ju1i3's blog

Centaurea Montana, one of my favourite plants, this year's first flower

the centaurea montanas have self-seeded, a couple in this pot that was nearby, planting them in the flowerbed is one of my many outstanding tasks

self-seeded cerinthe surrounded by green alkanet (also one of my favourite plants) and erigeron karvinskianus in the background

the muscari are almost finished for this year but these were in the shade and blooming a little later than ones that were in the sun

another of my favourite flowers, the humble pansy, I have bought and grown from seed many pansies but this plant self-seeded all on its own

I love the purple shoots of this hosta. I've kept my hostas in pots to avoid slug damage - with variable results.

final curtain for the auricula theatre for this season

Little Princess tulips

my back garden is covered with green alkanet and the bees are loving it! It's like this each spring. The green alkanet dies back in a few weeks in time to make room for other plants so I am happy to leave it for the bees as there are not that many other flowers in bloom yet.

the curtain is about to come up, the performance is about to begin - in the auricula theatre

close-up of the top shelf

close-up of the middle shelf

close-up of the bottom shelf

This is the best I could do with the auricula theatre. It's been challenging as so many things turn out to be. Next year I want more purple flowers. I need to buy some but I have no idea when or where. The plants above I purchased at the local garden centre when they weren't in bloom so had no idea of colours but they've been useful to get started with. I also think I need to use the shorter pots, as are 2 above. The shelves are a little low so need shorter plants and pots.

tulip Whittallii

snakeshead fritillary with the tulip Whittallii

I can't stop taking pics of these Silver Parrot tulips. I can't quite get the perfect pic. There are so many good views I want to capture and finding it difficult to fit them into the same pic.

a week later and there's even more colour with the tulips

In the autumn when it's cold and I can't find anywhere to plant any bulbs I end up sticking them in wherever I can. I ended up putting some snakeshead fritillary in this delphinium pot as I could get a trowel into some bare soil. I think I need to plan outdoor bulbs a bit better.

close-up of that fritillary

honesty

cerinthe, self-seeding and blooming

I'm pretty clumsy and I managed to pull out a piece of Japanese anemone when I was trying to remove a spent stem. I pushed the piece into a pot in hopes it would root. A new shoot has appeared so it looks like it's growing.

Some of my small foxglove plants this year, I have some most years, I just have to find somewhere to plant them all. I'm not sure if the smallest ones will bloom this year. In theory they should as they're bienniel and they started last year but I think the smallest ones probably need to grow larger and will bloom next year.

I was wondering what was happening with the anemone and ranunculus pots that had no sprouts so I poured out some of the compost to see if the bulbs/tubers were sprouting and I found something rather unpleasant. 2 pink ranunculus pots have fuzzy mould where the tubers should be and 3 (2 pink and 1 purple) of the anemone pots have goo where the bulbs should be - absolutely disgusting. Are these gooey bulbs soft rot? (I found "bacterial soft rot" at Wiki - sounds likely). Probably the most disgusting thing I've ever seen in the garden.

The other 14 or so pots are all growing and look fine. Having said that, one or two pots only have 1 small sprout so I need to check those. I used the same compost for all the pots, a mixture of potting compost, perlite and vermiculite. No signs of any problems when I planted the bulbs and tubers.

the Silver Parrot tulips are blooming, rather early I think

I've been tidying up the patio and it made that spot under the plant stand accessible to Scarecrow to lay down in the sun.

I'm afraid the cats take precedence over any plants or gardening matters to discuss.

I couldn't decide which was a better view of Scarecrow so including both.

I potted up the few cornflower seedlings I have. Some may be calendula. I will see as they develop.

when the seeds are still present, seedlings are easy to identify, calendula:

morning glory, bottom left:

I did have 4 hostas in pots, to keep the slugs away, but one was still attacked by slugs and had an enormous foxglove sharing the pot. That hosta has disappeared. This hosta is just coming up. I'm leaving those forget-me-nots to bloom before I remove them.

another hosta just coming up

hosta sprouts coming through on this one, again leaving the forget-me-nots to bloom before removal

has anyone else seen one of these? googling it, seems to be a juvenile New Zealand flatworm, I'm not sure what gardeners are supposed to do about them, if anything, will try to research further, about 4 cm long

I've gotten fed up with waiting for rhubarb "crowns" to grow (which didn't in the end) so investing in some decent-sized rhubarb plants. They need this season to establish so I can start picking next spring. My garden doesn't get enough sun to grow much in the way of fruit and veg but hoping it's enough for the rhubarb. They force rhubarb in the dark? so they must be able to cope? My sweet boy Scarecrow amongst them.

