thedevelopingplot

The garden and plot seem to be on a dizzying fast forward with new flowers blooming every day. Peonies, roses, delphiniums and lots more will be this week’s bouquets. Deliveries are free within 6 miles of Oxford with a minimum order of £6.00 and are available on Saturday & Sunday (12th &13th June). To order, email with at least 24 hours notice. Payment can be made via BACs or with cash.

Email: thedevelopingplot@gmail.com

All the flowers are grown on Oxford’s doorstep without the use of pesticides and using an approach which is as gentle to the environment as possible.

Prices:

Small Jam Jar: £6.00

Large Jar: £10.00

Bouquets: from £15.00

Bucket of flowers to arrange yourself: starts at £20.00 (with at least 50 stems)

Please add your email if you would like updates.

The sunshine and warmth means that the plants have had a spurt of growth and are ready to go this week. There are also flowers from the plot. Orders can be made from now for free delivery on Saturday and Sunday within 6 miles of Oxford. A minimum order of £6.00 applies.

The Homesown stall will also be at SOFACOMA market off Lake St from 10.00am to midday on Sunday. Pre-orders for collection/delivery can be made by email.

Email: thedevelopingplot@gmail.com

Flowers

The plot has stepped into Summer: lupins, delphiniums, verbascum, sweet rocket and cornflowers are all flowering with the buds of the peonies and the roses just about to burst open.

Small jar: £6.00

Large jar: £10.00

Bouquets: from £15.00

Plants

The pictures below show what the plants will look like when they flower later this summer (though the pelargoniums are flowering or coming into flower now)

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Information on growing these plants and others will be added to the website in the next few days.

Vegetables

Another lull for plants sales with a week or so wait before plants like cosmos and others fill their pots. Meanwhile lots more colour is beginning to punctuate the green at the plot as lupins, delphiniums, peonies and cornflowers begin to flower. Still ranunculus and tulips available too.

Orders are being taken from now for delivery from Wednesday to Saturday – ideally with a day’s notice. Deliveries are free within 6 miles of South Hinksey and with a minimum order of £6.00.

Email: thedevelopingplot@gmail.com

Flower Prices

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Small Jam Jar: £6.00

Large Jar: £10.00

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Bouquets start at £15.00 (at least 30 stems)

Arrange your own flowers buckets start at £20 (at least 40 stems)

Please sign up below if you would like to receive regular updates

Lots of rain and some sun means there are plants as well as flowers ready this week. Just email for free delivery within 6 miles of Oxford and a minimum order of £6.00.

There will also be a stall at Wolvercote Community Market on Sunday, May 23rd from 10.00am to midday. Pre orders for delivery or pick up at the market can be made up to Saturday afternoon at 1.00pm

Email: thedevelopingplot@gmail.com

Flowers

Lovely, seasonal flowers can be ordered now for delivery from Saturday 22nd May.

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Prices:

Small jam jar: £6.00

Large jar: £10.00

Bouquets: £15.00 upwards

A bucket of flowers to arrange yourself: starts at £20.00

Annuals:

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New, pretty and unusual annuals are ready this week. Some have quirky and interesting shapes like Craspedia and Limonium which look great growing in the garden, but also dry extremely well. Scabious Fata Morgana was the best discovery from last year and has come back again this one so should perhaps be in perennial section. Acrolinium is another annual which is beautiful both fresh and dried.

Perennials:

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Vegetables:

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Courgette Gold Rush: 9cm pot £2.00 – an extremely productive, thin skinned yellow variety which is also very tasty. The roots are just reaching the bottom of the pots and they have been hardened off.

Cucumber ‘La Diva’: 7cm pot £1.50 – a delicious, sweet tasting mini cucumber which has a thin smooth skin. The plants are still quite small, but have been hardened off.

Cucumber ‘Burpless Tasty Green’: £7 cm pot £1.50 – a smooth skinned cucumber with a very good flavour. Again, the plants have been hardened off and are still small.

If you would like to receive regular updates, please sign up below

Flowers and big tomato plants are this week’s highlights with some new small perennials and annuals also ready to go. There is free delivery to anywhere within 6 miles of Oxford with a minimum order of £6.00. This week, orders can be delivered on Saturday and Sunday only.

The Homesown stall will be at Wolvercote Community Market, this Sunday from 10.00am until midday. If you would like to pre-order flowers or plants for collection there, just let me know by Saturday midday.

Any advance orders, please email me at the address below and payment can be arranged via BACs or with cash/cheque:

email: thedevelopingplot@gmail.com

Flowers to Order:

Ranunculus, tulips, geums, alliums and anemones are all still going strong and will be in this week’s bunches.

Prices:

Small jam jar: £6.00

Large jar: £10.00

Bouquets: £15.00 upwards

There will be smaller posies and bunches to buy on the day at Wolvercote Market.

Tomato Plants:

Probably the last week for tomato plants. They will need hardening off and protection from frost, but can be planted under cover now. Many were sown early and so are big. One tip for tall tomato plants is to remove the lower leaves and plant them deeply (including part of the stem) as tomatoes grow roots from their stems.

