Bursting with Blissful Blossom (it must be spring)

 

That winter wasn't so bad, was it? And followed by a glorious sunny spring, it's easy to believe that the plants are jumping the gun a bit but, no, looking back at previous years, I can see that everything is right on track.  (A good reason for taking photos of the garden throughout the year.) 

After the gentle unfolding of snowdrops, then the brash appearance of yellow trumpet daffodils, the garden is settling into the season. The flowers that heralded spring in my garden are starting to fade (the pink hellebores are currently a rather lovely pale lilac grey colour) and there's something new every time I go into the garden.  It's taken a while to get to this stage but now the garden is constantly evolving and surprising me.  (No instant tv makeovers here!)

Brunnera, ajuga, camellia, forget-me-nots, white daffs and honesty ... all are brightening up the borders. Bizarrely, so is a very orange Fritillaria Imperialis. I have no idea where that came from - I definitely didn't plant it! - but am rather loving it.  I might even introduce a few more for next year. 

But it's not just flowers.  In this garden (the one I see from my balcony), the lemon verbena is pumping out delicious smelling leaves, as is the Chilean guava; hopefully there will be fruit from that this year. The blackcurrant, blueberries and gooseberries are also looking very healthy. I've planted a couple of purple sprouting broccoli into the beds as well; they're leftovers from last year so who knows if they'll actually grow but there's nothing to lose!

There are pots of dahlias, origanum Kent Beauty (the one that trails pink bracts), four mint varieties, achillea, lemon balm (those herbs are the four that make a refreshing tea) and wild strawberries.

In the veg garden, fruit trees are in full froth; one puff of wind and it will look like a wedding has just taken place. My Cavolo kale plant (just the one left!) has started to flower, the pink Chard is hanging on in there and I've had many delicious stems from my third year (perennial?) purple sprouting broccoli. 

It must be time to break out the seed box again and get the beetroot, chard and brassicas in for next year. 

News from the Veg Patch

I'd like to say that this year's growing season has been a triumph but ... sadly, no.  

But let's start with something cheerful - these nasturtiums are helpfully climbing up through the raspberry canes, the sight of their lovely vibrant flowers just sings happiness to me.

Elsewhere in the veg garden, things are not looking so rosy.  Ideally, the veg patch could have done with spring warmth and summer rain; instead, like many other gardeners, I've found the weather this year has done me and the garden no favours.  

Weeds have thrived, edible plants have not.  

Although, that said, I had a fantastic strawberry season ... over 3 kilos of tasty berries! (I think that equates to nearly 7 lbs. Impressive.)  The berries were mostly untouched by slugs, snails or birds without any protection (remarkable, given the wet weather) and the plants kept producing over several weeks. Copious rain followed by warm ripening sun seems to be the magic formula for success.  

If only I could bottle that and bring it out every year!

But no beans, peas, leeks or courgettes for me this year. What marauding molluscs didn't decimate, the heatwave finished off. Several times I've seriously considered ripping it all up and starting again with perennial flowers. But, as the saying goes, Keep Calm and Carry On Gardening. 

My tomatoes, on the other hand, are looking very promising. (I'm an optimist.) I planted them out late this year due to the chill weather so things are a bit behind schedule but green fruit has started to appear. And, this year, I diligently removed (almost) all of those little side shoots growing between the leaf and stem; a few have escaped me but I've left them alone as they've formed trusses of fruit. (Probably a mistake.) I'm watering daily and feeding every Friday and have recently pinched out the growing tops of my cordon (indeterminate) tomatoes. 

Why feed weekly on a Friday rather than, say, Monday? Because I love a bit of alliteration so 'Feed on Friday' makes for a good aide memoire.

Still on the bright side of things, apples from both the Braeburn and Core Blimey trees are looking good. They're dropping in droves from the branches but the flavour isn't there yet - it's more cardboard than crisp for now. 

Blueberries and gooseberries have also been surprisingly good and plump; Chilean guava berries, not so much. Thanks, heatwave.

The Morello cherry trees, however, which are usually of minimal interest to the birds here, were stripped bare of fruit as soon as they ripened. A phenomenon that I found both puzzling and annoying. Who were the culprits for the meticulous denuding of my Morellos?  People or birds? My money's on the pigeons.

There will be no fruit from the quince tree either. There was lots of quince blossom in the spring but not enough bees around to pollinate them. Another climate casualty.

And what of the pear and plum trees? Pears are ripening out of reach at the top of the tree, and there are no plums. Again.  That's fifteen fruit bearing years with nothing to show for it; I may have to deploy my recently serviced chainsaw. 

So that's my veg patch year so far ... more food for thought than food for the table but there's still the winter brassicas to plant out.