Showing posts with label Gardening. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gardening. Show all posts

Thursday, 2 June 2022

New Plants for the Border │Perennial Ground Cover

Here is my latest YouTube video!  I have done four videos this week and this is the fourth one.  If you want to continue to see what I am up to then please subscribe to my 'Simone Whipp' YouTube channel so that you don't miss out.  

It would be nice to take my 'Linden Grove' community over there with me.  I'm still getting used to uploading videos and not discovered how to edit as yet- hence the videos being short.  This is a big learning curve for me but I am determined to learn as I go refining and trouble shooting along the way.



Monday, 10 August 2020

Cucamelons


 Cucamelons grown from seed. Easy to grow perennial vine fruit and rewarding. They taste like cucumbers with a hint of sourness/lime flavour.  They are also known as mouse melons, Mexican sour gherkin,  Mexican miniature watermelon, Mexican sour cucumber and Pepquinos.  The scientific name is Melothria Scabra.

I will probably make a curry pickle with mine.

I have just reverted to legacy interface to write this blog post.  I am finding it increasingly difficult to get along with the new interface and do not find it user friendly at all!  With so many changes/variables in my life just the small matter of not being able to post like I used to is really getting me down.

Even after reverting to 'old blogger' I can't get photos or text to behave itself with photos jumping all over the page or disappearing.  This post will have to stay as three photos with a bunch of text below.  If I fiddle about with it any more I will probably lose what I have! 


Sunday, 31 May 2020

Bloody Mary Nasturtium

Just popping by to say hi!  This is my first nasturtium flower to come out.  The flowers are supposed to be dark red and rich cream flecked.  I am looking forward to seeing it in full bloom.

 

Thursday, 23 April 2020

More Seeds and Planting Out

These bean seeds are called Yin and Yang!  I bought them just because I liked the look of them!  I have no idea what kind of bean it produces.  It will be fun to see how they turn out.

I have planted some nasturtiums inside the narcissi pot that have now finished flowering.  Once the leaves die down the nasturtiums  can take over and I should have (almost) year round interest.

 Two lots of  different salad leaves on the go. 

Two varieties of capsicum peppers.  They will be potted on when they get bigger - I think it is meant to be when they are at the eight leaf stage.

These seedlings above are from the seed saved from a shop bought pepper that I had eaten.  They are just an experiment really to see how they compare to the more expensive ones bought from a seed company.

Strawberry plants are now in flower in the strawberry bed.  They are all grown from runners from the parent plant.  An early variety called 'Sweetheart'.

On Monday I put three courgette plants into my newly prepared earth.  Today I planted out dwarf french beans and dwarf runner beans and a couple of white borage plants.  Fingers crossed we don't have a frost any time soon! 

Friday, 17 April 2020

Sowing and Growing on

Since 23 March I have been sowing seeds and growing on.  It is wonderful to see life thriving right in front of me!  Courgettes, nasturtiums, runner beans and french beans and peas and white borage have been hardening off outside during the day.  At night they come in to the conservatory to keep sheltered from the weather, slugs and snails and other creepy crawlies.

They have grown so quickly!

This nasturtium is called Bloody Mary!  I can't wait to see it when in flower.  I've been sowing and growing many other things too.  I will show them another time.

Thursday, 9 April 2020

A Work in Progress

In my garden there is a neglected south facing border.  For years it has been dominated with unruly shrubs, weeds and an extremely invasive hardy geranium.

 On Monday I started to dig it over.

 And again on Tuesday.

 And again on Wednesday.

I still have lots to do but am forging ahead with the prospect of filling the area with a kitchen garden mixed with flowers.

The camellia tree hung right over the grass and also took out a lot of light. That has had a vigorous prune now.  I  was a bit scared having to climb the ladder but happy that it is done.

It is so satisfying to rake this newly prepared ground over to a fine tilth.   I can't wait to plant it up over the coming weeks!
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Saturday, 17 August 2019

Flower Face

I often see faces in things.  Can you see the face in this Viola?  It's the reason I bought a whole tray of 20 plants - just to have the one with the face.

