Tuesday 10 June 2014

A Wander Around The Garden

A few snippets from the garden.

The peaches are coming on a treat. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they hang on until maturity, how exciting it will be to harvest my own peaches.


More seed trays planted up, this time with dwarf French beans, though I shall be sowing more climbing beans this week too as the slugs have devoured the ones I've already planted at the allotment. I've never used slug pellets before but I may have to resort to it this year.


My leeks never get to the size of a pencil before they're planted out, they just never seem to thicken up. Perhaps it's because they're sown and grown in the same pot, I don't pot them on at all.


Do you remember the lovely terracotta pots I bought at the local plant sale? They were a bargain at £1 each. Here's one of them potted up with pelargoniums which I overwintered from last year. It's stood to one side of my back door. Excuse the weeds in the paving, that's another job I need to get round to.


Here's what's at the other side of the door.


You may wonder why I don't have a terracotta pot at each side. This is why.


Mick somehow managed to get Archie's lead wrapped around the pot as he was leaving the house and brought it crashing to its side with calamitous consequences. It's only fit for crocks now.

My new rose, Golden Wings, has another flower bud. Archie seems very keen and keeps checking to see if it's open.


We had a thunder and lightening storm yesterday afternoon and there's another one due today. It looks like the rest of the week is set to be dry, let's hope the forecasters have got it right as there's lots of jobs I need to be getting on with.

36 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 10, 2014

    I've resorted to slug pellets for the first time. I sowed my dwarf French beans today. Shame about that pot. The picture of Archie sniffing the rose makes me smile.
    Dry and sunny today, and the rest of the week hopefully, so I'll be getting lots done. Flighty xx

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    1. I think I may have to resort to slug pellets for the first time too, it's just no good when everything's getting eaten. It's such a shame about the pot, Mick's so clumsy sometimes, I wasn't best pleased. I'm hoping that the rain holds off for a while now so that I can get some jobs done too.

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  2. Your leek seedlings look just a bit smaller than mine were when I planted them out. You could wait for ages if you genuinely let them get to pencil thickness!
    Archie is evidently a flower connoisseur - or is it simply that a rival has peed on the Roses!? :)

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    1. When they recommend letting leeks get to pencil thickness before planting out I wonder if they mean the lead part rather than the whole pencil, mine never get to that stage. Ha ha, other dogs definitely don't come in to the garden as it's fenced and gated, it could be a cat, though they don't often come in the back garden since Archie arrived on the scene. I much prefer to think that Archie's enjoying the rose as much as I am.

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  3. Peaches are looking good, I have a habit of breaking pots by not looking where the hosepipe is when dragging it round the garden.

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    1. I'm really hoping that my peaches hang on to maturity, I can't wait to harvest one. The hosepipe causes accidents here too, as does the wire from the lawnmower.

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  4. We've had sun and downpours today. My purple queen dwarf bean were eaten by slugs. The slugs are active as ever and difficult to rid of.

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    1. The purple climbing beans I've planted out are the ones least eaten by slugs, I wondered if they didn't like the taste of the purple ones as much as the green ones but that theory has been blown out of the water if yours have been eaten. It's sunny and warm here today but it's quite breezy.

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  5. How fabulous are those peaches! Amazing.

    X x

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    1. They're looking good so far, fingers crossed that I'll be eating my own peaches this year.

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  6. So sad about your pot! At least you have the other one! The slugs and bugs seem to have been amazingly prevalent this year, I guess because of the mild winter. I had to use a few slug pellets because my flowers were being munched faster than they could grow, but I only used them once as they are a last resort for me. I hope that your beans do better this time around! xx

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    1. I wasn't very pleased with Mick when he told me what had happened to my pot, but I suppose it was an accident so I've had to forgive him. I've never used slug pellets before, I don't like the idea of them at all, but three wigwams worth of beans have just about all gone with no hope of recovery so I think I'll have to do something.

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  7. Oh no, your poor pot!
    Glad I've still got time to plant more beans, I was worried I was too late. It's been a real struggle to get them to germinate for some reason.

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    1. I was so pleased with my pots, it would have been nice to have one at each side of the door like I have with the taller blue glazed pots. Never mind, worse things happen. There's definitely still time to plant beans, it just means the harvest will be a little later. I think it was last year that I had problems getting my beans to germinate, they used to be so easy but I'm hearing of more and more people having problems with them.

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  8. I wonder whether the perfume is attracting Archie.

