Oh and the smell from the Daijin tree peony flowers is just heavenly. i will post a pic when more flowers open. at the moment only one is quite open - a white one, while a red bud is about to. I wonder if there will be a pink one as well this year among the five buds it has,
Well, it must have rained a great deal in Bristol last night. The garden is dripping everywhere. But the threat of frost seems to be receding and Monday is forecast tobe very warm so I am expecting loads of May flowers from getting all the April showers in one go at the end of the month. Beginning to wonder what the parcel from Mr. Forthergill will contain in May. The first of each month starts the excitement. I may have good light to take pictures today. i do hope so. May Day is a lush day in my garden and even more so in my Golden jubilee year.
I thought it would never stop raining today but i did get out with my camera at 4pm. The ajuga flowers had added to the blue of the bluebells and lots of holly blue butterflies were feasting as well as bumblebees who had found the Daijin tree peony. The wind had broken three stems of my Royal Yellow irises so i brought the flowerheads in for the kitchen table. While it rained I finished spring cleaning the conservatory which now has clean windows and floor. The pieris looks lovely again this year.
Colder day today but was fine gardening in a thick sweater again. I dug up some early potatoes for the weekend and planted King Edwards in a raised bed. My new mixed border now has two hydrangeas in with some of my spring bulbs which have finished flowering in pots planted round them "in the green". I will plant my Sorbus bristoliensis (which grows only in the Avon Gorge in Bristol in the wild) tomorrow and surround it with spent daffs as well. the pots are having tomatoes planted in them immediately they are empty. There is a good set of plum blossom and lots of strawberry flowers. The apple blossom is again amazing so good year for fruit so far.
Sunny again today.Still feels too chilly to work without a sweater outside. I plan on potting up my "Purple Twist" antirhinums and sweet peppers for the Mr. Fothergills trials today so , as I have used all my labels, will have to clean up some old ones first.
Marion I'm only catching up with the forum since big absence last year due to family illnesses and it's been a real thrill following the progress of your Golden year on this thread. Your gardening diary here is so exciting - such a range of wonderful plants and trials and following how things are going. I wish I could do a Star Trek 'beam you up' and have you appear in my garden this morning to have a chuckle at my tidy up efforts and moving plants around over a brew!
It's 'aquilegia' time in my garden and they have many more heads on them this year than any other year which has been a surprise. However, after they have died down I'm going to have to find some summer bloomers to squeeze in between them as this little aquilegia patch has nothing else in it for summer interest.
Here in Edinburgh it's a grey damp day, which we've had for several days now with occasional showers and the sun has been appearing mid to late afternoon. In the evening the aquilegias in part shade look lovely and delicate with just little touches of dappled light highlighting them. You can maybe spot somewhere on the left a little bit of white which is a very young Primula sieboldii 'Alba' alpine although I'm thinking it is too crowded in there. There are two and they are very young so only a couple of stalks on each so far. I should maybe move them but as they are growing perhaps it's best to leave them there another year.
Hope you have a productive day and a few hot brews in between all the work you are planning.
Yes,yarrow2, P. sieboldii can get quite big. Lovely plant. I have managed to repot the antirrhinums and now for a cup of tea before I repot my peppers. The antirrhinums are now sat in brilliant sunshine in front of my trial potato planter with its "Charlotte" potatoes which I will be eating soon. I am still enjoying my salad leaves from the 4 kinds we were given to try growing throughout the winter. My trial strawberries and blackcurrants have berries on,
so Mr. Fothergills are helping to feed me this year!
No, when your peppers have reached 20cm or so you pinch out the tops so it bushes out. The more sideshoots the more peppers. More like growing dahlias for lots of flowers really.Hope that helps Lisa.
Posts
Oh and the smell from the Daijin tree peony flowers is just heavenly. i will post a pic when more flowers open. at the moment only one is quite open - a white one, while a red bud is about to. I wonder if there will be a pink one as well this year among the five buds it has,
Well, it must have rained a great deal in Bristol last night. The garden is dripping everywhere. But the threat of frost seems to be receding and Monday is forecast tobe very warm so I am expecting loads of May flowers from getting all the April showers in one go at the end of the month. Beginning to wonder what the parcel from Mr. Forthergill will contain in May. The first of each month starts the excitement. I may have good light to take pictures today. i do hope so. May Day is a lush day in my garden and even more so in my Golden jubilee year.
I thought it would never stop raining today but i did get out with my camera at 4pm. The ajuga flowers had added to the blue of the bluebells and lots of holly blue butterflies were feasting as well as bumblebees who had found the Daijin tree peony. The wind had broken three stems of my Royal Yellow irises so i brought the flowerheads in for the kitchen table. While it rained I finished spring cleaning the conservatory which now has clean windows and floor. The pieris looks lovely again this year.
My red onions and garlic are racing away.
Colder day today but was fine gardening in a thick sweater again. I dug up some early potatoes for the weekend and planted King Edwards in a raised bed. My new mixed border now has two hydrangeas in with some of my spring bulbs which have finished flowering in pots planted round them "in the green". I will plant my Sorbus bristoliensis (which grows only in the Avon Gorge in Bristol in the wild) tomorrow and surround it with spent daffs as well. the pots are having tomatoes planted in them immediately they are empty. There is a good set of plum blossom and lots of strawberry flowers. The apple blossom is again amazing so good year for fruit so far.
Sunny again today.Still feels too chilly to work without a sweater outside. I plan on potting up my "Purple Twist" antirhinums and sweet peppers for the Mr. Fothergills trials today so , as I have used all my labels, will have to clean up some old ones first.
Marion I'm only catching up with the forum since big absence last year due to family illnesses and it's been a real thrill following the progress of your Golden year on this thread. Your gardening diary here is so exciting - such a range of wonderful plants and trials and following how things are going. I wish I could do a Star Trek 'beam you up' and have you appear in my garden this morning to have a chuckle at my tidy up efforts and moving plants around over a brew!
It's 'aquilegia' time in my garden and they have many more heads on them this year than any other year which has been a surprise. However, after they have died down I'm going to have to find some summer bloomers to squeeze in between them as this little aquilegia patch has nothing else in it for summer interest.
Here in Edinburgh it's a grey damp day, which we've had for several days now with occasional showers and the sun has been appearing mid to late afternoon. In the evening the aquilegias in part shade look lovely and delicate with just little touches of dappled light highlighting them. You can maybe spot somewhere on the left a little bit of white which is a very young Primula sieboldii 'Alba' alpine although I'm thinking it is too crowded in there. There are two and they are very young so only a couple of stalks on each so far. I should maybe move them but as they are growing perhaps it's best to leave them there another year.
Hope you have a productive day and a few hot brews in between all the work you are planning.
Yes,yarrow2, P. sieboldii can get quite big. Lovely plant. I have managed to repot the antirrhinums and now for a cup of tea before I repot my peppers. The antirrhinums are now sat in brilliant sunshine in front of my trial potato planter with its "Charlotte" potatoes which I will be eating soon. I am still enjoying my salad leaves from the 4 kinds we were given to try growing throughout the winter. My trial strawberries and blackcurrants have berries on,
so Mr. Fothergills are helping to feed me this year!
Hello Marion, just a quick brain pick, do you side shoot sweet and chilli peppers, like you do with tomatoes?
No, when your peppers have reached 20cm or so you pinch out the tops so it bushes out. The more sideshoots the more peppers. More like growing dahlias for lots of flowers really.Hope that helps Lisa.
Thankyou Marion, helps a great deal, have a good day, I hope it's dry for you.