Trying to keep busy!

I have been busy but I have had to do it slowly as I have Achilles tendinitis, it is bloomin painful, in fact it is the worst pain I have had in quite a few years and requires rest, gentle stretches and ice!! Apparently its quite common in 'middle aged women'  I said to the Doctor 'I am thrilled to still be classed as middle aged'!!!

So whats be going on here........

well the hydroponic system is doing well and as you  can see the roots are growing like crazy. What is being a problem are the PH tests I have to do, about twice a week. When I do the test it is always at the top end of alkaline, (7.6)so I add a half measure of 'downer' to get it down and this 'always' with out fail takes it down to acidic (6.0) so then I have to bail out some water and add tap water. After much too-ing and fro-ing I can usually get it to just about 7.2.
I did contact the company about this and they told me to do basically what it says on the instructions, but I haven't found this works. I have also found I must not add the 'full' dose of the 'downer' (yep thats what its called) as it will take me forever to get it balanced again.
So I am monitoring it and will contact them again, we obviously have strange water in Wiltshire!!

This is my front window box. my dad had it built on board ship at least 60 years ago, there were 2, they sat under the windows of the french doors of our lounge at our family home. When mum moved she took one but didn't want the other so I had it. Mums died, well collapsed actually,  I think because she put compost in the wooden box, I always use a plastic trough and sit that inside.
So it was that time of year when I always clean it and treat it, but I found the base was parting company from the rest of it. I was heart broken. Now I can do DIY but I really wanted someone who knew what they were doing to do this, so put a shout out on our village facebook page.

 Lo and behold a lovely man said he would have a look at it, so we took it round. After much discussion about what I wanted we left him to it.
This is what was returned, all fixed, new base and he reused as many of the solid brass screws that had held it together all these years. It is made of oak and now has many more years left in it.

Just need to plant it up now.

He even cleaned and oiled the old base and gave it back to me, it is such a beautiful piece of wood, I really need to find somewhere special to use it.

I just wanted to share a picture or two of my Paulowina's. I have 3, but 2 are up near the patio. I can't remember when I planted them but I have had them a number of years they amaze me every year.  As you will remember every year I pollard it, in the spring it starts budding in various places on the trunk. I usually wait till the frosts have passed until I decide which buds to keep and which to take off.
Well we have been really caught out this year by that really late frost we had, but, this last week I removed all but two of the buds and I just thought I would share with you a couple of pictures of just how fast they grow.

I showed you the picture above and below. back on the 15th May just after the bad frost.

The next 2 pictures where taken Monday 1st June.

The next few where today!! The first one is closest to the house and is relatively well protected.

I just cannot believe the size of these leaves already. Just love them.

This one is a little further down the patio, by next week I reckon it should have caught up.

All my seed planted plug plants have been planted out and it still amazes me that once in the ground the speed they grow.
I have also found a lot of self seeded plants popping up everywhere, this is quite exciting for me as this very rarely happens. So I have very carefully been transplanting them around the garden.

I am hoping this will be a good year. Next post will be about my new irrigation system I will be setting up. Which will be needed as for the first time ever at this time of year all and yes I mean ALL my water butts are empty!!!

Back soon.

A little bit of shopping!

I just knew I should never have bought those begonia plug plants, fortunately they weren't to expensive. Since my last post I just kept thinking and thinking about them. I have never had a reaction like this before regarding plants, I actually have a knot in my stomach just thinking about them.
So I did what all good gardeners do and searched 'Best plants for shady window box' on Google. Good old google. Right at the top you get 10 best flowers for window boxes in shade

Right at the top is Impatiens, Busy Lizzie, I have done these before and they where gorgeous and did very well. Then came the dreaded Begonia, I will say no more. Then we have Caladium,

not the best picture in the world but definitely different. Followed by Forget-me-nots, Ivy, Coleus,

 Petunias, Fuschia, Snapdragon and finally Verbena.

You can see where this is going can't you, I like Coleus I had never thought to grow them in my windowbox, I quite like this idea.

But ..... just look at the Caladiums, well not the ones i the picture above, these ones

How absolutely stunning are they!! So which have I decided to go with????????

I cheated, I have bought both lol!! I ordered  40 Coleus  plug plants £7.99, easy to bring on and if I decide against them they can go around the garden.
I ordered 3 bulbs of each of the 2 Caladiums photographed above. They are very different and I do like a talking point, a bit more expensive but they can be over wintered or dry stored, ready for use the following year. I am hedging my bets as I am not sure how they are going to grow, time will tell.

So the seedlings I started off just 2 days ago

have come through!! In just 2 days! I was gob smacked. I have never know any seeds to come through so quickly. The only thing I can think may have helped, is this year I stored them in a tupperware box in the fridge. Anyway, they need to grow on a bit more before I pot them on. Then once these are potted on I will start some more.

I am hoping this will be a good year in the garden. it is a great distraction for me, to all the issues the world is having with Coronavirus. My escape!

Stay safe xx

Stocking Up!

Everyone is going mad buying up toilet rolls, tinned foods, pasta rice etc all due to the pandemic Coronavirus (COVID 19).

With hubby being in an 'at risk' age group we will have to self isolate at some stage, but to us this does not mean sitting in the house, on our computers. We will be 'doing'! Well I will be doing, I have been planning on what jobs need doing.
I need to finish decorating our bedroom and changing the wallpaper on the chimney breast in there. The wall paper I have, so I went out to buy wall paper paste and a wallpaper scraper.
I need to finish decorating the dining room, paint I have.
If  am restricted, I can go out in the garden, so needed some spots for all the seeds I have sown,

I also had a large delivery of bagged farmyard manure, which our lovely neighbours allowed me to bring round via there side gate. So they are all positioned ready to be opened and spread across the beds.

Nearly killed me, they where so damn heavy and because they were so heavy, I only managed 2 bags a journey. Maybe I'm getting old??

In the greenhouse there are loads of seedlings being started off. I have also got some begonias for my window box in the front. Now this is random for me because I actually don't like begonias, so why choose them you may ask? Well I always like to try different plants in my window box and in the 30 odd years of living here I have never planted begonias. My mum loves them, me, well we will see. I will admit if I see something else I am quite likely to buy them. All we can do is wait and see.

Take care and stay safe xx

Front Garden Decision

Today I have come to a decision reference my front garden. It requires too much water!  I only have a tiny water butt which collects water from the porch and is an awful eyesore when no plants are growing. I am forever having to drag the hose through the house to top up said waterbutt, so enough is enough.
I am really disappointed with the display this year, the sunflowers have been decimated by slugs. So what I 'think' I may do (as it can always change), is lose the troughs that sit on the wall behind the box hedge, which now has blight. Keep the hanging basket and windowbox, (my dad made that).
Take out the box hedge altogether and replace it with.......................

lavender! I already have two lavender bushes in the front garden and the bees love them, I always used to have lavender here and it has done well.

So as luck would have it when I was in B & M today they had a tray of 6 lavender plants for £6, £1 each not bad, so I planted them down the fence line.

I will pop out tomorrow and see if I can get some more.

Meanwhile trying to embrace the none watering theme, I made up some wall baskets for the back patio which gets full sun all day 

I basically used what was in the garden and could be dug up, to see if it would work. The planters were in B&M for £1 each. I used soil add lots of perlite so its free draining, added a layer of gravel on the top and 'Bobs your Uncle'!

They will have to be lifted in for the winter but I don't see that as a problem. It will be interesting watching them grow.

We shall see.

Time flies..........

Since my last post time has shot by, the weather has been too hot for me to garden except for the watering in the evening.
K and her boyfriend have now moved into their house and all of a sudden I have time on my hands. Its very odd not to be needed, or not doing something for someone. Something I am still getting used too and probably will for quite awhile.
So out in the garden, plants are growing well, lots of watering is needed, but I like the cooler evenings. My daughter showed me a photo of a wintery scene and said 'only 16 weeks till this'! So I am definitely not complaining about this glorious weather!

I really, really love these Cleome's. To be honest the photo doesn't do it justice. They are definitely going to be grown next year.

 

A bit further down, lush and green and huge.The Hiniba, banana with the Red centre is doing really well.

The Ensete Montbeliardii racing the Paulownia Tomentosa.

My Cycas Revoluta, enjoying its 2nd flush in 2 years, I think its now looking like I expected it to. Well worth persevering with.

now has plenty of time to harden off.

French Beans. I love French beans, good job as there are going to be so many of them this year. I like Broad Beans too, but they are such a faff to do!

My lettuce has bolted! I like it, think it looks so pretty and you can still eat the leaves.

 

The cardoons are doing well where ever I plant them and the insects and bees love them. Hardy over winter is a bonus too.

The passionflower down by the pond, still flowering away merrily....

some of the fruit are ripening. I wonder if we could use them, and if so what for?

Some of the large leaves doing really well this year.

At the front of the house is my window box, now this window box without the plants is very dear to me, as my dad had it made along with another one, now defunked, for our family home. Mum let me have this one when she moved after dad died. Its make from teak and weighs a ton, but I love it.
Anyway as you can see I have achieved the clashing colours I wanted last year. The surfina's where/are not happy here at all , so not much trailing has been going on, it looks just as good inside as it does out!

My hanging basket was my hubbies idea, he saw one just like this in a garden centre, so I thought why not give it a go. Ipomea and Black Eyed Susan. It looks fabulous and has not stopped flowering.

Now for the best bit, I have a pot to the side of my front door and as I'm on a budget this year I ran out of plants, so wandered down my garden to see what I had left. I found a Passionflower I have had for a few years that has done nothing, so I thought if nothing else its green. Anyway it was planted, and bearing in mind this is north facing....

Aren't they the prettiest flowers ever. I may just keep this plant!

Until next time xx