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    1. He was a bit of a terror when he was a puppy, he'd bite the heads off all my flowers. At least he just sniffs now.

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  9. I grow our leeks the same as you Jo and they never manage to get to pencil thickness but usually grow on to produce decent leeks once transplanted out.

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    1. I've planted them out when they've been little more than blades of grass before now and they've thickened up given time. These will be going out very soon now.

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  10. It's looking good Jo, but shame about the pot. I too get a lot of weeds between the bricks in our paving and usually pull them out when I sweep or sometimes just walking past. Is Archie "taking time out to smell the roses maybe". Take care.

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    1. It is a shame about the pot, I was so pleased with my purchases at the plant sale but my pleasure was short lived. I've had all sorts of things pop up in between the paving, even a strawberry plant once. I never keep on top of keeping it clear as I should. Ha ha, I think Archie is definitely taking time out to smell the roses.

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  11. Yes, I need that dry spell too. The sight of broken terracotta is a familiar one around here. I have more crocks that I will ever use! That peach is looking fantastic, especially with that lovely dramatic foliage. I do hope you have a few peaches this year. I'm sure all of mine will be footballed off of the tree. CJ xx

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    1. I don't think footballs and plant pots mix very well, do they? I remember that time in my life when balls were flying around the garden at speed and my containers never fared very well. I absolutely love the leaves on the peach tree, they're just a little different from usual. Fingers crossed that we both get to taste a peach off our trees this year.

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  12. The peach tree is doing well! The tiny fruit on ours dropped off, but it's still a young sapling. Shame about the pot. At least you got it at a bargain price so perhaps no harm done and you can use the bits for drainage purposes in other pots. We haven't had any more storms, but it puts a dampener on any plans to go out somewhere special.

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    1. It's a shame the fruit on your peach tree dropped off. I only got this tiny tree last year so it's doing well so far, I just hope it managed to hang on. It's been fine here today, I hope we've seen the last of the rain for a while now.

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  13. I am in love with Archie......oh I do so miss my Cavaliers.
    I can imagine just how soft his coat is.

    What a shame.....don't you just hate it when a pot gets broken. Accidents happen sadly.....

    How I envy you having peaches.......hope they ripen for you and you have the pleasure of tasting them :)

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    1. You'll know from having Cavaliers yourself how soft Archie's coat is, he's moulting at the moment though so he's leaving lots of it all over the place and it's driving me mad. It's a shame about the pot, but as you say, accidents happen, I wouldn't mind but I'd only just got it planted up, never mind. The peaches are really growing now. It will be interesting to see if my tiny tree can support them to maturity, it doesn't look big enough for peaches to be hanging from it.

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  14. Your peaches are looking wonderful, fingers crossed they reach a harvestable size! My garden is going to be ignored for the next week as I am going away, but there is lots to do now so even more when I return.

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    1. The peaches are growing day by day so it's looking good that I may get a taste. Have a wonderful time away. Everything grows so quickly at this time of year so you'll definitely see a difference when you return.

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  15. I like the shape of the broken pot couldn't you plant it as it is in one of those fandangled layered designs?

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    1. I've been pondering this myself. I think I might just give it a go.

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  16. I do hope you get peaches, how lovely that would be. I have leaf curl on my peach tree, it does have fruits but the skins look chewed...
    Your pots look pretty, how annoying to see them broken. I always had that happen to mine with the hose pipe too, then I got a curly soft one which solved the problem.xxx

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    1. Such a shame your tree has peach leaf curl. I've kept mine in the greenhouse, it seems to have worked so far. Hose pipes tend to trail all over the place, I shall have to look in to those curly ones, I don't suppose they do as much damage as they won't pull across everything as normal ones do.

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    2. Deffo worth getting one! Forgot to say how STROKABLE Archie looks...so silken and soft!xxx

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    3. He's moulting like mad at the moment, my carpet's covered in hair, I'm vacuuming umpteen times a day. I've got him booked in for a haircut so I'm hoping it won't be so bad once he's had a trim.

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  17. AnonymousJune 13, 2014

    Your own peaches will be fantastic and we're certainly getting the weather for them. Have you tried the organic slug pellets from Growing Success? They don't have chemicals in them so they're safe to use around pets and wildlife. Have a lovely weekend.

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    1. It's looking more and more likely that the peaches will go on to maturity, they're really growing well. I've never used slug pellets before so thank you for the recommendation. Archie sometimes comes to the allotment with us so I would have to use something safe and I'm obviously concerned for wildlife too so these sound just what I'm looking for.

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