polyanthus pots I did for neighbours, this one also has lupins

this one also has a foxglove

some hyacinths and borage in bloom, lupin small plant from late last year's sowing to the right, sea holly both in pot and in the ground in the back, also the ubiquitous green alkanet, forget-me-not and snapdragons

all the gardening essentials: seeds, trays to put them in, inc egg cartons, camera, coffee and Diet Coke - and a cat!

see my Seeds page for more about growing from seed

He's the naughty kit who chewed these catnip seedlings (2 on the right) so I planted some more seeds. There are 2 kinds of "catnip"/catnep/catmint, the basic herb nepeta cataria  which I grow from seed (I have never seen these plants sold at a garden centre) which has small white flowers and nepeta faassenii (eg Six Hills Giant) sold in the garden centre as an ornamental plant with purple flowers.

seems that every day Scarecrow is destroying more of those plants so I had to move them out of his reach. When I have a consistent supply I am happy for him to have them - that's what I'm growing them for - but they need to grow to a reasonable size or my seeds need to germinate better.

Usually those nepeta faassenii are larger plants in bloom at the garden centre later in spring but I noticed these in the herb section so decided to get some now and hopefully grow them into larger plants. I've also been curious to see which cats prefer, if either.

scabious small plant from sowing last year

I wasn't sure if it was scabious but from the side it looks more scabious-like, the way it leans over.

the anemone and ranunculus are slow to get going

this ranunculus is the largest

the green below is not an anemone but on closer examination, with those distinctively-shaped seeds, they are calendula seedlings

close-up of the calendula seedlings, the calendula was growing nearby above and the dried seedhead dropped in this pot, unnoticed by me

these small poppy plants overwintered, I had planted the seeds end of last summer/autumn

some more small plants from last year, foxglove on the right, scabious to the left, sea holly far left, Japanese anemone in the middle, 2 possible viper's bugloss at the bottom

these borage have been growing - and flowering - right through the winter, above (centre) and below (below right) are knautia small plants

I was wondering how long the muscari seedlings and bulblets would take  to bloom and this very very small muscari bloomed already after less than a year in this pot. Also snapdragon self-seeded in this pot.

on the right is a rush which has self-seeded in this pot

my neighbour's forsythia makes a magnificent display

Last year, both these hostas' leaves turned transparent and rotted (can't find a pic right now) so pleased they have come back. I will repot them and hopefully they will do better this year.

This is the time when the gardenwithindoors overlaps with the gardenwithoutdoors, some bulbs which were intended for indoors are blooming outdoors. Those red tulips in the small tobacco jar were indoors but the aphids were so bad I banished it outside and now they are blooming. I had intended those muscari for indoors but never took them in.

a week later (after the next pic) those muscari are looking fab

I had so many muscari in recent years and had so many seeds, which I tried planting but nothing happened, so surprised to discover these seedlings the other day. I don't know what's different about these, something about them, the conditions, the timing, made them germinate. Now I have to try to thin them and repot them. I wonder how long before they actually bloom, years I imagine.

I tried repotting those muscari seedlings and have made a bit of a dog's dinner of it. I had this idea of one seedling per cell but they are too fiddly and there are too many of them so I started putting clumps in and a few in a cell if I could. I guess the best way in future is a few seeds in each cell when I sow them. I never expected that amount of germination this time.

I planted all my spent forced hyacinth bulbs outdoors. That purple one in the middle decided to bloom again.

These are forced hyacinths from previous years blooming in the garden this year. Not so large but there's still life in them.

a week later and lots of those previously forced hyacinths are in full bloom, some rather small, but they are blooming

a close-up of one of those above, not sure which variety it was but it has the colouring of those Fresco hyacinths but I never bought them before so don't know

There were 8 or 10 hyacinths in that pot but doesn't look like it now. They weren't forced so what's their excuse! The small ones in the ground were forced from previous years.

self-seeded viola

I am so happy I have flowers on my new rosemary from last year, one tiny flower is in the middle amongst the daffs. It's taken a year to flower but I feared it would be longer.

close-up of that first flower and buds

my other flowering rosemary which I bought in bloom a couple years ago

I received a £5 voucher from the garden centre and was going to put it towards more perlite and vermiculite, which I like to mix with seed compost, but at the garden centre I couldn't resist more ranunculus. That makes 3 suppliers to compare (unexpectedly). I wasn't really intending to buy so many or to do a formal comparison but it looks like I will. Soaked tubers today and planted them. Still awaiting first sprouts from the other 2 suppliers' tubers.

