Spring flowering Crocuses at Trinity Free Church

I planted out some spring flowering Crocuses on November 18th 2017 into the bed that surrounds Trinity free Church. The church is mostly circular & the flower bed, which is no more that a few feet wide, is planted up against the walls. The main entrance is covered by a canopy & the flowerbed extends partway in front of it. This is the place where I planted the Crocuses.

There is a stained glass window that goes from the ground up to, almost, the roof. It’s very narrow & I planted Daffodil & Bluebell bulbs under there a few years ago as well. During the summer I put out some bedding plants. There are permanent shrubs in the bed that have been there for very many years. Some are flowering shrubs others are evergreen.

I planted out these Daffodil bulbs quite a few years ago & they come up every year during the spring making the church gardens come “alive” again after the dreary winter months.

I don’t know how these miniature Irises got into the gardens but I don’t remember having planted them. Nevertheless they are so cheery & really stand out more than you might think for their size!

The miniature Daffodils in the gardens come from my balcony. I buy some bulbs one autumn, plant them in pots on the balcony railings & then, about May time, as the foliage is dying down I plant them in the church gardens. I just upend the pot, knock the whole rootball out & plant the whole thing in the flowerbed after which I can reuse the flowerpot for my summer display on the balcony railings.

Here there are a few Tulips amongst the Daffodils. These also came from my balcony & I did the same with them as I did with the miniature Daffodils. The church gardens really light up with the brilliant yellows of the Daffodils.

These Bluebells put on a lovely show after most of the other bulbs, like the Daffodils & Tulips have finished. I think these are the native Bluebells & not the Spanish species. The tops of the flower stem bend over which is a distinguishing factor between the two species.

’Spud McPat Face’ boat

Spud McPat Face

Last year I wrote a blog on the very original planting designs our local Town Council gardening dept came up with:-

http://www.growsonyou.com/balcony/blog/31501-a-bloomin-marvellous-effort

During the winter the bed has looked deserted & rather forlorn but at last I can show you what it now looks like in the spring:-

A sea of purple Crocuses around “Spud McPat Face” boat:

Spring flowers in the “Spud McPat Face” boat:

Scilla Siberica around ‘Spud McPat Face’ boat (Close up):

Flower bed near bus station in Huntingdon:

This is the place where last summer the Galleon ‘Pericles’ was “stranded”:

What a difference a month makes in the spring!

I nearly missed April in my effort to wait to finish this blog. I had to wait so long before the Wallflowers started to come into flower! On the other hand if I hadn’t waited & gone back several times I would have missed the lovely Scilla Siberica around the ‘Spud McPat Face’ boat! I thought it was strange they should choose Crocuses, with their very short flowering period, over Forget-Me-Nots! Then I realized they had planted another lovely blue flower!

Crocuses galore!

Crocuses galore!

Some of you will have seen the photos I uploaded to my Photos Page, others perhaps not. I want to share with you the wonderful show the Crocuses are putting on during March, not even the snow could stop them!

Pansies & Crocuses in pots on the balcony railings as seen from outside on 2nd March:

Pansies & Crocuses buried in snow in troughs on balcony on 2nd-3rd March:

What a difference a week makes!

I’ll finish with a photo of the only trough, pot or tub that doesn’t have any Crocuses!

An error! I didn’t realize at the time of planting the Crocus corms that I had missed this trough out!

Pansies planted out in troughs 2017

Pansies planted out in troughs 2017

Yesterday, November 2nd, 2017, my wife & I bought four packs of Pansies from a discount supermarket in town. I had wanted 4 packs of Pansies at least to finish off the planting up of the 3 long, white troughs on the floor, up against the balcony railings. Each pack has 10 plants so I had enough plants (with the 6 I had left over from the previous week’s planting) to fill up 3 rows along the length of each one of the troughs.