Monday, 8 June 2015

Upstaged

The strawberries are ripening quicker than I can pick them now!  I still have a punnet full of shop bought ones before I can delve into these.

On my last post I showed you the giant strawberry that I had picked.  Well that one is nowhere near as big as the latest giant strawberry.  It is humongous!

My last giant strawberry has definitely been upstaged by this beauty.  Such is life!

Tuesday, 21 April 2015

Long Live Alpines

Last year I overwintered all of my perlagoniums and plants subject to frost in the greenhouse.  I didn't venture into the greenhouse all over the winter and subsequently all of the plants (bar one) died.  Had I left them out to face the weather conditions they may have survived.  They probably died of thirst rather than the cold.

This year I have decided that I am not going to grow plants that need lots of TLC and I am not going to grow plants from seeds (apart from wildflower seeds that I will grow in pots).  Last year I spent so much time sowing seeds, pricking out and potting on that I don't want that kind of commitment for 2015.

Many years ago I successfully grew alpines in containers.  Unfortunately I left them behind when we moved house 18 years ago.   I never had any trouble with them with regards to pests and diseases and they really just looked after themselves.  With fond memories of those resilient plants at the forefront of my thoughts,  I went to the garden centre and picked out 3 alpine plants to pot up in a container.  I chose sedum cauticola lidakense which will have pink/red flowers in late summer, delosperma jewel of desert moonstone which will have white flowers with yellow centres in early to late summer and the hardy and reliable sempervivum otherwise known as houseleek.  I have planted them in multipurpose compost and mixed in some grit.  About a third of the way up I added a granular plant feed so hopefully apart from watering when the weather is exceptionally dry, they will take care of themselves. 

I really think that alpines are underrated and I am so pleased that I have renewed my interest in them.

Friday, 20 March 2015

A Neglected Corner

The end of my garden has been untended to for quite some time.  Wind blown pots are scattered and weeds ramble up broken fences.  Today I had cause to venture to the bottom of the garden to see how my perlagoniums had over wintered in the greenhouse.  They didn't look good so I have cut them back hard.  Just outside the greenhouse is an old table with an array of broken china and abandoned pots.  I was surprised to see that despite neglect, pink hyacinths were popping up out of a crate and tiny blue muscari (behind the brown plastic pot in centre of photograph) were determined to see another spring.   I feel sad that I had cast them aside with no hope after they had finished flowering previously but happy they decided to grow despite less than perfect conditions. 

Monday, 21 April 2014

A Garden View No. 6

As much as I have always admired the purple coloured, almost leafless wisteria - I inherited a white one.  I have lived in this house for 17 years and this is the most flowers that the wisteria has ever produced.  It is not a patch on the profusely flowering purple ones but it is striking never-the-less.

I have been so busy in the garden this week due to the lovely weather we have been having.  It feels good being outside and sowing, growing and tending to plants. 

Thursday, 10 April 2014

A Garden View No.3

This is one of my garden views this morning.  I still need to find an out of sight place for the blue eglu and I am considering using the redundant hen house to store pots and small gardening tools.  A lick of paint may be nice too!

I treated myself to a rhubarb plant yesterday.  It is in the black pot just to the left of the paving.  I think I will put it in a larger pot rather than plant it in the garden just yet.

Today looks like a day for being outside and sowing some seeds and that is what I intend to do!

Friday, 4 April 2014

Dismantled

Equipped with husband's screwdriver in hand, I began the slow task of dismantling the hen house run.  It took in excess of three hours to uncouple the fixings that provided the hens with their security.  I am now left with a barren patch of soil that measures approximately 2 x 1 metres.

Now one of my faults is that I tend to speak out an idea before I think it through.  My immediate response was  to turn this patch into a raised bed.  Now I am wondering if if should just plant on it as it is because to turn it into a raised bed would mean purchasing treated timber or a raised bed kit.  I already have a small patio area next to the greenhouse that I could fit a raised bed onto at some stage and am thinking of doing that instead.

