June's Floral Favourite's ...

Good Morning!

It's been a little while since I've had the chance to post on here so today I thought I'd share with you my favourite's from around the garden this month. 

Right back at the start of the month the Hebe 'Pearl of Paradise' of which i'd grown from a cutting came into flower. Even though they only flower for a few weeks of the year the blooms on this variety are well worth the wait.

Geum 'Tangerine' has also been flowering prolifically throughout the month ...

slowly followed by Geum 'Cosmopolitan'

My David Austin Rose 'Princess Alexandra of Kent' has produced some lovely blooms with a perfume to match.

The new variety of Cosmos called 'Xanthos' has recently come into bloom the past fortnight, so far the flowers are sparing but they are lovely to look at.

One of my favourite plants that I like to grow as an Annual each year are Nemesia's. Along with the Vanilla White variety dotted around the garden in Pots and Baskets I have a pot of the variety 'Easter Bonnet' of which you can smell straight away when walking past. 

The Hanging Baskets are slowly starting to fill out and establish themselves ...

Astrantias 'Rubra' and 'Buckland' have started coming into flower this past week ...

along with the Alstroemeria Inca Ice 'Koice' sitting outside the Greenhouse door ...

Finally followed by the first blooms from the Sweat Peas in the past 2 days.

Thanks for popping by, I hope you all get the chance to spend some time in your gardens this weekend!

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX

A Brief Pause in the Rain ...

Good Morning!

Today I thought I would share some photo's that I managed to take yesterday afternoon when the rain stopped briefly. As much as I enjoy taking photographs of plants there's something about those photo's with raindrops still on the petals that I love that little bit more ...

This little group of plants is currently sat next to my conservatory door. 

The three plants shown work well with each other as they all have the colour purple in common. The purple foliage of the Heuchera and the Primrose bring out the purple tones in the foliage of the Leucothoe.

The next pairing wasn't planned but I think it works really well together. 

The white of the 'Thalia' Daffodils and the pink of the Azalea Japonica 'Hino Crimson' provide a great contrast.

There's also been a slight change in the layout of the back garden. As you know the property I am in is currently rented so I am unable to make any dramatic changes, resulting in a large part of it being patio'd. Across this wall we originally kept the rather unsightly waste bins but I have now moved them elsewhere and positioned these pots here instead with the patio table just out of shot. A much preferable sight to sit next to in the warmer weather.

The only thing now is that I need to add giving the fence a new lick of paint to my to do list!

A close up of the feature pot in the centre, Ribes sanguineum

Erythronium Pagoda

Whilst over in the conservatory some of the Auriculas are in flower and the Echeveria Lilacina is producing it's flower shoots.

Thanks for stopping by,

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX

Garden Checklist ...

Good Morning!
Here's a few things that you can be getting on with in the garden over the coming week ...

1. Spring Bulbs  -If you had any leftover bulbs from last Autumn that you potted up into small pots then now is the time to find a spot for them. You could simply put them together into a decorative pot as a focal point or use them to plug any gaps in your borders!

2. Herbs - Fresh herbs are important in the garden if you like to cook or simply love the scent. Right now Garden centres have small pots of herbs at an extremely low price so now is the time to get stocked up! I recently purchased some Apple & Chocolate Mint, Hot & Spicy Oregano, Marjoram and my favourite of them all ... Lemon Thyme. 

Pot them up into pots the next size up and finish with a layer of grit.

3. Soil - If your hoping to get started on sowing direct soon then it's worth helping your soil to warm up. You can use Cloches or if you don't have any a layer of fleece, I have kept mine in place with plant stakes.

4. Pests - This may be something I mention a lot but it really is worth checking daily for pests in a Greenhouse. As you can see here some Aphids have taken a liking to one of my Fuchsia's! The easiest way to deal with this is to squish them with your fingers!

5. Re Potting - If you have permanent containers featuring Shrubs / Evergreen it's worthwhile re potting them every 2 or 3 years into fresh compost. The easiest way to do this is to scrape away the top layer of compost and ease the plant out of the container. Pot them on into a pot slightly larger if the roots have filled the previous container, not forgetting a layer of crocks at the bottom. Use John Innes no.3 or Ericaceous compost if the plant prefers acidic conditions (such as Hydrangeas, Rhododendrons). 

