Losing the plot........
By oddbillie
11 comments
FRIDAY 6th May
When we first moved into the house over 2 years ago, Ali expressed a wish for a veg patch and a raised one at that. Now, some of you may remember my early blogs of how I put it all together – not being a handyman as such – and how over the past 2 years, we had pretty good crops from them especially in the potato and runner bean stakes.
Well, this year, we have decided not to do any veg as we will be away and busy with the wedding etc during much of the picking season so it meant that we would basically lose the veg plot to make way for flowers…..and that made me quite happy to be honest!
You’ve seen the first stage in my last blog and this is what I got up to today. A sunny day, my day off, a trip to the garden centre and home to weed the central diamond plot that looked like this:
After an hour of painstakingly pulling out some very deep-rooted weeds, it started to look like this…..
And these rooty devils were the cause…..
Any idea what weed they are?
After a good raking and an addition of two thirds of a bag of organic manure, the bed looked like this…..
Now the good part….planting some of these, into it!
Now, I couldn’t possibly do all that on my own so luckily, Ali had nipped over to pick up the TerrorJACdyl who was only too happy to assist me in the planting….
After we had finished, it looked like this…..
Being a busy lad, Jac got bored then and needed a break so went in for a cuppa, some custard creams and…oh, to make a Star Wars comic! By the time his break was over, he was pleased to see that I had done the 2 end plots as well…..
I then moved on to re-potting six sunflower seedlings in to bigger pots…
Before finishing with a few close-ups of plants I had put in to the veg plots and one or two already out in containers.
This one is…
Anemone: De Caen Pink
Geranium: Phaeum Samabor
Scaredy Cat: Coleus Canius – The little tag in this one made me smile but the smell apparently puts our feline friends off going poopies in the beds…….flowers blue buds apparently so not all bad!
Digitalis: Camelot Rose
Queen of Night Tulip
Petunia: Phantom
Trailing Petunia: Callie Cream
Iris leaf with water droplets
Pansy F1: Raspberry Sundae
Sometimes, I find after spending a few hours working in the garden, although it’s enjoyable, you don’t always appreciate what you’ve done so I always wander back out early evening, after a shower, and wander round taking it all in…….
So, I literally did lose the plot today. First with the crazy weeds in the middle bed and then I lost the veg plot to flowers!
…..and how was your day?
9 May, 2011
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Comments
Lol! No, well, yes I did but that one is used for the runner beans and is behind the greenhouse so may get some florwers in but not sure yet!
Glad you approve though:0)
9 May, 2011
Excellent planting, Dan, especially like the little helper and I'm sure he'll blossom! You've reminded me to sow the Sunflower seeds which are still in the packet .. : o (( You can always grow salad crops in between the flowers, or in pots, herbs too. We have Lollo Rosso lettuce, the 'cut & come again' type which you do exactly that with it! Also, a wigwam or obelisk could have Runner Beans, if you like them, climbing up. Just a thought. : o ))
9 May, 2011
Its good to lose the plot occasionally - me thinks you and your helper (with the beaming smile) have done a terrific job. Love that phantom petunia.
9 May, 2011
They look lovely - good idea to grow flowers in a raised bed. I've never done that. Your horrid weed is a potentilla probably - the fruits look like strawberries but taste of nothing at all.
9 May, 2011
Shirley: Yes, I did the same Lollo Rosso the past 2 years and Icebergs last year as well. I may pop a few bits into a pot, who knows but just enjoying the flowers at present.:0) Thanks for the suggestions though.
Stroller: You're not wrong, losing the plot is indeed a good thing! Hope it all looks worth it when it starts to spread out a bit.
Sussexsarah: Thanks for that and glad you approve. It will be back to veg next year but I'll enjoy the plants this year for a change. Potentilla eh? Won't be trying the fruits then!!
Thanks all
9 May, 2011
Lovely pictures of dark flowered blooms - such rich colours. Your new raised beds look great. I love your little helper's gardening gloves !
9 May, 2011
Lovely blog it looks really nice planted up with lovely flowers, have to admit i'm not into veg gardens.
9 May, 2011
Very enjoyable blog, well done .
9 May, 2011
Oh well done Dan, I find veggies very boring (although I don't mind eating them). It's a case of "been there, done that" many years ago and now I like flowers, flowers and more flowers so "losing your plot" gets the thumbs up from me! I was wondering about your part time assistant, cheeky faced little Jac as you've not mentioned him for a while - good to see him again :o)
Lovely pics as always, love the arty water droplet ones especially.
9 May, 2011
I'm still drooling over those anemone pics, fantastic:-)
11 May, 2011
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the raised bed area looks great .Well done.
loved the dark tulip pics and all the others too :o)
you have left one long one empty ,did you run out of plants LOL
9 May, 2011