Last weekend did the outdoor sowing of broad beans, and covered them all in big new hoops of fleece. The autumn sowing of broad beans did hardly much better than the peas – half died after the hard frosts. Maybe with protection all through the winter they would have been OK?

Most sown 23 Jan. Some extras within a week later.

Successfully germinated: broad beans (Super Aquadulce, to fill gaps, no heat, already very leggy), beetroot (last few of Bonnel), cucumbers (La Diva & crystal lemon, although La Diva has since rotted off), tomatoes (Sungold, Moneymaker and Purple Russian), peppers (Marconi Rosso and minis), melon (Bardot), globe artichoke (Gros Vert de Laon and Violetta di Chioggia, root trainers), greek basil (not v.even germination) and coriander (very poor). Ornamentals: sweet william, Pennisetum villosum (only a couple), purple millet, physalis, a few cerinthe, sunflowers, amaranth. Still waiting for parsley, dodecatheon and honesty.  Peas in root trainers (Feltham first) mostly rotted, although the seed is quite old now.

Outdoor sowing still awaiting better weather. Managed to plant new raspberries, gooseberries and white currant before the cold snap.

Photo of what planted-up pond and stream look like in the summer:

Things that have worked out well:

• strawberries: gave a good crop in June, despite ravages of a net-ripping squirrel, and are now doing the second round.
• sunflowers for the wedding, just about got there in time, and are now having another go. Annabelle’s monster one, complete with 8ft cane is in bud, and looks like it will need every inch.
• Red currants: bumper crop, enough spare to make jelly.
• Runner beans are running, breaking the elderly canes.
• Broad beans were fine, way back.
• Cherries were utterly splendid, about two dozen altogether.
• Seed-raised delosperma doing quite nicely, planted some out recently.
• Rejuvenated bay tree is green again.
• Blueberry has grown lots of strong new branches, so hope for a proper crop next year, at last. It is much more manageable in a pot.
• Carrots in tub were all clean (unlike the Fly Away in the ground, which were slightly damaged, despite being picked fairly young).
• Two different lots of houseleek flowered in the rockery, and most of the new acquisitions have settled well. Jacob’s ladder died, but there are lots of seedlings.
• Most flower beds have been fine, with very little gap. Rudbeckias are out in force, both annual and perennial. Liked the new cerinthe. Other annuals “failed to thrive” – probably planted out too small.
• Mints moved into the shade have done much better – just rather further to walk in the dark for an evening brew…
• A nice crop of globe artichokes, although only from one plant. And need to pick them younger.
• Transplanting broccoli from a nursery row worked quite well in terms of timing, except that most of it got slugged, so only a few were left by moving time.
• Succession from oriental poppy to fuchsia has worked at last – just have to be quick with the cutting back.
• Pond has been pretty splendid, no serious green water thanks to the oxygenators.
• Beetroot – just perfect; had the first borsch this week.
• Seed-raised agapanthus has bulked up reasonably.
• Great geraniums.

Things that didn’t go so well:

• Sum total of 2 figs – blame the harsh winter.
• All peppers in the ground got slugged, sooner or later. The ones in pots are yet to fruit.
• Half the French beans didn’t sprout at all, although the newer purple climbing ones are OK, just not enough of them.
• Peas were pretty pathetic, mildewy and low cropping. Sugar snaps did better, although still didn’t last that long.
• Hardly needs saying that the melon died, despite every care.
• Chicory tastes horrid. Even the land snails don’t fancy it much. Only keeping it in the hope that the cold will somehow improve the flavour.
• Raspberries just carried on dying, one by one.
• Apples have lots of brown pitting, I think from rather extreme aphid population earlier in the year – ladybirds and hoverflies just couldn’t keep up.
• Spanish flag really doesn’t like any shade – the ones on the arbour all died, although one has succeeded in trailing through a flowering currant out the front, so maybe that’s the preferred method.
• Trevor Lawrence clematis has gone all mildewy and then brown, again. Maybe he needs to scramble through a bush, too; that would mean moving it, again.
• The cold-damaged passion flower has hardly recovered.
• No sign of nerines…
• New astrantia was put in much too close to the hosta, and got completely swamped. And all the hostas got eaten.
• Solomon’s seal got eaten too, by a vast army of caterpillars of the little black sawflies, but apparently they don’t mind too much.
• Attempt to replace water lily with aponogeton to cover the surface has failed – it met with same fate, although looked more like it had been eaten by somebody, as it disappeared quite fast.
• Grape vine is looking a bit peaky and yellowish, despite feeding. Might not have enough sun, until it gets onto the arbour roof.

Marks out of 10: 8.5

Recent activity:

• Sown early peas for next year.
• Re-sown spinach, herbs and leafy bits, with extra netting, as the last lot (about 3 weeks ago) got used for toiletary purposes by cat(s).
• Re-sown hollyhocks, viola and dierama (from own seed) in cells – the last attempt may have been too hot outside.
• Cut down all lemon balm from the hot herb patch, with view to dig it out later, as it doesn’t need the sun. Hope to put another globe artichoke there instead, although the recent sowing of this failed (rotted). Now re-sown indoors.
• Re-potted amaryllis.
• Orchid coming into flower, slightly over a year since it was bought.
• Tried to sow lovage to keep in a pot, as the one in the ground is just too huge, and I need the space.

Have had one or two strawberries – just the alpine and Cambridge favourite so far.

Filled up the pond again, but it doesn’t seem to be losing it quite so fast anymore. Things are generally pretty glorious at the moment, buckets of things in flower (apples, bearded iris, batalinii tulips, the usual excess of forget-me-nots, and various waves of narcissi). The hedgehog keeps digging things up, and although he is probably doing a good job of eating up baddies, he doesn’t half make a mess!

Amaryllis and christmas cactus still flowering indoors.