Now back to this patch of soil, should I turn the area into a strawberry patch?  Plant it up with herbs or vegetables?  Put in a permanent or temporary planting?  Or maybe turn it into a cutting flower patch, salad bed, rhubarb patch or something else?  I had better stop now as an ornamental pond has just come to mind!

Any thoughts and suggestions regarding how to utilise this patch of earth are most welcome.  Have a lovely weekend. x

Monday, 31 March 2014

Sow the Gardening Season Begins..............

The helpful comments on my previous post jump started me into tackling the greenhouse.  Cleared of clutter and cleaned out it now awaits succession sowing.  You can see a list of what I have sown over at my gardening blog sybils plot

Today I went to visit a  local garden nursery.  It doesn't sell candles or pickles or sweets or even teas and coffees.  What it does do however, is specialise in all kinds of garden plants and it does it very well.

I was spoilt for choice as I walked up and down the aisles.  I decided to focus on herbs today and a few packets of Italian seeds landed in my basket too.  As well as the more familiar herbs such as Lemon Balm and Lemon Thyme I decided to try out some new herbs too (why not live dangerously?!!!) and I bought some Russian Sage and Broad Leaved Sorrel.  I also bought a tiny pot of Lawn Chamomile which doesn't flower.  The smell was stronger than that of the Roman Chamomile which has tiny white flowers. 

Happy at getting new plants for the garden, I now need to plan where to put them!

Saturday, 29 March 2014

Theme Park for Wildlife

Much of the garden has fell into rack and ruin over the past 6 months or so.  The incessant wind and rain felled trees and shrubs, fences were broken and I left nature to her own devices.  It is now time to claim back a bit of order and get the garden ship shape again.

To be honest, I am not looking forward to it at all.  I still feel in hibernation mode and there is so much that needs sorting out inside the house as well as outside.  I don't really feel up to the challenge.  Part of me feels like handing it over to the wildlife that seem to relish in its theme park qualities.  There are felled branches to hide under, a disused eglu to shelter inside, an empty chicken run to climb over etc;

I feel lethargic even contemplating the tasks to be done.  The green house hasn't even been cleaned out yet and I haven't sown a single seed.  Do you think I will ever be able to catch up?  In addition to this I am awaiting an order of some scented leaf perlagoniums.  They will need potting up straight away.  Maybe their arrival will be the incentive I need to crack on.

It is sunny today so I will go outside and survey what needs to be done.  I think I will be making a very long list, but first I need a restorative mug of coffee and to contemplate for just a bit longer..............

Monday, 22 July 2013

On the Way

I only have need to cross this bridge three more times.  As I cross the bridge I make the transition from wife and mother to a student once more.

Being in a classroom environment has been nerve racking and challenging at times as my old feelings about school have surfaced from time to time.  At school I barely said a word but now being a 'mature' student I have not been afraid of speaking up.

This Thursday I need to identify 10 plants by their common name, genus and species and hopefully not mix up cosmos daisy bippinatus with carrot dorcas carrota as I did last week!  In my defence only the feathery fronds were shown so it was an easy mistake to make.

If I fail this level one course on 'Introduction to Working as a Gardener' it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things.  I have learnt so much about seed sowing, taking cuttings and plant identification that it has made the time out of my usual routine worthwhile.

My love for gardening has been restored once more and I look forward to planning next years garden with renewed vigour!  Don't forget to check out my gardening blog sybil's plot as when I am not at Linden Grove I will be out in the garden!!!

Monday, 8 July 2013

Gardening Blog

Just a quickie to let you know that I am starting a new gardening blog called Sybils Plot.  It only has one post so far but I hope to rectify that very soon.  As much as I love my Linden Grove blog I am so fed up with not being able to use it properly.  I can't log in unless I visit a blogger user site that has 'sign in' at the top. I don't understand about RSS feed or why people are unable to leave comments from time to time.  I decided to use an old tried and tested format for my new blog.

Sybils Plot is all about gardening and Linden Grove will stay as a general blog covering various topics.  Please do come and say hello at my new site which is, incidentally, named after my late maternal grandmother.  She would have been 'tickled pink' to think I had named a blog after her!