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

Weekly Garden Checklist ...

Good Morning!
Apologies for not posting sooner, the past week or so has been pretty busy.

Here are just a few suggestions that you could be getting on with this week ...

1.Hanging Baskets - Plant up Summer Hanging Baskets indoors to get them established before going outside. I like to add some Slow Release Feed and Water Crystals to help reduce the chance of them drying out in the Summer. As you can see I have planted 4 main basket plants in each 14" Basket. There is a Diascia in centre surrounded by Nepeta, Surfinia Petunia and either a Trailing Fuchsia or Begonia. Make sure you plant your main plants in the gaps between chains. I will also be adding some fillers such as Lobelia in the spaces inbetween ... I just need to get some!

2. Pot On Seedlings - Keep potting on seedlings that you've sown. You can also start to slowly harden them off in the coming weeks by placing them somewhere sheltered outside during the day, then bringing back under cover on a night.

3. Prune - Now is the time to prune Spring Flowering Shrubs such as Ribes once they have finished flowering. This is also the time to go out and buy some! I recently treated myself to a Ribes which I have planted in a large pot.

4. Feed - Once your Spring bulbs have finished flowering and you've dead headed them, they'll benefit from a liquid feed.

5. Tomatoes - Pot up your Tomato plants into their final pots, I like to stand mine on a tray of gravel and water. You can also add their growing supports and tie them in. However as you can see the tomato I sowed myself last month is a little while off it's final pot! lol

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

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX

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