Margarets Garden

Summer at last !!

2008-07-24T19:10:00.002Z

Summer seems to have arrived at last ! the last two days have been fantastic, I planted several of these Ganzania plants in the garden and the first one opened today , it was well worth the wait , its beautiful

July

2008-07-12T14:28:00.004Z

Thought I would add more photos today , the garden is starting to look good

Hanging basket with Petunias

I love this colour

Windy Weather

2008-06-29T15:29:00.005Z

Its very windy here just now and I think the wind often does more damage to plants than anything , still they are managing to survive and looking good .

These are the Begonia's I rescued from a neighbours bin last year , the colours are wonderful and they never fail to make me smile .

The Lilies below I bought from the reduced corner at B&Q 3 years ago the keep coming up and they look and smell lovely .

Jolly June !

2008-06-21T15:21:00.008Z

Well the weather has been quite nice , everything is growing well , ive just added lots of pics to let you see how everything is doing , im well chuffed !!

The Salad stuff is all in Growbags , the come and cut again Salad leaves are brill !
Tomato and Cucumber Plants

My Honeysuckle is only 9 months old and already just about covering the Rose arch , the flower smells beautiful !

This was a packet of ORANGE Lupin seeds I was given , they dont look Orange to me , lol , but they are lovely dont you think ?

My Strawberry Tower is great , no probs with slugs ( so far ! )

A little Bee visiting the Foxglove

Sweet William , it has a lovely smell

Delphinium and Grannies Bonnet

Woodpecker and Baby

2008-06-17T18:34:00.007Z

I had 2 lovely visitors to my garden today , the Woodpecker and its baby , what a privilege to be able to watch them in my own garden

June

2008-06-02T12:08:00.002Z

Well, May was lovely , what a diff it made to the wee plants , ive got most of them out in the garden now and ive got room to start off all my Salad stuff , Radish , Spring Onions, Garlic Chives and mixed Lettuce leaves , the Tomatoes and Cucumber plants are growing well .

The Hanging Baskets are looking really full now and starting to flower .

In Between Stage

2008-05-12T09:37:00.003Z

This in between stage does my head in ! It gets too warm in the Greenhouse during the day and yet its too cold to leave the plants outside all night , so , out they come in the morning and in they all go at night again , my hubby thinks im mad ! still another couple of weeks and I should be able to get them out ready for the garden ….......I hope !

Bea keeps looking for Strawberries , she loves them !

Greenhouse Staging

2008-04-17T17:13:00.004Z

My lovely hubby gave me money at Christmas to buy things I needed for the Garden / Greenhouse , I still had a few pounds left so I decided to change from the old pasting table and get nice new staging from Argos , here are the before and after pictures , Im quite pleased with the change

Before ( the old pasting table )

After ( nice new staging from Argos )

My son James went and collected it for me and built it up and thank you Natalie for going and buying it for me !

Dahlia , Disco Dancer

2008-04-10T12:32:00.004Z

Potted on my Dahlia this morning , ive got 101 of them !
Im not worried though the ones I cant manage to squeeze into the garden will go to neighbours

Everything is growing well

2008-04-09T21:01:00.008Z

Although the weather is awful most of the time everything in the Greenhouse is growing well

Sweetpeas

Antirrhinum

Morning Glory

Lavatera , Loveliness

Datura , Angels Trumpets

Dahlia , Disco Dancer

Spring ?? Crazy weather !

2008-03-24T17:49:00.006Z

Well Ive had a great day , the weather is crazy , sun is shining and the snow is falling ! it was 80 in the Greenhouse and I was loving it , infact it was warmer in the Greenhouse than it was in the house !

Im growing Non Stop Begonia's for the first time , my neighbour was putting these tubers in the bin and asked me if I would like them , I put them in an old container , covered them with compost and put them at the back of the Greenhouse , I put them in pots last week and put them in the central heating cupboard , as you can see they are starting to grow , pipping is the correct term im told .
The Tomatoes are also coming on well , the ones here in the picture are Minibell , I grew them last year and loved them .

In fact everything is growing well , im so happy , I love getting up every morning and going into the Greenhouse to check on all my little babies , how privileged I am to be able to watch all this beauty growing , its my little patch of heaven on earth .

