June 23 2012, Garden no 11

GARDEN 2012 N0 11

It’s Saturday 23 June, and still raining. Woke up this morning and the news said; ‘serious flooding throughout the country’, guess I’m lucky to be free from the floods but we have had serious rain over the last three days. The news went on to say, ‘this could be the worse summer on record’,  ‘COULD BE’?? I feel that’s a little optimistic, as far as I’m concerned it already IS the worse summer on record.

ABOVE, PRIMROSES MID MAY

But it’s not all bad, we have had the odd day or two, even the occasional week, where the weather has been lovely and I’ve been out in the garden.
The first photos were taken mid may, we had some bright sunny days, the skies were blue, the garden was warm and the flowers were in bloom. The primroses and bluebells covered more ground and flowered for longer than usual, the pond looked especially good last month; I had more blooms in the pond than I have ever had before and the London pride was better brighter and more prolific than last year.
And then a bit of a setback, some local kids were playing in the street and jumping over fences. What ever game it was they were playing involved jumping over fences, climbing on shed roofs and running in and out of gardens. They trampled a corner of my garden and some of my plants were ruined.
I was really upset but when I went out to see what I could salvage, the damage wasn’t as bad as I thought.  We had weeks of rain and I thought I would never get out in the garden again, but when I did eventually get there, I found the rain had stimulated growth and the garden looked like a jungle. I lost a lot of seedlings and small plants, they were washed away but those that were strong enough to withstand the wind and the rain actually benefited and had a growth spurt. I’m now picking a couple of strawberries every day to eat with my cereal in the mornings, the beans and onions are looking great and  I’m eating fresh lettuce, radish, nasturtium leaf and assorted herbs every evening.  

I’m also getting a regular supply of rhubarb every couple of days. The spinach took a long time to establish, I thought I had lost it several times but now its looking good. 

The potatoes will be ready to pull soon; I hope to get these ‘earlies’ up in time to put another lot of ‘lates’ in. I’ve replaced quite a few of my herbs this year, I bought new ones but I also cut back the old ones and took fresh cuttings. I have an established patch of Tansy and Curry Plant; they are doing very well this year, they look quite similar but are very different.
And I have flowers, in no particular order and not highly cultivated but flowers they are.
School finishes next week and (weather allowing) I’ll be out there more often and hopefully get the last little bit dug over ready for another small veg plot next year. I’ve already salvaged a whole load of bulbs from the last tiny area I dug over and I expect to get at least as many again. Oh...........and I decided I liked this so much, I bought another
But for today……………the weather is awful and even if it wasn’t I’m booked for babysitting. I’ve packed my bag, packed my paints and I’m going to try to get some serious painting done over the weekend. My granddaughter is 11 now and I'm hoping she will amuse herself while I get on with the serious business of painting.

Tags: garden, garden 2012, plants, herbs, pond, vegetables

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delete reply nemo4sun wrote on Jun 24 forgetmenot525 said The tadpoles are just fine Nemo, they are getting bigger but they are not developing legs yet. I think maybe that's because the weather has been too cold for them to develop. I'm hoping they will start to grow their legs soon and leave the pond. i remember following their progress in the local ponds as a kid i can not remember how long the cycle took they should help with bug control when they are grown :)

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jun 24 brendainmad said Your cloud looks like the Loch Ness Monster with its tail chopped off! LOl.............thanks ..I took that photo because I thought it looked like a galloping horse with its legs tucked up underneath its body.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jun 24 nemo4sun said what happened to the tadpoles? The tadpoles are just fine Nemo, they are getting bigger but they are not developing legs yet. I think maybe that's because the weather has been too cold for them to develop. I'm hoping they will start to grow their legs soon and leave the pond.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jun 24 esoterika713 said Your veg garden is awesome. I could learn a lot from you. Perhaps, you could let me know your veg plan so I could make better use of the space. My sister made some really cool bean structures and we got some interesting new plants like a blueberry bush for instance. I'd love to be of help if I can but I'm not an expert. I've had this garden for over 10 years now and its only in the last couple of years that I've really started thinking about growing crops and making the most of the space that I Ihave. I used to have my daughters and grandchildren here for family BBQ's but now they are all settled and if we have family time it tends to be in their gardens not mine. This used to be a family garden with grass for the children and space for their toys and a little pool. They have outgrown that now, they tend to go to the park or the beach if they are here and as I get nearer to retirement I've decided to 'reclaim' my garden for my own use. Thinking about space is very important. Maybe I'll draw out a little plan and show you how I cram so much in and what my ultimate plans are for the space.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jun 24 veryfrank said Heuchera is a wonderful addition to a garden, dependable, survive winters and are easy to care for, mine are now 20 years old. I'm not much of a fan of the flowers but the foliage is lovely. Everything looks just great. The strawberries and radishes are loving that rain. Thanks Frank, when I wrote this I couldn't remember the exact mane of the plant, but yes, I really like them too. I love the colours of the foliage and I think it deepens and becomes richer with age. I may even get a few more if I can find space for them

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jun 24 kathyinozarks said your garden looks great even with all the poor weather-we are the opposite-extreme heat and no rain Hi Kathy, I would happily send you some rain if I could, and I would love some of your sunshine, if only it were that simple :-)

delete reply esoterika713 wrote on Jun 24 Your veg garden is awesome. I could learn a lot from you. Perhaps, you could let me know your veg plan so I could make better use of the space. My sister made some really cool bean structures and we got some interesting new plants like a blueberry bush for instance. I bought a bunch of stuff but space is always an issue. Too bad about the kids but I'm glad to hear it wasn't as bad. We haven't had that much rain so I've had to water but tomorrow it's supposed to rain. I hope a good gardeners rain. :)

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Jun 23 Your garden is lovely and I'm glad the kids didn't do too much damage. Your cloud looks like the Loch Ness Monster with its tail chopped off!

delete reply nemo4sun wrote on Jun 23 what happened to the tadpoles? everything looks very good all things considered the strawberry and rhubarb look delicious :)

delete reply veryfrank wrote on Jun 23 Heuchera is a wonderful addition to a garden, dependable, survive winters and are easy to care for, mine are now 20 years old. I'm not much of a fan of the flowers but the foliage is lovely. Everything looks just great. The strawberries and radishes are loving that rain.

delete reply mitchylr wrote on Jun 23 The garden is looking splendid!! The vegetables and herbs seem to be enjoying all the extra water!! The strawberries are doing nicely too :-))

delete reply kathyinozarks wrote on Jun 23 your garden looks great even with all the poor weather-we are the opposite-extreme heat and no rain

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jun 23 aaranaardvark said The garden is looking fabulous. I hear that this year is the wettest drought on record. You're doing a grand job Loretta with great results, nice one! Thanks Aaron................one of the things I really look forward to in retirement is spending more time in the garden. And congrats on winning your own battle with the authorities.:-)

delete reply aaranaardvark wrote on Jun 23 The garden is looking fabulous. I hear that this year is the wettest drought on record. You're doing a grand job Loretta with great results, nice one!