Flighty's plot

Looking round this morning I was pleased, and relieved, to see that the dwarf French beans have started to germinate and appear.

It’s the same with the climbing beans and the sweet corn.

The nasturtium Jewel seeds I sowed at the end of the strawberry  patch are also appearing, being easily identifiable by their distinctive shaped leaves.

 

The dogwood/cornus is now covered with white flowers.

This week I’ve been rough cutting the grass path edges which have grown far too quickly since I last cut them.  The only good thing about doing this is that the cuttings get added to the compost heap.

Lately the weather has remained dry, but all too often it’s been overcast and noticeably chilly with a brisk north-easterly wind as it was this morning.  It would be nice if it was sunnier and warmer now that it’s summer.

Have a good weekend, and take care!

having a carpet of poached egg plant (Limnanthes douglasii) yellow, and white, flowers on the plot like these in May 2017.

I’ve always let them self-seed after flowering and last year the foliage was growing really well through the autumn only to be killed off last December during the cold weather.  They’re an annual plant which don’t grow back, so I must remember to get seeds for next year.

It’s always pleasing to see bees and butterflies on the plot flowers and during the week I saw a white butterfly fluttering around the perennial cornflowers (Centaurus montana) but it never settled long enough to take a photo. There were also bees buzzing around these and the flowering comfrey.

As there’s been no rain recently I watered all round on Friday, using two watering cans as I usually do.  There are already cracks appearing in places, which if it stays dry will only get worse.

Have a good week, and take care!

The rose Pretty Lady is in full bud and flowering.  The buds are red, with the flowers starting off pink then gradually fading to white when fully open.

It will remain in flower for the next few weeks then repeat flower, to a lesser extent,  right through into the autumn.   It’s a plot delight I look forward to seeing every year.

Earlier in the week I sowed the bean seeds I mentioned in last Sunday’s post along with some sweet corn Golden Bantam.  Once these have hopefully germinated and started growing I will sow the rest in a couple of weeks or so.  That’s just all I’ve done this week apart from watering where needed and doing some weeding.

Have a good weekend, and take care!

I was on the plot every day last week doing this and that including putting up the bamboo canes for the climbing beans.  I’ll be sowing some French climbing beans Algarve and a few runner beans ( variety unknown) during next week.  I’ll sow more in about three or four weeks time, and a third lot in early July which will hopefully give me plenty to eat over a long period.

I’ll also be sowing a short row of each French dwarf beans Nassau, which is a flat podded variety, and a pencil type Sprite. I’ll then do the same again in June and July.

This Salsify plant and flower has appeared by the edge of the pond and since I’ve never grown it the seed must have blown onto the plot from elsewhere on the site as I have seen them on other, usually untended plots.

It was a welcome surprise.

 

Have a good week, and take care!

the coldest spring since 1986 so it’s not surprising that plants have been slow to grow and seeds to germinate, and there have been far too few sunny days.

There are still some potatoes to appear, but the ones that have are looking okay.  The onion leaves seem to be getting taller by the day, and the carrots finally germinated  a week or so ago and have started growing.

 

I had hoped to finish sowing the annual flower seeds during the week but it was too windy so I’ll do that next week.  The self-seeded ones are appearing all over the flower patches and include this sunflower which I had to move as it had appeared in a totally unsuitable place.

I occasionally see ducks from the nearby local park flying round overhead but it’s unusual to see them on the allotments as I did this pair of Mallards on Friday morning.

Standing on the roadway watching these I also saw a young fox which stopped and looked at me for a moment or two before disappearing.

 

The rose Pretty Lady is full of flower buds which should be flowering soon, and it’s a sight I always look forward to.

 

Have a good week, and take care!

 

I finished rough cutting the plot grass paths edges just before it started raining, and this morning I hoed round the potato patch.  That’s all the plotting I’ve done over the past few days as it’s either been wet or the ground too soggy to do anything.

The perennial cornflower (Centaurea montana) is now in full flower, has lots of buds as well and been buzzing with bees.

The Cornus/dogwood is showing lots of flower buds and it won’t be long before the tree is covered in white flowers.

The Collomia grandiflora have grown noticeably and should be flowering around the end of the month.

As well as sowing more annual flower seeds this coming week I hope to be preparing the ground where I’ll be sowing the first short double row of dwarf French beans Sprite later this month.

Have a good week, and take care!

I’ve been rough cutting the edges of the grass paths this week, and done the ones all round along with one of the three which cross the plot. It’s one of my least favourite jobs but I don’t do it very often, and all the grass cuttings get added to the compost heap.

A lot of the annual flower seeds I sowed recently have started to appear, as have plenty of self-sown ones as well.  I’ll be sowing the rest over the next week or so including two packets of Layia platyglossa Tidy Tips I was given earlier in the week. I have grown these before in 2013 but not since, and this picture from July 2013 shows a small skipper butterfly on one the flowers.

All four clumps of asters/Michaelmas daisies are growing well, this is the one I call Twinkling Stars, it’s proper name being Monte Cassino.

Have a good weekend, and take care!

The original rhubarb patch, which I’ve had almost as long as I’ve had the plot, is looking good but under the leaves most of the stems are only as thick as a pencil.

 

 

I don’t know why they’re like that and I’m really not sure what to do, if anything.   I could remove the thinnest ones and hope that the others will grow thicker.

Thankfully I’m not that fussed about rhubarb, and a couple of plot neighbours have said to help myself to some of theirs  as they both have more than enough.

The rose Pretty Lady now has numerous flower buds showing which should start flowering from mid-May onwards, and the perennial cornflower (Centaurea montana) is showing twenty or so flower buds.

It’s been ideal plotting weather this weekend, which looks set to continue through next week.

Incidently I have a copy of the book titled Of Rhubarb and Roses which I won in 2013 which I must find, dust and reread.

Have a good week, and take care!