Crocuses for planting out in the troughs on the balcony 3rd November 2017

A couple of weeks before I had planted up the troughs with Daffodils but they looked far too bare without any plants in them but now, after planting them up with the Pansies, they look 100% better! After I finished putting in the Pansies I put 25 Crocus corms in each trough.

Pansies just planted out in the troughs on the balcony 3rd November 2017 001

Pansies just planted out in the troughs on the balcony 3rd November 2017 002

Pansies just planted out in the troughs on the balcony 3rd November 2017 003

The Pansies should give some colour during the winter during milder spells until their main burst of colour in late April-May. The Crocuses will probably flower in February-March & their leaves, as they die, will be partly covered up by the Pansies. Then the Daffodils should flower any time from March onwards till the end of April.

Of course, as we know, “the best laid plans of mice & men …”as the saying goes!

 

Mini-Daffs & Tulips in pots on the balcony railings

Mini-Daffs & Tulips in pots on the balcony railings

I planted some Mini-Daffs & Tulips in pots on the balcony railings in mid-October after removing the Begonias that had grown in them all summer a few days before.

I had bought some packets of small Narcissi bulbs & dwarf Tulips precisely to put in these :

but I also put some in the troughs on the bar that goes around the middle of the balcony railings.

As I have 3 troughs I planted them all exactly the same so I’ve added photos of all 3 troughs showing how I put short stemmed Tulips, mini-Daffs &, finally, Crocuses on top but only one of each trough:

I have planted up the 8 clay pots I have, 2 of them new, as well as 2 plastic pots & have put them in the aluminium rings I bought & used many years ago in Spain when we used to live over there:

At the present moment I don’t have any Pansies or Violas to overplant them with as I do every year. I hope to get some soon from the open air market in town.

Other years I’ve bought them there & they have done pretty well though I’ve had little success with them for the last few years. Several years they were infested with a heavy plague of tiny, itsy bitsy grey-white aphids that cover every green surface & suck the life out of the plants.

I mentioned this last year to the lady on the stall, when I was buying last year’s plants, & she assured me it wouldn’t happen again this year as all their plants are treated with a systematic insecticide before leaving the greenhouse.

In effect they didn’t become infested but they died mysteriously in the spring before they had chance to flower but I’ve absolutely have no idea of the cause! They just collapsed as if their roots had been eaten away or they had rotted away. On removing them I broke open the rootballs but they weren’t rotting nor did I find any sign of anything eating their roots, the rootballs were chock a block of roots. The only symptom I noticed was that they collapsed & turned brown. I hope that doesn’t happen again. They had been planted in new compost: I’d renewed the compost in all my pots & troughs last year before autumn planting.

I also planted up the 3 big, white troughs on the balcony floor, up against the railings. I put long stemmed Tulips & Daffodils in them & overplanted them with a few Crocuses from the last 2 years that had survived. Many of the Daffs will be quite small I think as many of them didn’t appear to be of flowering size. I’ll have to wait & see what happens.

When I get some plants to put in I’ll post a last photo here.

Allotment 2015

Allotment 2015

There not having been much to write about the allotments during the winter/early spring I have only now gathered a few photos & something to write about.

Like previous years I plan on writing – at least once a month – a blog on the progress of things on the allotments I’m sharing with my friend Gerry from church. I’m back to sharing with him after having to give up my plot (12A) last September due to time constraints & the demands made on me. 

As April has been a an unseasonably warm & dry month I’ve been able to get down to Gerry’s allotments a little more often.

View from the top of Plot 58 on 1st April 2015:

Lets start with some colour from March:

Crocuses flowering under dwarf apple tree in front of the greenhouse:

Some Daffodils flowering in front of our shed:

In April lots of lovely red Tulips in the bed in front of the shed:

I’ve been able to do some sowings & some work on the ground. Gerry has done the “Lion’s share” of the digging & has planted lots of potatoes.

