8th - 9th April

8^th April

It was this time last year that I sowed the onions whereas this year they went out 2-5 days ago after 6 weeks of growth. That has got to be an advantage. We’ve had some rain the last 2 nights but it has been sunny and warm during the day. The last few weeks have been warm, and everything is coming on apace in the garden and greenhouse. Today was an ideal opportunity to get on with a few small jobs as I knew the rest of the family would be out shopping when I came home from work so I had at least an hour to get on. I can fit much more into an hour in the garden when I’m on my own.

The first job was to take out the 3^rd rose along the border as it has weak pinky flowers that get covered in mould or rust really quickly. That got excavated and cut up into the council green waste bag. Far better to put plants harbouring disease into that bag as it goes to a massive heat treated composter and the fungus gets killed. In my compost bin it can live on to re-infect. In its place I put the wonderfully deep red rose that has been overshadowed by the pampas grass right at the end of the border. All went well but I am fully aware that planting a rose where a diseased rose has been is asking for trouble. After pruning the new one and watering in I planted out the oregano and 2 sage containers that have successfully overwintered just placed on the top of the soil in the herb area. I simply dug holes, placed in the pots and filled around, then lifted the pots, removed the soil and slotted into the exact size hole that was now there. Mind you, I had to remove the little polystyrene chunks I put in last year. Yes, they took up space and helped drainage and were light, but they are a pain when you remove the plant and soil. Broken crocks are far better and I have been saving up some for future use. After this I clipped the lower, pest nibbled leaves of the chards. I really must pick some for eating, they’ve been growing happily for nearly a year and I haven’t even tasted them yet. Then it was time to plant up one of the lavender plants I received last summer from an offer in Gardeners’ World magazine. I decided on the Papillion one. I lined the base of a largish plastic pot with weed suppressing membrane as this allows drainage of water without losing soil, then put in some broken crocks – see, useful already! – then part filled with a mix of manure and old soil, then filled up with multi purpose compost and planted the lavender and watered. It looks a bit small but I trust it will take up the challenge to spread. Then I deadheaded some daffodils which have faded. This year I still have quite a bit of a display from the daffodils whilst the tulips are out. Last year the large red tulips had their leaves blown off before the other ones flowered (the ones whose petals have an orangey edge which blends into a main red petal. This year, although the large red ones came out first, they are still around to flower with the other ones. The last job was to plant out the daffodils that we had in 2 small pots from our bulb planting workshop at Hilliers last autumn. I ran a census on the sweet peas and we are now up to a 42% germination rate.

It was a great day to be out doing all this as the sun felt great on my back and the air seemed fresh and clean. When we get into the heat of summer, (or should I say if) I don’t really fair too well. I head for the shade and keep work away from the heat of the afternoon, but this weather in April and May is just great for me, I can enjoy it and work hard.

9^th April

Before finishing for an extended Easter break (I have until this time next week off work) I went to Hilliers to buy some replacement sweet peas. At home I have 18 of 20 Blue Danube and 11 of 20 Scarletts so they are not a problem, but I have 3 each of Duo Magenta and White Supreme, so I wanted to get those colours. For £1.49 each I got a pot of over a dozen Cupani (similar to a Duo magenta in colour and in that they have 2 colours) and a white variety called Swan Lake.