Flighty's plot

I’ve only been to the plot once so far this week as there’s been plenty of rain.  I had a look round but the ground is too soggy to do anything.  The outlook through into next week doesn’t look much better so I guess that I’ll be mostly armchair gardening.

One of my favourite Calendula/ Pot marigolds is the variety Snow Princess which has creamy pale lemon yellow flowers with both dark and light centres, and occasionally there are white ones.   This picture is from September 2016.

There weren’t many this year and I don’t know how many seeds, if any, I collected and saved so I’ve bought a packet of 100 plus.   I’ll probably add half of these to the seeds I have saved, and sow the other half seperately.

I didn’t pull up the bright orange and golden yellow flowering Oopsy Daisy I had growing in the black plastic half barrel by the shed.  I cut it back and hope that it survives the winter then starts growing again in the spring.  If it doesn’t I will remove it and sow some more seed.

 

Have a good weekend, and take care!

During the week I cleared all the foliage from the flower patches but now need to dig out quite a few pot marigold tap roots which stayed put when I pulled the plants up.

The only plant still of interest to look at is the sedum, which has  lost it’s  leaves but still retains the chocolate coloured flower heads and pale stems.

 

What was surprising is when I took a closer look I found that there is already new growth appearing around the bottom of the stems.

 

The Aster Twinkling Stars  has now finished flowering so I cut the stems back and weeded all round.  In late winter or early spring I will dig it up, seperate into good size clumps and replant.  I’ve also planted a few stems in a plastic pot which had toppled over recently but look like they may root.

I had a good autumn doing more than I expected and I hope that, weather permitting, I’ll be able to continue as we head into winter.

Have a good week, and take care!

favourite flowers is cosmos bipinnatus, especially the white plain-petalled ones. I grow plenty on the plot, mostly shorter varieties up to about 24 in /60 cm, and I agree with what the Chiltern Seeds catalogue says about them – that every garden should have some, they’re easy to grow and have a long flowering season.

Sadly this year these were one of the flowers which didn’t do well in the dry spring and hot summer, and I didn’t collect any seeds as I usually do.  I recently bought two packets of the variety Royal Dwarf, one Mix (pink, red and white flowers) and one White, from Plant Genesis, a small supplier in Cornwall.  I’ve bought from them before as their prices, packaging, postal costs and seed quality / quantity are excellent. When I checked the quantity of these two packets I was pleased to find both had just over 250 seeds rather than the approx. 200 quoted.  (Picture with thanks to Plant Genesis).

I’ll be sowing these seeds direct in the ground in mid spring and hopefully there will be a carpet of colour covering cosmos corner from mid summer right through to the first frosts in late autumn.

Have a good weekend, and take care!

It’s been a cold and frosty week, and after lunch on Tuesday I arrived at the plot to see that there was still some ice on the pond.  Sadly the frost had finished off the last flowers, and the nasturtiums were a collapsed mess.

 

At long last I’ve acquired a lid for the plastic  Composter bin which fits properly. That meant I’ve had to relocate the pond as I want to keep it.

I’ve put it on the ground at the top end where the comfrey plants and raspberry bushes grow.    As you can see it’s now alongside the grass path opposite the blackberry bush.

 

I recently mentioned that there were flowers on the raspberries, and I was surprised to see that a few had now turned into fruit.  I didn’t pick any but left them for the wildlife.

Of the few last few rose Pretty Lady flowers this buttonhole size one was the best one.

Once it warms up a bit I’ll clear the rest of the flower patches before making a start on digging out, and sieving, compost from the Composter bin.

Have a good weekend, keep warm and take care!

decided what I’m going to grow next year, both on the plot and at home on the windowsill. No doubt there will be a few additions and/or changes between now and when I start planting and sowing next March.  I usually try to grow less but better, but often strive to succeed in doing so.  I’ll be growing flowers and vegetables I’ve grown before with just a few changes of varieties.  I already have all the seeds I want, being a mix of saved and bought ones.  As usual I’ll be getting the onions sets and seed potatoes from the horticultural trading shed early in the new year.  Forthcoming posts will go into more detail.  The picture shows some Pot Marigolds Flighty’s Favourites in 2016.

It rained all day Friday so I wasn’t surprised to find that the plot was rather soggy yesterday, and all I did was look round and potter for a short while.  The forecast next week is for much colder weather, with the daytime temperature on Wednesday feeling around 0 C /32 F.

Have a good week,  keep warm and take care!

Of all the various plants still flowering on the plot I think that the nasturtiums have been the most surprising.  I always grow them at the end of the double row of strawberrys adjacent to two of the grass paths.  They’ve done much better over the past month, or more, than they did all through the summer.  At first glance it looks as though there are very few , if any, flowers as they’re mostly hidden away under the mound of leaves. Hopefully they’ll continue to bloom until the first frost.

So far this week it’s been a mostly damp and dull, but mild,  with plenty of rain which looks set to continue over the weekend, so I’ve only been to the plot a couple of times and just pottered.

Have a good weekend, and take care!

 

Have a good week, and take care!

I’ve cut off all the flower stems on the three clumps of blue flowering Asters, leaving about a foot.  In early spring once new growth is showing I’ll then cut them all off at ground level.  The biggest clump is now far too big so I’ll also be digging some of it up.  That just leaves the white flowering Twinkling Stars to do when it finishes flowering.

 

I thought that the Rose Pretty Lady had finished flowering last month but I’m pleased to see that a handful of buds have appeared.

There are virtually no leaves on it and plenty of large orange-red hips so it does look slightly odd.

 

The Cosmos are still flowering well, as you can see with these light pink ones which have a red ring round the yellow centre.  My apologies for the not very good picture.

I’ve also noticed a rather nice Pot Marigold Flighty’s Favourite which has pale lemon-yellow flowers, in complete contrast to the bright orange Oopsy Daisy.  There are also a handful of Candytuft Fairy Mixed  still flowering.

November has started off damp and mild with temperatures in the mid teens C /  60 F which has been ideal for all these.

Have a good weekend, and take care!

the plot yesterday I noticed that I must have missed lifting a couple of potatoes back in August as foliage has appeared.  I’ll leave it to grow and see what happens.  I may be lucky and get some fresh out the ground potatoes for Christmas.

 

The white Meadowsweet is looking good with its golden-yellow leaves.

I’ve not dead-headed it this year as I’ve learnt that goldfinches like the seeds.  I would be well pleased if I saw one on it.

 

 

Here’s another picture of the eye-catching Pot Marigold Oopsy Daisy  in the black plastic half-barrel container by the shed.

Here was some heavy rain during last night and the ground is now rather soggy so I’m not plotting today.  Hopefully during the coming week I can make a start on cutting back the stems on the three clumps of blue asters/Michaelmas Daisies which have now finished flowering.

Have a good week, and take care!