Potatoes recently sown:

At the time of taking the photo I didn’t know Gerry had planted his seed potatoes in these couple of beds that’s why the caption reads: Beds recently manured. All that was visible were remains of the horse manure he’d previously dug in!

I haven’t planted any at all though there is still time yet to put in 2nd earlies & maincrop spuds. Not all is lost!

Garlic ‘Marco’:

I planted out a few cloves of Garlic ‘Marco’ back in December in the bed in front of the greenhouse. Now they are growing nicely.

Leeks at the top of the plot with some Lettuces planted alongside them:

The day I went down to the plot with my son I had intended to dig up the last of the Leeks that I had transplanted from my old plot last September but I discovered Gerry had planted these Lettuces right alongside them! Digging up the Leeks would have disturbed the soil around the too much I thought & they might not survive. I therefore left the Leeks where they were. Oh well, perhaps we can save some seed from them to sow next year! At least we will be treated to some great ball shaped flowerheads for a few weeks!

I sowed a packet of Broadbeans in toilet roll tubes:

As well as some Beetroot seed & Lettuces – 2 different varieties in the greenhouse.

Broadbean plants before/after I’d planted them out:

Beetroot ‘Bolthardy’ before/after I finished planting them out:

The Beetroot germinated very well & I’ve since planted it out on the plot. In fact I made two sowings & planted them out with only a few days of difference between them.

Beetroot ‘Bolthardy’ 2nd sowing just planted out:

All these seedlings were planted out in a raised bed I made up on Plot 58 between November 2014 & March 2015.

As the Lettuce hadn’t germinated I had none to plant out! One of the two trays of seeds has produced a very few seedlings which for the present are still in their tray. No more seeds seem to be germinating though.

After planting out the Beetroot I sowed a couple of rows of Lettuces directly into the soil this time of both varieties.

I also sowed a couple of rows of Beetroot seed as I have several packets of seeds still:

(My brother has since given me another packet!)

View from top of Plot 59B:

Mixed runner beans just sown at the base of the netting on the plot division:

Jonathan hoeing red onion bed:

I’ve even “roped in” my son, Jonathan, to give me a hand. He is my youngest son, he’ll be 38 this year. He hasn’t helped me on Gerry’s main plot, 58, so far that’s why the only photo I managed to grab of him was while he was busy hoeing the red onion bed near the end of Plot 59B, Gerry’s half allotment.

The first day he came down with me he helped me get the green netting on the plot division between Gerry’s half plot & his neighbour’s plot set up much better. It’s now stronger & better held up than last year. I don’t have any photos of this work as I didn’t think to get “before & after” photos. Though the after ones I can get any time now, obviously! I could even dig out (excuse the pun!) some photos from last year where the netting is quite clear but I doubt anyone would be interested in seeing “before & after” photos of some netting!!!

He also helped me with the raised bed we have made up on Gerry’s side of the plot division. This is something I’ve wanted to do for several years but had neither the time nor the wood with which to do it. Using some of the planks from my old plot we were able to make it up.

Raised bed beside plot division being made up:

Raised bed beside plot division now finished:

Some months ago we changed the flooring in our flat. We had had vinyl flooring since we moved in in 2001. We put vinyl flooring down instead of carpeting as we had 5 little dogs. A few years ago the last of the dogs died but we didn’t change the flooring. During the last 3 months of 2014 we decided it was time to change the flooring so we started to buy carpets which I, & one of my brothers, put down. We then kept the old vinyl to put down on the allotments. During April I covered most of the paths on Gerry’s half plot with this vinyl making a waterproof access to any of the beds.

Vinyl covered paths on Plot 59B:

Potatoes just planted out:

Here you can see the vinyl flooring on the paths either side of this bed of potatoes. Unfortunately there won’t be enough to cover much of Gerry’s main allotment. All the paths are approximately the width of the rake head +/- 12″. This just gives me enough room to turn face forward across the width of the beds so I can reach the centre from either side without having to step on the soil when it is wet.