I also like to add a little Fish, Blood and Bone into the mix to give the plants a bit of a boost! Water well and cover the surface with a layer of Horticultural Grit to prevent weed seedlings .... plus it's a nice finishing touch!

4. Borders - This time of year is also a good time to get any borders mulched that you didn't get the chance to do in Autumn. You can use good quality garden compost or composted bark. I always like to mix in a little Blood, Fish and Bone in too to give the plants a Spring feed. 

This also gives you a chance to see if there are any gaps that could be filled with Spring flowering bulbs instead of just having bare spaces of soil next Spring! You can also remove any plants that you're not overly happy with any more which is something I will be doing after looking at the below photo lol

NOTE - Always mulch when the soil is moist, never dry.

Thanks for stopping by, don't forget you can find all the previous Checklists on the page tab above.

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX

Wakey Wakey ...

Good Morning!

Apologies yet again for the blog being so quiet over the past couple of weeks. Due to work and undesirable weather conditions I haven't really been able to do much in the garden! We did however get a couple of days sunshine recently (although now it seems to have greyed back over) which seems to have helped wake the garden up! There will be more details on the jobs I managed to do during this brief spell of sunshine but I am saving it for this weekend's Garden Checklist.

Today I thought I'd share some snaps of how the garden is looking now, some plants are starting to wake back up and I've had a little bit of a shuffle around. 

The first and biggest change you will notice though is that there is a new addition .... 

a cold frame!

Made with some left over wood from the raised bed and a second-hand pane of glass, my Dad managed to fit it all together at the end of the raised bed. You can open the lid at different stages via the metal at the front or hold the lid back completely with some chain on warmer days. It's currently housing my Auriculas and potted Herbs, the auricula's don't like too much rain and the pots the herbs are sitting in aren't frost proof!

I've also moved the eyesore of the bins to the driveway and replaced the area with some large potted shrubs which makes the sitting area a much more pleasant place to sit! 

The Ribes in the centre is starting to form it's flowers and I can't wait for the perfume to arrive.

The various pots of plants near the raised bed have been repositioned and you will spot that the Belfast sink is still waiting to be planted up ... I have some of plants that I intend to use but they need to produce a little bit more growth before I plant them in position.

The pots next to the conservatory have been reduced and just like above I am waiting for some of the smaller ones at the front to produce more growth before I will be completely happy with how they look.

Finally the Hellebore's are producing some pretty and colourful blooms. One of the things I love about these plants is that the faded blooms look just as beautiful as the new ones!

Thanks for stopping by, I'l be back on Saturday with the next Garden Checklist!

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX

New Year Blooms ...

Good Morning!

I hope you have all enjoyed the Christmas  / New Year Break, it's flown by!
Today I thought I would share a few pics of what is currently in flower in my garden, what with all the mild weather we've had this Winter certain plants are flowering earlier than usual ... or simply haven't stopped! 

Why not take a look around your own garden and see what you can spot.

The White Speckled Hellebore I bought last year from a local garden centre is almost in full flower, a few weeks ahead than it should be.

Whereas my Hellebore 'Pink Beauty' planted in the ground is still forming buds.

Although it's not technically in flower, the brightness of the foliage of my 'Leucothoe Fontanesiana Makijaz' always catches my eye when I walk past it, especially when it's just been raining!

My Alstroemeria Inca 'Ice Koice' hasn't stopped flowering although this is the only stem with flower buds left than I can see.

I took two cuttings from my Hebe 'Pearl of Paradise' the year before last which have grown into good size plants. The one that is still remaining in a pot has started to flower this week.

Flowers have also appeared on the Viburnum 'Tinus' which is right for this time of year, the following photograph is from the plant in the back garden with just a few flowers, it was also attacked by Viburnum Beetle in the Summer. However the one planted in the border at the front of the house, albeit a bit smaller is covered in flowers!

The Euphorbia in the GH border has an early flower spike whilst the one in a pot hasn't any but looks equally impressive when it's glistening with rain.

The Winter flowering Clematis 'Winter Beauty' growing against the shed is in it's first year of flower. I've been watching the flower buds grow over the past month or so and one of them finally bloomed yesterday!

My Purple Penstemon hasn't stopped flowering since last Summer.

Nor has the Climbing Rose 'Hiedelberg'

... and finally the Iris 'George' that I have under cover in the Greenhouse is showing signs of colour!

Thanks for stopping by!

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX