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 .

Christine's Garden & Fritallaria

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

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

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.

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 .

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 !