Views of the apple tree over shed:

This cooker, perhaps a ‘Brambly Seedling’, is now starting to flower so I took a couple of pictures which will serve to close this the first blog on the allotments I share with Gerry for this year.

The apple flowers are so pretty when seen close up I thought I’d take a really close up photo:

Next month I hope to be back with the goings on down at the plots. Till then “Keep on gardening!”

Changes afoot – on the balcony! (Part one)

Changes afoot – on the balcony! (Part one)

I promised in my last blog I would show you the changes I was about to make on our balcony well here is a glimpse of what I’ve been up to since that last blog:

I bought 5 packs of 3 Purple Tulip bulbs, 10 Purple Iris bulbs & 10 Purple Anemones:

I would have liked to have got 10 packs, one for each of the 10 pots I usually have on the railings, but after buying the first 3 when I went back a couple of days later there were only 2 packs left!

I planted a pack of these in each of five terracotta pots along the top of the balcony railings:

First I put the 3 Tulips, (which must be miniatures if one goes by the size of the bulbs!), in the centre. Then I put the 10 Irises around the edge of the pot & covered them with enough compost to cover their noses after which I planted the Anemones & Crocuses, in two rings, leaving a space in the middle for the Pansy I intended to plant another day. Then I filled up the pot with more compost.

I also bought a pack of 75 Species Crocus:

I planted a few Species Crocus over the top of the Purple Tulips, Irises & Anemones in each pot:

Then, a few days later, I planted out a Pansy over the top in each pot, just to finish off & to give some colour during the winter & until the bulbs come through & start to flower in the spring

I had intended to post a couple of photos of all the pots planted up on the railing, including the Pansies, but it seems I haven’t taken any! I’ll rectify that when I’ve got the photos!

Here is a photo of the Pansies my wife & I bought in a town 5 miles from where we live:

They came in boxes of 20 plants that all looked very healthy; we bought 4 boxes (80 plants) for £16!

The pots may look very full & I suppose few people would dare to do what I’ve done (to be truthful, I’ve never planted out quite so many in one pot before either!) but it will only be for one season & when the bulbs have finished flowering I will plant them out on Gerry’s allotment to give them time to recover during the rest of their growing season! All the plants are small, except perhaps the Irises, but they are very vertical & take up little space. Come back in 6 months time, when they are flowering & we will see what we will see!

In a few days time I’ll write a sequel where I show you what’s going on downstairs!

Now we are nearly through June & harvesting has begun!

Now we are nearly through June & harvesting has begun!

I’ve already harvested the first Potatoes & Strawberries of the year this month, as well as Lettuces & Broadbeans!

I’ve been able to finish off the Lettuces ‘Little Gem’ planted in the greenhouse border as well as those that were left over from that planting at the end of February & were planted outside under a dwarf apple tree in front of the GH.

There are more to be harvested from my allotment, Plot 12A, I planted them between the two rows of bamboo canes that make up my bean frame. They will have been harvested long before the runner/green beans block out much of the light.

Lettuce ‘Little Gem’ inside bean frame:

Lettuce ‘Little Gem’ just harvested & cleaned up at home:

I also sowed some more seed of the same Lettuce, (May). I accidently had 2 packets of seeds as I thought the 1st had been lost & bought a 2nd. The 1st turned up on the GH bench, under a tray of seedlings! As each packet has 1,000s of seeds I won’t need to buy any more this summer!

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Talking about sowing seeds, I sowed some Beetroot ‘Detroit 2’, in the GH, in March, which I planted out on my plot in early May – at the same time as the Lettuces. I also sowed some Beetroot ‘Cylindra’, a few days ago, (June) in the narrow bed alongside the bean frame.

