Sunday, 24 May 2020

Update on the Garden

Well, deliveries really are slow; in fact I have no colourful plants from my order so far, just a couple of seed packets and 3 separate deliveries of plug plants, which sat on my kitchen windowsill for a couple of weeks, being watered and watched until I potted them up in readiness for going in the greenhouse. There have been some failures - only 1 Fuchsia survived out of the 4 that were sent; from the herb collection the chives and parsley plugs gave up the ghost, but the other 4 herbs all look healthy and are growing on well.  5 Dianthus are also looking good and will soon be strong enough to go out into containers, hopefully in a week or two's time. 

The GrowBags that I ordered -  Jumbo ones that are longer and deeper than the usual ones - were initially 'Lost in Transit' but an email from me brought replacement ones.  However, that presented a problem - each one was doubled over and crammed into a large cardboard box for transit, then they were placed in my front porch.  Oh how I wished for a big strong man who would effortlessly lift and carry those heavy bags round to the back garden and place them in the greenhouse! It took me ages, with the help of my grandson's skateboard (abandoned in my garage) and lots of shoving, heaving, pulling and manoeuvring - and possibly cursing - before they were at last in position.  Not surprisingly, my back and shoulders suffered for several days afterwards.  Now I have received 2 of the tomato plants so after a week in the kitchen window, they can be planted in one of those GrowBags.  Yay!

In the meantime, any colour in the garden is provided by the established shrubs and plants; here's Benji admiring them! Not really; he's watching out for anyone walking past with a dog, so he can bark furiously at them and let them know this is HIS territory.


A beautiful orange Azalea


Rhododendron



Solomon's Seal


Bleeding Heart (Dicentra)


Fuchsia - when fully opened, this one has a deep purple 'skirt'. Stunning!


Aquilegia - grown from seed 'borrowed' from my neighbour's flowers which poked through the hedge



The newest addition - a replacement fence for the one that was destroyed by stormy winds. It will look much better when it has been painted with a dark brown preservative.
The sapling on the left is self-sown and I think it might be a flowering Cherry.  If so, I shall stake it and feed it and enjoy the blossom for years  to come, I hope. 
The metal gate is the entrance to the village football pitch - we have an excellent local team, but of course they are not able to play in the present circumstances,
The building behind is the Primary School, also not in use at present. 



Benji has just discovered that he can no longer see any passing dogs!  His barking has almost ceased!


16 comments:

  1. It is so disappointing when plug plants fail, as they sometimes do. How thpughtless of the delivery people to leave your growbags like that, it must have been a real effort for you.
    The azaleas and rhodos remind me of our trip to a garden whose name I have forgotten, a few years back.
    I think, if you dont mind me saying so, that your Aquilegia is actually an Alstromeria called Indian summer.

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    1. Aaaaaargh! Trust me to get those names confused; thank you for the correction. I LOVE Aquilegia, but have had no luck at all in growing them. Maybe my garden soli is too acidic for them. The Acers, Azaleas, Rhododendrons and camellias thrive in it.

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    2. I am constantly pulling up self seeded and unwanted Aquilegia!

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  2. I think your aquilegia is alstromeria too! Good to see Benji is on duty. He knows he is really a huge guard dog.

    I grew my plugs and planted them out and the local slugs have been very appreciative.

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    1. Yes, I've seen their slimy trails in the greenhouse, so they might be the cause of the deceased plug plants. Yuk!

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  3. Cracking photos!
    The post is taking much longer now, with no sorting Weds and Sunday and short staff levels...and limited Saturday delivery. We have only had one package of tomatoes sent by a relative...they arrived rather battered after 10 days.

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    1. 10 days?! No wonder they were battered. I don't think parcels are treated very kindly when in transit. And some drivers don't seem able to read "THIS WAY UP".

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    2. And some treat Fragile as a challenge!!

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  4. Azaleas and rhododendrons are my absolute favourites, yours are lovely, and the aquilegia looks very pretty :)

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    1. I'm afraid I misled you on that - it's actually an Alstroemeria. Sorry! I love those too - and Acers. In fact most of my favourites seem to be the acid soil loving ones (which is quite handy as that's what my garden is!)

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  5. I love that orange azalea, it's stunning.

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  6. It really is stunning, especially when the sun is lighting it up. I brought it from my previous garden and it's growing very well here.

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  7. Your plants are all looking lovely and Benji is looking HANDSOME! Quite a different dog from when he first came to live with you!

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    1. Thank you, Jenny. Not bad for an almost-10-year-old. is he? Recently I suspected he'd put weight back on, but it turned out to be all fur!!! I was fortunate enough to arrange a much-needed trim for him and that revealed his slim, trim self. I wonder if that would have the same effect on me?

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  8. Your established plants look great and such vibrant colours.

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  9. I'll be pleased to welcome the delivery of bedding plants so that I can plant up all my containers, then put any leftovers in the front garden in front of the new fence. It will be good to have some more colour now that the shrubs are 'going over'. That will mean lots of watering, though; there's no rain forecast for a while.

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