more blossom

daffodils dying back now, tulips still in flower but focus is now on trees and their blossom. the ornamental cherry, peach tree and kerria japonica are in flower. the small apple tree is just opening it's pink buds. still waiting for the larger pippin apple, the snowball tree and the lilacs

planting out

lots of sunny weather lately. seedlings growing rapidly so with rain forecast for later this week we're trying to get things planted out in the garden. lots of little lettuces, beetroot from its cell tray, leeks into large holes made with brush handle dibber, hollyhocks and alchemilla that were set last year and over-wintered in pots to keep them safe from slugs, delikett mangetout peas with a wigwam of sticks, charmant cabbage and all year round cauliflowers.

now waiting for the rain and hoping a threatened frost doesn't show.

tulips

appledorn tulips

blossom

peach tree survived the harsh winter and is now in flower.

broccoli

this year's purple sprouting broccoli ready to eat.

apples

anxiously watching the apple trees for any signs of blossom. this is the dwarf tree that had only one clump of flower last year - looks like it will be full this year. the large pippin tree seems to have plenty of blossom but the newer tree which flowered and fruited well last year -considering it was a new tree - has only one cluster of flowers.

picked this week

the brussels and some of the winter cabbage are now starting to run to seed, so we've had a surplus of opening sprouts and cabbage leaves to eat up.

on the other hand, I've started picking the first of this years purple sprouting broccoli and rocket. still pulling salad leaves from the trays that were in the greenhouse - they're now out on the sten shelving apart from the nights that a severe frost is threatened.

picking chives for salads and some oregano.

frost

a bit of a panic here last night. after several days of warm, sunny weather, a frost was forecast. so, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers etc were all brought back into the house; lettuce in trays and small cabbage and brussel seedlings which were in the open stenhouse were taken into the greenhouse; everything in the greenhouse was covered either with fleece or propagator lids; and lettuce and radish out in the garden were covered with fleece.

and then this morning everything is moved back to its day-time home.

and tonight frost is forecast again so there'll be the same fuss and palaver to go through.

holiday

back from a week in Cornwall where the weather was bright and sunny all week. here there were reported ground frosts but everything looks OK in the garden, maybe some things are a little dry. planted out some lettuce, broad beans and peas before the holiday - all doing well.

daffodils and some tulips now in flower

dwarf tulips and hyacinths

bright yellow forsythia on a grey day

polyanthus and daffodils

polyanthus from roots given to me 30 years ago by Great-Uncle Charlie and a mix of daffodils. have missed the snow that's fallen elsewhere this week and things are flowering well.

potatoes

came to peel potatoes for dinner and most of them are trying to sprout like alien life-forms. instead of just throwing them in the compost bin, they've been dried slightly on the windowsill for a day or so - it stops the shoots being quite so leggy and thin - and now they've been planted in a couple of inches of soil in big plant pots -12 to 14 inches - with 5 or 6 potato bits to each pot. I always grow potatoes this way which might account for why I don't grow a lot but they don't cost anything at all.

planting

despite the constant weather warnings we've had no snow here. today started bright and sunny, and it seemed like a good idea to cease the day and plant out broad beans and cauliflower into the garden. frost is being foorecast for tonight so the beans have been covered with a cloche and the cauliflowers protected by yogurt pots.

meanwhile everything in the greenhouse is being wrapped up in fleece to keep warm but this seems to be attracting slugs - perhaps they like the warmth too!!