Beetroot ‘Cylindra’ just sown in bed No.3:

Never grown this type before, only the round ones. I’d added spent compost from my balcony in this bed to lighten up the soil while making it more water retaining. I’d sowed the seeds of Lettuce ‘Little Gem’ here a week or so earlier but there was still space to spare for some more seeds. This will be the first time I’ve grown cylindrical Beetroots as till now they have always been the round ones. I’ll report back on the results in a few month’s time.

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In the middle of March I planted out my early Potatoes ‘Rocket’ & ‘Pentland Javelin’ & repeated the same mistake as other years of planting them too close together!

1st Early Potatoes ‘Rocket‘ being sown:

The spacing between plants in the same row isn’t too bad but I plant the rows too close together resulting in a mess once the plants really get going as I can’t get to them properly to earth/hill them up! I put in 3 rows where I now realize I should have only put in two! A mistake I’ve made previous years! Perhaps I ought to put up a sign to remind me next year to only plant two rows of seed potatoes in each bed!

I’d “chitted” (sprouted) a bag of seed potatoes ‘Rocket’ which were planted out at the same time as ‘Pentland Javelin’ which were not “chitted”. In fact I bought them only the day before planting them out!

All the potatoes were sown in the same bed which I’d dug horse manure into a few days earlier. Potatoes being the only rootcrop that doesn’t mind growing in freshly manured ground.

Just 2 weeks ago (10th June) I dug up all the ‘Rocket’ potatoes, there was only one row of them almost the width of the allotment. I ended up with quite a decent crop as well.

Potatoes ‘Rocket’ after harvesting:

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I also sowed some Leeks ‘Musselbourgh’ & ‘Red’ Onion seeds (from my daughter) in Gerry’s GH, to go in my plot, during March. These germinated very well & have since been planted out on my allotment.

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During March I also lifted the Parsnips that had been in the ground all winter as well as lots of Leeks.

Parsnips just harvested, now in greenhouse:

I put them in the GH to dry off a little for a couple of days. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Leeks Musselbourgh just lifted:

I was very pleased with the amount of Leeks I got this winter. I harvested them every couple of weeks.
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Near the end of March I planted up a bed of Onion sets ‘Stuttgarter’ as well as a row of Garlic cloves.

Onion sets ‘Stuttgarter’ just sown:

A month before I’d planted out some Onion sets ‘Setton’:

Garlic cloves just sown:

I planted out a bed of these same Onion sets in Gerry’s 1/2 allotment.
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In early May I sowed a 2nd packet of Broadbeans as the 1st packet sown in February gave me only 3 plants – one of which I hoed away! They are called ‘Sutton’ & are a dwarf variety. Most of these seem to have germinated & are now making nice plants.

Broad beans ‘Sutton’ just germinating:

The 2 plants from the earlier sowing are flowering. This week I’ve picked some of the pods.
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May was a very busy month for me because I also planted out lots of Runner bean seeds on the bean frame, most of these were mixed seeds from last year. Some were black seeds, some speckled, some white & also a packet of ‘Scarlet Emperor’ I’d bought.

Runner bean seeds saved from 2013:

Runner beans germinating:

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Beetroot ‘Detroit 2’ seedlings inside bean frame:

Beetroot ‘Detroit 2’ in Bed No.4 (bean frame):

What a difference 14 days make!

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During May I also planted out 2 beds of Tomato plants; one, ‘Gardener’s Delight’ (a particular favourite of mine!), the other, ‘Sunstream’, a small, plum shaped fruit whose seeds I’d saved from some tomatoes my wife bought during the winter. I liked the taste of them & saved some seeds. These germinated very well in the GH, as did the others.

Tomatoes ‘Gardener’s Delight’ just planted out:

Tomato ‘Sunstream’ just planted out:

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On my plot I also sowed some Carrot ‘Purple Haze’ seed from my daughter. Never grown purple carrots before!:

I also sowed a few Sunflower seeds she gave me as well. These are in the middle of the narrow bed alongside the beanframe.

I didn’t know when I sowed the Sunflowers that they were a dwarf type! Now they are shading out the Purple Haze Carrot seedlings!

