You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘gladioli’ tag.
We were up in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, this weekend for my friend Adam’s 40th. We stayed at a lovely guest house which we highly recommend for anyone staying in the town. Saturday was spent looking around which included tea and cake at the world famous Bettys.
Harrogate is a lovely place and well kept; the flowerbeds, packed with summer bedding, are all over the town and its open spaces and parks are treasured. Harrogate also plays host to some great horticultural shows, the Autumn Show is September 17th-19th.
And that night we dressed up for a Medieval Feast at the Priest’s House near Bolton Abbey, Skipton.
It was a great party with 30 of us in full medieval fancy dress, a traditional banquet served in a bread bowl, (which you ate after the last of the main courses was served), in an amazing medieval setting. We had soup, salmon and prawns, lamb shank, chicken & pheasant, the King’s stew, poached pear & ice cream and cheeseboard (I think there was also a vegetarian option!). More food than we needed really with large jugs of ale, cider and wine on the table. Fantastic night courtesy of our hosts.
And by popular demand here we are in our medieval garb!
In the garden you turn your back for a couple of days and courgettes become marrows!
In the flower bed the asters are now in full bloom.
And my last variety of Gladioli, Mexico, are finally out. Thank you to all who entered my free giveaway competition, prizes will be despatched soon. Have a great week!
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Does exactly what it says on the tin, enjoy!
We’re having some work done at the side of the house and the scaffolding afforded me the opportunity to get a different perspective on the garden from just above the roofline.
There are a couple of veg beds in the front garden. The one by the front door you can’t see in this picture and it’s where the courgettes, squash, strawberries and raspberries live. At the far end by the road you can just see the newest bed behind the trees. In there are beetroot, brussels, sweetcorn, squash, pumpkins, celery, sprouting brocolli and cabbage. By the drive is the main flower bed and the rest is the girls domain with toys everywhere!
Most of the veg growing is in the smaller back garden where I have 3 beds and a greenhouse. Having just dug the onions and potatoes there’s quite a bit of space now, a month ago it was packed solid.
The aubergines are going mad in the greenhouse. I bought these two as tiny plants at our spring show so have no idea what the varieties are. One is producing a few standard looking egg-shaped fruits and the other is throwing out loads of long thin paler ones. Any ideas?
And so are the cucumbers, now we have more than we know what to do with.
I’m really pleased with the progress on the pumpkin front. These are Rouge Vif d’Etamps from seed Maureen kindly sent to me.
And the squash have been great this year.
There’s also plenty of colour in the garden, these are Asters, Appleblossom.
And the glads and the sweet peas are still going strong.
Lastly I’m really pleased with my first attempt at Dahlias, definitely going to grow more next year, I don’t think you can beat them for colour.
Well the countdown to the village show run by my local Horticultural Society has well and truly begun. It’s 6 days away so I’m going around the garden checking on progress and seeing what I think will be ready for the big day. For last years write-up click here.
The main classes are Master Gardener and Society Top Tray.
Master Gardener (display space 24″ x 24″) – One vase of flowers and 3 vegetables from the list. One from Sweet Peas – 9 of any variety, Gladioli – 2 of any variety, Dahlias – 3 of any variety, or Perrenials – 9 of any variety. And 3 from Runner Beans – 6, Cabbages – 2, Cauliflower – 1, Carrots – 3, Onions – 3, Peas – 6 (pods), Potatoes – 6 (one variety), Tomatoes – 6.
I didn’t enter this class last year as I wasn’t growing any flowers, it’s most likely going to be glads or dahlias with runners, carrots and potatoes I think. Or I don’t enter again this year and pool my best veg in the other classes. Decisions, decisions…..
Society Top Tray (display space 18″ x 24″) – 3 vegetables from the list:- Carrots – 3, Onions – 3, Parnsips – 3, Peas – 6 pods, Potatoes – 3 one variety, Runner Beans – 6, Tomatoes – 6. I’ll probably be relying on parsnips, runners and spuds for this one, possibly carrots if I have enough decent ones.
The Dahlia bed is looking good. I should be able to enter some of these into the show. The varieties I’m growing are Shooting Star, My Love, Firebird, Hayley Jane, Kennermaland, Vancouver, Black Cat, Le Baron and Pompon Flow Mix (various small ball types). In containers I have Bristol Stripe, Babylon Bronze, Atika, Kenora, Purple Gem and Kelvin Floodlight. For more Dahlia posts click here, here and here.
