Darkening Days

Posted on December 6, 2015 by Homesown@thedevelopingplot

So now it feels as if Winter is really here as the light starts fading at about four and there is no time after a full day at work to do anything outside at all – even in my new and quite wonderful greenhouse. This is a recent and very exciting acquisition which will open up many opportunities when it is finished. Currently, there is one side of staging and a shelf above it waiting to be fitted. The staging is already covered with small plants and seedlings for the plot (and sale) next year. The hurricane oil lamp and the paraffin heater don’t lighten the dark enough for me to work outside in the evening yet, but in Spring it will be very different.

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My snazzy new greenhouse: a work in progress

As the wind bowls and buffets around the house, the gardening is largely indoor – coaxing the paperwhites, crocus and iris into flower before next week’s Farmers’ Market at Wolvercote to sell on our Homesown stall. It has been a stop start process as some buds have pushed energetically up and others, planted at same time in the same conditions, are stubbornly refusing to produce any green shoots. We will see…

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Iris and crocus shoots appearing in their terracotta pots

Need to get to the plot to blanket the dahlias still in the ground and continue tidying up, planting tulips and mulching. Simply stepping outside the door and resisting being blown over by the wind is a challenge today. It is also wet and murky which means armchair gardening such as ordering seeds and dahlia tubers is much more attractive. There will also be a little tweaking and peering at the bulbs to assess their minute progress.

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Paperwhites in lots of bud

It would be good if tomorrow the wind had calmed and it stayed dry so that I can push myself outside and pot on the sweetpea seedlings which are germinating well in the  unseasonal warm weather.

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Sweet peas – sowing

Posted on November 9, 2015 by Homesown@thedevelopingplot

These are perhaps my favourite flowers of all: delicate, abundant and beautifully scented and not easily bought from a florist. I first grew these in a bucket in our London backyard and have grown them with different degrees of success in every garden, patch and allotment since. This year I want to get more accomplished at growing them from seed to cut flower as the strongest scented sweet peas are going to be a main stay of the still developing plot. This is because customers at the farmers’ markets seem to love them as much as me and they sell out every time we have them.

Sweetpeas at end of July - stems getting shorter, but still beautifully scented

Sweetpeas at end of July – stems getting shorter, but still beautifully scented

What I know already has been gathered over the years from reading books and blogs and listening to experts like my flower growing friend who planned meticulously to produce sweet peas for her daughter’s August wedding, planting seeds at different times of the year. What I have learned from experience this year is that growing sweetpeas to sell takes time and more regular attention than most other flowers. A vigorous climbing plant they need solid supports and then tying in and feeding/watering and very regular cutting. Neglect them in their prime, as I did this summer, and they will soon go over.

Sweepea plants last Spring at the plot

Sweepea plants clambering up supports last Summer at the plot

As it is November, I am going to focus on some of the things I am learning about sowing as now is a fine time to do it. Originally decided to plant seeds in October and January (though this is now being extended to November); this was largely down to reading an amazingly detailed and informative blog which painstakingly records the progress of  sweetpeas sown at different times. The hard work put into this is generously helpful. Take a look at:  http://www.pumpkinbeth.com/2015/10/sowing-sweet-peas/

My first sowings this October were of mixed varieties of Sarah Raven seeds using her method of poking two seeds around an inch down into root trainer cells. Click link for her detailed advice.  This method encourages long and healthy roots. With a little bottom heat from the heated propagator in the shed,  most of these seeds soon germinated and were given stern treatment by being moved outside. They are now being tested in the wind and rain without any protection. As soon as the really cold weather comes, they will be put in an unheated cold frame or perhaps covered in fleece if there isn’t room. Sweet peas are tougher than you think.

This month, I am going to try another method described by Matthewman’s Sweetpeas . (Again, click link to read advice in detail). This involves planting seeds in seed trays, again one inch deep and then pricking them out and potting them on into small pots before first leaves unfurl. This is appealing in terms of time saved initially and is also a new approach to me and it will be interesting to see how it works. Helpful advice and healthy seeds also supplied by Roger Parsons, a true expert.

Some of the eeds waiting to be sown

Some of the seeds waiting to be sown

On a wind whirling day, it is cheering to think about the loveliness, scent and colour being set in motion for early next Summer.

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November planning

Posted on November 8, 2015 by Homesown@thedevelopingplot

Even though today it seems that the dismal days of dreary rain and drizzle have come and will not shift, there is still a lot to think about, plan and prepare at all the plots. And this, of course, is hopeful. Recently,  work, a blue sky sunny holiday in Mallorca and drenching rain at home have meant that most tasks have been done just outside my front door: planting sweet pea seeds, spring bulbs in pots and potting on the cuttings and perennials outgrowing their containers.