I'm not sure how so many seeds get into a small pot like this but they seem to have. I see grass, green alkanet, cerinthe, viola, lesser knapweed, foxglove, maybe centaurea montana. I will try to repot and give them all more room.

I was trying to get a shot of Bear (black and white cat) on the fence next door but he's just too far away but wanted to document how the garden looks now (in March).

3 of the polyanthus I sowed last year are in full bloom now, 2 more in bud, 5 plants in total from a packet of 100 seeds, not great but at least I got something!

I was given a few snowdrops a few years ago by a fellow gardener and a few have bloomed recently. Most seem to be smothered with grass and weeds but it is the garden next door and I haven't cleared it recently. I pretty much leave it and it just gets on with it.

even though it's been so cold the lupin seeds are continuing to sprout up after being planted last summer/autumn

I bought the ranunculus and anemone from Sainsbury's and planted them the other day, soaking both for a few hours before. Those ranunculus sure look pretty dry and shriveled but will wait and see.

the next week I bought these Lily of the Valley rhizomes

The tulips in this dialene bowl are sprouting. I'm not sure what variety but maybe Silver Parrot. I didn't buy that many tulips but that was one kind I did buy. I think the bulbs in the rack of terracotta pots are muscari.

I think these must be Tête-a-tête narcissus but I can't remember exactly why they ended up in this pot. Looks like an anemone as well. The pots in the background on the right are the anemone and ranunculus I just planted. Not sure the best time to plant those but I know in the past when I've planted them in the autumn they grew leaves quickly which then just died back so this year I'm trying February but I did notice some in Sainsbury's yesterday that said plant March - May so maybe I'm a bit early but confirms autumn is not the time. (Even though I did order some anemone and ranunculus with my hyacinth bulbs, no doubt I will be tempted to try those Sainsbury's ones).

I think these are Little Princess tulips in the blue and white pot at the front but my records aren't complete so will have to wait and see for sure.

Sadly my large SylvaC pot which I left outside this winter has broken. It did have a crack before but that didn't seem to be a problem. I think those are Tête-a-tête narcissus but again, will have to wait and see. I see there's deadnettle growing through them.

Looks like this anemone has been eaten by slugs already. The slugs survived the winter.

the anemone in this pot seems to have been out of the way of the slugs, agastache just sprouting to the left

Concentrating on plants the slugs don't eat seems the best bet. I see 2 slug-eaten seedlings left front of this pot yet the viola is untouched.

my seed-grown polyanthus also seem to be uninteresting to the slugs, as does the foxglove

as are these scabious

violas are great self-seeders, this one is growing right through this prickly sow thistle

Seeds

It's time to start thinking about seeds. I have some seed I collected last year, eg borage, nigella, etc (will check what seed heads I have), some seed packets left from last year, eg cornflower and scabious and I carefully chose 5 kinds to buy. If I want to track them carefully I can't do too many:

  dierama, monkshood and echium blue bedder (aka viper's bugloss)  tried all 3 before without success but having one more final go before I give up and just buy plants if I want them

  meadow cranesbill and greater knapweed, think I've tried both before without much luck but can't remember how carefully

In January, the brilliant orange of the Chinese Lanterns is fading, leaving a skeleton around the seed pod.

I have tried planting the seeds but not in any controlled scientific way. I tend to throw collected seed into any old pot with other seeds and other plants. Not surprisingly I have not noticed anything of the chinese lanterns but I am going to try again this year doing it properly. From what I see, these have spread by roots and without those annoying bluebell clumps which I removed a few years ago, they are doing very well.

I collected some of the lanterns which contain the fruit with seeds. One thing I hadn't noticed before is the slugs! so many of them had traces of slug slime and slugs themselves on them. They were eating the orange covering. As those inner orange fruits dry, the seeds are released. The two top right are just showing the seeds in them.

I was hoping I might get flowers on the prostrate rosemary I bought last year as very small plants and it looks like there might just be buds. I'm very excited - and impatient for them to develop and open - if indeed they are flower buds; maybe they're just new leaves. (Sadly my camera is just not focussing properly to show them more clearly.)

The cold weather is not stopping this one from blooming. I know it's hard to see but this one has beautiful purple/blue flowers and has done on and off since I bought it, regardless of the temperature.

