Dec 2011

Hi Blog,

Well I really really must write more often but life just gets in the way!! Anyway just a real quickie to round off the year.

What an amazing season we had this year. Temperatures of 30 degrees on the last day of October!! Madness. Flowers still doing their thing now, 22nd Dec, photos to follow. :0

I have loved my garden this year and have taken many cuttings including the Ceonothus shrub only a few weeks ago that appear to be doing very nicely, in the kitchen I might add as I felt maybe the potting shed was a tad chilly. Speaking of the potting shed :) it is filled with cuttings that look really strong and healthy, the greenhouse is brimming and the new addition of a cold frame has proved the best place for the now quite large Echium :)

Well thats all for now,
Probably be back in the new year now, I will try and be more consistent then :)

Merry Christmas from the Potting Shed 

Well, a bit of a long time since I have written anything but life sort of took over a little with children crashing cars and heaven only knows what else :)

the garden is looking amazing at the moment with plenty of colour. My Dahlias are all in flower and very huge, one is the same size as my head!

Cuttings have been taken of most things in the garden including Fuchsias, Osteospermums, Geraniums and Petunias. I have propagated them in terracotta pots this year in a mix of compost and grit to help the roots get really well established. So far so good, new shoots are beginning to appear.

I love my garden.

Here are some photographs to enjoy. I have a new camera and have gone a little snap happy :)

Photos

The Potting shed, Wednesday

Well today is the first day of my Potting shed blog. I hope to inspire others to adopt my no nonsense style of just do it gardening, it works for me so it can work for you :) I do not know Latin names and am learning as I go but being in my garden now for just over a year I have learnt fast but mostly I just love it and wish to share my passion.

Currently growing in the Potting Shed are eight amazing Echium Pink Fountain seeds. These are meant to be hard to grow, so I thought what the heck just plant the seeds and see what happens, hey presto up they came. I did pop them in an unheated propagater and give them a spritz of gentle water every other day,they are still in there but doing splendidly.These will hopefully now grow to be roughly 12 ish feet tall and will atrract bees from miles around! I can't wait and have everything crossed in the hopes they will flower.

(I will include photos of my garden once I have worked out how to do that)

To earth up or not to earth up.... that is the question. I say no don't bother. After a potato experiment started in January I planted potatoes in several different places, grow bags, a raised veg trug and in a small triangle herb planter. Some where earthed and others weren't. Guess which ones gave us the biggest and yummiest haul?? Yes you guessed it the ones in the herb planter with a small amount of growing space and no earthing up at all. They were Nicola Potatoes, well how could I grow anything else as they are my namesake :) and let me tell you they were scrummy.

My advice then is just go for it! What have you got to lose? Currently I am taking cuttings from Petunias, Million Bells, Fuchsias, Pinks and Geraniums. I'll keep you posted.

Niki