Successes and Failures

The past week has finally brought rain, and the garden has been glad of it. Suddenly everything seems greener, fresher and full of life. The blackbirds have been grateful for the sudden increase in food supplies as the worms are venturing nearer to the surface of the soil and we have been grateful that we have not needed to water our produce at the allotment for a few days!

The crops there are coming up well and we planted pumpkin, broccoli, fennel and spring onion seeds this week. It is an odd mix, but we have been using the few seed packets we had to hand as it has been difficult to acquire more.

Unfortunately the leaf edges of our young bean plants are displaying the characteristic notches that signify bean weevil attack. These notches are caused by the adult weevils which have emerged from their winter shelter and are looking for food. After eating, the females lay eggs which are washed into the soil and the resultant grubs cause further damage by feeding on the root nodules under the surface. The general advice regarding treatment seems to be to leave alone as the plants can generally survive attack, as long as they are remain otherwise healthy and are kept well watered through spells of particularly dry weather.

Elsewhere in the garden, new flowers seem to appearing every day and the baby ducks are growing!

I was particularly pleased to find that I have finally managed to grow Lily of the Valley in my "white and yellow" border (more of that in another post!). I wasn't successful last year, possibly as the position I chose wasn't sufficiently well drained, so I was very happy to see the following little white bells hidden amongst the Snow in Summer (Cerastium tomentosum) this year . They really are the perfect flower. Beautifully scented, dainty little fairy hats set against lovely, lush green, leaves. According to legend, the Lily of the Valley draws out the nightingale, leading him to choose his mate, and I can understand why. (NB Lily of the Valley shown below with Rosa 'Arthur Bell' and Snow in Summer).

Mid Spring should also be the time to plant out the sweet peas that were sown earlier in the year but unfortunately mine have not done well this year. I only planted one variety this year, as chosen by my daughter: 'Turquoise Lagoon'. I had read mixed reports about the benefit of pre-soaking pea seeds before planting and therefore soaked about half my seeds (overnight) in water before planting and placed the remaining half directly into potting compost. Unfortunately, whilst the un-soaked seeds won out, only three of these have germinated compared to one of the pre-soaked seeds.

Unfortunately, disappointment can accompany aspects of gardening, but thankfully this doesn't happen too often and overall the process is very rewarding.

On a happier note, I was very pleased to find an azalea that was given to me a couple of years ago by a kind neighbour has flowered for the first time. The plant had been sitting in a large pot in a house they had recently moved into and they had no need for it. It remained in its pot in our front garden for over a year, where it unfortunately endured a very dry spell that nearly killed it while we were away from home. I finally got round to planting it out towards the end of last year, though was uncertain whether it would survive and resigned myself to the fact that it "had two chances". I crossed all my fingers when I thought I saw buds forming earlier this year and was very pleased to see these lovely orange flowers appear recently. I have no idea what variety it is but the scent is strong and beautiful. It is currently sitting in the same plot as my herbs and fruits bushes which is not ideal, but I will not risk moving it again!

As well as trying to keep the weeds under control in spells of dry weather, other tasks this week have included turning our attention to a narrow border at the front of the house which had become a dumping ground for the various detritus from some of our home improvement projects. This lies in a south-facing position, though is sheltered, and is easily viewable from the house. Therefore, I decided it would be a good position for some of my "winter plants". After clearing the area and giving a soil a good digging over, it appeared to be in relatively good condition, and so I transplanted two dogwoods and a Viburnum x bodnantense 'Dawn' to the area. The viburnum bears scented pink-white flowers in the winter that I hope will be better appreciated in its new location. I underplanted with some snowdrops and hellebores and also added some young foxgloves and two small Mexican orange 'Aztec pearl' plants that are currently flowering and beautifully scented. I realise the latter two of these plants are not traditional "winter" plants but the Mexican orange is evergreen and therefore should add a bit of interest in the colder months, and I am trying to spread foxgloves throughout the garden (whilst foxgloves do tend to spread themselves around pretty well once established, I give them a helping hand where I can!).

I thought I would refrain from adding more activities for children this week and would instead include some lovely garden or nature related quotes, just because I think we all need a little comfort and inspiration from time to time! I really could go on forever here (there are so many), but I have limited myself to ten.

"A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust". Gertrude Jekyll

"I like gardening — it's a place where I find myself when I need to lose myself". Alice Sebold

"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in". Greek proverb

"Life begins the day you start a garden". Chinese proverb

"What a desolate place would be a world without a flower! It would be a face without a smile, a feast without a welcome". A. J. Balfour

"This old world that we're livin' in is might hard to beat. You get a thorn with every rose. But - ain't the roses sweet?" Frank Stanton

"Gardening simply does not allow one to be mentally old, because too many hopes and dreams are yet to be realized". Allan Armitage

"The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature". Alfred Austin

"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better". Albert Einstein

"And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything". William Shakespeare, As You Like It

I often think of Shakespeare as someone with a knowledge and appreciation of nature as he frequently mentions flowers and herbs (with their associated meanings) in his plays and sonnets. For example, from A Midsummer Night's Dream:

"I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,

Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,

Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,

With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine".

And from Hamlet:

"There's rosemary, that's for remembrance:

pray you, love, remember: and there is pansies,

that's for thoughts.

There's fennel for you, and columbines:

there's rue for you; and here's some for me:

we may call it herb of grace o' Sundays: O

you must wear your rue with a difference.

There's a daisy: I would give you some violets,

but they withered all when my father died".

Whilst I could go on further, I realise I should probably stop there before this turns into a Shakespeare blog, rather than a gardening blog!