This is Shooting Star.
Hayley Jane.
Le Baron.
Black Cat.
The Gladioli are looking good, should have some ready at the right time.
Courgettes are a tricky class as I need three around 6″ long with flowers.
I need two cucumbers, they have their own class and can go into the salad veg selection.
The squash will go into the any other veg and selection of veg from my garden categories.
Peppers will go into the selection of veg category. Possibly some of the aubergines and chillies too.
The pumpkins are doing well. I’ve grown a couple of plants from the seeds Maureen sent me, the variety is Rouge Vif d’etamps.
And Chloe and I were in the garden harvesting the plum tree which produces hundreds of these tiny plums. Chloe loves them!
Don’t forget my free Land’s End Gift Voucher and Seed giveaway that I launched earlier this month. All you have to do is leave a comment on the post, just click here. I’ll be drawing the gift voucher winners and despatching the seeds towards the end of the month.
At last the Gladioli are out in a burst of colour that brightens up the flower bed. I’ve planted two varieties this year, Passo and Mexico, and am hoping I can use them in our Summer Show next Saturday in the Master Gardener class, which is 3 veg and a vase of flowers. Hopefully they will be in flower at the right time!
We’ve said goodbye to strawberries, raspberries, broad beans, cauliflower & calabrese but what’s next from the plot? In full production are the potatoes, courgettes, squash, runner and french beans, tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce and rocket but there are one or two delights left this summer before we get into the true winter veg.
The first are the cabbages, not a classic summer veg in my book, but will go nicely with a Sunday roast. These are the first I’ve grown successfully and I’m really pleased with how they’ve turned out. I daren’t lift the mesh tunnel as I’d never get it back over them!
Then there’s the sweetcorn, my first, and from the near fever-pitch sense of anticipation from other bloggers’ posts it’s going to be fantastic. I can’t wait!
On the flower front there’s the promise of the Dahlia patch reaching full bloom and yet more sweet peas (keep on cutting them!).
And the wonderful gladioli, the Dame Edna Everage of flowers according to one of Edith’s recent posts and why not? Being a bit over the top sometimes is a good thing!
So a nod to what’s already been and gone and a look forward to the delights still to come. That’s what it’s all about!
Don’t forget my free Land’s End Gift Voucher and Seed giveaway that I launched on Sunday. All you have to do is leave a comment on the post, just click here.
I thought I’d take a few photos of all the lovely flowers in bloom in the garden and give you an update on veg progress.
The Iris that I got hold of through Freecycle last year is now in flower, I’m really pleased as I put it in a narrow space that runs alongside the beech hedge and it has flourished.
I love this yellow rose which is by the front door. I moved it a couple of years ago and it was in a bit of a state. Now there’s nearly 30 flower buds on it which is fantastic.
Just above the rose bush is a hanging basket with pansies in full bloom.
The first sweet pea flower isn’t far away.
Even the veg are getting in on the act, here the broad beans are blooming and the caulies are filling out nicely.
The Spring Cabbage aren’t far off harvesting now.
It’s the first time I’ve grown Calabrese and they are coming on well. The girls are going to love devouring the green florets when the appear.
I almost can’t wait for winter to taste the sprouts.
The front garden bed is now fully planted with courgette and squash. The gladioli along the wall of the house are starting to show. We should get dozens of strawberries and raspberries as well, I must get the netting organised to keep the birds off them!
It’s the first time I’ve grown this lettuce, Red Deers Tongue.
I took a gamble on this sweetcorn planting it out over a month ago, now it’s come through the plastic bottle cloche, so fingers crossed it was worth the risk. It’s the first time I’ve grown sweetcorn so we’ll see how it goes.
The onion bed looks a lot tidier now, I’m hoping that the ‘visitor’ doesn’t return, I lost 8 onions to the burrowing but I’m hoping the rest settle down and fatten up over the summer.
Finally I don’t know about you but I’ve been watching the Chelsea Flower Show in awe of what these people can achieve. It was great to see Medwyn win the President’s Award at Chelsea, how does he do it? Amazing veg display! One day I’ll get there!!!
