hoe does your garden grow: The Wedding Bed

hoe does your garden grow: The Wedding Bed: "I have loved my garden for many years, its not perfect but loved. I decided to create a new growing area in the secret garden to experiment ..."

hoe does your garden grow: Slug Control

hoe does your garden grow: Slug Control: "On a recent trip to the Island of Arran, I noticed the slugs are very shiny and very black and not all that large. Unlike my garden slugs, s..."

hoe does your garden grow: The snails sneaked in

hoe does your garden grow: The snails sneaked in: "As I was out on my usual Sunday morning run I began to allow my mind to wonder. I actually thought that writing a blog is so indulgant. How ..."

hoe does your garden grow: The Fragrance of Summer

hoe does your garden grow: The Fragrance of Summer: "Each year I make a point of planting Sweetpeas. This year I have sown seeds called Matucana they have the most beautiful lingering old fash..."

The Fragrance of Summer

Each year I make a point of planting Sweetpeas. This year I have sown seeds called Matucana  they have the most beautiful lingering old fashioned scent, I saved the seed from last year. I planted the seeds in early spring in root trainers which are long pots, loo rolls also work very well and used ordinary potting compost. I usually use my propogator as it speeds up germination. Once they are strong enough, I pinch out the leading shoot to encourage side shoots making the plant more vigourous. I had an obelisk made last year to grow the sweetpeas up and it seems to work very well supporting them. It looks very attractive when completely covered with flowers. I apply some compost from my own compost heap as a mulch to the soil and some potash to promote flowers. As the young plants grow I tie them to the frame and remove some of the tendrils. These take energy from the flowers and attach themselves to the stem  bending them into curvy shapes. Once the flowers develop I pick them every day usually early morning when the stems have a higher water content, this ensures a longer vaselife. To avoid floppy plants in the vase I sear the stems in boiling water for a few seconds and then immediately pop into a pretty vase and enjoy the fruits of my labour. The jewel like colours of Matucana remind me of Amethyst. I am hoping I might be able to use some for Rachel's wedding, so this year I am experimenting to see how long I can keep them going. There are two other types I might try one is Painted Lady and Black Knight good scent but Matucana has the edge for me.

The snails sneaked in

As I was out on my usual Sunday morning run I began to allow my mind to wonder. I actually thought that writing a blog is so indulgant. How could I imagine that anyone out there is interested in my gardening murmurings. I was running well in my new rocklite trainers, some bearded guy commented on how well I was running, I met another guy who just said "well Hellooooo".  My attention was completely taken away from my thoughts, my murmurings to myself had been totally interrupted, however I quickly became indulgant once again. I realised my focus for attention was wholly on the Wedding Bed and Slug Control in my last posts. I had completely forgotten what was going on in my veggie patch. As soon as I returned home I looked closely at what was going on.
I have grown some different vegetables this year Rainbow Chard some leaves looking like doylies, Salisfy and something called Salsola which is the land version of seaweed! I never tried the latter before so I will await in anticipation. I always grow potatoes, probably something to do with my land of origin, Courgettes, Romanesque and Goldrush they are the nicest I have tasted and not forgetting Queensland Blue Squash. I noticed for starters one cougette plant had disappeared. Just the stem remained, then I noticed the culprits.... Snails, the veg patch did not get  many beer stations, I focused all my attention on the Wedding Bed. These snails are now laying eggs deep into the soil producing a new generation. I am not certain whether snails are more clever than slugs and avoid falling for the beer trap or maybe they just avoid having a nice time in my Glastonbury Garden.

Slug Control

On a recent trip to the Island of Arran, I noticed the slugs are very shiny and very black and not all that large. Unlike my garden slugs, some are the size of a mouse and display an orange frill as they slink their way to the Wedding Bed. Some look like my friends animal print cardigan, almost leopard like and then I have the dull brown ones. They all have one goal and that is to explore my garden, except this year I am ready and waiting with my new killer, Beer traps. I have read that it works, so I bought some beer at my local Asda, they seem to like Tetley having discovered they are not too fond of Cider. It appears they are attracted to the smell which becomes more attractive to them if a lid is placed on a tilt on the beer container. I have collected Jo Malone body cream jars and kept the lids, I half fill with beer and place lid on a tilt to allow the beasties to slink their way into the trap. They become so inebriated they stay at the party far too long and never wake up.  Each morning I visit the beer stations and count.... I prepared all of this before my holiday and returned home to a Wedding Bed that is showing signs of growing and producing flowers. This year is a trial to see if I can manage to produce some of Rachel's wedding flowers. Some of the Cosmos have flowered, I chose ones similar to the species grown in Monet's Garden called Versailles and Antiquity. I picked some today and put picture on post.