cornflower seeds, they look like some cute funky mini brushes!

To sow the seeds I fill trays with a good quality multi-purpose compost. You can use speciality seed compost but I've always used multi-purpose. Once filled give the compost a light sprinkle of water before adding your seeds, this just makes it a little easier instead of doing it after sowing incase you end up washing your seed away! 
Follow the instructions on the back of the packet as to whether you need to cover the seed with a fine layer of compost after placing it onto the tray or not. 
Make sure you label what is what, especially if you're sowing a lot.
Today's sowing will have a plastic cover placed over the top of them just so I can see whether they germinate any quicker than those without a cover.


Here's a look at some seeds I sowed a couple of weeks ago, atleast half of them are starting to make an appearance. 


A close up look at the Cosmos Seedlings ...

Antirrhinum Seedlings...

Before I go I just thought I would share something I came across whilst reading a magazine yesterday. Royal Mail have brought out 6 Postage Stamp designs celebrating our Spring wildflowers, aren't they lovely? I will admit I have given in and bought some just for me to keep and look at. They will be bringing out a new set for each season this year so I imagine it'd be a rather nice collection to have at the end of the year!


Thanks for popping by today, I will be back with something else tomorrow!
HAPPY GROWING!
XXX

Tuesday 25 February 2014

Down In The Greenhouse ...

Good Afternoon!
Well it's time for my first proper post on this blog and I decided to start it off by giving you a little tour around the Greenhouse. At this time of year there isn't much I can do in the garden so at the moment everything is pretty much based in there! After those nasty winds we had in the UK a couple of weeks ago my GH took rather a battering and lost some of the panels. However this week it is back up and running and it's all systems go! I think the word you are looking for to describe it is 'snug'!

In this corner you can see some over wintering plants which includes some Sweet Pea plants that were sown back in the autumn. I have sown some more this week to bulk up the amount! There are also trays of seeds that I have sown recently.



TIP : The milk cartons of water are to help keep the greenhouse that little bit warmer on a night as the water absorbs heat during the day, releasing it overnight. Well this is what I have heard!

One of these plants 'Arabis - Snowcap' came into flower a few days ago and I can tell you that it smells lovely. It has such a sweet and fragrant perfume!
 This is a spring flowering plant that is perfect for rock gardens, ground cover or the edge of borders, but I have just kept mine in a pot in my GH to keep me company! lol


Next to my potting stand are some more over-wintering plants including some cuttings of Pelargoniums, a Fuschia, a cyclamen still in bloom and my Amaryllis bulb that finished flowering back in January.


Back towards the door on the same side as the staging are my 2 potted Agapanthus plants and some Hyacinth's and Iris's that I need to use in a display sometime.



Lastly on the opposite side are my larger tubs of over-wintering plants. Consisting of an Alstroemeira (Peruvian Lily), Fuschias and another one or two plants.


I hope you enjoyed your little tour of the Greenhouse, I'l be back tomorrow with some jobs that I have been doing this week.

HAPPY GROWING!
XXX

Monday 24 February 2014

Welcome To My Gardening Blog!

Hello!
It's been a long time since I started a blog from scratch but I have decided to start one up just for my Gardening! Some of you may know this already but for those of you who don't, gardening has become one of my passions.

Since a young age I have been interested in plants and sowing seeds but it wasn't until I bought my own Greenhouse and was given permission by my Landlord to do whatever I liked with the garden (bar taking up the lawn) that I became, well pretty much obsessed!

I shall be keeping this blog in the same way that you keep a diary. So every-time I go out into the Greenhouse or the Garden I shall share photographs of what jobs I do. Equally if I just go for a quick potter around the garden and I think something is looking particularly nice then I'l take a few shots and share them with you all. There may be some weeks where there are more posts than others, it just all depends on what there is to do and of course ..... the weather!

I hope you will enjoy sharing my garden with me and if you have any questions about anything that talk about, feel free to send me an e-mail at barbie.nat@live.co.uk 

HAPPY GROWING!
XXX