Getting ready

Hubby needed to pop to B&Q this week, so I had a look at their plants, I always look at the reduced section, these plants were half price, I paid £6 for the hellebore and £2 each for the geums, I always look closely to see if there is new growth, a good indicator the plant is not dead. The geums are inside my greenhouse to let them dry out, they both will go into my side bed, I have a lovely spot for the hellebore once the rain stops. 

My main purchase was seed potatoes, these bags are much smaller than bags sold at our local garden centre, perfect size for just the two of us, the first early are already in an old egg carton tray on the kitchen window sill. I will grow these in bags again, three potatoes in each bag. 

The second necessary purchase was John Innes potting compost, this will be required soon, seedlings and seeds will be started in a few weeks. Whilst I was there I got two boxes of fertilizer, both natural products, which I have used before with great results. 

Soon I will dig out both my composters and hopefully have two bags of compost, enough to see me through to the summer, in previous years I have purchased different compost and mix them, I am confident my compost will be good quality and give my plants a great start. I could sift my own compost for seedlings, but in truth I can't be bothered, maybe next year. 

Most of my flowering plants in the greenhouse are doing well, I have now only 2 guara plants, I have 3 in the garden, I will have less gaps this year. I also have a bucket of carrots which are growing well, would be nice to have an early crop.

We had intended to pop to our favourite garden centre, but decided it wasn't necessary, the café has lovely cakes but is expensive, so we came home and enjoyed hubby's homecooked brownies. Everything above was much cheaper than from any garden centre, often the reduced plants are over watered or just finishing their growing cycle for the season, the shelves were full of different plants, most can be revived. 

Note to myself, the garden is full, no more new bigger plants, will I listen to my own advice, probably not.