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

Good Friday ...

Good Morning!

I hope you all are enjoying your Easter break. Unlike most of you lucky people I had to work yesterday (Good Friday) and will also be doing so on Monday but I did manage to get a few bits done before I went. Due to starting work half an hour later I had the chance to potter around my garden doing some watering before I started and also managed to get a quick herb pot planted up. I had some leftover herbs from last year and decided it was finally time to do something with them!

I filled the pot with a mix of compost and grit as herbs like free draining soil.

I quickly decided on an arrangement and after adding some chives along with a decorate label I was rather happy with the outcome, especially as it only took a few minutes.

Whilst watering I also took a few photo's of how one of the hanging baskets is looking, the spring bedding is looking colourful and has finally filled out a bit but I have to admit I am already imagining what my Summer baskets will look like!

The buds on the Alliums are slowly developing a purple tinge so we are getting closer to a display ...

The next thing I have to share with you is something a little different. Some of you may already know that I work in a Plant Nursery and today I thought it would be fun to share a few snaps of what I have been up to at work. Mostly the past few weeks have been spent pricking out (I won't even begin to tell you how many I  have worked through so far) but today and yesterday was spent doing something a bit more decorative!

However I couldn't resist sharing a photograph I managed to get of a bumble bee that was trapped in one of the offices. Unfortunately I couldn't giver her any sugar solution but hopefully being placed on this Surfinia did some good.

Okay so over the past few days I have been filling and planting up these wall baskets ...

Sprucing up and filling up some hanging baskets ...

Then to finish off I filled and planted up an array of various sized ceramic pots, which you have to admit is not a bad way to spend Good Friday. For all the baskets and pots I used a variety of Basket & Bedding plants along with a few Shrubs in the larger pots. Now all we need is for somebody to buy them!

Happy Easter!

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX

Primula Auricula's ...

Good Morning!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend, I managed to get a few bits done in the garden such as cutting the lawn, spraying some Roses with rose clear and giving the Azalea's a liquid feed. I have also started hardening off the Autumn sown Sweet Pea's because as you can see from this picture they are pretty much ready to go out.

But what I really wanted to share with you today was some Primula Auricula's! 

Over the past few weeks I have seen them more and more in magazines and on the TV so I couldn't resist bringing a few home with me from work one day to start growing myself.

Auricula's are best kept in Teracotta pots and  ones only slightly larger than the plant themselves. Plant them into some good quality soil (I have used John Innes no.2) with added grit for drainage.

I topped off the plant with a dressing of the same grit.

Auricula's are best kept under a sheltered area to keep direct rain off them.

TIP - It is best to water the top of the pot as opposed to over the top of the plant to avoid getting water on the plant.

On Saturday I also added some more plants to my ever growing collection when I went out shopping (Primula - Sparkling Ruby and Lewisia - Millers Gold) I couldn't resist buying these and I'm sure I'm not the only one who wouldn't be able to lol

I re-potted both of the plants into Teracotta pots just like with Auricula's.

Thanks for stopping by,

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX