Cultivating the art of patience while gardening in a small space
A quick flick through the internet to confirm the species of orchid I have at home (monkey), and then these popped up – flying duck orchids (Caleana major), native to Australia.
Sadly, it appears that growing your own from seed is not a option due to the conditions required.
Any adverts – according to this article – offering the seeds are probably a scam.
But, gosh, they are cute!
We were supposed to be on holiday the first week of June; instead we holidayed at home, with glorious sun (for the first half of the week at least). A good job we weren’t away as the veggies needed almost daily watering.
I planted out my four largest climbing bean plants. One large and one smaller plant to each arch. I have a further three later sowings which I potted into individual pots mid-month. By the end of the month, one of my four beans had reached the end of its support wire and was beginning to traverse the horizontal cane towards the back of the bed. (I learned last year that if they scramble over the arch to the top, I need a stepladder to pick the topmost beans – much easier to try and reduce the height to a reasonable one).
From one extreme to another – and back again – our weather is all over the place (and frequently changes within minutes). Wednesday and Thursday were spent cowering inside the house trying to keep cool with all the interal doors open but the external doors and windows closed (very high pollen count). We complain about our 1911 built house in the winter – no cavity walls 110 years ago – but in weather like this, it is lovely and cool once we’ve closed all the blinds. And as I post this, we have bright sunshine and heavy rain – AT THE SAME TIME
While watering, I noticed that these ‘poached egg’ plants I grew from seed are finally flowering. I have it in pots on the patio, and some in the front border too.
Still trying to get a decent photograph of the cornflowers.
My first attempt at a garlic plait. It’s not as easy as it looked on YouTube! These were the Marco garlic cloves I planted in pots last Autumn. Now hanging in the dark in the shed behind the garage.
Home-grown cosmos in the front border. Next year I’ll try sowing it direct and more of it instead of in plugs then dotting it about. It’s a bit girly pink so I’ll be on the lookout for other colours too.
At last, some peas. Maincrop Boogie in fact. We’ll need a lot more rain to fatten these pods before I can eat them.
Lots of alpine strawberries, still under their supermarket basket cage. I’ll be picking these later. Not enough for a bowlful each – and we don’t have any cream – but I’ll add them to some jelly and leave them to set.
If you want to join in the Six on Saturday Challenge, pop over to The Propagator’s Blog to see other sixes and the rules.
I sowed my first tomato seeds on the 15th. Ildi, which are a small oval cherry tomato. The packet says ‘heavy cropping’: though mine are not from Thompson and Morgan.
I sowed some last year but not one seed germinated. I’ve sown these in a seed tray instead of a module. There were only seven or eight seeds remaining in the packet and if they don’t germinate/grow this time, then I won’t try them again.
Then, lulled by bright sunshine and dry weather (and my new Tiny Greenhouse nearing completion), I sowed more tomatoes.
Ignoring the far left module (broccoli) we have Super Marmande, Yellow Pear, Moneymaker and Yellow Delight.
I sowed two of each seed in each individual module, so 8 of each, 32 plants in all. If they all germinate. I’ve not grown Moneymaker before so I’m hoping they are sweet and tasty.
Though initially off to a good start, by the middle of the month, I only had 1 x Super Marmande, 1 x Yellow Delight, and 3 x Moneymaker seedlings. No other seeds appeared. I suspect I kept them too damp.
I potted them on into 3 inch square pots, and sowed additional Super Marmande and Moneymaker seeds in the same sized pots. I’m beginning to think sowing seeds in small modules is not the most efficient way to go.
I didn’t bother sowing anymore of the Yellow Delight as I didn’t think they had much flavour last year. But I’ve still got some seeds left so might try again.
This is the result at the end of the month. Some of the first sowings should seen be ready for a larger pot; some of the second sowings are coming along. ALL labels have faded so I don’t know which is which anymore.
My problem is that I either overwater or leave them to dry out. So I’m going to start off more Moneymaker seeds using the self-watering propagators I made from 1 litre lemonade bottles. That way they can take up just the right amount of water they need, and I don’t have to worry about anything other than keeping the reservoir topped up (or they fall over). These have been a great success with salad crops.
I had hoped my tomato plants would be larger than this by the middle of May, but we had a cold snap from the 10th and cloudy skies for much of that week so the new greenhouse was only a degree or two warmer than outide temperatures.
I sowed more Yellow Delight and Moneymaker seeds into a couple of homemade self-watering propagators, but the seeds are slow to germinate. Possibly they don’t like the compost I used; or maybe I’ve over-watered them.
But the purchase of six growbags from our nearest garden centre, meant I could pot them up into something they will like, and I’ve used tall pots which should help with overwatering.
I’ve labelled the ones I know (only because they still had their labels and they were legible), as for the others . . . I’ve re-named them as “No Idea”, “Wait and See”, “It’s a Tomato” and ” That’s Another Tomato”.
The problem is, as gardening guru Monty Don explained on Gardeners’ World, Moneymaker is a cordon tomato. I know how to deal with cordons so will support the one I have labelled with a cane and pinch out side shoots. But the ones I can’t identify will have to get on with things themselves – as they would have done for thousands of years without human interference.
There are plenty more seedlings popping up, though not necessarily where I sowed them. Perhaps they’re old seeds thrown into the compost bin.
My brother has already put his tomatoes in growbags!
I have tomato plants coming up in all sorts of odd places. I had several modules sown with tomato seeds and most of them failed to germinate – so I emptied them onto my raised beds (not wanting to waste compost), and some have started growing.
One in with the spring onions. One in the cage where parsnips should be growing. This is a module I gave up on and just left outside. One I potted up from another module,
and another . . . and two more
Again, I now no longer have any idea which varieties they are. And these are the largest (in the Tiny Greenhouse), which I’ve just started feeding ready to go in growbags/pots.
By the middle of the month, I needed to put the tomotoes into their final pots; but I have three growbags and fourteen tomato plants at various stages of growth. I also have gaps in my raised beds!
So the smaller plants have gone into the raised beds.
I started planting these when rain was threatened – and then the sun came out. As Monty Don (Gardeners’ World 19 June) said put your tomato supports in when you plant the tomatoes, I have followed his advice.
By the 22nd, all my tomato plants were either in the raised beds or in pots (the three which I could identify and one other that I’m hoping is Moneymaker) on the patio. The plastic bottles have water-spikes on the end and are supposed to release water as the plant requires. They emptied in minutes even though I’d used two watering cans on them just 30 minutes earlier.
And there are still seedlings popping up here and there. I just jam a garden cane in the ground and tie them in.
So now it’s time to sit back and wait for tomatoes to appear.
The view from my study window as the predicted torrential rain – with a side-helping of thunder and lightning – arrived last Sunday afternoon, and carried on most of the week, with the odd couple of hours of sun.
In the front sunny border, lavender Munstead and lavender Hidcote, are flowering well. I must take more Hidcote cuttings as I need more of this darker colour in the garden.
After the rains battered my peonies, it was “off with their heads” this morning, as we plan to do our first skip run since lockdown next week; figuring that as Wales is easing lockdown and non-essential shops will be opening from Monday everyone will be shopping and not taking their rubbish to the skip.
The ‘after’ shots – Iris stems and London Pride flower stalks all removed too.
This sedum pot started life as all the bits that ‘fell off’ the original plants. It seems very happy in this spot on the patio.
At last the cornflowers I sowed are flowering. The photo doesn’t do their colour justice – it’s much richer in real life. I want these trailing through my front border next year.
And I’ve treated myself to a one-year subscription to Kitchen Garden magazine, which included 20 free packets of vegetable seeds, which arrived yesterday. Currently in quarantine in this sealed bag. Includes the ubiquitous beetroot, spinach, rocket etc, but also watercress. The instructions for growing watercress are:
As it is going to rain again, I’m taking a coffee break to read through the other Sixes appearing courtesy of The Propagator. I may carry on until lunch.
Could it be . . . .
I haven’t planted any – but I did feed the birds sunflower hearts over winter
