Forward once more: the garden saga

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As I wrote in my previous entry some of the first plants to go in my beds were sunflowers, leeks and marigolds. Add to that runner beans & sweet peas, some lilies and a penstemon or two, a couple of herbs as well as the acquilegas that could be seen growing through the grass, weeds and moss along the fence.

As for gardening this late in the season there was some sorrow and lots of joy. The sweet peas were really slow to get established. Those we had planted for my partner’s mother were up and running. Ours just looked miserable. The same goes for the runner beans. Granted there was a month to 3 weeks gap but at times we felt nothing would grow for us. Some hung on where others just gave up. Luckily they have caught up in the meantime. This weekend I cut down mum’s sweet peas and planted winter pansies whereas we still have sweet peas and loads of runners to pick and enjoy.

The free seeds from the Amateur Gardening I pick up every week are a godsend. They have been sown and the perennial seeds that have been growing have been planted as well as the seeds I was given as a farewell present in Holland (lots of forget-me-nots). The chance I took with buying some Chasmanthe bulbs at half price from Wilkinson has payed off, no flowers this year but the foliage goes nicely with that of the crocosmias I bought for 10p at the village fair and the other architectural plants.

On the whole we have done well. At times the garden looks so beautiful I could cry (at the moment it could do with a prolonged period of rain or the garden hose). The sunflowers have grown beyond all expectations, the marigolds have been flowering their hearts out, the leeks have slowly progressed. Other plants have been added to fill out the beds and gaps and more no doubt are to follow. The window frames in the shed have been painted white to tie it in with the bench and draw your eye up the garden and plants have been hung there as well to give it more interest.

marigold and leeks, let’s hope we’ll have a bumper harvest

sunflowers in place and in the top of the pic a new bed appears

young and rather empty looking beds when this photo was taken

• 24 Aug, 2009
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