Late Spring in the Garden...

I've got a nice spot in my veg patch for cucumbers. Am I wasting my time starting them in pots indoors? They just seem to turn up their toes when I plant them out...
I've sown seed directly into the soil with fingers crossed but any pointers would be welcome. I was hoping to do some pickling eventually if I planted loads

It's all going on in your garden Sue, very interesting. I like your cucumber supports, I never do well with supporting mine. Ants killed one of mine off, get in the roots, happens every year.
I use rings for tomatoes too but just the bottomless ring without the outter. Lots of flowers, lovely.

Everything is looking rosie in your garden. Love your ceanothus feature.

Loving the stumpery! Clematis looks pretty too.

the garden is looking lovely Lincs and I agree about the toms, if the system works for you keep at it. I also have spare plants. don't you find that if you want 6 plants and sow 6 seeds then hardly any show and if you plant 20 seeds they all germinate?
one Cucumber plant does us and I grow the petita type.

Darren make sure you select an outdoor variety and wait until you have 4 true leaves before planting it out. if you start it in warmth also fully harden it off for 2 weeks and if frost forecast cover it with fleece to protect it.

The pond looks lovely too.

I love your garden Sue ! There is always something going on and well done to your hubby for taking the tree down.

Thanks again Seaburn.
Hope you haven't copyrighted any of your planting setups Lincs, I can definitely see suspiciously similar arrangements appearing in my garden 😊

Hi Sue, your garden is looking lovely. I particularly enjoyed the shots of the pond and the lovely orange flowers. My succulents have been outside for a couple of weeks and it hasn't stopped raining since I put them out! typical. But they seem to be coping very well in spite of it all, and they have definitely coloured up beautifully in the direct sunlight.

Darren having never actually grown cucumbers outside, mine are always in a g'house, I'm afraid that I cannot really give you any tips, however I do remember that years back, way before your time they were always grown on a ridge of heaped up earth and compost,
as already stated by Seaburn, protected overnight, one thing I have learnt over the years is never to start them off too early, I have tried that only to lose them and have to start all over again and that is in a g'house. There is a brilliant video " How to grow Ridge Cucumbers " it was originally shown on BBC2 The Big Allotment Challenge 2015, well worth a look Darren.. I really don't mind you using any of my methods, that's how I've learnt over a lifetime of gardening, lol....

Dawn I bought the bags and supports years back, think they came from Amazon, they're brilliant but I still have to use strong wiring as the cucumber stems don't take long before they reach the roof, I don't believe in stopping them until well into the autumn, the more the merrier is what I say, do the same with my tomato's..lol..
We're all having a fabulous year aren't we, I think our gardens liked that long dry spell last year, I've had far more flowers and they all seem to have lasted longer, especially the bulbs, good year for flowering shrubs and fruit blossom as well..
Your garden is looking lovely also Dawn...

Hiya Siris and thankyou, that is the only Ceanothus I have left now, lost two in the last couple of years, alright one week and dead another so I'm pleased this one is doing well...

Hello Kate, my stumpery is one of my favourite places in the garden, nothing ever grew well down there because of the willow that we had to remove, I don't regret it at all now..

Hi Seaburn. Yes if it ain't broke don't try and fix it is my motto, you're so right about the seeds, I just cannot get it into my head that I'm only growing for myself, lol, this year my youngest daughter is having a revamp done at her house inside and out, even she only wants a few plants for her pots, however she has talked me into growing for Stamford in Bloom and I'm going to be looking after one of the beds with her, some of my plants can be donated there..I would willingly grow some of those tom's on and give them away but I'm afraid my neighbours aren't into gardening like I am so most will end up in the compost..

Thanks Lincs, maybe it was just trying to start too early, they were fine outdoors in pots then within a couple of days of being in the ground they just wilted. I'm just sowing direct into a composty ridge & waiting at the moment but there's plenty of time...
The bird feeder sunflower seeds have had no trouble popping up😄

Hello Rose, how are you doing, its so good to see you back, I hope you will be happy in your new home...
Its never boring around here that's a fact, I have to change something every year even if its only a little change, thinking of the future and my age so although it might look busy, it is so much easier to care for now, the good thing about perennials is they fill the garden and we're not forever having to replant every season....

Your garden is lovely, I especially like the way you have done the stumpery and great for wildlife, it’s something I have never tried but you have inspired me to give it ago.

Thankyou Karen, the succulents are still indoors, after two wonderful, hot weeks it has turned very cold this weekend, typical bank holiday, we could do with a good downpour if I'm honest, it goes dark and threatens but nothing happens, lol. I love the way the succulents colour up when outside, most of mine are going through their flowering period again, some want repotting but I don't like disturbing them whilst flowering....

Thanks Sue, I find the cucumbers difficult to support, I need to look into supports. It's rained today a little, thankfully.

Great to see what's going on in your garden, Lincslass!

I have started on removing the bulbs from the balcony & putting in the summer flowering plants. Been itching to get on with it all month!

Today I planted up 2 big hanging baskets & a small wicker basket. Also put the pots of Begonias on the balcony railings after taking the pots of bulbs down & planting them in my church's garden.

Thankyou Julien, I am pleased with the way it has turned out, I've always liked them when I see them in the grand old gardens I like to visit, don't have access to huge upturned tree roots so I made do with what I could use, I think Jenny Wren is nesting in there this year and the robin is always scratching around for grubs, give it a go..

