Woodpecker

Boy oh Boy !!!, its cold here this morning , temp dropped to -3 last night even my bubblewrapped Greenhouse didnt manage to escape the cold , poor wee plants , im quite annoyed with myself I knew it was going to be cold and I meant to go out and cover them with the fleece .
On the bright side the cold weather is certainly pulling in all the wild birds to my garden and my homemade fat cakes are very popular , as you can see even the normally shy Woodpecker was happy to get his photo taken yesterday just to get a bit of the cake !
Ive noticed some of the bulbs are starting to show signs of growth , I had to go out and replant some this morning as a cat had dug them up , ive put short canes in around the ground where they are to try and put the cat off doing this again , I really dont mind cats but wish they would use there own gardens for a toilet ! not much chance of that though !

Spring Bulbs

I was in Lidl last week and saw these Spring Bulbs for sale , at 99p a packet I thought they were a bargain so I bought 6 packs , hopefully this will add some nice colour to the garden .
Already I have Primula , Primroses and Bellis in flower ! I think it must be down to the strange weather we are having the plants are all confused , I wonder whats going to happen when the spring arrives will they flower again ? The Dahlia's are still growing well in the garden , im going to grow more again next year , I dont know why I decided on a change this year Dahlia's never let me down , im going to stick to what I know grows well in my garden from now on it saves disappointment later .
The Greenhouse is all bubblewrapped ready for the winter and all my little cuttings for next year are growing well , Im hoping I can keep my standard Fuschia's alive for next year , I can only try . I brought in my hanging baskets because we have had frost some mornings but they are all producing new growth and flowers ! Im trimming them back and hoping im doing the right thing , never a dull moment eh ?
Happy Gardening !

Quiet Time

Not much happening in my garden just now , Im having a lot of problems with my hip again , its very painfull so the garden is having to look after itself , I was up early one morning , around 6.30am , and I took this photo of a Sunflower in my garden , the dew is still on the petals , isnt it beautiful ? what a lovely start to a morning !

Check out my Slide Show!

A Sunday Walk

This is one of our Sunday afternoon strolls . Best to let it buffer to nearly the end then pull the little slide back and let it play .

Here we go Again !!

I got so fed up looking at the horrible, sad, sickly looking Tomato Plants so out they came , put out of their misery in one fast swoop with the secateurs , actually im exaggerating just a bit , there was only one plant left in the Greenhouse the rest had been chopped a few weeks ago , this weather has been awful , I think I got one Tomato this year !! the cucumber plant was doing ok but I didnt see the point of keeping everything on hold for one plant so out it came as well !
The bench , plant pots , everything was brought out in to the garden and I washed the Greenhouse from top to bottom , the bench and pots were all washed and the pasting table put up for all the seed trays , its nice to see it all so clean and tidy ( if only I was so keen on housework !! ).
Ive started off some Fucshia cuttings , im going to need a lot more though as ive already got a few orders for hanging baskets for next year , it made me feel good to know people have enjoyed their hanging baskets so much they want them again .One lady has asked me to make her up 3 hanging bags , I did tell her they take A LOT of watering but she seemed okay about that , I think her hubby is getting that job ! So here we begin all over again for next year with cuttings , never a dull moment eh ?? Happy gardening !

Im giving up on Tomatoes !

Ive got to say im a bit happier with the garden this year , everything has been very slow to grow but I do think thats more to do with the weather than anything ive done , its now the end of July and things are just starting to flower ! im hoping we get a late summer and things can look good for a few weeks , considering this is only my 3rd year with this garden , with a year out because of the hip operation I think im doing not too badly , im starting to reaslise what grows well in each area of the garden and God willing next year it should get a bit better , might even go in for the housing garden competition ! The things that grow well in my garden are the old favourites , like Dahlia's , Nicotiana , Begonia , Taggettes ( great in the hanging bags ) Marigolds , Lavatera , and the Dwarf Sunflowers in the pots look great , ( 2 to a pot next year would be better ) the Perlagonium did not do as well in the bags as I expected it to , might have to give that one a miss next year .I will stick to the Fucshia in the hanging baskets next year as the trailing Begonias havent coped too well with all this rain . As for the Tomatoes !!! well , I really think il give the big plants a miss next year and concentrate on flowers , I will however grow the Cherry type Tomatoes in pots and hanging baskets with Marigolds in beside them to give colour and keep the Greenfly away .

Begonias , Taggettes and Tomatoes

It just keeps raining !! the weather has been awful , so far ive only lost one tomato plant ( Moneymaker ) but the others are looking pretty sad , I know a lot of people are loosing plants to blight its just so wet . The hanging bags are doing well , the Taggettes and Begonia are growing well , im just waiting to see how well and how long they last in the hanging bags , all the other plants are struggling sitting in puddles of water , funnily enough slugs have not been much of a problem this year I think its too wet even for them , if we just got a few days of sun I think it would bring everything on into flower .