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There are 3 varieties available in different size pots. All are picked because they are reliable and taste delicious:

Sungold: a beautifully sweet cherry tomato with orange skin when ripe. £2.00 a pot.

Gardener’s Delight: a reliable, old favourite red cherry tomato with a great flavour. £2.00 a pot.

Tigerella: a medium sized tomato with an attractive red and yellow striped skin and a lovely flavour. £1.50 a 9cm pot & £2.00 for medium sized pot.

Annuals and Perennials:

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Sign up below for regular updates of what is available:

Lovely Spring flowers in jars, bouquets or buckets, are available to order now and can be delivered from Saturday 1 May. The ranunculus, tulips and anemones are still the stars this week with honesty, hesperis and geums joining them.

As well as flowering plants, there are the first of the tender vegetables and tomatoes available if you grow under cover or have somewhere to protect them from potential frost. The nights are getting warmer next week, but there still could be frost later.

Delivery is free within 5 miles of Oxford with a small charge for longer, but local distances. A minimum order of £5.00 applies. Payment can be made by BACS, cheque or cash.

The Homesown stall will be at SOFACOMA Market, just off Lake St, this Sunday from 10.00am until midday. If you would like to pre-order flowers or plants for collection there, just let me know by Saturday midday.

Email: thedevelopingplot@gmail.com

Flowers

Prices: Small jam jar: £6. Large jar: £10.00.

Bouquets start at £15.00

Flower Bucket starts at £20

If you would like flowers weekly, fortnightly or monthly, ask about a flower subscription.

Plants:

A limited number of perennials this week.

Campanula Persicifolia Blue Bells: a truly lovely blue bellflower with graceful stems that grow from a mound of low growing leaves. Loved by butterflies and bees. A cottage garden favourite and a wonderful cut flower too. £4.50 a one litre pot.

Knautia Macedonia: one of my top favourite plants, it is a great favourite with pollinating insects. It has a neat rosette of leaves and truly lovely magenta scabious type flower on wiry stems. Can grow up to 75 cms (30 ins). Prefers a sunny spot in well drained soil, but copes very well with my clay soil in part shade. Clumps up every year and can be divided. 9 cm pot:£2.50

Silene Blushing Lanterns: A new one for this year, sown in late Winter from local seed, it is a beautifully airy and delicate bladder campion which will bulk up year on year and can be divided for new plants. Ideally should be planted in full sun in well draining soil. It can reach up to 60 cms and should be planted 30 cms apart. An excellent cut flower at all stages, but lovely in the garden too. 7cm pots £2.00

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Scented leaved Pelargoniums

There are three varieties of scented pelargoniums available in 12/14cm pots. Some are coming into bud now and all should be flowering and ready to go outside when the hard frosts are over. If you feed them with dilute seaweed solution or tomato feed, they will flower through to the Autumn and beyond.

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Long flowering with different (but pretty) pink flowers, all three varieties have very attractive scented leaves which can be used to make teas. Lara Starshine is lemon scented; Attar of Roses, as the name suggests is rose scented and Lady Plymouth’s variegated leaves are a mix of both lemon and rose. 12/14cm pots £3.00 & old terracotta pots £4.50

Annuals:

Daucus Carota: a very pretty cultivated version of wild carrot which can grow to 1.5 metres given the right conditions in sun or part sun. Its flowers vary in colour from white to deep purple with pinks inbetween. It is loved by pollinating insects. 7cm pot: £1.00

Scabiosa stellata: drumstick scabious which is good value for its attractive blue flowers and unusual seedheads which are excellent for drying. Likes sun and should be planted 30cms apart. Can grow up to 70 cms if it likes your conditions. 7cm pot: £1.50

White Corncockle (Agrostemma githago Ocean Pearl) Hardy Annual: a beautifully graceful cottage garden plant. Its milky white flowers have lovely grey speckles in their throat. Gives airy movement in the garden and makes a wonderful cut flower. Can grow up to 18 inches. Enjoys sun. Be aware that all parts of the plant are toxic if ingested. Can tolerate low temperatures. Last few pots which need to be planted out very soon. 7cm pot £1.00

Cornflower Classic Fantastic Plugs: Cornflower in a wonderful range of blue to almost white shades: 50p each

Fruit & Vegetables

Tomato Plants: back in February I couldn’t stop myself sowing tomato seeds even though I knew it was too early. So it is no surprise that I have a greenhouse full of tomato triffids. There are lots ready to go to new homes, but they shouldn’t be planted out in the open until they have been fully hardened off and any danger of frost has gone. They can be planted under cover now. I also sowed more seeds in March and have smaller plants too. See below.

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There are 4 varieties available in different size pots. All are picked because they are reliable and taste delicious. :

Black Krim: Perhaps the most delicious tomato of all. It can be grown either under cover or outside once the weather is good. It produces large fruit in abundance which are fantastic either eaten raw or cooked in sauces. These are already big tall plants starting to flower. They have been potted on so can stay in their pots for a few weeks until they are planted out. £2.00 a large pot.

Sungold: A favourite orange skinned cherry tomato which is perhaps the sweetest of all. £2.00 a medium pot.

