Looking good

 My cauliflower plants are in one end of this bed, leeks at the other end, with space for winter cabbage, the seedlings are just coming through as are the second sowing of broccoli. My third sowing of carrots are just showing, I do aim to sow anther batch soon. The second lot of peas are now coming through. My courgette is thriving, I have one bag of potatoes to dig out. I have dug out the cucumber plant, it was not doing well, it's back in the greenhouse, I have sown a few more cucumber seeds, I don't think the plant will survive.

These blueberries are thriving this year, they love their new sunny spot, the plant is full of berries, which are starting to turning blue. My raspberries are behind, I think the broad beans shaded them from the spring sunshine, they are catching up. The strawberry tower is not in the best spot, they too are behind, fruits have formed but are not changing colour yet, I have a couple plants in a small pot elsewhere and the fruits their are almost ready for eating. I think I need to find the tower a better spot.

I love it when new plants flower, both the foxglove and poppy are new this year, they are at the back of my square garden, I am hoping for cottage vibes here, so far it is working. The hollyhock is starting to form it's flowers, it's a deep red colour, my astrantia I planted last year is almost ready to burst into bloom, I had thought it had died, there are loads of blooms in this spot to come.

It's a brilliant year for my hosta's, both look great, I moved the pots to our seating area, tucked them with the herb pots, they are loving this spot, later they will go to the back section of the garden. The plant with the green and white leaves I will split at some point, I hope to get three new smaller plants. 

My wildlife pond area is looking so good, all the plants are healthy, it looks as if it has been here forever, the plants are keeping the water clear, I am hoping this space will look after itself, I don't want to be messing with it much. I have a blood grass at the back which when it starts to grow will fill the back, next to it is a forsythia, lovely yellow blooms in spring, and in front another grass. I have sprinkled red poppy seeds along the side fence. 

Having said in late May I was concerned with my agapanthus not having any blooms, now I have counted 10, which is pleasing, this is the mother plant, I have separated bits all around our garden, the blooms grow away from the pond towards the sun, so there will be no issues there. On the other side (left), I have put my canna lily, it is already growing. The raised bed behind is full of bedding plants, so much colour. 

I am still battling slugs and snails, mainly in the one veg bed, I have netted the other bed, but the runner bean poles make it hard to have any covering. I am thinning carrots, which are making a lovely harvest for us, the final broad beans went into the freezer, we have 3 portions of them now. The initial six broccoli plants are huge, the heads are forming, most will be cut whilst small, as I don't eat them, I am hoping then I might get spears as a secondary crop. Both the beetroot and parsnips are growing well, they should need thinning again soon. Tomato plants are catching up, I have three this year, two are still in the greenhouse. 

These days I am not having so many failures, I am thinking more about space and conditions in my growing area, and matching plants, rather than going to a garden centre and saying I like that, and bringing it home to a certain death. Plus after 15 years of working a heavy clay soil, I have managed to keep the soil fertile, without the clay sticking together, it has been a slow process. 

I follow a few younger gardeners on Instagram, who do things so very differently to me, I follow my parents style of gardening, looking after the soil firstly, I do prefer raised beds, something not heard of in our childhood garden, the only plant grown in a container was mint. Most things were grown from seed, or purchased as bare root plants, is it gardening when you purchase plants to go into bigger pots, almost everything already done for you.