Flighty’s plot – Page 13

Flighty’s Favourites

Pot marigolds (Calendula offinicalis) are my favourite flowers so I’ve always grown lots of them on the plot. I started with one packet of seeds, along with some I was given, and let them self-seed as well as collecting seeds to sow the following year.

Some years I buy a packet if a particular variety catches my eye as Snow Princess, with it’s creamy-white flowers, did some years ago.

This year looking through the Chiltern Seeds catalogue the variety Orange Flash did, which despite the name has apricot-buff flowers with darker bronze shades on the reverse.

Most pot marigold varieties grow to around 2 feet/ 60 cm but Oopsy Daisy is a dwarf one only 8 in/20 cm and has bright orange and creamy yellow bicoloured flowers. I’ve grown these on the plot but didn’t have much success on the windowsill at home so I bought a packet to try again.

Have a good weekend, take care and keep warm!

Two robins

It was cold all last week with daytime temperatures barely reaching 0 C/32 F at best. Some days were dull and gloomy, others bright and sunny. I only went to the plot after lunch on two of the latter days for a brief look round and needed to clear the composter lid pond of ice then refill it.

Yesterday when I did that a robin appeared and had a drink. Standing watching I didn’t think that it was the usual one for some reason I couldn’t quite figure out. It flew off to perch in the dog rose and as I went to move away another one flew into view and perched on the edge of the compost heap . I realised then that this was the usual one being slighty bigger and rounder than the first one.

It’s almost impossible to tell female and male robins apart except that the male is generally bigger and the demarcation line between the brown and red is often more V shaped on the forehead of females.

Seeing two, probably a pair, like that made me smile and definitely lifted my spirits. This picture showing a pair of plot robins is from February 2012.

Have a good week, take care and keep warm.

On the windowsill – Snapdragons

As the weather has been so miserable recently I’ve spent some of the time armchair gardening looking through the Chiltern Seeds 2025 catalogue for something I’ve not grown before which is suitable for pots on the windowsill.

Antirrhinum majus Kimosy Formula Mixed caught my eye as it’s a dwarf variety only growing to about 6 in/15 cm and the description says that it’s great in pots. The familiar name for these plants is Snapdragons and the flowers come in a range of various colours including orange, rose, scarlet and white

I won’t sowing any seeds at home until mid-late March when it should be brighter and warmer. I’ll be growing this plant in a 5 in/12.5 cm plastic pot which is a perfect fit in this nice china container.

I must mention that I have fond, but now faded, memories of mum growing Snapdragons in her garden.

Have a good weekend, take care and keep warm!

My first look…

round the plot this year was on Thursday when it was calm, dry and sunny, although bitterly cold so I certainly didn’t linger for long. I did the same on Friday when it even colder and there was thick ice on the composter lid pond. I’d no sooner removed that and refilled it when the robin appeared for a drink. Apart from those two days it’s been cold, damp and dull, and early this morning there was a sprinkling of snow which soon disappeared when it turned to rain. The forecast for the coming week is much the same so I certainly won’t be doing any plotting for a while.

This picture was taken in February 2015.

Meanwhile I’m mostly armchair gardening dreaming of summer and a plot full of flowers, soft fruit and vegetables like this picture taken at the end of June 2017.

Have a good week, take care and keep warm!

I hope…

that everyone had a good Christmas and enjoyed themselves. Mine was quiet as usual and mostly spent at home armchair gardening reading, drinking cups of tea and eating dark chocolate biscuits.

The weather last week was dull and murky so I only went to the plot a couple of times for a quick look round. The week ahead is looking little better with some rain and gusty winds, then turning colder.

I’ll be eating the last couple of second early potatoes Charlotte on New Years Day. I’ll then switch to the maincrop Picasso ones which should last me at least another month or so. I’ll still got plenty of onions Sturon.

The picture shows four pot marigolds Flighty’s Favourites back in 2016.

Happy New Year, and take care!

(Please note my next post will be on Sunday 5th.)

Christmas Garden

Season’s greetings to everyone, I wish you all a Merry Christmas.

This picture is the Thrive charity card Christmas Garden.

Enjoy yourselves, and take care!

(Please note that my next post won’t be until Sunday 29th.)

Yesterday…

morning I received a lovely Christmas card from my long-time (online) friend Anne, who lives over in Southern California.

Included with the card were two packets of Cosmos seeds, Apricotta and Double Click Snow Puff, which I look forward to growing on cosmos corner next year.

She has always commented regularly here, and usually posts weekly, including over 800 Five Faves Friday ones, on her own always enjoyable and long-running blog Nikkipolani.

Have a good weekend, and take care!

Sunflower Holiday…

is a variety I’ve tried growing a couple of times before without much success so I’m going to try again next year. They only grow to around 4 feet/1.2 metres but the same across making it a spherical bush. The 6 in/15 cm flowers with dark-brown centres and golden-yellow petals grow on long stems making them ideal for cutting.

Because of their size I’m only going to grow three, or maybe four, plants which I’ll start off in small pots at home before taking them to the plot to plant out.

As I always do I’ll be posting about all the sunflowers I grow on The Big Sunflower Project for Centronuclear and Myotubular Group’s Facebook page.

Have a good week, and take care!

Living Paintings

Following last weekend’s very wet and windy weather I went to the plot on Monday morning wondering what I’d find. Thankfully I was surprised to see that all was okay, and although the ground was really soggy there was no standing water unlike on some of the other plots. I’ve not been there since as this week has been cold and dull but tomorrow I’ll go and have a look round.

I recently made a donation to the wonderful charity Living Paintings and as a thank you I received this special handmade gift from them.

As I don’t have a Christmas tree to hang it on I’ve stood it on the mantlepiece where it has pride of place.

Have a good weekend, and take care!

Chiltern Seeds

It’s been a cold, dull, wet and windy weekend so it’s hardly surprising that I’ve spent much of it armchair gardening. Luckily on Thursday I received the 2025 Chiltern Seeds Catalogues which I’ve been happily browsing through.

As you can see the Grow something new from seed one is a Golden Anniversary Edition to celebrate Chiltern Seeds 50th year. For anyone not familiar with this Catalogue it’s 4 in/10 cm wide and slightly under 12 in/30 cm tall, contains 126 pages listing around 2,500 items in alphabetical order from Abies to Zinnia, and only has 4 pages of photos apart from the 3 cover ones.

Some of the descriptions make me smile such as Tropaeolum minus Tom Thumb mixed which says – If you can’t grow these you’d better give up gardening as a hobby! The Calendula officinalis Mixture of all Varieties entry says – To bring back fun into gardening, this is a jolly mixture of Marigolds to brighten gardens, lives and outlooks.

The other, same size, Catalogue is The VegBook 2025 which has 34 pages listing vegetables from Agretti to Watercress and 7 pages of herbs. It has no photos but lots quirky illustrations by Jacqueline Sinclair.

Have a good week, and take care!