Absolutely No Willpower ...

Good Morning!

I took a trip to a couple of Garden Centre's on Friday and surprise surprise I couldn't walk away empty handed! So today I thought I'd share with you what I bought.

First up are the Primula's, at 60p a pot they were more than tempting. As you can see I bought 2 Primula Denticulata in White & Pale Lilac, along with 2 Cowslips in a Red /Yellow and 

Lime / Yellow colouring.

I've been tempted to buy a Ribes for a while now, another Plant that was just on the Wishlist, until now. All I need to do is find a home for it! You can also spot the Orange Dahlia I picked up at the same time sitting alongside it.

The Tomatoes for this year have been bought and paid for, along with a Cucumber & Chilli plant. I also need to sow the Tomato 'Golden Sunrise' which is a lovely yellow one that I grew last year. I've left it rather late though!

Here are the Begonia's, Fuchsia's and Diascia plants I bought to go in some Hanging Baskets along with Nepeta, Surfinia's and Trailing Fuchsia's.

Finally temptation got the better of me and I decided to build up my Pelargonium collection!

Which should go nicely in the following pots ...

As you can see I am going to be rather busy!
HAPPY GROWING!

XXX

Weekly Garden Checklist ...

Good Morning!

It's Monday so it is time for another Weekly Garden Checklist. 

Incase this is the first time you have seen this particular themed post, it's a quick list of jobs you can be doing in the garden this week.

Let's get started!

1. Collect Leaves - Leaf mould is great for adding to composts and mulching, to make your own simply collect any fallen leaves and store in a bin bag (with holes created with a pencil / pen). You can keep it somewhere such as down the side of a shed and within a year or two you will have your own fantastic leaf mould, for free!

2. Begonia Tubers  -Along with storing Dahlia tubers it is also time to store Begonia tubers. They can be pretty much treated the same way or you can pot them up into small pots once cutting the foliage back.

3. Over - Wintering - Make sure that you have moved all the plants you want to over winter under protection within the next few days. With November only just around the corner lower temps & frosts are on their way!

4. Plant Fruit Trees & Hedging - Autumn is a great time to plant these as it will help them become established quickly.

5. Soil - Now is also a good time to give your soil a boost by digging in some well rotted manure or by adding a mulch of compost as you saw I did last week.

Thanks for stopping by,

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX

Late Bloomers ...

Good Morning!

Today's post is a few snaps of what's still looking good in the garden! 

The Rose 'Joie De Vivre' had another flush of rose buds a few days ago and we were treated to this lovely bloom.

My small potted Dahlia is still going strong, unfortunately I don't know it's name as it was just labelled with 'Bedding Mix'.

One of my last remaining Cosmos plants is still going and this particular bloom caught my eye!

My pot of Begonia's is providing a lovely splash of colour by the conservatory door.

Along with the Dianthus 'Crimson Rim' ...

One of my Astrantia's under the shade of next doors tree has been flowering it's heart out too in recent weeks.

The Cherry Rudbekia still has one or two flowers going strong and I love the deep red.

Finally my Osteopermum has had another flush and is providing some eye - catching colour!

Thanks for stopping by,

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX

This Week In The Garden ...

Good Morning!

I've got a few photo's to share with you today of what has caught my eye this week in the garden and what I've been up to. 

You can certainly tell Autumn is on it's way as there's been a bit of a chill in the morning now, however Autumn is one of my favourite seasons and as you can see the Cotoneaster which was one of the very few plants here in the garden when we moved in, is looking forward to it to with all it's lovely red berries!

Rather surprisingly one of my Auricula's was in flower yesterday morning. These usually flower in the Spring so it was a lovely surprise, the cold mornings we've been having must've encouraged it. I need to get a cover for them sorted soon though (or in my dreams an Auricula Theatre) as your not meant to get water on the leaves!

The pot of Begonia's is providing some late summer colour whilst many other things are dying down.

Over in the Greenhouse I decided to strip the Tomatoes of their leaves to try and help the remaining fruits ripen quicker as this should now focus all the plants energy on the fruits.

Due to not being able to plant my Winter Bedding out yet as the Dahlia's are still going strong in the front border, I potted on the plugs which were ready. Instead of keeping them in the trays and them becoming root-bound over the next couple of weeks potting them on should encourage them to become bigger and stronger plants by the time of planting them out. I potted on the Bellis & Wallflower's.

Lastly I got a lovely surprise from a neighbour offering me the following large Teracotta pot. They were revamping their garden and it'd of gone to the tip otherwise. Now I just need to decide what to plant it up with!

Thanks for stopping by,
HAPPY GROWING!
XXX

Instant Summer Colour ...

Good Morning!

Today's post is a quick one to do with adding instant summer colour! Over the weekend I bought a few additions including these lovely frost proof pots which I seem to be building a collection of!

As you can see this photo includes a Clematis and Geranium which I will have more information on later in the week ...

Back to the instant colour which is what I wanted to add to one of the slightly shady spots in the garden. I teamed the new white pot with these pastel double begonais. These work great in both light and shady conditions and give a great impact.

With larger containers I tend to add polystyrene pieces to the bottom of the pots which not only aids drainage but also cuts down the amount of compost that you need to use.

Once the pot was filled with compost and slow release plant food I added the Begonias. I know it doesn't look much now but once the plants have become more established it will make a great feature.

I also couldn't resist this smaller pot and Cape Daisy which can't help but catch your eye.

I added these pots to the other 3 I have of the same make (this time in red) in the shady corner. Incase your interested the larger pots are holding Agapanthus plants and the smaller one is a Dianthus.

The eagle eyes of you may have noticed in a previous pot that I have another white pot by this make which is currently holding an Azalea in another corner.

Thanks for stopping by,

HAPPY CRAFTING!

XXX