Thursday 24 April 2014

First Flower!

First Brugmansia flower of the year.......... yay!



and another on the way as well. The Sanguinea  also has a bud






can you see it? Looks like a small cucumber lol!

Meanwhile the  Ensete Hiniba, Ensete 'Montbeliardii', and Ensete 'Maurelii' are not doing what they are supposed to be doing


and they have been potted up since 1st March. I would have thought they would have been further along than they are.
Everything else seems to be coming along nicely.

Wednesday 16 April 2014

Pottering

I have been so busy in the garden recently,  I am not even sure what I think about when I'm out there, time just passes. But lots of work gets done.

I potter here, there and everywhere.

A lot of my time is spent in the greenhouse, sowing seeds, transplanting, bringing on dahlia's, trying to get the bananas going. But it is so full at the moment I have to empty it to get in. All the Brugmansia's get taken out everyday, fed and watered, this weekend I will trim their roots and re-pot. From next week they will be out and can take some frost without too much damage, but I will keep an eye on the weather forecast just in case and if necessary throw some fleece over them.


When emptied it looks like this. You can see I have unwrapped the greenhouse of its bubble wrap. I have a couple of tube heaters in, just in case but at this time of year the temps only drop for a short time. Lots of seedlings being brought on. If ever you decide to buy a greenhouse, think of the size you want then double it, then it maybe big enough. I do miss my 2nd greenhouse, that I used to have.


This is where they all go, along the side of hubbies office, it gets lovely and warm here. Some of the 'Brugs' are in bud already!


The new lawn is coming along nicely, really thrilled we did this as it really opens up the bottom of the garden and actually makes the office look as if its part of it rather than an added extra.



Moving up the garden, the pond area is looking OK. I must admit the oxygenating plants are not growing well, I would have expected then to be alot bigger by now. The Gunnera is coming back from the dead and I have been seriously thinking of making that side of the pond into a bog garden. It shouldn't involve too much work.... I hope.



I have started on the veg beds and have broad beans, onions, and spinach in. I also have some lettuce under a cloche and some leeks as well. My neighbour grows potatoes in tyres, I had thought about it but wouldn't know where to put them. I want to get some Kale in, I love Kale. and probably one or two other veggies.

At the top of the garden in the jungle area I find yet another pup from my TRex. so thats 2 potted up this one in the ground and another in with another plant in the greenhouse!! Maybe I should not have planted it???


Here is the mother plant, just taking off.


The bananas have come through the winter unscathed, not a soggy one amongst them, woo hoo!!


Finally, Tango enjoying the sunshine, he does love it hot, I think it soothes his aching bones and he follows it round the garden.

This is him on the other side of the garden in a herb pot!!!

Saturday 5 April 2014

April Already

Time is marching on so quickly. I have set myself a target of a couple of hours in the garden each day which should make it look pretty good for July 13th.


So the other day I decided to get the jet wash out and see if I could clean up the fence by the pond. My neighbours where away so I started off gently and I must admit they came up really well. I will probably only have to touch it up now. I then jetwashed the bottom patio and decking.
 What do you think?



Then I spent the afternoon sitting by the pond..... and saw 5 baby fish, woo hoo we're grandparents lol! I have been thinking that the back flower bed to the right of the filter box would havw made a very good bog garden. The slab closest to the box is lose anyway so I am now working out if its do-able. (Before you say anything I'm fairly certain its not a big job!)

Coming down the veggie bit of the garden, its not looking to bad for this time of year.





I have had to thin out the grape hyacinth as they where more leaf than flower. The veg beds are my next target, hopefully sort them out over Easter.
Meanwhile the new lawn is looking good, whilst the old lawn looks like a field!!!!

I spent this morning seed planting, watering and feeding in the greenhouse. I am rapidly running out of room, when I suddenly remembered I hadn't started the Dahlias off. So I have managed to fit in another shelf unit and the Dahlias are now on here.


Crammed, isn't the word! I am having to spray already as there is whitefly in here now. Hopefully I can start to move some of the plants out soon.