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At the far end of this bed I planted out the pots of Pansies, Daffs & Crocuses that had been growing on our balcony railings. The Pansies are doing very well & have flowered a lot. They add a welcome note of colour!

Just this week a light pink Hyacinth has begun to flower!!! I’ve never, ever heard of a Hyacinth flowering in the middle of June before!!!

Well that just about resumes what I’ve done on my allotment, Plot 12A, over the last few months!

Be back next month with more news on Gerry’s plots!

Last look back at winter on the plots – at the end of March!

Last look back at winter on the plots – at the end of March!

I thought we’d take a last look at the plots after the winter, (now that the Spring has supposedly sprung!), starting in January 2013:

Leeks & Lentils at beginning of January on Plot 12A:

View along Plot 12A from top, beginning of January:

View along my plot from the top, middle of the month:

Here are some photos from February:

Leek bed a month later:

A Before photo just prior to harvesting a couple of rows:

An After photo of the Leek bed once a row or two were harvested:

The same bed of Leeks but harvested on the first day of March:

Beetroot ‘Baby Solis’ harvested & chucked straight on the compost heap!

These poor Beets were totally useless even if they don’t look too bad in the photo.

Last year was a total waste of time & space for me trying to grow Beetroot! I’d sown MUCH more than in previous years but harvested practically nothing!

Middle of the month: Carrots & Parsnips sown:

Might seem a strange time to sow Carrots but I was itching to put some seeds in & thinking March was just around the corner & the weather would be quickly warming up (!) &, having many packets of Carrot seed & several of Parsnips, I thought I could risk sowing some now. “If they don’t survive,” I thought, “nothing really lost as I’ve plenty more I can sow later.” Just as well as they are unlikely to germinate after weeks of winter weather all through February & March!

A few photos of my plot, 12A, in March:

We had a couple of dry, if rather cold, days at the beginning of March so I took advantage of them to dig in the last of the manure Gerry had brought down a couple of days earlier. I wanted to plant my new potatoes ‘Rocket’ in this bed. I’d started to dig in the horse manure in the middle of February, just before the snow came down, but was unable to finish it till about 3 weeks later.

New/Early Potatoes ‘Rocket’ being planted out at beginning of March, 1st row:

New/Early Potatoes ‘Rocket’ being planted out at beginning of March, 2nd row:

Second bed from the far end of the plot being manured:

Unknown Potatoes planted out in 2nd bed from the far end:

These potatoes came from the online shopping my wife does. She ordered new potatoes & when we saw them they were already sprouting! I kept about a pound of them back that were more the size of seed potatoes & put them in the 2nd tray of ‘Rocket’ that I had chitting in the kitchen. I planted them out once I’d finishing preparing the bed about a week after the ‘Rocket’ seeds were put in.

Onion sets ‘Sturon’ just planted out:

Planting these Onion sets was almost the very last thing I’ve been able to do on my own plot:

Broadbeans planted out:

This was the last time I was able to do anything on my plot during March owing to the extremely cold, strong winds that plagued us all of the month.

I only had 15 plants that had been growing in cardboard tubes in the greenhouse on Gerry’s allotment. I was going to plant out the last of the seeds directly in the soil but I’ve been unable to find them!

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Gerry’s plot during the first 3 months of 2013:

This is how the year/month began:

Still here!:

Snow on the greenhouse!:

I tried to write the date in the snow on the greenhouse roof but it starting breaking up before I could finish:

There were several inches of snow covering everything!

Now a few from February:

Bed after being dug over:

I started to dig this bed over during a short spell of dry but frosty weather in December but I couldn’t finish it. I spent half an hour digging but got less than half done before I was forced to give up because of the intense cold.

This bed had bugged me for weeks but, finally, I was able to complete it! I felt very relieved when I’d finished! Now it has a pile of manure waiting to be dug in!