Crocus bulbs slowly poking out of terracotta pots

Crocus bulbs slowly poking out of terracotta pots

Sitting here at home, I can imagine the slowly yellowing-leaved plot with dahlias sodden and in need of dead heading and the cosmos flattened by the wind and rains. Hoping the biennials are short and sturdy enough to not really be affected badly by the weather. Work to be done there includes digging up dahlias not suited for cutting; clearing the cosmos and seeded grasses; starting the tulip marathon planting and gently tidying and mulching. The plan (as often with my plans) is to start tomorrow. Today,  put off by the buffeting wind and the persistent rain, I am lazily just enjoying the cheerfulness of the Heartease violas outside my door.

Homesown violas with bright (and edible) flowers

Homesown violas with bright (and edible) flowers

 

Last month’s plan of planting sweet peas in October and January, has already been adapted as predictably didn’t get as many seeds planted before October was over as I had planned. So the now it will be, October/November planting with a break before starting again in January. Then any leftover seeds will go in March. The first seeds have germinated and the next batch will be sown in a couple of days.

Sweet peas growing in wet and wind outside

Sweet peas growing in wet and wind outside

Turning into a pot rather than a plot grower at the moment with containers full of bulbs everywhere around the outside of the house. Some, like the ranunculus, daffodils and tulips are for cutting at various stages of Spring, but others are being forced for possible Christmas market sales. This is an uncertain process though as doing if for the first time makes it difficult to predict whether the crocus, iris and Paperwhite daffodils can be forced in time. If not, friends and family will have terracotta pots of scent and colour and we can enjoy them inside too before planting them outside in the garden to look after themselves.

Ranunculus partly protected in cold frame

Ranunculus partly protected in cold frame

 

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Plotting Improvements

Posted on October 13, 2015 by Homesown@thedevelopingplot

Last week managed to wrestle some of the nettles and docks out of the plot and onto the bonfire heap along with the mostly dried out sweetpeas, some still waving last weak flowers at the top of their supports. Weeded around the dahlias and tried not to be too despondent about the ravage of their leaves by slugs. Bought some organically approved slug pellets and scattered them thinly about. Then there was some more brutal removal of healthy plants of hesperis and moth mullein. Resisted turfing out the achillea as the insects love it, but that and the knautia will be transferred away from plot when there is time and energy.

Achillea all around at the plot

A smudge of pink Achillea all around at the plot

One of the things I have learned this year is that I need to plan and prepare more carefully. Last year the plot became too much an overflow for plants I didn’t sell at the market (like the different and lovely shades of pink of the Higgledy Garden knautia), but these weren’t necessarily the plants best for producing cut flowers and took up quite a lot of space. So as mentioned before, next year will I focus on a narrower range. The mainstays will be cornflowers, love in a mist, larkspur, dahlias and sweetpeas. And of course, there will be others  like sunflowers and scabious, but will try not to do as much random and at a whim planting as last year. If I do, will try and keep it to the allotment and garden. Still not decided for or against roses at the plot.

Beautiful rose Graham Thomas late blooming in garden. perhaps one for the plot next year.

Beautiful rose Graham Thomas late blooming in garden. perhaps one for the plot next year.

So the cycle begins again preparing for next Spring. Slowly bulbs are going into pots and into the ground. Cornflower and larkspur seeds have germinated and sweetpeas have just been sown in root trainers. Packets of mixed colours and varieties first and in a couple of weeks varieties just ordered such as ‘King Edward VII’, ‘Albutt Blue’ and ‘High Scent’ – all recommended in a recent trial of Gardening Which. October & January are my planting months for Sweetpeas and probably next Spring for anymore hardy annuals.

The first cornflower at the plot this year

The first cornflower at the plot this year

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Dahlia Days

Posted on October 5, 2015 by Homesown@thedevelopingplot

Yesterday someone poetically described dahlias to me as ‘explosions of happiness’ which seemed just right for the spiky, sumptuous and simple bundles of colour I was selling in the market.

Dahlias are one of my favourite flowers and, although they don’t last for ages in a vase they are prolific once they have got going so there are plentiful supplies to pick from summer to the first frosts. Until this year, I have only grown them at home and the allotment for us and as gifts for friends and haven’t worried at all about their viability as a cut flower to sell. The Sarah Raven bold and brilliant colours have been my favourites from the darkest, deepest colours of Rip City to the bright magenta pink of the outrageous Hillcrest Royal.

