Slow start

Book 38 read this year, where do I start, difficult plot terminally ill child, parents disagree on care, is it strange to say I loved this story, she always delivers a great book, she writes well and keeps you interested until the end, which did not disappoint, and was not what you think. 

My greenhouse is full, the top shelf has all my bedding plants in induvial pots, hopefully to go out in a couple of weeks, I don't think we should have any more frost, I'm just being careful. Middle shelf has bigger plants, which don't need the bright sunshine, they will be moved to the top once I have the space. It's tidy in here after my sort out a couple weeks ago. 

I am growing more salads this year, here I have 3 pots of green leaves, I have 2 different tomatoes in one huge pot, one is already flowering, in the other huge pot my cucumber, which has put on loads of growth. I will start growing spring onion and radishes soon, I do hope to grow all our salads stuff this summer. 

Bottom 2 photo's are my carnivorous plants, I have taken roots from the pitcher plant and popped them into this big mug. Top left is my spiral houseplant I purchase last year, it's a bulb, I've had it in my greenhouse resting, but it's throwing up a flower bud, can't wait to see what it looks like. The final top right photo is my sphagnum moss again purchased last year, it had loads of brown bits in the package, so I put it all in this huge pot saucer and kept it wet in a shady part of the greenhouse, it's looking very healthy, I hope to keep it through the year and let it grow. 

I am pleased not to have too much to do this week, the greenhouse it's just a case of watering and turning pots to keep plant straight, we have cut some salad leaves. When I was at our neighbours BBQ on Sunday, I asked to pop behind his large garden building and check the shared back fence on his side, it's an area they don't use, I saw some ivy growing up the fence by my shed where I would not be able to get at it from our side, so I pulled at it to remove it, and bugger I have twisted my back again, so I have been hobbling around again. Hubby is cross with me, he would have sorted it, but again it was just a few seconds simple task, Darren would have cleared it for me, if I had asked, oh well time to rest. I am feeling much better, just being very careful. 

Again I have plans forming, changes in the garden, I'm focusing on the herb garden, it always looks good, but never produced huge returns, hubby and I agree the herb bed needs changing, we have chatted and agreed on a new flower bed, it will take a good week to sort. I have enough plants to fill the area, well maybe I might purchase a couple, hubby asked for another rose, photo's once done. I am also planning to spring clean our small kitchen, the cabinet tops and the tiles are due for a deep clean. Both task are for after my back is better so starting in a couple of weeks. 

In the greenhouse

 I adore my new stand for my 'bonsai' plants, hubby cut and put it together from some spare wood. My oak at the back has done well, I'm hopeful I can grow this and keep it small. The front sapling is new this year, so 🤞 I can take this forward. 

This small shelf unit looks lovely with my small plants on, one pot still has loads of flowers, I can see this display from inside the house. 

This corner is looking good, most of these plants say inside all year round, there is plenty of space in front for my tender plants, which soon will be coming in here. 

Just a couple of my many Succulents, I popped 2 of the lithops from smaller pots in the onion pot, my gravy pot is looking healthy, I always worry when a new plant flowers. 

I've had a trio of plants in this planter for years, I did replace the Venus flytrap this summer, they earn their place keeping flies down in greenhouse. I need to pull out my plastic trays from the staging and give them a wash, before they are full again. 

These pansies and violas are spare plants and will soon fill gaps in garden, this tray will be then fill of tender plants. I still have some cuttings on the go, a honeysuckle at the back, more hotlips and a chocolate cosmos, which have all rooted, I love new plants for free. 

I have not opened this box, there is plenty of moisture inside, the plants are looking good, I am hoping for loads of new small plants. If this works it will be my new method for cuttings, I have 9 pots in here, so it uses much less space. 

My maidenhead fern has been in loads of different rooms in the house, it was not a happy plant, so I cut all of the top growth off and popped it in a shady spot, lovely new growth, I really hope I can bring this plant back to its former glory. 

