Violet's Garden Diary

Re-sow everything in scrubbed-up propagator and modules: sweetcorn(6), cucumber crystal Apple, Zinnia (6), marigold (6), melon, plus Courgette Black Beauty. Second time lucky?

First fine day to coincide with some available time for absolutely yonks. Although time being available is an over-statement, but sometimes time just has to be made. So I’ve donned my gardening shorts, and vests, and even had to dig out the sun hat by the afternoon.

Cut the grass yesterday (a bit of an emergency case), and moved one of the potted big grasses to the front door. It appears to be still alive, unlike some of the other divisions. One of the boys helped to plant out the morning glory, hope it survives the nights.

The lettuces continue being decimated, although more by cruddy leather jackets than the slugs, me thinks. Endless weeding, before it gets completely out of hand. Planted out the rest of the beetroot in cells, although not very hopeful of its development. Also planted out the few kohlrabi cells. Potted on the Sungold tomatoes, that had reached more than 6 inches in height. Split up the remaining dahlia seedlings that were more than one to a cell.

Wonderful discovery of lily-of-the-valley about to flower near the silver birch – I had rather given up on its survival. Ought to plant out the other one near it then. Also found a hosta coming up in the bit of the border that had been used as main thoroughfare during all the fence painting, as I’d quite forgotten about its existence, but it doesn’t seem to have done it much harm.

Picked most of the purple sprouting for lunch – some of the flowers were beginning to open. It is food of the gods!

Outdoor sowings: Carrot Fly Away, beetroot Bonel, a wee bit of rocket and Lobjoits Green in the “herb” area; Miss Jekyll Nigella and Blue cloud forget-me-nots arount the silver birch; mixed salad leaves and some more mustard leaf in the square destined for the bean den; tiny strip of swiss chard, and a half-row of swede Marian.

Wash out the propagator, ready to start again. Sigh.

Did slugging last night, as the planted-out lettuces and the radish seedlings were getting eaten. The broad beans have come up pretty well (Optica), but the peas are still being slow, all of them. The carrots next to the earlies broad beans are showing signs of being carrots, but the other lot are still nowhere. The rest of the growbag seedlings have appeared, and quite a few of the strawberries are flowering. Currants are swelling up, ceanothus in full bloom. Absolute masses of tadpoles, wriggling away, and some other really tiny babes filling the pond – could be the water boatmen.  In the rockery tulips are out, lovely soft orange, but you do have to look for them; also the white dodecatheon is out way before the pink ones again. None of the narcissi in the rockery flowered.

The first lot of tomatoes (Sungold) are really big and need potting on; everything in the propagator is a write-off, went moldy again. The first lot of morning glories are a foot high, and really want to be planted out, but it seems still a bit too chilly. The kohlrabi and honesty are ready to go out, although I’m a bit worried that they’ll get eaten at the moment.

Only just managed to sow the bulb fennel, and got rained off before we got to the carrots. But we did split up all the leeks into individual cells, resulting in a monster tray with 50 of them, and then some. I think some will have to go to the fair, because there is no way we will grow or eat all of that lot.

Damping off had started again in the propagator, had to chuck one of the tomato pots. Hopefully caught it early.

Sow zinnia (Oklahoma) and marigolds (Barbara’s), 6 cells of each, with 2 seeds for luck. And the freaky pink sweetcorn covered in health warnings (oops, haven’t washed hands…), called Lark, in absolutely huge cells.

In between painting the bathroom and assembling a chest of draws,  Annabelle and I somehow managed to plant out the broad beans and the lettuces, as well as the lonely sugarsnap pea. We noticed that the radishes have come up (both normal and mooli), as well as the mustard leaf in the growbag. I spotted the first mangetout shoot. Oh, and moved a forget-me-not from the veg patch to the border, near the silver birch.

Saw the erythroniums that I had planted outside the front door at Island today, and somehow wasn’t taken with them at all. The leaves were huge, and the flowers small, and the whole impression was very untidy. Maybe I will say no to them after all.

Just about everything from the last lot of pots has come up, except for the melons, which are being difficult.

Sow another pot of morning glory (‘Star of Yalta’), chitted, and a small 6 cell tray of nemesia with heat. Some of the tomatoes, cucumbers, the watermelon and one of the peppers were big enough to come out of the electric box. Top up the rudbeckia cells that didn’t come up (about half). Not much left to sow urgently now, just the zinnias and maybe some marigolds.

Record of bulb varieties (so I can bin the packets)

• Iris reticulata in rockery
• Leucojum aestivum – Summer snowflake, under the silver birch, just getting the first few buds now
• Narcissus canaliculatus – labelled as “Fragrant miniature”, pictured with white, slightly reflexed, petals, and short yellow corona. I think they are  in the rockery, but haven’t seen them this year yet,  although it says flowering time is March to April
• Crocus fuscotinctus in rockery, yellow with purple stripes on the outside, did flower back in February
• Cyclamen coum was in pots, and did flower earlier, and has now been planted out around the base of the rockery, on the shady side
• Narcissus Minnow (the little pale yellow one with slightly darker centres) was possibly in pots, but has disappeared without much trace

All snowed in this morning, at least a couple of inches. Lovely sunshine in the afternoon, although not quite all melted. Had to rescue the lettuces and beans that were hardening-off outside from underneath an inch of snow – don’t seem to have suffered too badly, as they were the winter types.

Went to get some seed compost, but that garden centre only had Westland – not very confident that it is going to be any good, but we’ll see.

Survey of what’s in flower:

Patio

• Red currant
• Blueberry
• Daffs (small doubles, scented)
• Ceanothus not quite out, but showing colour
• Iris (tall) first flower
• White heather around the base of the irises
• Forget-me-nots under the currant

Also various mints growing quite fast, and the Japanese maple has burst bud.

Rockery

• Viola labradorica (purple leaved), and also elsewhere
• Red saxifrage
• Saxifraga apiculata ‘Gregor Mendel’ – nearly finished
• Dodecatheon meadia ‘Alba’ has lots of buds, whereas the pink ones have hardly started into leaf

Generally a bit of a lull in flowers, although plenty of greenery. The crocuses and early irises have finished, and the dwarf narcissi have not got there yet (she says hopefully).

Front

• Anemone coronaria – still debating who is eating off the flower buds: rabbits or slugs. The ones that have slipped past them are lovely mixed doubles
• Narcissi – the pink-centred ones and some odds-and-sods. Also the small multi-head doubles, pale yellow.
• Hellebores

A bit more colour from the ajuga (Black Scallop), looking distinctly red at the moment. Buds on clematis alpina, but not there yet.

Main border

• White camellia in full bloom, the red one still being shy
• Heathers
• Narcissi (white with orange-pink trumpets)
• Imperial Lily, yellow
• Just a few pink blobs on the Viburnum Dawn

Really need a bit more impact – some more Fritillaria and daffs, particularly white-and-yellow combinations. Also, wouldn’t say no to a few erythroniums in a corner somewhere.

Cow-slips by the pond are well good.

The grape hyacinths in the lawn have shown themselves at last, but are not as numerous as one would like. Could augment them with crocus, Eranthis hyemalis (from seed?) and some pinky chionodoxa, to start it a bit earlier. Maybe even some plain old scilla?

This evening’s slug hunt has produced a most singular snail, although someone is still eating the irises. Maybe I came out too early (8.30pm), and it’s not very damp weather-wise.

Finish off mulching the main border; now used up 5 of the new bags of compost.

Collect a bag full of slugs and snails (and a few cutworms) after dark. They were starting to eat the flower buds on the irises, the cheeky so-and-so’s.