WHAT ARE WE DOING IN THE GARDEN TODAY - 2022

I've been taking some potted perennials overwintering in a perspex shelter and placing them outside, to make room for my succulents which are clogging up the kitchen and conservatory,
and I've been tidying the patio after some men cleared away rubbish left by builders last year.
I've also been cutting things back like Fuchsias Clematises and Roses.

 

Sowed some more Zinnias - Giant Doubles and pricked out one tray of Dahilias and Salvias.

 

Pricked out the rest of the cosmos, snaps and a few chilli seedlings. Hubby did a few more roses.

 

I've spent a couple of hours toady cutting back the Geraniums & Pelargoniums on our bedroom windowsill. I took nearly 50 cuttings from them, as you can see in the photos below!



.

.

 

I love Geraniums (Pelargoniums). I have a lot in pots (and some giant five foot ones in the ground) but they don't like being in the full afternoon sun here.

 

My ex's uncle was a gardener at Braco Castle. They had two enormous lean-to greenhouses and one of the sections in the heated one had Zonal Pelargoniums the full height and length of the back wall. One of his rainy day jobs was picking the flowers off as they were grown for their foliage. It was a sight to see. Then a new owner had the heating turned off and they didn't survive the first winter. They had been there about 50 years.
My garden jobs today included planting a dozen mixed Penstemon plugs, preparing for sowing some more Sweetpeas and a bit of woodwork for my Morning Glory planting box.
I also had a word with my son and he tells me my old wood chipper is still in his shed and I can have it the next time I am over. Whether it works is another matter as it has been lying unused for almost 20 years.

 

Are you sure they are not all Pelargoniums @Balc? I can't see any Geraniums?

 

Carry on from yesterday, try and remember to put some fleece over seeds in greenhouse to stop them drying out.

 

Repairing the Metal Arch, there's more repairs than original
I should replace with a new one, but I would lose two Clematis that climb it.

 

Did some weeding around the front garden and hubby pruned 6 more roses.

 

I have had a busy morning. I planted a bare root Peony and 6 Scaredy Cat plugs, sowed 20 Sweetpea seeds (one each in 20 toilet roll tubes), sprayed my Lilac with Horticultural dormant oil and pruned a couple of Fushias I have in tall planters. I also watered the plants in the cold frame.

 

Again today I spent a couple of hours doing some, relatively, light gardening. You'd be surprised the amount of time you can spend organizing things! You have to keep moving things backwards & forwards, from one side or the other!

I have a small plastic greenhouse on top of a big round white table in the far corner of the balcony. This where I overwinter "tender" plants, like Geraniums & Fuchsias & other similar plants. As it's the most sheltered corner on a very windy balcony it has served me very well for the last 20 years.

The Geranium & Pelargonium cutting I took yesterday will spend the next couple of months there.The first month they will hopefully root & then I can pot them up & put them back in there for another month before putting them on the balcony.

But first of all I had to empty the GH of its winter residents! This entailed removing first the 3 trays of cutting, (stuffed any ol'how into it yesterday), so I can properly zipper the door closed. There were 2 hanging baskets that I had to get out. Trouble was one was too big to get out through the shelves so I had to take the cover off the GH & then remove a support bar to get the bigger basket out! Then repeat the process in reverse (sans HB!). Eventually I got this done & put the shelving back in again. Then I put 3 pots of Germaniums on 3 tiers of shelves & put a tray of cutting on each shelf while pushing the Geraniums further in. Done that I can finally close the door with the zip!

Then it was time for a bit of a sweep up before turning my attention to the 2 big HBs & the smaller, wicker one. The 2 big'uns had a Pelargonium in their centres with an Ivy Geranium to hang down. These had survived the winter & needed pruning. I did this & put them back onto their summer supports on the end walls on the balcony.

The small wicker HB had 2 trailing Fuchsias in it last summer & a Pelargonium. These had also made it through the winter. A light pruning & removal of dead leaves were all that was necessary before going back to its summer perch.

Then it was moving the Geraniums that had spent the winter in the GH back onto the balcony table. I was left with 5 or 6 pots of them which I pruned then set out on the back of the table alongside the GH. Once that was done - another sweep up was due - to get rid of the fallen leaves & compost & prunings.
(It's taking almost as long to write about it as it was doing it all! )

While doing the sweeping I also had to move flowerpots of plants backwards & forwards again!

It's the constant moving around of things that takes up a lot of time. Unless you are very carefully you could easily fall over the pots; you have to have, constantly, in the back of your mind, where the nearest pots were last, so as not to fall over them. This isn't easy because they are continuously moving around, like musical chairs! You also have to take into consideration the pain in your back & being careful all the time not to get up too quickly or you will get dizzy & perhaps fall over something!

Ahh, the life of a balcony gardener!

Been too busy to take photos!

 

In the first picture all but 3 cuttings are from Geraniums (Pelargonium zonal). In the other 2 photos they are almost all Pelargonium domesticum.

 

I think I'm right in saying this below is a Geranium @Balc. In the last decade and possibly longer all your plants would be identified as Pelargoniums. Would somebody correct me if I'm wrong please?