My front garden is both too tidy and too messy, there's both room for a homeless man to roll out his sleeping bag and have a kip along with rubbish from the neighbour making him think it was okay? Seeing him in the morning was the last thing I expected to see in my garden!

on the other side of the garden . . . the chinese lanterns at at their peak

the self-seeded borage is in bloom

borage with the blooming rosemary in the background

the rosemary is still in bloom

close-up of one of the rosemary flowers

cerinthe and borage in bloom, spent flowerspikes of agastache and spent sedums flowerheads

close-up of the cerinthe flowers from above

the snapdragons are still in bloom

with all those pots shown above, I have little room to plant more bulbs but I find if I want a decent display of even a few bulbs I need to buy fresh so a few daffodils and tulips have gone into new pots, a bit boring plastic ones but at least I can move them around easily when they are in bloom (end of October, fine for tulips but perhaps a little late for the daffodils)

Victor sitting in the centre of the back garden

close-up of Victor, looking ever so serious

the time of year for the chinese lanterns in the front garden

that sycamore stump in the middle keeps sprouting and I keep cutting the sprouts back - difficult at this time of year because I don't want to walk on and damage the chinese lanterns

this cyclamen coum has been eaten by slugs but has some flowers left

this clycamen coum is not far from the one above but it has even more slug damage, still has a few buds

I think of borage as being a spring/summer flower but these self-seeded plants have buds, I'll see how they survive as it gets colder

It's a shame snails can look so cute when they are SO destructive. I found 3 snails and a huge slug in this small watering can when I went to use it to top up my bulb pots in the cellar.

the nasturtiums are still blooming

blue green alkanet flower in the background

About a month ago now (mid-Sept) the snapdragons were at their peak in this flowerbed, to the left my new rhubarb and lots of green alkanet starting and some foxgloves (one in centre above the snapdragons). Hard to tell apart but I have lots of both so very familiar with them: foxgloves have very soft leaves, green alkanet have textured rough stinging leaves.

one lone blue cornflower in bloom on those brown stems

I was surprised to see the comfrey in full bloom mid-October, all summer the bees were on it every time I saw the flowers, sadly no bees right now

While I was at the back of the garden looking at the comfrey I was reviewing my sad-looking compost pile. Apparently Camden (my local borough) is moving onto rubbish collection every other week, recycling collection every week and charging for garden waste so thinking I need to do more composting. I'm not sure I have enough material for composting to break down stems like ivy but too much for a small pile like this so I need to improve it, so far, not sure how.

I'm still intrigued with red plants and what causes them. I have lots of forget-me-nots as they are a very stong self-seeder and I like them (ie I don't pull them out) but I have never seen one so red-tinged as this one. Coincidentally the nasturtium on the right is one of the darker-leaved variations I have. Does that have anything to do with the forget-me-not? I don't know.

I love rosemary with flowers and have not been able to get them to flower so I bought this prostrate one in flower, the only reasonably priced rosemary in flower I have come across, presumably because it's small.  I have re-potted it once and it's filled this pot so needs re-potting again.

it was sitting in this flowerbed but I moved it to photograph it more clearly, I hadn't even noticed the lesser knapweed self-seeding in the pot until I looked at the photo

Having found one small prostrate one in flower, I though these prostrate rosemary might be quicker to flower. Waiting to see.

At the end of the summer I am preparing for my bulb forcing (see gardenwithindoors), beginning with tidying up the patio. In the background to the right are some more shelves for the garden I bought on ebay.

I painted those shelves and started getting my hyacinth vases organized. As soon as I put that small table there, Bear had to jump up on it.

When I checked on the Green Wizard rudbeckia I saw the slugs have now found it, must get it off the ground but so far nowhere is safe. I'm investigating hanging some pots on the fence.

One of my outstanding tasks was to sort out this chicory which I grew from seed. The pot it was in I had put on another pot not realizing what would happen.

The roots went down into the lower pot and out the bottom of that.

I took off the bottom pot relatively easily.

I could not remove the upper pot unless I destroyed all those roots so I cut it off the best I could, leaving the bottom of the pot between the roots.

I chose a reasonably clear space in the garden so I could dig a large hole to accommodate those long roots.

The other chicory plants I had already planted in the garden. The slugs had initially eaten all the chicory seedlings but luckily there had been a few out of the way which they hadn't gotten to so I ended up with 5 plants. I feared the slugs would eat the chicory plants when I put them in the ground but either I managed to removed enough slugs or they only like the fresh growth but the chicory are still there and appear undamaged.  (They look like giant dandelion, the clearest one is at the back, there's also one front left and right.) They're biennial so will bloom next year.

the nepeta is looking good, the bees love the purple flowers