LINCS, I'm putting your blog into favs, as there are lots of helpful veggie comments in it, oh and your blog's interesting. Ceanothus unfortunately are not long lived shrubs.

Hi Balcony, you are going to be busy for a while then, I've always loved your displays, have said I'm coming your way to see it for real, hubby has finally retired completely so might get there now, lol...

Thankyou Siris, when the Ceanothus had enough they both died very quickly, I tried cutting out the brown stems but neither were having any of it, at least I tried...

Thoroughly enjoyed seeing what you have been up to in your lovely garden. My cosmos are at the same stage as yours and are ready for a move!
Your irises are so pretty and the hostas in the stumpery look perfectly placed.

Thankyou W'rose, I was hoping to get my dahlia's and Cosmos planted over the weekend but it turned really cold so took the dogs out instead, my daughter has been round today and collected her troughs and pots, I always overwinter them for her through the winter, I persuaded her that even though her garden is having a revamp done this summer, she could still have a few plants for the area that is staying as it is, lol.. doesn't look so much for me to do now, lol...

I love your collection of Dutch Irises Lin and that rose looks like 'Betty Boop'. Lot of yummy tomatoes on the way as well. You've been quite busy.

Hiya Paul, hope you're keeping well, thankyou for your comment, I'm always busy at this time of the year but I wouldn't change it for the world, its my happy time...

I know - like eating that very first tomato you grew yourself.

Yes I agree Sue. I have planted more perennials than I normally do as it does make life easier, but then I went a bit mad planting up pots of bedding ! More watering !! Hahaa!

Paul that one is always mine, lol..

Oh Rose, been there ,done that, lol.. I lecture myself every winter, then it comes to springtime and that idea goes right out the window..

Your garden is nice and colourful Sue and great to see your greenhouses with tomatoes etc. I also have many left over seedlings. I've got 18 Roma tomatoe plants lol Would you like some :D I just don't know where I'm going to put them all. I asked a neighbour and he also said he has too many already ! :D We gardeners are all alike … sow a few more just in case and then we get inundated with more seedlings than we can cope with :D
Your red climbing rose is beautiful isn't it, and I've never seen Hostas planted like that before into wood.
Nice to look around your garden Sue :)

Lincs, your blog is exactly why Spring is my favourite gardening season!

Hywel if you lived near me I'd bite your hand off for some of the Roma plants, I looked for seed but no luck around here and no-one selling plants either, I think they are one of the best, every winter I tell myself to be good and only sow a few seeds, I have had a brilliant idea though, I think I have too many trays and pots, figure if I give loads away then I won't be tempted to fill them will I, do you think that would work, lol...Yes that rose is gorgeous, it flowers so well every year and the perfume is stunning, I haven't a clue of its name, was bought in a pack of three many moons ago and none had individual names, tried many times to find out but there are so many aren't there. The wood came from the old willow tree that we had to remove, I was unsure whether the hosta's would survive but been there two winters now and both are doing well, mega chuffed with them, today I removed the pink hardy geranium and tugged the leaves out left over from the bluebells so the stumpery looks so much better now, I'll remove the Aquilegia when they finish flowering...

Hiya Shirley, how's things with you?? I love the springtime, and don't what you think but it seems to start earlier every year, I check back through my blogs and most of my bulbs and rockery flowers were at least six weeks earlier than they used to be, this year the daffs and tulips lasted longer as well, that in itself is a joy..

Sue, I've made a support for my cucumbers out of canes. Can you tell me how you deal with side shoots and training of your cucumber plants, thanks

Enjoyed seeing your garden. Don't our gardens keep us busy. I'd be a bit lost if I didn't have mine to potter in. Love your stumpery & the lovely irises.

I've finished (?) more or less, doing the planting on the balcony but it looks as if I will have to rethink the Begonias on the railings as the wind is playing havoc with them.

Dawn sorry only just noticed your last comment, as you can see in my pics I use the tricorn frames to support at the start but then allow my cucs to continue climbing by using a really strong wire stretched across the roof of my greenhouse, tying the stems in gradually, I do not pinch the tip out until they have literally gone up the side and across the roof, some growers do remove some of the side lateral stems, I've never used that method so cannot really advise on that, I only remove them if they are not producing any flowers at all, truthfully I used to think I might remove the wrong stem so left well alone, I get plenty of cucumbers doing it my way so continue in the same way every year...The BBC Gardening guides has a step by step tutorial that might be good for you to look at, they do tips on indoor and outdoor Dawn, or try any of the other video's, thinking about it I bet someone on here would soon tell you which ones to remove...

Hi Sue, thanks for your explanation, I usually let mine do their own thing but wasn't sure if it was a good idea, I'll do like you, thanks

Dawn I figure the amount of cucumbers I get means I'm doing something right, I've never had them taste bitter and that is what counts with me, I don't grow them for shows so I'm happy with the results...

I agree Sue.

I believe Cucumbers are bitter tasting when they haven't been fertilized properly. Same as when they grow twisted or stunted, though the latter can also be down to poor watering, too.

Though today with all the rain we are having that won't be much of a problem!

So much rain forecast for the week ahead too. Mine are in the greenhouse Balcony.

Yes, you are right, so much rain has fallen here that we have had more than enough for the lack of said in April & to fulfill this month's coop as well!

I'd grow cucumbers on the balcony but the only year I tried one plant it's leaves were far too big & together with the tomato leaves I could hardly get onto the balcony! 😂😂😂