Category: Flighty’s plot

Sunday morning was sunny and warm, which wasn’t what had been forecast. I called into the hut to buy peanuts for the birds and some rose food. I also spent £1 on five raffle tickets but forgot to ask what the prizes are!

It was very pleasant on the the plot but the under the surface the soil is still on the sticky side. The forecast is for dry and warm weather from mid-week on so hopefully next week will see me planting onions, potatoes and the various bulbs, corms and tubers I bought a few weeks ago.

I lightly forked some rose feed in around the roses which are all looking good with plenty of signs of growth. The aquilegia which almost disappeared during during the winter is doing well. It’ll be interesting to see which one it is as there’s lots of varieties. There are some bulbs I planted that are about to flower but I can’t remember what they are!

I repositioned a chunky sized log that I acquired last Friday, and which I’ll point out when I next include a plot photo showing it. I hoed over the area where I’m going to plant the potatoes. The original blackberry has grown considerably so I’ve now supported it. Whilst doing that I saw this really tiny plant flower which was no bigger than a small finger nail. Isn’t it lovely!

So now I’m all set to go!

This is often said of one of the most impressive flowers, which is surely worthy of a place in any garden or allotment. It is the Sunflower(Helianthus annus) which is also a favourite for children of all ages!

When I was chosing what seeds to grow I found that there were plenty of varieties to choose from, with Chiltern Seeds listing around 20. I’ve gone for Autumn Beauty which grows to 6 feet tall and has branching stems freely producing flowers 6 inches across in colours including bronze, cream, lemon, mahogany and old gold.

During the week I was given a packet of Giant Singles which are likely grow over 12 foot high!

One bonus of Sunflowers is that the attractive seed heads are loved by the birds.

Another favourite flower has to be the Sweet Pea(Lathyrus odoratius) of which there are numerous varieties. Among the seeds that Nikki was kind enough to send me were three different packets. They are Early Multiflora Blend which has dainty flowers on long stems; Heirloom which is the original sweet pea that can be traced back to the 1690’s, is purple & deep blue bicolour and very fragrant, and Bouquet Blend which has heavier, longer stems and larger flowers ideal for cutting.

I’m assured that sweet peas are a sow and forget, easy to grow flower. I’m told that all I need to do is insert my forefinger an inch into the soil, cover and that’s it. I shall grow mine two each at the base of four 6 foot canes tied into a wigwam.

I’ve always said that I intended to sow all my seeds direct on the plot however I have sown some into plastic containers as I was given a bag of seed compost a couple of weeks ago. Among these are some sweet peas which after less than two weeks look like this The seedlings on the left, which appeared in a couple of days, are Eucharidium breweri ‘Pink Ribbons’ which Nikki may well recognise as it’s from California. It has narrow leaves and in summer bears countless, beautifully scented, deep glowing pink flowers with narrow, ribbon-like petals. It’s a sow and forget annual which makes a delightful little pot plant.

Happy gardening!

Having spent most of yesterday indoors sofa flying with a good book, along with lots of cups of tea and too many biscuits I needed to get out today.

As it was dry, although cold and windy, I went to the allotment this morning to have a look round as usual. I ended up moving the pond, as I’ve never really been happy with where I’d put it. I’ve only moved it a foot so that it now partly nestles next to a clump of grass which I feel is a much better place, being far less obvious.

I then lighty forked over the wild flower area, which has the pond at one end and the log pile at the other, with the recovering globe artichoke in front of it.

As I put things away in the shed I’m reminded by my small collection of flowers of sunny days to come!

Yesterday morning following on from the entry I did I decided to venture out in the cold to the horticultural society hut and the allotment site.

Not surprisingly I was the only customer at the hut whilst there so I chatted with the guys on duty. I had a cup of tea, bought some peanuts for the birds and two different sized plastic screw-top spray bottles then went on to the plot.

By that time the snow had mostly gone but you can see how bleak it was
Note the still upright daffodils and you can just see two starlings on the right-hand feeder. The brown and white box, at top left, is a beehive.

After refilling the feeders, clearing the ice on the pond and taking this photo I watched a couple of coal tits on the peanut feeder then came home to warm up and have lunch.

This morning when I pulled back the curtains in the living room I saw a chaffinch perched on the wing mirror of a car parked just a few feet away! The forecast for today, Easter Monday, is cold and sunny but so far it’s been grey and now at 10.00am it’s snowing.

For the record here is a photo of the 60 plus packets of flower, herb and vegetable seeds that I will be sowing on Plot 124 over the next couple of months

Bear in mind that the plot is no more than 30 by 60 feet and has a pallet patio, woodchip paths, a compost area, a soft fruit patch and so on. There’s also various bulbs, corms, tubers, onion sets and chitted potatoes to be planted. On that basis I reckon that the area for seed sowing is reduced by around a third.

Even taking into account that many won’t germinate, and some eaten by the birds, I really do think that I have enough. So I must stop browsing through the catalogues or looking at the seeds in the hardware shop and horticultural society’s hut.

I went to the plot this morning as I’d not been there since Friday. There was a cold wind so apart from topping up the bird feeders and putting up some wire trellis for the grape vine I did little else.

