Apr 30th, 2014

Author: donich_admin

Everything in the Garden….

The garden is really coming on in force now. We’ve been away for under 48 hours on a trip to London and there have been so many changes in that time I can hardly believe it.

In the cultivated formal garden to the front of the house, the two magnolia trees are out. The pieris is like a bonfire all along the borders -I honestly had never seen it any larger than a house plant back in West Lothian – but here it seems to grow into a tree. The azaleas are out around the patio and while we were away, the primula have finally started to open. Also the heather is a fantastic show of purple and white and there are more bees and butterflies than you can shake a stick at.

This afternoon I planted the tomatoes into their final home in the greenhouse. I seem to have overdone the numbers a bit, as even though not every plant survived, I still have nearly seventy. And 30 assorted pepper plants, 6 courgettes and 8 squashes. As apparently one courgette plant provides for a family of four, and as in our little team we have myself (likes courgettes), R (not mega-keen on them), Tora (obligate carnivore) and Schrodi (likewise), we may be going to have a bit of a surplus. The beans and peas are also coming through strong in the polytunnel.

Outside is more of a mixed bag. The first early potatoes are looking good and the second earlies are now coming through as are the onions. The sprouting broccoli has been almost totally eaten by something and there is no sign of the carrots I planted growing at all.

Nicest of all are the wild flowers popping through everywhere. I think we are going to have a magnificent bluebell display shortly and there are foxglove seedlings all over the place. The primroses which first put in an appearance back in early March are also still going strong. Perhaps the most beautiful and delicate though is the violet, and we are starting to see clusters of these as well.