Now is the time of year when everything on the plot comes to a head. The weeds are growing, space in the greenhouse is at a premium, plants need hardening off, watering if it’s hot, keeping an eye on the cold nights still to come, successional sowing, potting on, the list is endless. So whilst I’m indoors keeping an eye on the girls whilst Rach is out I thought I’d take stock of where I am and what needs to be done this weekend.
The large bed is full up. The front half is potatoes, Charlotte, Anya and Desiree. Then cauliflowers and calabrese, broad beans and, at the back, the purple sprounting brocolli plants which will be replaced with runner and french beans eventually.
The shallots and onions are doing well. Some of the garlic didn’t come up so I’ve filled in the gaps with onions that I grew from seed.
The front garden bed gets full sun most of the day. Strawberry plants line the edge and are in full flower. There’s some raspberry canes at the back and I’ve planted gladioli all along the house wall. There’s also a gooseberry and balckcurrant (I will be getting a couple more of these to put in). This will also be the courgette and squash bed, there’s one courgette already in and it’s protected at night by the water cooler bottle.
In the middle bed the spring cabbages are coming on, I planted them out quite late so they are not as big as I’d hoped yet and I desperately need the space for other plants that are in the greenhouse.
I’ve not been very successful with carrots so this year I’m growing some in containers, these are Amsterdam Forcing.
The purple sprouting is in full flow now, eating it pretty much every night.
The lettuce are coming on well, there’s a mixture of Artic King, Winter Density and Little Gem here. I’ve also sown salad bowl, lollo rosso and red deer’s tongue.
The greenhouse is full to bursting point as always!
The next crop of brassica seedlings and lettuce are coming through. I’ve not sown direct as I don’t have the space at the momemt. At the back are some more sweet peas and various pots with the mixed salad leafs from the BBC DigIn packets coming through. To the right are pansies ‘Joker’ that I’ve grown from seed.
The squash and tomatoes are coming on nicely.
It’s the first time I’ve grown Red Orach, they are ready to plant out now.
The chilli and peppers need potting on too.
And finally the dahlia tubers I put in pots have sprouted.
There is so much to do, here’s my list, I’m sure I’ve missed something!
1. Plant out / pot on courgettes and squash.
2. Pot on brassica seedlings (space not available yet).
3. Move beans into bigger pots until space becomes free on plot.
4. Tie up sweet peas and plant out remainder.
5. Pot on greenhouse tomatoes into final bottomless pots which will go on top of the gravel bed.
6. Plant cucumbers in their final spaces in the greenhouse.
7. Plant more gladioli bulbs.
8. Plant out unsprouted dahlia tubers.
9. Harden off and plant out rest of bedding plants that have been growing on in the greenhouse.
10. Mow lawns and tidy up edges.
11. Weed everywhere.
12. Sow successional radish, lettuce and beetroot.
13. See what is surplus to requirements for the Horticultural Society plant sale on May 22nd.
14. Pot on chilli and sweet peppers.
15. Plant out Red Orach.
16. See what containers are available and what I can plant in them to save space.
17. Get last of salad potatoes into compost bags.
Hope you all have a great Bank Holiday weekend whatever you’re doing and we get some sunshine in between the showers.
Well I felt a bit better today and just needed to get out of the house after two days stuck indoors. With all this greyness around at the moment I was in search of some colour to share with you. So I packed the family off to our local In-Excess and garden centre. Picked up some bargains in In-Excess, packs of summer bulbs (Dahlias and Gladioli) for 95p, seeds (Summer Squash, Autumn/Winter Cauliflower, Rudbekia) for 50p and some more marigold seeds for 25p. Well worth a visit, they have stores in Salisbury, Ringwood, Bournemouth and Christchurch.
The garden centre we went to was quite small but had some welcome colour.
Some nice Polyanthus.
Beautiful primroses and some daffs.
Back home just a bit of sowing and pricking out to do really as the plot is unworkable with this heavy rain. In the greenhouse growing on are onions, cauliflowers, calabrese, tomotoes, sunflowers and marigolds.
On the windowsill indoors are leeks, pepper, chillies and little gem lettuce. No real signs of life on the plot yet, the broad beans haven’t come up so I have some in pots as back up. Garlic, shallots and onions are still dormant and nothing off the PSB yet. Hopefully we’ll get some sun and warmer weather in the next couple of weeks.
A couple of bursts of colour in the garden. A nice clump of winter heather and some Crocus (I think) almost coming into bloom.