Would be nice to recieve some comments , so please feel free to say Hi

Homemade Compost

2008-03-13T11:13:00.005Z

My lovely hubby kindly emptied the compost bin for me this morning and Im well chuffed with it , I spread it around my Fucshia bed and it looks great , time to start refilling the bin again for next year ! lol

Crazy Weather

2008-03-09T19:37:00.003Z

Its quite a nice day , I worked in the Greenhouse most of the day ,really enjoyed it , gave the place a bit of a tidy up its surprising how quickly it gets untidy , all the seeds are coming on well and I made a start on the Hanging Baskets . Britain is to be battered by storms tonight so dont know what we will wake up to tomorrow

Begonia Seeds

2008-02-24T20:27:00.002Z

Remember the little tube of Begonia seeds , all 750 of them ?

here they are , who wants to count them ?

Greenhouse and Seeds

2008-02-06T15:19:00.000Z

3rd of Feb

Quite cold today but the sun was shining in the afternoon just long enough for me to go and tidy up the Greenhouse , its was nearly 60 in the Greenhouse so okay for working in .Not sure how many Fucshia have survived over the winter .
I started off some Rudbeckia seeds this afternoon ( Prairie Sun ) , grew them in 2006 and they were really nice , think there were roughly 20 seeds in the pkt which will just be fine for along the back of the fence . I want the border really bright hot colours this year .
6th of Feb
Lovely sunny day
I bought bulbs out of Poundland a couple of weeks ago and left them hanging in a bag in the kitchen , big mistake !! the heat of the kitchen had started them growing , I took them out to the Greenhouse today and put them into polystyrene disposable cups ive covered them really well with compost so im hoping the cold Greenhouse will slow down the growth without killing them .
I got a bit of tidying up done in the back and front garden , looks so much better , the ground is so wet .

Begonia seeds

2008-01-10T14:09:00.001Z

I shouldnt be let out alone ! I had to go to see the Doctor this morning or believe me I would not have been out ,I was happily waddling through the High Street on the way home with the sleet pounding down when I stupidly looked into Poundstretchers shop window and there was a man setting up all this years garden stuff , did I continue walking by ? no ! in I went for a wee look and out I came several minutes later with a pkt of Geranium seeds , now my hubby doesnt know so dont go telling him or im in big trouble ! if there is one thing I dont need its another packet of seeds , ive just sown them and got them on top of the fish tank to germinate , ive also sown Begonia seeds , they are SO small ! there is 750 seeds in the small tube ,ive never grown them before so plz wish me luck .

Wind Damage

2008-01-09T11:16:00.000Z

As you probably know Scotland suffered some every strong winds last night , I spent most of the night praying no-one would get hurt , the only casualty we had was my Strawberry Tower , you can probably see from the photo the garden is flooded , but that will soon drain away . I will try and get out this afternoon , weather permitting , and see what I can salvage , oh the joys of gardening !

Happy New Year , Lang may yer Lum Reek !

2008-01-03T15:45:00.000Z

Well here we are another year has begun , what are we in for this year I ask myself ? One thing for sure, it will not be boring in the Garden ! what a year 2007 was eh ? One tomato I got ! lol, the only consolation I have is I was not alone , I do feel sorry for first timers , all I can say to you is ....give it another go ! I was determind I was not going to go near Tomato plants ever again ..but.. there is nothing to beat walking into your Greenhouse and picking your own fresh Tomatoes and Salad stuff so maybe il just grow a couple of plants , also im going back to the " old faithfulls " for plants . I love Dhalias they never let me down , Marigolds , Lobelia , Rudbeckia and of course Fuchsia .

Ive joined a site called Grows On You ( http://www.growsonyou.com/ ) please take a look at it , its great everyone is so friendly , ive met some fantastic people I would never have met without joining this site , there is a guy called David , he created a Yellow Brick Road theme in his garden for his children , its amazing , I loved following his story all year and cant wait to see what he is going to get up to this year

Well hope you all had a good Christmas and I wish you all Good Health and much Happiness in 2008 , Lang may yer lum reek! (A salutation wishing long life and prosperity. Literally, long may your chimney smoke. )
And of course .......Happy Gardening !!