Begonia and Taggettes in hanging bags.

Strawberries appearing at last ! thats a little Tomato plant at the top . Minibel, its looking good and covered in tiny Tomatoes .

In the picture below is Lobelia and Alyssum in a puddle

My poor Sweetpeas have been doubled over with the constant rain .

The Robin Family part 5

My little baby Robins have flown the nest , its been such a privilege to watch this little family , I hope they all survive , be safe little ones , bye bye

The Robin Family part 4

What a difference a few days make , the baby Robins now have feathers and are obvousily being well fed !

Robin Family part 3

I looked in the watering can this morning ....and .......yes !! the little bundles of ..chicks have arrived , I didnt want to move anything in the can but I was pretty sure I could see 5 chicks , you can see 4 together in the photo with one off to the left hand side , Mum and Dad have been so busy all day flying back and forth feeding them , its a joy to watch .

Wet Wet Wet in the Garden

My Drookit Garden


Its so wet just now , cant get out to play in the garden at all so im just adding some photo's today

My first Tomatoes , yipeeee ( Tomato Tigerella )

The Lavender is looking great

Begonia in hanging bags

Charlie looks after the garden for me during the night

The hanging bags on the huts

I have made a Strawberry tower at Greenhouse door with black pots

This is the Lily I got from my neighbour

Sunburn

It was cool and overcast here yesterday so I put my 6 foot Yucca plant out at the back door for some air , I went out for a while and the sun came out in all its glory , my poor Yucca plant has serious sunburn , I've spent the morning repeatedly telling it im so very sorry , it looks awful I think im going to have to chop it right back and just hope it forgives me enough to grow again .

The Robin Family part 2

Well it looks as if we may hear the flitter flutter of tiny wings , there are at least 3 eggs in the nest , I wake up during the night at every sound I hear outside , im scared a cat gets to them , I dont care how cold Eddie feels , the bedroom window is staying open till these little Robins are safely away !!

My elderly neighbour is moving house so yesterday I raided her garden for some plants that I really like , most of them I had planted anyway as ive been looking after her garden for the past couple of years now , I will be so very sad to see her go I just hope the new neighbours like the garden I would hate to see it get into a mess , I also moved my Strawberry tower over nearer the Greenhouse as last year the birds had more Strawberries than me ! My tomato plants are growing quickly now with lots of little tomatoes appearing , its nice and warm here today but its overcast , come on sun come out to play !!

Bellis , Sweet William and Cineraria

Started off seeds for the Spring this morning , Bellis pompom , Bellis Blushing Bride , Sweet William , Viloa and Cineraria ( these look really nice , dont know how tough they are though )
Got nearly everything outside now and its all growing well , I put out just one Datura just now to see how it gets on , will keep the rest in the Greenhouse for another week to be safe .

The Robin Familee

The weather is awful ! its far too cold and the rain just doesnt stop pouring down , on the bright side we have a couple of Robins building a nest in the old metal watering can in the back garden , not the safest place to set up home im thinking but im going to follow their progress over the next few weeks and post photo's as I can , the Woodpecker has just came into the garden to see whats on the menu at Cafe Culmore today , thankfully I bought a new bag of birdfood this morning !

Cucumbers , Tomatoes and Bleeding Heart

Moneymaker

Its cold , wet and windy again ! its been okay working in the Greenhouse though , ive got loads done and its looking nice and tidy , I lifted out the table and gave the slabs a good wash with disinfectant , I put the Tomato plants im keeping inside into big pots , got the canes and water bottles in , I find its easier to water the plants with a plactic bottle shoved in at the side of them , ( bottom cut off and nozzle shoved into the compost ) stops the compost getting too wet and the water goes straight to the roots , no waste .
What a bother I had getting a cucumber plant ! I had to go to 3 different garden centres , B&Q had none at all and Homebase should have been shot for what they were trying to sell , I got one at Klondyke and it looks nice and healthy , usually I get one from my neighbour Charlie but he has been so busy this year with work he just hasnt had time and I wanted to get mine going , next year im going to grow my own , I paid £1.29 for my cucumber plant you can get a full pkt of seeds from Lidl for 39p ! the Tomato plants on sale yesterday were £1.99 ive been selling mine for 30p no wonder people have been chuffed to bits getting them from me .
Ive got my Dhalia tubers planted in the front garden and planted out the Stock , small Begonia and Nicotiana in the back garden ive got the Godetia into the window boxes and it seems to be happier , I found a bit of Bleeding heart while I was weeding so ive stuck it in a pot . I also pulled out the garden seat which has been in the Greenhouse over the winter all I need now is a bit of sunshine to be able to sit out on it ! il keep hoping .