Dark dahlias at Green and Gorgeous

Dark dahlias at Green and Gorgeous

This year,  I put in one haphazard bed of dahlias at the plot and filled it partly with impulse buys from garden open days and tubers ordered from Sarah Raven because I liked the colours. Not a systematic approach for a would-be flower seller. There is definitely room for improvement and the Dahlia Masterclass I attended one Sunday recently at Green and Gorgeous near Wallingford, gave me pretty much all of the advice needed about dahlias – from best varieties for cutting, to propagating, storing and arranging. Accessible, but packed with new information, this course was extremely well taught and a visual delight from the ‘classroom’ filled with dahlias of every shape and colour to the long beds of dahlias outside from which we were invited to pick.

Perfect Cafe au lait at Green and Gorgeous

Perfect Cafe au Lait at Green and Gorgeous

There was a lot to think about on the day and now. The first suggestion which made sense to me straightaway( the dilettante flower grower who would like to grow just about everything) was to concentrate on growing sweet peas for Spring selling and dahlias for Summer and Autumn. This  is what I will largely plan to do next year. From experience, these are the two flowers which always sell at the market. I won’t be able to resist Love in a Mist or Cornflowers or Larkspur or Scabious and, of course, bulbs, but more space, care and concentration will go on dahlias and sweetpeas from now on.

Bright and beautiful dahlias at Green and Gorgeous

Bright and beautiful dahlias at Green and Gorgeous

The single flowering dahlias at the patch will be lifted after the first frosts and stored to go into the garden next year as I learned these are the least successful for cutting. I like to imagine that on a cold, dark December day, I will be cosy in front of a fire ordering dahlia tubers and rooted cuttings for next year. There will definitely be the lilac Porcelain on the list as well as the soft/apricot pink of Maldiva both the opposite of my usual preference for dark, bold colours, but truly beautiful.

The last part of the course was about arranging the dahlias and other flowers we had picked and for once I decided not to mind too much how mine turned out and because the flowers were so beautiful, it was fine.

My dahlia arrangement at home

My dahlia arrangement at home

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Back to the Plot

Posted on October 5, 2015 by Homesown@thedevelopingplot

On 1st September, started my new part-time teacher/part-time flower grower life. So on a Tuesday when everyone was in school, in what looked liked a sunny patch, but which turned out to be a sequence of heavy showers, made my first visit to the plot for weeks. Went to plant some of the hundreds of bulbs which, yet again, I have enthusiastically over ordered. When I got there, the slugs and nettles both looked healthy and vigorous and so I spent most of my time trying to reduce both before I began to think about planting a bulb.

The messy plot from a distance

The messy plot from a distance

Before setting out, I had opened one of the two heavy cardboard boxes which arrived from Peter Nyssen with my bulb order. Opening it up, gave me pause to wonder what optimism had made me think I could easily plant all these bulbs up.

Just one small sack of many

Just one small sack of many

Took over a hundred bulbs out, but just managed to get 20 narcissus Cragford in the ground. It was a start…

After the skin tingling punishment of wrestling with the nettles for a couple of hours, it was a  relief to settle the large, firm healthy bulbs onto a layer on pea shingle in their short rows just inside the boundaries of the plot. Couldn’t decide whether to treat these bulbs as annuals and shallow plant them, or plan to leave them where they are and plant them more deeply. In the end, went for the second approach, but still think might need their space in late Spring.

Back at home, planted the remaining bulbs I had taken to the plot (and more) in pots big and small for inside and out. Still sacks and sacks to go, but feeling optimistic as have started earlier this year and have more generous time to do it.

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Plot Doesn’t Go to Plan

Posted on August 31, 2015 by Homesown@thedevelopingplot

This was the summer when the plot, allotment and garden were going to get truly developed, but perhaps predictably that didn’t happen at all. Nothing major, but small things one after another meant that time has passed and the developing plot, in particular,  has been gently going to seed. Now summer is seguing into Autumn I will be having a hard think about this year and making proper plans for next.

This Spring and Summer work was too hectic to allow any time to get the proper supply of plants and flowers going to meet any regular market demand; so only did three markets. The small plants went well and the cut flowers slowly. Will need to plan planting better from this Autumn to keep  a succession of cut flowers coming. Only real developments over the summer was planting some shrubs for greenery from next spring so physocarpus, golden and dark and pittosporum, variegated and Tom Thumb, as well as philadelphus were put in around the boundaries.  Also spent time picking and dead-heading sweet peas until the stems got shorter and shorter. Despite taking them to a couple of markets, too busy at work to catch and sell them at their best so they  mostly scented our house in smaller and smaller containers. Now they are going to seed, will let the seed ripen for allotment planting next year.

So careful and urgent planning needed to get this plot productive for next year. First off, need to order bulbs for planting into pots and in the plot. Hopefully this will help extend the season at the market as there might be scented pots of paperwhite narcissus available to sell in Winter as well as iris reticula and crocus too. Autumn planting of annuals will be next, in containers to over-Winter and directly in the ground. Cornflowers, larkspur and nigella to start. In a week or two, the pots of  bright magenta sweet williams and blood red wallflowers grown at home will be big enough to plant out too.