The greenhouse gives me so much pleasure all through the year, I often say things have to earn their place in my small garden, and my greenhouse ticks all boxes, it's productive, it looks good and through the winter months it protects all of my tender plants. On cooler or wet days, I love being inside, I can always find something to do for an hour. 

Yesterday was another quiet day at home, I worked again on my 2019 blog book and did some knitting. Chelsea flower show is on this week, it's going to be very different this year, all the autumnal flowers and their colours, plus the balcony section, I watch the build up show on TV last night, followed by Gardeners World recorded from Friday.  

This morning was cool, which is a sign for me to start moving things into my greenhouse, it's a clear sky, so hopefully no rain, enough time for me to move around pots. Not everything goes into the greenhouse this early, if I move 2 begonia pots in there now they will flower much longer, giving colour at the very bottom of the garden.

What's in the greenhouse

I was asked what do I grow in my greenhouse, I've not done a post for a while, so nearing the end of June, here's peak inside. On the left is my work space, this side often changes through out the year. The lower shelf is my plastic pots and jugs and sprayer. Underneath I keep some of my spare stones, slate and crock. 

I do love my carnivorous plants, there are 3 in this little tub, I keep it topped up with rain water, each plant has flowered this year, the Venus fly trap has shrunk, but there is new growth there, I cut the pitcher plant down each spring, the furry plant, I'm not sure what it is called, they all work hard and keep bugs at bay. 

I love this Jade plant, it's in a pretty biscuit pot, it has lived in here for a few years. 

Always loads of cuttings and plants from the garden which are not doing well outside. I have a baby pineapple and some amaryllis seeds all doing their own thing. In the spring these will spill onto the shelf below, I never have enough space. 

In here are the Hellebore seeds from my black flowering plant, I suspect they need the cold of winter before the shoot, I have plenty of time to see if they will grow.  

To the right are the cactus and succulent displays, this side stays much the same, I have a couple of smaller wire shelves to display some of my smaller plants. This is the sunnier side of the greenhouse. 

I regularly get blooms on these plants, and always have different pots, I love the gravy boat, purchased at a charity shop for £1, the plants in the gravy boat are new to me this year. 

My spider plant I over watered when in the house, so I cut it back and popped in in a shadier spot, it's now ready to go back in the house. 

I grow both 1 plant of cucumbers and tomatoes, both this summer inside, both are doing well, I have already cut some small cucumbers from the bottom of the plant, once they touch the soil they rot, so best to remove them early. 

Tucked to one side are my 3 Amaryllis, they flowered in January, so I popped the bulbs in here to dry and each bulb have produced new leaves, no bud stems. Plus 4 Orchids, they are tucked in the shade, I am hoping for new growth at some point. These sit on the floor at the back in front of my potting table, and loads of clay pots, most purchased 2nd hand. 

This lemon balm is in a pot with no holes in the bottom, and got waterlogged in the recent storms, it can stay in here to dry out. This plant if planted in our clay soil would take over the whole garden. 

I love these pots, they are washing up bowls, from our local cheap shop, in this one I have salads growing, spring onions, radishes and cut and come again lettuce. At £2.29 per 'pot' they are great value.

This beautiful string of pearls has hung in here for years, the pearls always fade in the summer but they do come back, this was my mother plant, I have 4 others around the place. Behind is another waterlogged pot, should dry out OK. Also coffee pot filters, I dry them out and use them in bottom of pots, they slow down the flow of water out of the pots. 

It's not as full as other years, most of my plants are strong enough to be out in the summer garden, I have lemon, lime and orange plants, who spend most of the year inside, all grown from seeds, my olive and pomegranate trees now stays outside the whole year. I do have other tender plants which will come back inside September time.

For once I have space to walk around, the floor is concrete, so it stays dry and clean in here, I don't shade the glass as our Magnolia tree gives shade for part of the day, the door is open 24 hours at this time of the year and the window has an automictic opener, so most of the time it does not overheat. 

I have started my hotbin, followed all the instructions, it's a case of wait and see if the temperature rises, I still have stuff in my white garden bag, I will pop it out next week for collection and then hopefully I won't need it again. I am checking and pleased to see the temperature gauge is rising, it is on the lid so I don't have to open it to check. 