Happy gardening .

Trailing Begonia

Tomatoes and Hanging Baskets

I dont know about you but im at a "in between " stage , everything is looking great and racing on , there's not much to do , ive just gotta let em get on with it , its still too cold at nights to get them planted outside but its far too warm during the day to keep them in the Greenhouse ! so out they all come in the morning and back they all go in the evening . The weather forcast is rain for the next 10 days ! great just what I dont need , hopefully after that the weather will settle but you can never tell in Scotland !

Standard Fucshia / Tomato and Bedding Plants

Ive started to bring all the Tomato and bedding plants outside during the day now , its far to warm in the Greenhouse even with the door wide open , its a little breezy but I read somewhere its good for the plants to be blown a little bit as it strengthens them up , they are all coming on great and im so looking forward to getting them planted out into their final positions .

My first standard fucshia is growing well .

Strawberry Plants And Homemade Compost.

The weather has been awful the past couple of days , cold and wet and windy , Im not getting out into the garden much at all , still a previous neighbour e-mailed me and asked me for a couple of hanging baskets for her new house , although I like orders to be in before now I was happy to oblige , I enjoy making them up , the garden centres and supermarkets charge so much for them with very little plants for your money , mine are always bursting full of plants and look great in the summer ( hark at the learner ! ).


My friend and neighbour Christine asked me if I would like her large Strawberry Pot , oh yes please , so my son James moved it with the help of her hubby George and a trolley into our garden , my poor hubby Eddie nearly had a fit ! he has visions of the garden becoming a jungle ! Eddie emptied the compost bin for me and I must say im pleased with my very first load of homemade compost , I will keep making it as my garden seems to eat the stuff , all my plants grow well so I must be doing something right .


4 of the Angel trumpet seeds have germinated , I was going to be over the moon if I got one ! I just hope they keep going and I can look after them , I really need to try and get some Info on them so I know how to look after them and how to feed them .

Tomato Plants , Hanging baskets and Bags

Hi Folks , the hubby is away back to work after 2 weeks holiday so im free at last to get a shot on the computer .
The weather has been fantastic and everything is growing fast , unfortunately the weather has turned and its got rather chilly , its to go down to -1 tonight here in Scotland so the little heater will have to go back on .
Ive been hanging the hanging baskets out on the washing line every day and they are coming on really well , the hanging bags for the clothes poles and shed are looking good as well . ( Photo's below )
The tomato plants are just amazing , talking of Tomato plants ! Nick ( who I mentioned in my last entry ) e-mailed me and asked me if id like to get involved in a seed swap , well I was certainly up for that , yes please , I sent him some left over Tomato seeds and he sent me Garden Pearl , Red Alert , Oregon Spring and Minibel , not bad eh ?
2 of the Angel Trumpets ( Blackcurrant Swirl ) seeds have germinated , they took ages ! but now that they are poking their heads through the compost they are growing well , I see a difference every day , nobody has got back to me yet with any Info , does nobody in Scotland grow them ?
You all know im a huge fan of Christine Walkden , did you know she grew a Devils Tounge Plant in her living room , the smell from it was so bad she couldn't go into her livingroom , lol , there is a picture of her with it in Amateur Gardening Magazine.
My next door neighbour Christine went out on Monday and bought a coldframe, with the help of a glass of wine , a rather large glass of wine thanks to her hubby George , we put it together in the evening , she has all her little seedlings in it and it looks fab , I think there is going to be a little friendly competition between us and Im lovin it , we have been swapping seeds and plants and we have so many I think some of the neighbours will be getting freebies !

April 2007

Angels Trumpets Double Blackcurrant Swirl-Help.

Happy Easter !
What wonderful weather we are having here in Central Scotland , long may it continue ! ( till about November would suit me )
I was a very happy little person on Friday night , 2 yes 2 programmes of Christines Garden , a whole hour of the wonderful woman ,Im reading her book just now " A Year in Christines Garden " what a lovely lady she is , well worth a read so go out and get it .
Im going to have a go at growing Tumbling Toms this year , haven't grown them before , so I went on line to try and get some Info about them and found this good site by Nick on tomato growing. Nick e-mailed me back within an hour of me contacting him and he is going to send me regular newsletters so im well chuffed .
Im also going to "have a go " at Angels Trumpets ,Double Blackcurrant Swirl , mmm , really would like a bit of help on this one ! anyone out there grown them ? please remember I live in Central Scotland , I would love some advice on this one .