Woodpecker

2007-11-12T10:05:00.000Z

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

2007-10-14T09:59:00.000Z

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

2007-09-05T14:22:00.000Z

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!

2007-08-25T10:37:00.001Z

A Sunday Walk

2007-08-25T08:02:00.000Z

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 !!

2007-08-11T10:20:00.000Z

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 !

2007-07-25T08:02:00.000Z

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

2007-07-16T12:43:00.000Z

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

2007-07-06T14:52:00.000Z

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

2007-06-30T09:39:00.000Z

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

Robin Family part 3

2007-06-20T16:53:00.000Z

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

2007-06-16T10:04:00.000Z

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

2007-06-12T10:04:00.001Z

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

2007-06-08T11:55:00.000Z

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

2007-06-02T09:27:00.000Z

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

2007-05-30T14:10:00.000Z

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

2007-05-18T09:41:00.001Z

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

2007-05-07T08:33:00.000Z

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

2007-04-28T17:44:00.000Z

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.

2007-04-22T12:37:00.000Z

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

2007-04-18T10:44:00.000Z

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

2007-04-18T10:35:00.000Z

Angels Trumpets Double Blackcurrant Swirl-Help.

2007-04-07T20:00:00.000Z

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 .

Christine's Garden & Fritallaria

2007-04-04T13:24:00.000Z

Hubby is on holiday for 2 weeks so ive not been on line much ,he is hogging the computer ! The weather has been fantstic ! cold frosty mornings but by the afternoon really bright and warm , everything in the greenhouse is shooting up and is looking great !
Yesterday the book my hubby bought me for my Easter arrived ," A Year In Christines Garden" , its brill , I sat reading it last night till I couldnt keep my eyes open any longer , the woman is amazing , she really is an inspiration to me , did any one see her new programme on BBC2 on Friday night ? we are a week behind in Scotland so dont expect me to be up to date with the latest one .
I was out with my friend and neighbour Christine a few days ago and she bought me a Fritallaria ( Imperial Crown ) its beautiful ! Her Mum ( May ) gave me an old watering can and ive planted a bit trailing lobelia in the spout and im going to put either a Trailing Fucshia or Geranium in the top , should look nice ?

Tumbling Toms

2007-03-29T18:11:00.000Z

Well the day started off cold , dull and wet , but in the afternoon I went to see Christines Mum and planted up her Tomato plants , she wanted some hanging basket liners and a couple of Tumbling Toms , Christine and I went to several garden centres but couldnt get them , we eventually saw them in Torwood garden centre in Larbert but to be honest I wouldnt have taken them if they had been going for free ! they were horrible excuses for Tomato plants , so we bought a packet of seeds and im going to grow them for her . Ive never grown Tumbling Toms before but im thinking of trying one out .
Yesterday James ( my son ) and I made up flower boxes from old bits of garden fence , I gave them a lick of paint and they will look great once they are filled with flowers , very little goes to waste around here if I cant use it I usually find a good home for it somewhere .
I bought a Recycling Bin last year and filled it easily so im looking forward to getting into it the next dry day we get and seeing what the compost is like .

Oriental Lily , Peony Rose and Delphiniums

2007-03-27T15:00:00.000Z

The past few mornings have started off really cold but by afternoon turned out really nice , all the plants seem happy and healthy .
Ive been hoeing the garden and getting rid of the weeds before they get a grip , its really nice to see all the spring plants bloom , the Delphiniums and Peony Roses are coming on well .
I was in the £1 shop this morning and came across a Lilium ( Oriental Pink ) the box contained a pot and compost , it says its highly scented , Ive never grown one before but as I always say " il give it a go " , anyone who has grown them please let me know .
Ive also started off the Autumn Beauty Sunflowers this afternoon .

Begonia - Plug Plants.

2007-03-22T14:12:00.000Z

The Big day has arrived ! my lovely little Begonias were delivered by the postman , they look great little plants all 160 of them .

