WHAT ARE WE DOING IN THE GARDEN TODAY - 2022

Planted out 12 Petunia Royal Flush - the battle has commenced...

 

Deadheaded the hyacinths.

 

Another hard day. I started off in my potting shed preparing toilet roll tubes (!) for sowing Sweet Pea seeds. We then went out and planted 25 Oxalis, 25 Allium Moly, 15 Acidenthera, 25 Brodiaea and 10 Gladiolus. I then spent time watering containers and my cold frames.
After lunch, I went out and cut "The Meadow". I cut it at the height setting 2 and then again at setting 3. After that, I got the roller out and rolled the entire area.
I then prepared a planter tray and sowed Ceoreopsis Mardi Gras which I then stood out in my paved area. By that time I was done and a cold lager with my name on it was waiting.
A little while later the courier brought a Sambuca nigra "Black Lace" but it is in a 2-litre pot so it will keep until tomorrow before we have to plant it out.

 

Cut back the overhanging bushes from next door and took some plants I've grown from cuttings to the cold frame at the allotment. Sweet peas, Lavatera, Salvia Amistad & Penstemon. I'm going all out with Foxgloves this year so planted out what felt like hundreds in the borders

 

Did lots of cutting back, planted up 3 pots, weeded and watered

 

Weeding, planting some potting on in the greenhouse. Watering as no real rain since early March.

 

Did you get some artificial rain though?

 

More potting up ready to create space for a whole day onslaught tomorrow.
Watered and fed pots. Auriculas are looking good

 

Started taking down some of the winter protection, took the rain cover down that I put some pot plants under for the winter to keep them dry only,no sides to it.

Thinking of erecting it on the allotment and planting a couple of bush toms that are not blight resistant under it.

 

Watered the polyanthus around the path. Even though I water them I still lose a lot so I might pot some of them up and put them sheltered behind the big containers.

 

Potted on my Mongolian Giant Sunflowers, ornamental Gourds and Gherkins. All of them look identical when at 2- true leave stage but now the Giants are truly starting to giant up so have been fairly reliably identified. (Hint- if it's a foot tall, finger thick stemmed and growing upwards making woosh-woosh sounds whilst at it, it's not a mini Gherkin ) They grew out of their new 9cm pots in a week and are now in 20cm pots.

Gourds and Gherkins are much harder to tell apart. I even sowed an id batch of Gourds and the seedlings look like both. Well, I'll find out which is which at least when I'm biting into the fruit.

Sorted out the next batch of plants ready for daily walkies outdoors, including two that apparently identify themselves as Gherkins but to me seem more gourd-ish. Dahlias are ready by the back door as well.

Watered all pots. The long, fresh spring has kept the Daffs going for two months, now spoiling my carefully planned succession of lasagne pots. Bright yellow daffs and elegant, purple tulips really shouldn't be allowed to flower at the same time. Sometimes I get a feeling that nature is not following my plans

 

Easy day today. Apart from misting the plants in the potting shed all we did was plant a Sambucus nigra 'Black Lace'.

 

Potted on some more Dahlias, Cosmos, Laurentia, Cineraria and Cephalophoria.

 

Loads to do, busy time now ahead of next month's planting out..
Priority this morning is to detangling the mass of Lobelia seedlings and potting up the Peppers.