Sweet (pea) aroma.

Well, looking at the last picture of the sweet peas, posted on June 11th (ok, so it was, strictly speaking, a picture of the rose, and the sweet peas just happened to be hanging around in the background...) I thought I should perhaps update you on their progress:

I'm going to be bold and perhaps a little unhumble and say that I'm sure they actually look better in real life.  And the smell of them is such a large part of their appeal that a blog post could never do them justice.
Other things that have happened in the garden lately:
Loads of people came for drinks and nibbles in the garden.
The raspberries have been netted.
The cherry tree has been netted (partly in response to the text I received last week from the friend down South we gave an identical cherry tree too, saying she was enjoying her first bowl of cherries of the year - ours are still somewhat green)
Courgettes and squashes have been planted in the orchard beds.  (Maybe I said that already)
Beans have been planted in a new orchard bed.  (Maybe I said that too...)  And one replaced following its predecessor's consumption by unknown aggressor.
Red cabbages have been planted in the orchard, then attacked by the birds, and are now in the process of being netted and, while they wait, are covered in fleecey stuff.
On the flowers front, some of the zinnias have been spaced out a bit more evenly.
Most of the gazanias and rudbeckias that were heretofore in pots are now in the ground. 
The pansies are flourishing in their modules, and should really be dealt with ASAP.

Many Marigolds.

I finished planting them at long last:


112 marigolds, from seed, all along the driveway. It took three separate stabs to get the job done, but now it is. And they'll hopefully be blooming soon.

Meanwhile, the pumpkins are growing, the red cabbages are being ravaged by darn caterpillars, the tomatoes are struggling to life, the courgettes still producing. The spring onion and lettuces are just beginning to show themselves, and yesterday saw the sowing of two rows of carrots where the last lot was dug up (is it a problem, planting them in the same place? Hope not!) The lavender's ok, a couple of ropey looking ones perhaps. The sweet peas have decided to offer up a few more flowers, and the spuds should be dug soon (though we had a batch from Wales, which was lovely!)

The 252 miniplug plants (primula, pansy and viola) have arrived and the viola is now 'potted on' into the trays (40plugs per tray)

We have harvest!

Very exciting day today. Got back from a two week holiday and had a look at the garden. Here's some photographic evidence:
Raspberries (sadly, this photo shows ALL the raspberries currently on our 12 canes...)
Pumpkins - Table Queen, if you're wondering. Not quite sure how to tell if they're ready to pick, but I'll look it up :)








Pumpkins (or maybe these ones are squash, come to think of it) Turks Turban. So named, because they end up looking like a turban. Although this one looks a bit flat, so I'm not sure if it actually will...





This is sort of the pumpkin/squash patch generally, which has come a fair way since the last photo. Also, the rhubarb in the middle is doing a whole load better than it was a little while ago. I think it's mainly recovered from it's long wait to be planted out.





These are the tomatoes. They're most (if not all) beef tomatoes, so we're going to have to consume a fair amount of tomato, basil and mozzarella salad... Sadly, the basil seeds I've sown inside have taken exception to not being watered for a fortnight...




Here are the potatoes. You can hardly see the bins now, which is slightly ridiculous. Again (as with most things...) I don't actually know when I'm supposed to be digging them up. Man, there's a whole lot more reading to be done.







Red cabbage. They're doing ok. Thankfully, the ones that were sown at the wrong time (i.e., when we were going to be heading south before they were ready to be planted out) have also survived, so will be planted out in due course. Note the nibbling that's happened on the far end. Not sure if that's slugs or caterpillars, haven't investigated properly. Note also the vast number of weeds that have flourished in our two weeks away.





I thought this was quite exciting. This is the carrots and parsnip bed (as you'll recognise from previous posts!) They're pretty immense. I also saw (though the camera phone wasn't up to the shot) a real carrot-looking thing at the bottom of the vegetation. Ok, so perhaps this isn't a big surprise, but it's EXCITING!







Here's the intercropping (pumpkins in rose bed) I mentioned before. They seem to be doing ok. Not sure that there'll be much pumpkin action in time for October, but hey. It's all a learning curve. Thankfully, there has actually been some rain up here while we've been away. This has help avoid a mass die-off in the garden. However, not everything has fared quite so well...


The tomatoes in the boxes, and the sweet peas with which they are planted, have not done quite so swimmingly. They don't really get much in the way of rain. They are outside, but probably get a bit of shelter from the patio roof, which means that the boxes can get pretty dry. Next year, I might have to line them with plastic, so that they keep the water in. The problem then, of course, will be waterlogging! There are, however, some tomatoes (they're cherry ones) on these plants.


And finally, the thing that actually came in from the garden today. It's tempting to make this a massive photo, but I'll resist. Unfortunately, these have actually grown a little too much. They're supposed to be courgettes, but have rather outgrown the tubs and are more marrowish. There were two like this, so we've kept one and given the other away. There's also a more normal size one, which we'll have at the weekend... Will also probably get some carrots up and maybe spuds and parsnips... Who knows!

In other news (roundup). Beans are doing much (well, it's in the singular, not plural!). PSB sown earlier is ok, but nothing impressive. Marigolds wilted in kitchen but not dead. Peppers in kitchen dead. Agapanthus growing. Pansies still going despite being uprooted (trying to find more seeds!) Haven't checked lavender. Plums beginning to redden slightly. (Still a way off though). Apples all doing well. Most roses over now. Loads of weeding to be done. Other rhubarb fine.
Will probably do a flower update tomorrow (or soon, anyway.)

By any other name.

Yes, it might look like just another rose. But it isn't. You see, I made it (other than in the Theological sense).
I dug a trench, and put some sand in the bottom. I took a cutting from a rose bush (about 12 inches I guess) and dipped it in some rooting stuff (organic). Then I planted it in the trench and filled the trench in. I did this with about 8 cuttings. This is the most impressive. They didn't all work, probably only about half. But I'm dead chuffed anyway! The planting was back at the tail end of the autumn, if you're wondering.

Other stuff today. Gave in and bought some red cabbage plants at Bretby. Brought them home and planted them.
First sweet peas arrived (2 of them...)
Sunflowers have been out for a few days
Watered everything (including lavender).
Cursed the fact that I still haven't sorted canes for the tomatoes.
Planted the last of the lavender in the gaps that have appeared (I can't now afford to have any more gaps, as we're fresh out of lavender!!)
Sowed some echinacea (don't know about spelling - spell check suggests chinaware...) out the front by the fence.
Yes, you've guessed it - earthed up spuds. Left bin is now full, so can't have any more earthing. Right bin will probably take one more lot.