Back to work in a day or too, but greatly reduced hours so optimistically there is a genuine chance this year of properly developing the plot…

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Sowing Seeds in the Sun

Posted on July 30, 2015 by Homesown@thedevelopingplot

The sun is out and I have been doing hopeful, late plantings of biennials and perennials for next year’s pickings and plants to sell on the stall. Don’t think even the biennial seeds that were sown earlier and have germinated will make it into big enough plants to sell in the Autumn, but they will get planted at the plot even if a bit late. So far have minute Pam’s Choice foxglove seedlings just pricked out along with Sweet William Auricula Eyed and Blood Red wallflowers. They all look full of life, but tiny.

Tiny foxglove and sweet william seedlings

Tiny foxglove and sweet william seedlings

Today have sown Anchusa Dropmore for its lovely blue and edible flowers next year; the perennial Foxglove Camelot with its white splotched with scarlet flowers which are all around the stem as well as two different violas – one the cheerful annual Hearstease with its edible flowers and the second the more sultry perennial Frosted Chocolate. All these are Sarah Raven seeds which always seem to germinate reliably and are true to what is promised on the packet.

Perky but micro wallflower seedlings

Perky but micro wallflower seedlings

Also collected my own seed from Knautia macedonia whose flowers are coming to an end in the garden and from the gorgeous blue of Salvia patens growing in pots out front. Last year the small plants survived the winter well in the unheated cold frames. and were very popular in the markets, especially when in flower. Haven’t kept enough to use as  a cut flower, but they would look lovely – maybe next year…

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Picking up the Plot: July 27th

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Homesown@thedevelopingplot

Well over a month since the last post which reflects that the avalanches at work kept on coming right up until the end of term. Have had a week’s holiday now and part of it has been spent trying to get some order into the plot which was being overwhelmed, in places, by determined docks and sharp nettles. It is always tempting to only pick out the lovely bits in pictures; the fact that parts of the plot have been permanently out of control has mostly been cropped out over the last ten months of tracking its progress, but here for some truth and accuracy is what it looked a while before we tackled the  weed thugs:

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Weeds pushed themselves energetically, through and at the edges of the cardboard mulch and black fabric paths, but Charles Dowding’s  no dig layering of cardboard and compost definitely helped keep the weaker weeds down. If I had finished the job by applying a thick layer of compost it would have been even better.

No gloves could protect against the nettle stings which beaded my arms up and down and didn’t disappear for a few days, but it was worth it as we cleared a bed for the dahlias which had been waiting patiently in their pots for weeks.

Dahlias in a mostly weed free bed

Dahlias in a mostly weed free bed

They won’t produce much this year as they were put in too late, but looking forward to seeing masses of clashing colours next summer. This one below and the bright, shocking pink of Hillcrest Royal should sing out.

Glowing orange dahlia = lost the name tag...

Glowing orange dahlia – lost the name tag…

Two more partially mulched beds left to properly weed, before most of the plot will be up and running or at least ready to run.

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Going to Seed: 21st June

Posted on June 20, 2015 by Homesown@thedevelopingplot

Work mostly and life (partly) have meant the plot and the allotment have been pretty much neglected.  While I have been in a long, time-eating, tunnel of work all the plots have been a persistent, low level guilty niggle at the back of my mind instead of the usual pleasure. The garden at home and all the plants (going past their best) around the house have been a daily reminder of the fact that you need to give time to keep what you grow healthy and flourishing. At home it has been easier to squeeze in a minute or two for deadheading and the roses have been wonderful.

Blowsy and beautiful, Rosa Graham Thomas

Blowsy and beautiful, Rosa Graham Thomas

Hoping that the avalanche of work has been shifted and that today marks the day that I will have space in daylight hours to get outside and sort everything out.

Had a flying visit to the plot two weeks ago which was just long enough to pick the first five fragrant, long stemmed sweet peas and to notice the burgeoning docks, thistles and grasses pushing their way up at the edges of unplanted beds. Going there today, knew they would be even more vigorous and they were…

But so were the sweet peas which are starting to cover their support. Picked three big bunches with lots more to come.

Two of the bunches from the plot

Two of the bunches from the plot

Everywhere around the plot, there are weeds and flowers cheerfully going to seed and the trick is going to be to try to snip off as many seed heads as possible. But there are so many.

Cornflowers bright and blue some going to seed

Cornflowers bright and blue some going to seed

Shared my weed wrestling time between the plot and the allotment. They’ve both beaten me in the first round, but I’ll be back and perhaps by the end of the summer there will be order and not just pretty chaos.

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