Lots has been happening in the Garden recently, with the sunshine and the rain we've been having everything is green and lush. The nettles are loving it as are other plants in the garden.
The apple trees are looking well, there's been a few falling off with the June drop, these haven't been wasted, seems my friends guinea pigs love them!
My hanging basket toms have taken me 3 years to get to the point where I have a worth while harvest from them. They seem to have been a bit cooked in the heat, but there are a few green leaves, and are quite laden with fruit.
More apples, this is a tree that was new to the garden this year - James Grieve. I had one of these before but lost it due to vandalism. It's a dwarfing root stock in a terracotta container. Part of my pallet garden.
After a slow start my chillis are doing great. I have a ripe chilli on the indoor plants, as well as plenty of fruit on the outdoor plants. This is a variety from the real seed co - Palivec.
The tomatos and chilli plants on their shelf above the water tank. There are tagetes in a window box at one end, and nasturtiums at the other as companion plants. As you can see I almost have a ripe chilli out here too. This spot is a bit of a sun trap and it's very easy to cook plants. But it also means that they have plenty of warmth for growing.
More apples, this is a tree that was new to the garden this year - Old Pearmain. Supposedly this variety can be traced back to the early medieval period. This tree is on a dwarfing root stock in a small barrel planter.
In memory of Douglas Adams, I am growing some petunias. I wasn't sure what their flowers would be like, but I haven't been disappointed. I've also discovered following a slight identification error by a friend, that they are both tasty, and edible. Infact my friends prefer them to the lettuce I was growing in the tray next to them...
I've tried for several years to grow calendula in the garden, this year is the first year they have bloomed properly. Very pleased with them.
Runner beans, a dwarf variety called pickwick. Again part of the pallet garden. Even if they didn't give an edible yield, I think I would grow these for their beautiful flowers.
Indoors my chilli plants have an infestation of green fly. So, rather than resort to chemicals, I found some ladybird larva on one of my hop plants, and transported a couple of them indoors to see if they can do something about the green fly. They've been sluggish to get going, but with any luck they will solve the problem.
First of the blackcurrant harvest this year.
More of the blackcurrant harvest. Only 14oz this year, well down on the 15lb I got last year, as a result of my pruning at the end of last summer.
My apple cordon. The 5 trees in this cordon are all planted in the actual ground, rather than containers like the rest. They are look to have a bumper supply of fruit (I got 7 apples total last year). I've had to resort to staking pretty much every major branch as they had bent over and were touching the ground! I know you can't count the harvest before you've picked it, but even if 10% of this lot comes through to fruition, I'll be happy. These are a Dutch Variety - Elstar.
How's everybody else's garden coming along?
Julia
The apple trees are looking well, there's been a few falling off with the June drop, these haven't been wasted, seems my friends guinea pigs love them!
My hanging basket toms have taken me 3 years to get to the point where I have a worth while harvest from them. They seem to have been a bit cooked in the heat, but there are a few green leaves, and are quite laden with fruit.
More apples, this is a tree that was new to the garden this year - James Grieve. I had one of these before but lost it due to vandalism. It's a dwarfing root stock in a terracotta container. Part of my pallet garden.
After a slow start my chillis are doing great. I have a ripe chilli on the indoor plants, as well as plenty of fruit on the outdoor plants. This is a variety from the real seed co - Palivec.
The tomatos and chilli plants on their shelf above the water tank. There are tagetes in a window box at one end, and nasturtiums at the other as companion plants. As you can see I almost have a ripe chilli out here too. This spot is a bit of a sun trap and it's very easy to cook plants. But it also means that they have plenty of warmth for growing.
More apples, this is a tree that was new to the garden this year - Old Pearmain. Supposedly this variety can be traced back to the early medieval period. This tree is on a dwarfing root stock in a small barrel planter.
In memory of Douglas Adams, I am growing some petunias. I wasn't sure what their flowers would be like, but I haven't been disappointed. I've also discovered following a slight identification error by a friend, that they are both tasty, and edible. Infact my friends prefer them to the lettuce I was growing in the tray next to them...
I've tried for several years to grow calendula in the garden, this year is the first year they have bloomed properly. Very pleased with them.
Runner beans, a dwarf variety called pickwick. Again part of the pallet garden. Even if they didn't give an edible yield, I think I would grow these for their beautiful flowers.
Indoors my chilli plants have an infestation of green fly. So, rather than resort to chemicals, I found some ladybird larva on one of my hop plants, and transported a couple of them indoors to see if they can do something about the green fly. They've been sluggish to get going, but with any luck they will solve the problem.
First of the blackcurrant harvest this year.
More of the blackcurrant harvest. Only 14oz this year, well down on the 15lb I got last year, as a result of my pruning at the end of last summer.
My apple cordon. The 5 trees in this cordon are all planted in the actual ground, rather than containers like the rest. They are look to have a bumper supply of fruit (I got 7 apples total last year). I've had to resort to staking pretty much every major branch as they had bent over and were touching the ground! I know you can't count the harvest before you've picked it, but even if 10% of this lot comes through to fruition, I'll be happy. These are a Dutch Variety - Elstar.
How's everybody else's garden coming along?
Julia