Thank you to my hubby Eddie who gave me money at Christmas so I could spend it on the garden .
Ive not been doing much over the past couple of days , just making sure the Greenhouse is staying frost free and that everything is continuing to grow because it been very cold here , last night the temp dropped to around - 6 in some parts of Scotland brrrrr !
My Athritis has been bad and my poor wee dog has an ear infection .
I wish the better weather would hurry up and arrive .

Germination by Fish Tank .

2007-03-18T11:01:00.000Z

Germination by Fish Tank .

The fish tanks have been great to get the seeds going ,I think its because the heat is constant and coming from the bottom of the tray , my son has two larger tanks in his room so im going to put them to good use next year ( as long as he hasn't moved out by then ! ) it will allow me to wait a while longer before I start seeds off ( yeh right who am I kiddin ? Eddie will have to tie me to a chair for that to happen ) .

Anyway the forecast Snow has arrived , its quite heavy but not lying on the ground as we keep having sunny spells in between the snow showers , what a funny country this is , all the seasons in one day !

Trailing Begonia's, Hyacinth, And Snow. 17 March 2007

2007-03-17T10:27:00.000Z

17/3/07
Well its another dull cold wet windy day ! Snow is forecast for tomorrow and Monday and its to drop to as low as - 4 , lovely , just what we need .
I went Garden centre crawlin with Christine and her Mum ( what a lovely lady May is ) on Thursday the sun came out for us and it was a great afternoon .

I was really good ! didnt spend much money at all . I bought a liner for my hanging basket , 5 trailing begoinia tubers and a Hyacinth , ive got it in the Greenhouse , the perfume whacks me in the face as soon as I open the Greenhouse door , wonderful !

The Dwarf Sunflower seeds that I planted on the 2nd of March have all appeared , I potted them on this morning , dont know if you are supposed to pot them up , wont be long in finding out !

My bestest friend Jan wants me to help her this year do "something" with her garden ,its all grass and slabs at the moment , she is going to do all the hard work il just stand and look as if I know what im talking about and hope it all turns out looking good , lol . Ive started off another lot of seeds for this project , em ,where am I going to find room for them ?, havent a clue , will face that problem when we come to it .

Sunflowers Autumn Beauty

2007-03-14T14:21:00.000Z

14/3/07

Cold but bright morning .

Got the greenhouse tidied out at last , I was starting to panic at these Begonia arriving and having no room for them , while I was busy I was thinking just how blessed I am with having the neighbours I have , I have an elderly Irish couple next door who are just the best neighbours anyone could wish for , Christine and George live at the other side ( im going to a garden centre with Christine tomorrow , oh joy ! )they are kind and always willing to help out , and last but not least Dot and Dave who's back garden joins on to mine , Dot and Dave gave me the greenhouse ! as they no longer needed it ,WOW ! what kindness ! Im sure they know the pleasure I get from it but I just want you both to know im so very very grateful . Thank you !

Only days after me telling Christine I couldn't grow Lobelia up it has sprung ! I think ive always been too generous with the water before , kept them quite dry this year .

Im going to start off some Autumn Beauty Sunflowers next week , they look great , got a pkt of seeds from Lidl 29p says there are 15 seeds in the pkt but ive counted 20 , you always get extra seeds in the Lidl seed pkts , they are great value , anyone else tried them ?

Charlie,. 11 March 2007

2007-03-11T17:01:00.000Z

11/3/07
Its cloudy , cold and wet !! having to burn the heater all the time .
The Dahlia , Dwarf Sunflower, Morning Glory and Antirrhinum( Snapdragons) seeds have germinated, all looking good, I bought some Trailing Lobelia plugs from the supermarket yesterday £1.99 for 40 plug plants, used about half of them for the hanging baskets . A Fucshia that I was given by my neighbour Charlie Easton last year has started to show signs of growth, Charlie has been great at giving me advice, he grows the best Cucumber plants in the land, he wont let me into his secret of the mixture of his compost but he always has great looking plants, power to your green fingers Charlie for 2007 !!

