Spring - it is officially here

The 21st of March came and went and so did a partial eclipse....The evenings are getting lighter and the sun is warming the soil.

So I have planted some broad beans - The Sutton - a dwarf variety which is suitable for windy sites - which mine is at times.  I have 12 plants in - I got these from the market, however I also have 12 seeds planted which are just sprouting - I have to get better at successional sowing to avoid gluts and then lean periods. I have grown Witikem and The Sutton before but have decided on The Sutton only for this year.

I was seriously worried about my rhubarb.  Nothing seemed to be coming up.  However I realised my mistake whilst doing some research.  I gave the site a serious mulch which can lead to crown rot....I have removed the mulch and will mulch in summer around the plant.  I have today seen the loveliest of pink just peaking through the soil - sigh of relief, I love rhubarb crumble - after years of avoiding it!

Oh Garlic has been planted - Solent Wight (as in Isle of Wight) - which suits our climate - one bulb yielded x15 cloves - each I hope to grow! This is a soft neck variety. For ages I just heard hard neck and soft neck and was unsure what it meant - each has their own characteristics - see below for soft neck characteristics.....let me know if you want some garlic folks!

Does not produce flower stalks unless stressed

It is best harvested when the foliage starts going over

It has better storage qualities than hardneck varieties

If autumn planted it will keep until mid- to late-winter

If planted in early spring softneck varieties it can be stored until mid-spring

I haven't done much else....tidying and pruning....the shredder I purchased with my birthday money has been really useful.....But to leave us on a spring note I have some scented violets in pots - I love the scent and simplicity of these dainty flowers.

 

It's not all dahlias you know!

So, I have just mentioned Lemon Verbena to a lovely friend looking for a fragrant plant.  I really hadn't come across this plant until a couple of years ago, it can look rather insignificant with yellow green leaves and very small white flowers in a hot year.  Coming from Mexico I think? Therefore it is a tender plant.  I have grown it in a pot, and bring it in the greenhouse and reduce watering in winter to keep it ticking over. It is now in its third year.

Now I am so glad I read about this when I got my very small verbena. Lemon Verbena can be exceptionally late at coming into bud, it is normal for it to look a brown twiggyness of deadness! (see below) Folks have made the mistake of bining their verbena because it looks so dead, but a sure fire way is to snap a branch and you can smell it, see some green and you know it is just waiting for warmer days - and why wouldn't you. I sure as hell would wait until its warmer before I put my best leaves out!

Now lemon verbena is a truly beautiful smell, it reminds me of lemon sherbet almost fizzing as you smell it - not like say lemon balm for example which has that household cleaner more astringent lemon smell.

So what can you do with Lemon Verbena, well you can make your own herb teas, pick the leaves fresh, add some ginger and steep.  Or you can dry the leaves for pot pourri.  I just tend to leave mine in its pot and enjoy crushing a leaf or picking a leaf as I make my way around the garden.  I think this year I will pot the verbena on and make sure it has some fresh compost and food for the year ahead.

I agree it does look dead, but have faith.  I did give it a prune to reduce the straggly bits and promote new growth - watch this space......

39 is so last year (thanks Marg and Colin for the fab card)

Well since my last post I have turned 40 (1st March) been bogged down with a really nasty cold but I have been doing some bits here and there.  I have lifted the dahlias left in the ground and they seemed healthy.  I have potted these up and taken some tubers off the parent plants and just winged it and put these in some compost.  I have done everything backwards - but I picked healthy tubers with eyes showing and just went with it. (some great videos on youtube on dahlia propagation)  As I have ordered more tubers if they all take we will be over run!  The tubers I lifted and put in dry compost and stored in the shed did not survive, they succumbed to mould, perhaps a sign there to dust with fungicide next year, but an organic one of course.  Some people treat their dahlias like annuals, as do people with tulips.....I can see the ease of doing this, but seems wasteful, and I like trying to propagate  - plants for free why not!  But with tulips I can see why some people do it, you can change your colour schemes and especially if grown in pots and don't want to lift and store them.  You can reduce the risk of disease like tulip fire and such like.

Anyway pic below of some of the tubers I lifted from the dahlia border. They look healthy and have survived the frost!

My new dahlia tubers have arrived, need some more compost to pot up in the 3 litre pots.
Bit of a puzzle last year I planted some Hill Crest Royal tubers, they came up and were lovely plants but they were very different to the ones I thought I had ordered.  Well it appears several people have mentioned this and the lovely lady at Sarah Raven has sent me three more tubers as replacement this year.

The dahlia in the foreground is my Hillcrest Royal.  For info the dark red ball dahlia behind is Jowey Mirelle.

Compare this with the Hillcrest Royal one advertised - I really do think I got different tubers!

Sarah Raven you minx

Right, so I have been naughty and been on that Sarah Raven website again.....

Just in case my dahlias don't survive the winter I thought I would get some tubers ordered as back up - It may well be year of the dahlia if everything survives.....some will need good homes so watch this space!

I have decided on a mix again, so here are the pics of what I have ordered - let me know if you have a favourite. Obviously growing them will be the next challenge!

