Even high on the English Pennines spring will eventually arrive. The signs are here. The clocks have gone forward, frog spawn is in the pond, daffodils are looking lovely, buds are appearing on the clematis and (hooray) the covers are off the garden furniture. My appetite for the garden is freshly whetted.
Sadly, outdoor time this weekend has been curtailed by the need to pot up 120 plug plants that arrived courtesy of Royal Mail from van Meuwen. They range from echinaea, coreopsis and dianthus to delphinium and digitalis. Twelve different plants and twelve of each. I have not really tried to start plants from plugs before, but I am cautiously optimistic. The biggest immediate challenge is where to put all the newly potted plants. The conservatory which doubles up as the greenhouse is now full to bursting.
The hope is that they will fill a new bed that I intend to create this year, in the style of a cottage garden. As I understand it, this will mean a variety of colourful plants and flowers intermingled with some food crops. Quite a challenge I think. To date I have been completely unsuccessful with the cultivation of foodstuffs. Apart from a few tomatoes grown indoors last year I have never been able to produce anything worth consuming. Suggestions on the easiest to grow crops, that will also look at home in the cottage garden will be welcome. The only definite to date are potatoes, as seed potatoes have already been bought and left out for chitting. Incidentally, 3 have already been put into a sack and have been growing for several weeks already, an update will follow.
The hope is that they will fill a new bed that I intend to create this year, in the style of a cottage garden. As I understand it, this will mean a variety of colourful plants and flowers intermingled with some food crops. Quite a challenge I think. To date I have been completely unsuccessful with the cultivation of foodstuffs. Apart from a few tomatoes grown indoors last year I have never been able to produce anything worth consuming. Suggestions on the easiest to grow crops, that will also look at home in the cottage garden will be welcome. The only definite to date are potatoes, as seed potatoes have already been bought and left out for chitting. Incidentally, 3 have already been put into a sack and have been growing for several weeks already, an update will follow.
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