Hanging Flower Bags/Pouches March 2007

2007-03-08T14:37:00.000Z

7/3/07

Its a lovely morning , I worked in the Greenhouse most of the day , I started filling Jan ( my best friend ) and her Mums hanging baskets they look a bit scabbie just now but ive packed them with wee plants , Fucshia , Geranium Aristo lavender ,Geranium, Pansies and Ivy . Ive got water retaining gel and Miracle- Gro tablets ( 3 in each basket ) that feed the plants for 6 months in there so hopefully they should look good in a couple of months time . Still got to do my own one !! Filling up the baskets certainly freed up a lot of space on the bench im quite relieved because ive got 160 Begonia plug plants arriving from Jersey shortly and I didnt know where I was going to put them ! I was wanting to put the Begonia's in the hanging bag/pouches that I hang on the hut and clothes poles but ive been advised not to do that as it get too hot inside the bags and can sweat the roots ,has anyone else tried them in hanging bags ? Everyone seems to use Impatiens ! I would like to try something different, I had Petunias in the bags last year but they got so leggy and it can be quite windy here so they got broken and damaged and looked awful.
Just discovered today ( in Garden Answers ) that if your little tomato plants look a bit leggy you can plant them nearly right up to the lower leaf as they root from the stem , that gives them more stability , Wow ! I love learning new things .

Christine Walkden-Greenhouse.5 March 2007

2007-03-07T19:11:00.000Z

5/3/07

Filled up the Paraffin Heater today It might well have lasted another couple of days but I didnt want to take the chance , the tank was quite low .It has lasted 12 days and has been on nearly all the time , its cost me about 32p a day to heat the Greenhouse .Im quite happy with that considering the amount of plants I have in there . People have been visiting my Blog AND im delighted to say my hero Christine Walkden has had a look at it , WOW did that make my day !!! she has a new book coming out on April 5th and her new TV Series starts on March 22nd on BBC 2 at 8pm, il be there , glued to the TV !

Sweetpeas 4 March 2007

2007-03-04T18:45:00.000Z

Chillis, Tomatoes and Fuschias 4 March 2007

2007-03-04T18:43:00.000Z

Spring Bulbs-1 March 2007

2007-03-01T18:51:00.000Z

4/3/07
Last night was very cold and frosty ,I havent been able to put off the paraffin heater at all today , I got up early and put a bit more heating on in the greenhouse , I use tealight candles during the day its surprising how much heat these little candles give off they can really boost the heat , they burn safely in the lanterns for just over 4 hours and I buy a bag of 100 of them from Asda for £1.20 so they are nice and cheap to use .I nipped the top off the sweetpeas to make them bush up a bit , they have came on really well , maybe a bit too well , I didnt think they would grow so fast , they will be climbing up the greenhouse frame if they continue at this speed . lol.Yesterday I chose 10 Fushia cuttings to grow into standards , I had a go at this last year, started it off from a bit of Fushia that had fallen from a plant , it was a bit late in the year so it didnt manage to come into flower , I kept it in the cold greenhouse and it looks as if its starting to come back to life , its 46 inches in height and im hoping it will look good in a large pot with maybe bizzie lizzies round the base and maybe trailing lobelia ? Im just a beginner so everything is so new and exciting to me , I hope I never loose this buzz I feel everytime I go into the greenhouse , I just love it ! Have you ever seen Christine Walkden on TV ? I think she is brill and I just love the enthusiasm she has for growing things. I can so relate to that , she really has been my inspiration to give it a go .Please if you are reading this and liking at least some of it , let me know , Id love to hear from someone .

2/3/07
There was a frost last night but its a beautiful sunny morning .Started off some Dahlia's ( disco dancer ) Thunbergia ( salmon shades ) and some Dwarf Sunflowers ( Torch ) , haven't grown the dwarf sunflowers before but saw them in the garden centres last year and thought they looked nice so i'll give them a go .

1/3/07
Its a lovely day and the sun is shining , ive been out weeding and hoed in Growmore , its nice to be giving the garden its first feed of the year , most of the bulbs are starting to flower now and I just love the tete tate .
The greenhouse is looking good everything is growing well , I got Verbascum seeds free yesterday with the Amatuer Gardening magazine so I have sown a few seeds this morning to see how they grow in the garden .

