Polemonium update

Heuchera update

Heuchera plants grown from seed.

Green manure update

Green manure plants don't really show up on these pictures, but I suspect I should have sown more - maybe one packet to each bed.

Alstroemeria update

first spuds of batch 3 harvested

Harvested four plants from the third batch. I think there's slightly fewer spuds than in the earlier crops this year, but not too bad.

Green Manure sown in main veg bed

I dug the bed over, raked it then sowed the seed and raked again - I didn't tread the soil down this time. Watered the seed in.

I didn't put netting over the bed - hope the birds don't get it.

Green manure sown

I dug the old greenhouse bed over, weeded, then trod it down, raked gently and sowed the seed. I then gave it another gentle rake over.

Potato and Tomato update

Batch 3 of potatoes looking pretty good. I picked the green tomatoes today and pulled up the plants.

This was a great year for tomatoes - no disease, all plants fruited well. Probably due to the great summer we had, after several bad summers.

Chrysanthemum update

Butternut Squash harvested

Harvested 2 butternut squash. The third one has grown through my anti-fox barrier so is not retrievable. That's all the squash - some more started growing but shrivelled up.

Pelargonium cuttings completed

Didn't quite have enough pink cuttings, so slightly more red than pink in total.

Pelargonium cuttings started

I took 60 cuttings from red pelargoniums today. Hope to do the same with pink-flowering plants tomorrow.

Looking a bit droopy - don't remember that happening last year. There was a cold wind today - maybe that affected the cuttings.

Front garden update

Looking slightly less sparse than earlier.

Euphorbia update

The bigger Euphorbia (centre pot - I put it into the partial shade after it finished flowering) is looking good, the other one (pot at right) looks a bit rough. I moved it into the partial shade next to the big one today.

Spud update

I forgot to earth up this third batch until yesterday.

Hosta update

Spinach update

I have been cutting off the flowers as they develop, and selecting some leaves each week for cooking.

Winter Cherry update

Polyanthus update

Some of the polyanthus at the bottom of the garden, waiting for planting out in the autumn.

Wallflower update

As the wallflowers were becoming potbound, I planted them out at the bottom of the garden until I put them in their final positions.

More radish sown

I sowed some more radish, this time at the bottom of the garden. In the earlier batch of radish, I found I had sown too many seeds, so the radish became tough and stringy before I could eat them all. I sowed less this time - I may get another batch or two sown before the end of the season.

Squash update

Patio

The third batch of potatoes, planted on 22 July, are now coming up.

Tomato update

I have been picking the tomatoes as soon as they begin ripening to avoid them being eaten.

Some tomatoes have suffered blossom end rot, which is apparently caused by the plants not taking up enough water. My watering regime was disrupted by heavy rain, then we had a period of high humidity which apparently affects uptake.

Next year

Lawn flower bed: Sow Rudbeckia seed in February, sow plenty of seed and use clingfilm over the tub. Sow Coleus mid-March (plenty/clingfilm). Take more Pelargonium cuttings.

Front garden: same as above. Plant 9 Rudbeckia - 3 each side of the roses. In front of them plant plenty of Coleus, with plenty of Pelargoniums in the front.

The wallflowers I sowed in May appear to have become pot-bound (centre batch). The later batch I sowed (at left) - can't remember when - seem a little better. The pots on the right are Winter Cherry, which look ok.

Potatoes: buy some from the supermarket in May for third batch.

Something eating tomatoes

I suspect it's mice.

More spuds harvested

The above are from a single plant growing in the large bed. The plants looked healthy and I watered them well while they were flowering.

Broad Beans harvested

Plants look like they've reached the end so I harvested the beans which tasted ok but were maybe a bit small. Some broad bean plants were shown on Gardeners' World last week and they were much bigger than mine. Maybe the blackfly on mine stunted the plants' growth.

Pansy cutting taken

I trimmed down the pansy plants and took cuttings from the discarded pieces.

Tomatoes ripening

Unusually, this year the first tomatoes to ripen are Legend...

Coleus ideas

The beds at Eltham Pleasaunce show how coleus should be planted!

Front garden update

Front garden looking very sparse - I didn't take enough pelargonium cuttings. I used some spare coleus plants in an attempt to fill the gaps.

Also some of the rudbeckia are very small - sow more and earlier next year - maybe in February - or maybe red achillea as well/instead

Achillea update

Broad Bean update

Blackfly in evidence but hopefully not too damaging. I haven't harvested any beans yet.

More spuds planted

I dug up the remaining spuds from the bed near the Wisteria...

Then planted some Charlotte potatoes that I bought from the supermarket back in May...

I planted 4 rows of 4 spuds (first row shown below)...

Hope it's not too late for planting - due to the cold spring the first spuds went in later than usual.