Under glass

Lots of my succulents have buds, most are in the greenhouse, the morning sun is always lovely here. It's always a joy to see these bloom. 

Two of my Amaryllis have leaves growing, no sign of a bud shoot, so I am just going to leave them here in the greenhouse on the floor.  

My pitcher plant is in flower again, this trio of carnivorous was cut back a couple of weeks ago, they are all growing back healthy. 

So many plants in the greenhouse, just becoming ready to plant out, but not yet, I will still wait a few more weeks, it's never worth the risk to put them out too soon. 

I purchased this book from Tesco on Monday, it's a big book 478 pages, I enjoyed the story, but not the best read of hers, book 17 read this year. 

At this time of year, it's all about waiting, I have plenty of plants ready for the garden, I have farmyard manure to spread around, firstly I am waiting until my bluebells finish flowering, I will lay all their leaves under the manure, I have done this before and it works well, I do try a no dig policy in the garden allowing the worms to drag the manure into the soil. The next stage is popping all the plants in the ground, but it's got cold again, we are not getting frost, but I do prefer it to be warmer before the plants go in. So I wait, there are a couple of pots still in the greenhouse with tender plants, when it gets a bit warmer, these can come out in the daytime. 

My French marigold seeds have started germination, tiny seedlings, my plan is for the trays to become full of plants, I will cut into strips and place in my long tubs, I also have chamomile lawn in a big round tray, which will sit in my big pot in the herb garden. In both cases they are sown onto the compost sized for their final containers and won't need thinning, not done it this way before, in theory it should work.

The greenhouse is my go to place, it's always warm in there, the recent dull days have not given me the rain we need, water butt's are still very low, all I can do is hope the rain will appear at sometime. 

How quick did April fly by, a third of this year gone already, most days are a nice pace for us, we keep busy enough for them not to drag on, the weeks go quickly as is this year, maybe it can sense we are willing better times to arrive. 

What's growing

The greenhouse is full of cuttings, most are doing well, most of these are salvia's of different colours, I also have a couple lavender and honeysuckle, plus a passion flower which rooted in the garden. 

I am following Monty's advice here and have softwood cutting in Perlite, held in a tray of rainwater. I have a couple of Hydrangeas, a Clematis, a Rose, and a few smaller cutting in the round pot, they have been here for a few weeks and none have died. 

Will loves my string of pearls, 

so I have popped a few in this little pot, just for him

My Amaryllis seeds at the back are strong, I do have a few of these potted up, 

and at the front is one of the pineapple babies again looking good. 

Another Coleus cutting rooted, I have planted in a pot, it will live on outside table, hubby love these colouful plants.  

This lovely looking succulent has taken weeks for this flower shoot to form and it has been promising to bloom for the past week, I do hope it will be worth the wait. 

We are away for a few days, back home in Somerset, staying with my brother, everyone here is good, we have visited family, staying most of the time outside keeping our distance. We have no desire to book a short break away, not wanting to stay in holiday accommodation, but we do have the need to catch up with family.  

We even managed a pint in our local village pub beer garden, just sat outside chatting and catching up, no days out, just family and resting, back home tomorrow. 

Colour all around

Kirk leading the way, his hair is looking good, I moved him to this cooler spot as he was getting really hot in the sunshine. The black cable is tacked to the wall behind and nothing to do with Kirk, my Jasmine  behind which I cut back is now a deep green of new growth. 

Just some of the many flowers in the garden, 

so much colour and loads grown from seed. 

Pot's will always be loved in my garden

The herb bed is done, the poles are there until they grow bigger, for protection. I moved the smaller round hoops to the left of the bed, and popped a bigger round hoop on the front right, to be able to grow a mixture of tender herbs. My pomegranate in the big clay pot I will move once the fruit net is packed away. The Rosemary is at the back, I did cut it back and now I can see new growth.  