Gardeners Delight: a reliable, tasty red cherry tomato. Medium/large pot £2.00

Tigerella: a medium sized tomato which is red with yellow stripes when ripe. It has excellent flavour. £1.50 a small pot; £2.00 medium pot.

There will be a small number of these at the market on Sunday, but they can be pre orderd for collection and delivery.

Courgette Romanesco: The first batch of courgettes are ready in medium pots for £1.50. Again, these need protection from the frost. They can be kept in their medium sized pots for awhile.

If you would like to get regular updates, please add your email address below.

Flowers

Spring flowers are available to order now and can be delivered from Saturday 24th April. The ranunculus, tulips and anemones are the stars this week with honesty, hesperis and the last of the narcissus to accompany them.

Delivery is free within 5 miles of Oxford with a small charge for longer, but local distances. A minimum order of £5.00 applies. Payment can be made by BACS, cheque or cash.

Please email me to place an order at: thedevelopingplot@gmail.com

Prices:

A small jam jar: £6.00

A large jar: £10.00

Bouquets start from £15.00 with at least 30 stems

A bucket of flowers to arrange yourself starts at £20.00 and contains at least 50 stems

Just some of the flowers growing in my garden and plot this week:

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Plants

All the perennials have been hardened off for a long time and ready to plant now. Apart from the scented pelargoniums which will need to be kept inside until the frost has gone.

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Long flowering with very pretty pink flowers, Lara Starshine is a very attractive lemon scented leaf pelargonium.

Perennials

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Foxglove Lutea: a perennial foxglove with creamy/primrose yellow flowers loved by pollinating insects. Its delicate bells are very attractive and it bulks up year on year. Great for cutting too, it likes shade to semi shade in well drained soil, but will also grow in sun. It reaches 60 cm. A reminder that foxgloves are poisonous if ingested.

Small 7cm pots available now for £1.50; larger plants in 1 litre pots: £4.50.

Campanula Persicifolia Blue Bells: a truly lovely blue bellflower with graceful stems that grow from a mound of low growing leaves. Loved by butterflies and bees. A cottage garden favourite and a wonderful cut flower too. £4.50 a one litre pot.

Geum Lemon Drops: A lovely soft yellow geum which is clump forming and grows to about 40 cms. Good for the front of a border or a container. Grows in sun or part shade 9cm pot: £2.50

Geum Leonard’s Variety: Another very pretty and delicate geum with bells in an old rose/apricot. As all geums, it is loved by pollinating insects. It grows to around 45cms and like Lemon Drops is clump forming. It can be divided to create more plants once established. 9 cm pot: £2.50

Knautia Macedonia: one of my top favourite plants, it is a great favourite with pollinating insects. It has a neat rosette of leaves and truly lovely magenta scabious type flower on wiry stems. Can grow up to 75 cms (30 ins). Prefers a sunny spot in well drained soil, but copes very well with my clay soil in part shade. Clumps up every year and can be divided. 9 cm pot:£2.50, 1 litre pot: £4.50, 2 litre pot: £5.50

Hardy & Half Hardy Annuals

These have all been hardened off, but may need some protection if there is very hard frost.

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Chinese forget-me-not ‘Mystery Rose’: a beautiful pink version the flowers of which are truly lovely and taller than the blue version. Can grow up to 90cms. Self seeds freely and can be grown in sun or part shade. A very good cut flower. 12/14 cm pots: £2.00

Daucus Carota Dara: a very pretty cultivated version of wild carrot which can grow to 1.5 metres given the right conditions in sun or part sun. Its flowers vary in colour from white to deep purple with pinks inbetween. It is loved by pollinating insects. 7cm pot: £1.00

Antirrhinum Liberty Crimson Classic: striking velvety spikes of eye catching crimson flowers which can grow up to 60 cms. Can be perennial in a sheltered garden and often comes back even in my heavy clay soil. Great for pollinating insects and as a cut flower. May need support. 12/14 cm pots: £2.50

Scabiosa atropurpurea mixed : glamorous, very lovely pin cushion flowers in a mix of colours which are held on wiry stems. It has a long flowering period especially if dead headed and cut back. Loved by insects it can come back year on year though is usually grown as an annual. 7cm pot: £1.00

If you would like regular updates about what is available, please use the form below.

Spring flowers grown in my garden and plot using an organic approach (supplemented this week by other British flowers) are available to order now. Delivery is free within 5 miles of Oxford with a small charge for longer, but local distances. A minimum order of £5.00 applies.

Orders can be delivered from 9th to 11th April.

Email your order or any queries to: thedevelopingplot@gmail.com

Small Jar of Spring flowers: £6.00

Large jar of Spring flowers: £10.00 (at least 20 stems)

Bouquets from £15 – £25.00

Arrange your own flowers (at least 50 stems): £20.00 upwards

Homesown is then on holiday for a week and will be back with plants and flowers from Friday, April 23rd.

Homesown is on a short break this week waiting for the next group of plants to fill their pots. Also taking time to tend the tomatoes which are gradually filling the greenhouse and will be ready to leave in a month or so.

Wishing everyone a Happy Easter and hoping you have the chance to have garden meet ups in the sun.