Swan Lake

 Blue Bayou

 Edge of Joy

 Shanty

Rain Rain Go Away

What a day weather wise.... but the perfect afternoon to pour over seed catalogues with a cup of tea.  We braved the hell that was Ikea this morning, so now I can dream about what I am going to grow this year.

So dahlias are a definate,  I only properly tried them last year and fell in love, if only they were perfumed I think I would have my ultimate plant!

I had some tubers of a variety called Bishops children, I grew these from seed in 2013 and they survived the mild winter of 2013/14.  I potted these up and put in the greenhouse and took cuttings off them - wow I am so glad I did, amazing little plants and great for the pollinators being a single.

I took this photo of Bishops Children in late summer, you take pot luck when sowing the seeds, but that is half the fun, a colour range of orange/red and pinks came up for me!

Where have we been?

Crikey it is 2015 and no posts for such a long time....
I won't bore you with the gory details but the past year or so have been somewhat turbulent.  Now I am really striving to get my health back on track and what better way to do it than get 'mucky' in the garden.

So what has prompted this decision to get blogging, well a few things. I miss writing, along with gardening it seems to help my mood, I've been motivated by watching the recent allotment challenge, which I did have an interview for, but obviously black cat and I failed to make a good enough impression for BBC 2  :(    However the well deserved winner has been posting online and got me thinking about the veg plot again.

2014 wasn't a wash out, by no means we had a productive year in the garden with a mix of flowers and veg - I will post some pics.

2015 has already come around.....I had a productive day a few weeks ago, pruning the autumn raspberries and spreading some muck. We made the mistake of answering an ad in the paper offering free horse manure. Well let me start again....Andrew answered the ad, and after a long day at work I came home to a drive way with a ton of muck to barrow and shift to the back! We did it and we have let it mulch down to a sweet friable loveliness of goodness. I have spread some on the rhubard too. I have some big plans for 2015, but time, money and health dictate... If we get the same as we did last year in produce I will be happy. 

Raspberry and rhubarb bed..... The plum tree in the background, an unknown variety, misold as Victoria but I think is Marjorie's Seedling.  I took pity on it it was in a bargain bin unloved!  I'm a sucker for a plant on sale. I wouldn't recommend buying sick or ailing plants, you want one in the best possible condition but I took pity on this.  The card around it is to stop black cat from scratching it.  The posts of hazel are for the blackberry Loch Ness, very productive in 2014, still some in the freezer, great for smoothies! 

Autumn rasps need pruning in Jan/Feb they fruit on new wood, the blackberry fruits on the wood put up in the summer, so I pruned out the wood that fruited on this and left the one that hasn't - confused - I was!

Just an early 2014 post of the small recycled pond we made and aliums and apricot foxgloves  - I love the changing colours in the garden, fresh and green in spring, matching the pinks and blues and pastels - then late summer the greens fade and age working with the hotter colours so well. The small tree is cherry Stella - a self fertile eating variety - we had some, the blackbird had most!

  

Oh, black cat, she has of course been guardian of the plot, but there is a new cat on the block, a rather handsome Norweigan Forest Cat called Rocky. We have had a few turf disputes, but Rosie seems fine, but always happier when we are in the garden together!

Rosie always manages to find a cosy comfortable spot, usually whilst I am working away! 

Bye for now and more soon

Time for some colour at last!

Been a while since I posted anything, gently reminded by two friends the other day - encouraging - but I know Rosie is the star attraction! 

As well as working at Kedleston Hall, I also grow plants for friends and family and I am now selling cards. Check out my new venture at  www.phoenix-trading.co.uk/web/mattdolman or please like my facebook page at  www.facebook.com/cardsviamatt


This has kept me busy to say the least.

I am behind with a lot of things in the garden, I think the late start to the growing season and then spring coming all at once threw me somewhat.

Recent ventures are creating a meadow area on the front - we are leaving a rectangle of grass uncut and letting the bugs and other wildlife enjoy this area, already we have a variety of plants and I have grown birds foot trefoil, yellow rattle, ox-eye daisy to name just a few wildflowers that are now growing to be transplanted to this area.

Having decided to add more height to the garden, Andrew made a lovely arch - all from reclaimed timber  - we have a native honeysuckle growing up it, and hoepfully this will attract more moths to the garden, as we have a bat that visits every summer - we have yet to see him/her yet!


Broad beans, mangetout, courgettes and runner beans are all growing well, calabrese and summer cabbage holding their own, BUT netted to avoid caterpillar devastation - the poor cabbage whites keep fluttering over them but I am looking out of my window at them with glee as they are unable to lay thier eggs on mine! - I sound mean don't I?!?

Time is short so will blog more soon, but some pics to show the changes in the garden - it's not all about veg -  flowers, herbs, fruit and more all make our garden.

This clematis is flowering away so well this year, not to be outdone Rosie climbed the new arch! Somehow I can't get the picture to rotate - but adds to the drama!




 

Alium after some rain

I promised colour, oriental poppy with blue geranium

Arch in all its glory - excellent for reclaimed wood - more projects on the way I feel

Rosie adopted this very unusual stance - ATTENTION!



Herbs beds offer a great variety in texture, colour, fragrance and you can use them in the kitchen too!

End of a long day.....