On my usual tour of inspection I did notice that there’s plenty of signs of growth including some tiny leaves on one of the raspberry canes! I’m also happy to say that the globe artichoke is recovering, just as I was told it would.

Well kind of as on Thursday I went to Homebase to spend the £50 worth of vouchers that I’d been given in December as compensation for the damage done to the plot.

I bought a pair of Pruners, a Dutch Hoe and a Soil Rake all of which are to replace the ones I have that really aren’t very good.

I also bought this trough which is for the climbing Asparagus which I mentioned in this entry.

I shall also grow some Matricaria White Gem

and Viola F2 Joker Blue in it as well.

That was the £50 spent, well very nearly as I actually got 34p change!

As you can see in the trough picture most of the daffodils survived the rain and wind during the week, but sadly the crocus didn’t.

The only newspaper that I buy now is The Independent on Saturday when I’m at the bookshop all day. I always read Cleve West’s Urban Gardener page in the Magazine which last week was aptly titled A mighty wind as you can see here. Has anyone grown, cooked and/or eaten Jerusalem artichokes ?

It’ll be a few weeks before I start planting and sowing many of the flowers, herbs and vegetables on the plot.

Meantime you can see that the herb patch (on the left) and the vegetable area (the square S shape on its side) have been dug over and are now ready. The light coloured area on the right will be the wild flower bed to attract bees, birds and butterflies. In front of the log pile is the globe artichoke which as you can see has now completely flopped. However I’m assured that it will recover, and if not I’ll be given another one!

This plant was one of the few that I kept from when I started. It died right back during the winter but it’s looking good as it begins to grow again.

Nikki will be pleased to learn that the roses are doing well, particularly the Valentine Heart which already has some small leaves on it , and which is the focal point of what will be her corner of the plot.

Just for the record here are a few of my daffodils which are growing in front of one end of the log.

I’ve transplanted the grape vine into a big green square plastic pot which I got for free as it’s slightly damaged. It looks much better than the round black one it replaces. I’m also going to paint that bright green board a darker shade and add a trellis of some kind.

Talking of bees, last Thursday, which was a fairly warm but overcast day, I’m sure that one buzzed past me! I didn’t see it though as I turned the wrong way. I must ask plot neighbour John when I next see him as he has two beehives on his allotment. I remember last summer when I first saw him donning all his special clothing and wondered what he was doing as at that time I didn’t know that he’s a bee keeper.

[ Click on any of these thumbnail pictures if you want to see a larger image]

The weather forecast for the weekend is wet and windy so it looks like I won’t be doing anything on the plot.

I don’t mind too much as I’ve spent several hours both yesterday and this morning in good weather mostly forking over the herb and vegetable areas. It was still a bit sticky in places which did make it a touch harder than I’d hoped.

Last week when I was there I was standing little more than arms length away from the bird feeders when out of the corner of my eye I noticed the peanut one moving slightly. As I watched one of these delightful little

blue tits appeared from round the back of it. I could have possibly have got the camera and taken a photo of it but for one thing…my hands were very muddy and wet! So I stood there and savoured what had to be a magical moment watching it peck at the peanuts.

Today I was meet by the robin and and a couple of blue tits on the feeders.

As I worked I saw a blackbird, several magpies, two parakeets, some pigeons, a few seagulls and starlings around the site.

At one point I heard several crows cawing away very nosily and as I turned I saw them wheeling around the sky overhead the adjacent ecology park. As I watched I suddenly realised that they were mobbing a magnificent grey heron It circled lower and lower to disappear in the ecology park which does have a fair sized pond. I rarely see herons so for me this was another magical moment!

The only new wildlife programme on terrestrial TV next week is Unknown Africa on Monday BBC2 at 8.00pm. Saba Douglas-Hamilton explores hidden corners of Africa for this new series starting with the Comoro Islands in the Indian Ocean.

Have a good weekend!

I wasn’t going to buy anything at the horticultural society hut this morning apart from peanuts for the birds. However looking round I spotted some bulbs, corms and tubers.

So I got two Dahlia tubers, one each ‘Bishop of Leicester’ and ‘Stolze von Berlin’, just to see how I get on with them. I got ten Gladioli corms, five each of the blue ‘Her Majesty’ and white ‘Amsterdam’. Lastly I got some Tigridia bulbs which include some white ones. I picked up a bundle of ten green 3 foot flower sticks as well which I’m sure I’ll need later on.

The weather was actually quite good with sunny intervals and the wind being not too blowy. On the plot some more crocus are out as are a few daffodils all providing some welcome splashes of colour.

I forked over the part of the vegetable patch which I’m probably going to plant my potatoes in. At the moment they’re in egg boxes on the kitchen table chitting away quite merrily by the look of them. If you’re wondering what I’m talking about then have a look at this Growing Our Own entry.

The birds were notable by their absence today although I could hear them in the nearby bushes and trees. There weren’t many people around either.

Anyway I’m glad I went !

Beautiful blue

and wonderful white

These were taken on the plot earlier today. Click on either to see larger image.

Tomorrow on BBC2 at 8.00pm there is a Gardeners’ World hour long special in which the emphasis is on fruit growing. Monty Don starts planning an orchard of heritage apple, pear and plum varieties.