My raised bed, not looking so great, but I am watching for new growth on the replanted climbers. I am not planting much in here this summer, I have a plan for next year, but for now I want to be able to watch the climbers come back. I also want to plant a honeysuckle when I have created a new plant.  

These became a main meal for bugs when planted in the garden, so they are back in pots, each is showing tiny signs of new growth. 

This makes me chuckle, carnivorous plants all together in a water bath (they love their roots in rain water)  with a fine spiders webb, mainly around the pitcher plant. 

I treated myself to another planter, this is bronze, I love the handle, and had been watching it on a facebook selling page, once the price came down to a level I felt happy with, I got it. It will have to be placed out of direct all day sunlight as it can become hot, now the fun of deciding what to plant in it. 

We did get a visit from daughter, Will and George, on Friday afternoon, just long enough for Will to eat most of our fruit, typical growing lad, 'hello Nanna, I'm hungry', I do love he is always looking for fruit and never asks for crisp and sweets, I know it will change as he gets older. 

Most of the weekend has been sat outside, watching and listening to the small birds in the garden, they are very entertaining, the warmth of the sun is great again, Saturday we had more cloud, but still warm, Sunday was a beautiful day. It does feel good to be able to sit and enjoy the space we have created, it's full of life and colour, and for a change, I can sit and not see anything which needs sorting, both hubby and I love a chat over coffee and a small treat, home made cake or biscuits.

Hubby has started working on 2 benches, one child's size and a full size, he's not so good at sitting and doing nothing, again purchased second hand, so he has plenty to keep him busy.

I have not done any knitting or crochet, I have been reading, the heat makes me tired in the evenings, which is not a great thing when crafting. I have been thinking about  designs for a glass fusion, I hope to be able to make it soon, I am hoping I can make one good enough for a gift for my sister. 

Just another lazy weekend, no desire to pop anywhere, it's peaceful and safe at home together, 

My tidy space

It's taken many days, my greenhouse is now set out how I wanted it, these shelves have loads of cuttings, seeds and plants growing here on the top 2 shelves. The lower shelf is now storage. 

My cucumber plants are growing fast, I can almost watch them grow, this space is perfect for them to spread out. The table in the back corner my sister gifted me, it has 2 stools, one is being used else where, so the empty space has all my seed trays on.

In the middle back is my potting table, it's perfect here, plenty of space, and my tray is now empty, before it has always been full of plants, below is all my clay pots, everything to hand.

In this corner I have an Aeonium plant on the 2nd stool and a nastie pot in front, this is a good way to fill this small corner. 

I ordered 3 of these shelving units from Ikea, all galvanized and perfect for use in the greenhouse. I have popped a water membrane on the top level, this is to stop the glare from the sun. At under £10 each, not too expensive, I have room to add to my collection of nasties.   

We booked a man to collect all our garden waste, bags of soil, some of the frame from the raised bed, it's nice to see this area clear, but already I have a bag of spent compost from my 2 long pots, they have been reworked. My 2 tomato plants will now live here, they always do well, the sun bounces off the glass and helps ripen the fruits. The gooseberry bush has gone, I have put the 2nd tomato plant in the huge pot. 

I have also worked in my shed, loads of things have gone into the greenhouse, and all my ornaments are in the garden. I have a new folding chair hanging, which is for use at this bottom end of the garden. 

Suddenly I have loads of room in the greenhouse, loads of clear floor space and loads of bench space. My potting table is now ready for use, I have never wanted it in the shed, it's just too small in there. 

I cleaned the outside glass of the greenhouse, it looks like new, and is still in great condition. 

Next spring I will have room for loads of trays of bedding plants, this year I struggled, I do have my camping 2 level table I can put up if I need it, I can get 4 seed trays on it. 

I am exhausted but really happy, now I promise I have no big jobs left in the garden, I do have 1 small job for the autumn, hubby agrees it will be an improvement.  

Whilst I have been busy in my area, hubby has sanded one of our wooden garden chairs and stained making it look as good as new, it took 2 days but the chair does look nice. He has another chair, bench and table to do, we are not sure how old the set is, but it's well over 15 years.