Bed of Leeks & Lentils near the greenhouse:

There are actually two beds chock-a-block full of Leeks & Lentils.

Brussels Sprouts:

I managed to harvest some sprouts form these plants but the majority came from the one plant that escaped the netting! Although these have been under the netting since I planted them out all the leaves have been eaten away! I saw no caterpillars on them – I don’t see how they could have got through the fine netting anyhow!

Victoria Plum trees:

Some lovely blue sky, quite a rarity during the last three months!

Daffodils & Tulips sprouting & rests of Gladioli:

This bed right outside the shed looked a real mess & was another of those things that bugged me for a long time! I feel a great deal of satisfaction once I’ve been able to finish whatever it is that bugs me!

Daffodils & Tulips sprouting & no more rests of Gladioli:

Some views of the plot in March:

The same bed as above but nearly a month later:

Onion sets ‘Sturon’ just planted out:

Onion sets ‘Stuttgarter Giant Karmen’ sown:

To finish this blog I’m including some Crocuses that sneaked into the allotment in some old compost I brought down from my balcony!

Some Crocuses under the dwarf apple tree in front of the greenhouse:

Not much to show for three months but then I’ve hardly set a foot on the allotments since October 2012! This has been mostly due to the record amount of rainfall during November & December which continued into the New Year. January brought a lot of snow making it totally impossible any work. February was very cold as well & I wasn’t able to do much & March has been so windy & terribly cold that I’ve hardly been able to do anything either.

I hope to start my monthly series of allotment blogs from the end of next month & I hope I’ll be able to show a little more progress than I’ve made over the last 5 months!

It’s all change on the balcony!

It’s all change on the balcony! Time for the seasonal change over! Out with the old & in with the new!

Today I got rid of the Petunias & the China Pinks as well as the Morning Glory. I’ve emptied the pots of Petunias & put Pansies, with species Crocuses planted underneath them, in the vacant pots then I put them in the aluminium rings & hung them on the balcony railings.

Pansies & Crocuses:

The Pansies will give some flowers through out the winter whenever we have mild spells before their main flowering period starts in April. The Crocuses will flower before the Pansies start & the Pansies will hide the dying Crocuses’ leaves. I’ve done this for many years now with great success – though I must admit some years have been better than others! One year I changed the Pansies for Violas & had the most stunning display! The local council here has planted Violas & Pansies “en masse” for several years & the effect is always stunning!

The Petunias did very well & I shall repeat this planting in future years. I’ve grown a few other years but never in the amount I did this year.

Petunias:

I also pulled up the China Pinks I grew from seed. They took rather longer to start flowering than I anticipated – maybe I should start them earlier. The wind had shredded the poor plants & for weeks they have looked terrible. Nevertheless I liked them very much while they were in flower – if it hadn’t been for the weeks of strong winds I’m sure I would still have had a few flowers on all the plants as I had with the Petunias. I intend to grow more another year as well.

China Pinks:

The Morning Glory have done very poorly on my balcony this year. I grow them most years as I always save some seed & they add a vertical element to the balcony. This year I bought a packet of seeds when my wife & I went to Spain in May. I planted some on the balcony but I planted lots down on the allotment. I think they must be a new variety as there were many colours but the best part was that they stayed open almost all day – even on the hottest days they were still open in the afternoon! This was a surprise for me because I’ve grown them for 20 years or more & I’ve never known the flowers to remain open in the afternoon except towards the end of their growing season when the days are a lot cooler.

Morning Glory:

I am very, very happy with how they grew & flowered down on the allotment! :-)) They started to flower just at the time the Sweetpeas were coming to an end! They took over seamlessly! So I have had colour on the division created between two half allotments for about six months! The wind has damaged the plants no end & most leaves are almost in tatters, yet still they continue to flower!

The most curious thing about them was that the plants on the Balcony & on the allotment started to flower the very same day! They were also planted on the same day in May.