collection of activities done across the past few months;
So for 2026 things are starting….
The daffodils felt like they were early this year.
The camelia did flower, but a couple of the buds on it died off which was a shame,
There are bluebells starting to sprout in early march, which again feels early?
The grass is also growing. One neighbour mowed their lawn in February.
Amazing how wet a winter it has been, after such a dry year last year.
Anyhow, I did start a form of gardening by potting up a few house plants at the start of march. A few succulents had shoots, so I moved them into their own pots, and a couple also needed bigger pots. Some spider plants also needed potting on.
I went in the middle of march and bought some compost for the main part of the year. I also got a load of strawberry plants from lidl.
I sorted out the potting table, as well as a lot of seed trays ready to start sowing. I keep wanting to start, but when I do the weather forecast tells me a frost is coming so I delay it.
The only seeds I needed to buy this year were new tomato seeds, and cucumbers. I have a fair amount of everything else.
I bought a double headed hoe (stop laughing at the back there!)
The warm spell we had in mid march allowed me to start some pottering. I mowed the lawn, and moved one of the empty compost bins to start a new cycle of compost making.
I planted out a couple of trees in an area where I had taken up a hedge. I started the trees from seed, and they blossom nicely, however part of me suspects these trees have died off.
On the 20th I sowed lettuce, cucumbers, and 3 types of tomatoes. I alkso sowed peppers, and sunflowers. All these are in the greenhouse.
I got the Asian lilies out the greenhouse as they are sprouting, and have been weeding these pots and numerous others. The peruvian lilies/alstroemeria are also sprouting. I also spotted that some of the balloon plants are sprouting too.
I planted out some roses that I took from cuttings 18 months ago. They have multiple flower heads and are look good.
Over the easter weekend I sowed some basil seeds, and some spring onion seeds.
Pottering in the greenhouse I noticed that some of the balloon plants had sprouted. I got a few out, but left others in to start growing. I topped up the pots with some new compost.
I also added compost to the camelia. It flowered briefly already this year. I ned to pot it up into a bigger pot in autumn.
I noticed a couple of calla lilies are sprouting. This encouraged me to weed the pots with the european lilies in, as they were getting crowded.
I did some moving around of things in the garden, as we hope to paint the rear of the house this spring.
I tidied up the wisteria - long overdue. Trying to train it to grow along the pergola I built a few years ago.
I sowed some more lettuce, and the first lot of cauliflowers and sprouts.
We then had the nice warm spell just after easter. The cherry blossom has a lot of buds, but is a little late compared to other such trees round here, but it shouldn't be long. The apple tree is also budding. Really noticeable is how much more sun we get as a neighbor chopped down a big tree at the bottom of the garden last autumn. Such a huge difference!
Started sowing flowers. Limnanthes, brachyschome, cornflowers, Malva, cosmos, lavatera, & a 2nd lot of sunflowers went in to trays on the tuesday.
Sowed a few trays of marigolds, plus some rudbeckia, some night flowering catchfly, some nigella and some foxgloves.
Put the strawberry plants in a planter we have.
Trimmed a couple of small bushes that were looking messy.
