WHAT ARE WE DOING IN THE GARDEN TODAY - 2021

@shiney is super breeder.

My Shineybrids produced too much for me last summer so I delayed starting the new sèeds until last week. Threw them on a pot, covered lightly with soil and voila!

 

Is that snow Lori? You must come and do seeds for me.

 

Yesterday I lifted and divided some wild primroses, spreading the main colony, extending last year's satellite colony, as well as establishing a new one. I also potted on some pelargoniums I bought in Aldi. They should be nice big plants by the time of the last frost.

Today we did a walk round the garden, checking in the progress of the fruit trees, and admiring the frogspawn in the pond.

Two nights work!

 

No, I'm not THAT good It is sand. I should have said "cover lightly with sand" not soil as that is what I do with everything. I don't know why but it seems to promote good germination along with the great genetics in the Shineybrid chillies. I have to admit that the Shineybrids are really nice to grow and can almost be put in the "growing for dummies" category, they're that willing to germinate.

I've got seedlings in the cellar, in the kitchen and in the greenhouse. Last count was up in the 200 range. And it is probably 7 weeks until I can think about planting out or using an unheated greenhouse.

Today it is sunny again and mild. (the guessers said it was going to be mild but pouring!) so I decided that I am going to be stuffing more seedlings in the one greenhouse. And do a bit more tidy up out in the garden.

I need to move a candytuft plant. When I originally jammed it in the little bed at the front yard about 10 years ago, I was under the impression it was an annual. And I have never really liked the location so I'll have to get it dug out.

I get really fed up with plant labelling at the nurseries over here. Hardy doesn't necessarily mean our winter hardy and tender is a loosey goosey description too!

And I'm sowing the last of my seeds being started indoors, for this year. My cosmos and zinnias collected from various plants last fall. Hope they germinate

 

Planted 2 lavenders and 2 lupin plants. Also did some more pricking out seedlings, finished the pot marigolds and then started on the cosmos.

 

Absolutely lovely afternoon here. Took a trip to the garden centre...hooray. Overwhelming amount of people getting garden ready though. Picked up a long awaited 'stella' cherry tree and got it planted in. Praying that it will do well. I stared incessantly at the tulip bulbs wishing them to open, they didn't pay any attention. Got rid of a load of old tin sheets that had been mindlessly used/left on my patch and washed it all down with a cuppa. Lovely soaking up some sunshine

 

Potted up an aubrieta hoping it will cascade down the container. Planted Lysimachia clethroides, Salvia 'Caradonna' and 'Blue Marvel' in my new border. I was going to be more methodical and take it slower with this border, planting everything according to eventual height, but I've decided to just plonk everything in, see what it looks like and how it does with pollinators this Summer, then just transplant anything I'm unhappy with to another area of the border next year. I'm including all my salvias in it, but as it's intended to be a butterfly border and they are typically 'bee plants' they will probably be moved and put in another new border, I have quite a few salvias now and want to try using these and geraniums (another plant I have several types of) exclusively in a border or section of a border. I've been avoiding weeding some violets near the roses and the bees have been very keen on them lately, so I need to determine what the species is. The sun really caught my sweet violets this morning and I picked one and couldn't stop smelling it, the fragrance was so intoxicating, it's almost like a drug! Nice to grow something my English ancestors grew, too!

Nick

 

With a strong wind blowing and showers I've done nothing outside since the beginning of the week. I did drop some old Lupin seeds in water today to soften them up. I collected them from a dwarf plant in 2015 so will have to wait and see if they germinate when they're sown.

In a couple of weeks I'll be sowing 3000 Aubrieta seeds. I've not grown them before, so if anyone has experience of growing them any advice would be welcome please.

 

Last year i collected some seed off my knautia plant and 2 have come upI don't need a lot anyway so that's good.

A question for anyone,it happens every year, last week I pricked out my Snapdragon seedlings now some of them have started to die, I always make sure that they have roots on them and it only happens with them, they don't all die.?

 

@Logan your Knautia ( Scabious) will do well, I save seeds every year.

Have you waited for the Antirrihnums to grow their first set of true leaves?

 

Thank you @Upsydaisy and yes I wait for them to have their first set of true leaves and got root on them.

 

Ordered three grafted Jalapeño plants from Marshalls. My hope is to get a really nice amount of fruit this year rather than next, hence going for the grafted, never bought grafted before.

Anyway the rest of my chilli plants indoors are doing great. I'll probably squeeze these jalas around them and then move the older plants out to the greenhouse in the summer and keep the jalas in the kitchen year round. Have to hand pollinate but hopefully with 4 plants (one of my own plus the three new ones) I can supply our jala consumption entirely. We eat so many. Plan to pickle and water-bath can then for long storage.

Convinced my Mum to build a little shelf in her new shed next to the window so I can offload my tomato plants when I see her next weekend (first time in ages!), to dole out to the rest of my family. Very helpful as I'm overloaded with seedlings still.

Lettuces in the garden are coming along amazingly well, same for cabbages. I think they do really prefer the real sunlight than my lamps indoors.

Closed up the strawberry tent because the wind was really whipping through the garden. Though even with big gusts filling up the whole thing it seemed to stay firm so I'm quite happy.

 

Oh I really want to get my cabbages and lettuce out also but the forecasts over Easter for the midlands ain't looking good for that

 

I may have to bring them in again as the weather is looking a bit chilly coming up... but they are in the greenhouse which is pretty good protection. I might just lay them on some fleece and cover them with an additional cloche and hope.