February 2007

2007-02-23T11:36:00.000Z

FEBRUARY

2/2/07
Started off Salvia seeds , they came through quickly , got 19 of them , got them in a mixed pkt from poundland
6/2/07
Started off Pansy seeds
8/2/07
Started off Herbs , Basil , Thyme , Chives and Mediterranean Herbs
9/2/07
Started off Godetia and Snapdragon seeds

11/2/07
Started off Alyssum seeds

14/2/07
Its a beautiful sunny day , quite mild .
All the above seeds have germinated and are growing well , really struggling for room now , going to have to heat the Greenhouse soon and get them all out . Started off Spinach in the Greenhouse today .

16/2/07
Heating Greenhouse as from today
Its been a nice day , got loads done , potted up all the cuttings that I took earlier in the year , only lost a couple so im well chuffed ,also transfered Salvia seedlings into a bigger tray , got 19 of them . put them all out in the Grennhouse and im starting to heat it as from today .
Started off Christines Mums tomato plants and im soaking sweetpeas over night .( Floral Tribute ) made up newspaper pots and sowed the sweetpeas in them next day , so I can just put them straight into the ground , paper will just decompose .
So far I have 53 Fushia , 22 Geranium Aristo , 26 geraniums , 21 from a seed pkt 5 from last years plants

18/2/07
Very cold last night
Real hard frost last night , lost my 4 Aubergine plants , thats what I get for being so keen and starting things off early ! I knew I should have waited another couple of weeks so I was able to keep things in the house longer , ive started off more Aubergine seeds this afternoon , I have the heater in the Greenhouse up a little higher tonight and covered the plants with newspaper to see if it helps keep the cold from them a little better
Tidied up the garden a bit , and had a go at making a flower box from old fence boards , it was okay for a first attempt .

25/2/07
Lots of rain showers today but in between them its been really sunny and very warm in the greenhouse , havent had to heat it today at all , I started off 2 hanging baskets with ivy cuttings , I want then to be really long by the time they have to go out , also transplanted little seedlings into bigger trays , 80 Godetia and 43 Blue Infinity .

January 2007

2007-02-23T11:27:00.000Z

The Beginning.

The year has began with rain and gales , we spent many days and nights replacing broken panes of glass and the plastic , many trees have been blown down and the garden is flooded , bulbs are starting to appear I just hope they survive this awful weather .

10/1/07
Started off 12 Chilli ( Cayenne Pepper ) and 12 Aubergine ( Black Beauty ) seeds today .

14/1/07
Started off 24 cuttings ( Johns plant ) all in yogurt tubs , 4 to a tub , on the landing windowsill.

16/1/07
Lovely day , the sun is shining , there was a frost so its quite chilly .
Started off Coreopisis they are seeds from the flower in the garden last year and can take up to 3 months to grow .
Also bought some seeds at Klondyke , Nicotiana , and seeds that I had seen on line, Tomato Cherry Black and Tigerella , I grew Tigerella years ago and really liked them . got some seeds from Poundland yesterday 6 diff seeds in one pack , Alyssum, Marigold , Lobelia , Stock , Viloa , Salvia , also got 2 blocks of coconut compost you add water to it and it makes up to 10 litres of compost , will try it out . It holds water really well and may be good for tubs and hanging baskets .
Looks like Chilli and Aubergine seeds have germinated ive put them on James bedroom windowsill , potted on 4 Aubergine seedlings in the coconut compost they seem to be doing well .

25/1/07
Took around 60 cuttings today of Fushia , Bizzie Lizzie and 3 Geraniums , made a mixture of compost and coconut fibre .

29/1/07
Got some more of the coconut fibre compost from Poundland this morning , 2 bags of compost from Lidl along with a pkt of Sweet Peppers ( California Wonder 29p , sown today ) went down to Klondyke and got a pkt of Geranium £1.99 for 25 seeds I also got paraffin while I was there .Potted up 6 chilli plants all grew well so far .

30/1/07
Started off seeds tonight , Monarda ( Bee's Favourite)100seeds , Nepta Transcaucasica ( Blue infinity )45 seeds and Geum ( Blazing Sunset )15 seeds .