Leisure…

is a well known poem by W.H. Davies* that is Ellies’s favourite, and also one of mine.

With some really good weather this week I’ve been busy plotting but have still made time to stand and stare.

I did just that with the poached egg plant (limnanthes douglasii) flowers that really were buzzing with bees,

but didn’t do that with the ladybirds which were everywhere,  scurrying around, chasing one another and even being rather frisky!

Don’t forget that Springwatch starts next Monday on BBC2 at 8.00pm. I don’t have a TV at present but will be looking at the excellent website, especially the superb photos on the Flickr site and, from tomorrow, the webcams.

[* A good place to read his poems would be on the Red bear bench over on Sofa flying]

Have a good weekend!

Butterflies, dandelions and trees

Yesterday was the start of Save Our Butterflies Week which continues through to next Sunday, 27th May. I’ve seen very few so far this year,  just one or two whites on the occasional sunny day. The forecast is for some sunny and warm days next week so perhaps I’ll get to see a Painted Lady like this one from three years ago.

It’s one of only a handful of good butterfly photos that I’ve taken in as many years.  Needless to say I’d like to both see, and photograph, more as they have to be the most delightful wildlife that visit our gardens.

Whilst most of us are happy to see  dandelions on roadside grass verges it’s a different matter in the garden where we tend to view them as pernicious weeds. I leave any on the grass paths to flower but try to dead-head them before it’s too late.  I think the seed-heads have a wonderful out-of -this-world look to them.

As you can see from this interesting post that Lucy did last Tuesday she likes dandelions.

I’m not doing a separate plot trees post this time, but this was the last post about them, and this lists other tree followers.

The plot hawthorn appears to be a non-blossoming variety as there’s no sign of any yet again this year. Never mind as I’m happy to have it as a feature on the plot, and it’s a good habitat for lots of wildlife.

The plum tree looked good during March and April when it was covered in blossom.

That was sadly rather rather short-lived but much to my surprise when I looked closely last week there’s now fruit forming.  I can’t wait to find out if they’re edible.

Happy gardening, and have a good week!

[Click on any picture to see a larger image]

So far, so good

I’ve mentioned in a couple of recent posts that I’m growing a few plants in pots at home. I try this every year and usually have little, or no, success. This year I wasn’t going to bother but, once again, the temptation to try again got the better of me.

I sowed two squash Sunburst F1, one per pot, both of which germinated and the smaller one, as seen, is now at least 6″. I re-potted them this week and will plant them out in a few weeks time.

Four tomato Golden Queen were sown, one to a pot, and all germinated. These are all about 5″, have also been re-potted and will likewise go out in a few weeks.

Another tomato Red Robin I sowed just two seeds, one per pot, and both have grown. These are just a couple of inches, but only grow to around a foot or so. These have gone into 5″ pots and will be grown indoors.

All the above were sown just over four weeks ago and given the lack of sunshine and warmth since then I’m surprised, and pleased, at how well they’ve done sitting on the window sill.

Of the ten pot marigold seeds I was given only one failed to appear, and all the others are just starting to show their second pair of leaves. I’ve replanted one to see how it does as a indoor pot plant, the rest will go out on the plot with some going into the big pot that I had some daffodils in.

Here’s one of each showing what they looked like yesterday -

Have a good weekend!

Busy again

Last Monday I spent a couple of hours plotting before it clouded over and started raining again. I hoed and weeded round the broad beans, potatoes and onions. I sowed another double row of broad beans and planted more onions sets in the few gaps where earlier ones hadn’t appeared.

Yesterday was sunny and reasonably warm so I spent all morning being busy again.  Although the ground was still soggy in places I was able to cut the grass down the path along the eastern edge, and did plenty of hoeing and weeding.

If the flowers are anything to go by then it should be a good year for strawberries, which will make up for last year!

It’s good to see the poached egg plants starting to flower, as are the aquilegias and there are buds on the rose Pretty Lady.

I grow a small group of teasels in the hope that one day I’ll see a goldfinch or two on them. The new ones are growing well  so I will remove the old ones soon, being very careful when I do as they are really prickly.

The feathery fennel is now a knee height mound which looks, and feels amazing, and the smell of aniseed is quite noticeable.  It’s growing next to the rosemary, in the stone feature, which has been flowering for weeks. I’ve been looking for the rather colourful rosemary beetle but thankfully haven’t found any, and really don’t want to!

There were a few white butterflies fluttering about, lots of honey bees on the flowers and ladybirds everywhere.

Happy gardening!

[Click on any picture to see a larger image]

Here, there and nowhere

A new lawn lounger is Victoria whose blog Southbourne Gardens is mostly about her allotment which is less than a couple of miles away.  Considering how far away some friends here are it’s nice to have a near neighbour.

Gaia Method made this comment yesterday and following her link I found that her blog is all about her life on the west bank of Luxor, Egypt.  It’s well worth having a look, and I was surprised to read that onions planted there in November were lifted a few weeks ago.

Over on Sofa flying earlier in the week I showed  This door to nowhere…, which according to Deyank’s comment will lead to Zork (!). On Facebook Debbie said that it actually goes to Narnia, which I like as I’ve always wanted to meet Aslan!

I’m sitting here after lunch doing this whilst looking out the window at the familiar sight of grey skies and wet pavements. However it looks like the next few days are going to be mostly sunny and warm.

Have a good weekend!

I didn’t do any plotting…

again last week as the weather continued to be cold, wet and windy for much of the time, and the ground is still too soggy.

On Monday morning I looked at the weeds, picked some rhubarb and took a few photos including this one of a fox on Fran’s plot which is just over the road from mine. I was pleased to see it this close as I now usually only see them down towards the other end of the site.

The rhubarb was as delicious as it looks. I just cut it up , stew gently for a few minutes, sprinkle some demerara on it and eat.

The perennial cornflowers (centaurea montana) now have plenty of flowers on them which the bees will home in on.

The rose Pretty Lady is now really bushy again following the severe pruning I gave it a couple of months ago.  As you can see Fox Junior is now sitting under it keeping an eye on the plot.

At home the squash and tomato seeds I sowed have germinated and are growing but I think that they really need some warm sunshine.

Talking about seed sowing and germination this rather interesting, and very informative, Seed Sowing No-Shows post that Wellywoman did a couple of days ago is well worth reading.

Have a good week!

[Click on any picture to see a larger image]

Peace and quiet

On the rare occasions that I realise it’s totally quiet I make the most of it as I know that it won’t last very long.

I live in a flat, alongside a busy road and almost under the approach to RAF Northolt*,  which is less than two miles away, all of which means that there is nearly always some background noise.

At the plot it’s a similar story, albeit more muted.  I tend not to go there at weekends, apart from early on some Saturday mornings, as other people are often there mowing, rotovating or strimming adding to the noise.

I came across The Quiet Garden Movement (A simple ministry of hospitality and prayer) during the week which I read about with interest even though ‘I’m an atheist, thank God’, as the comedian Dave Allen often joked.

Life today is nearly always dictated by noise of all kinds and I often long for some peace and quiet.  Thankfully I can sometimes find it on the plot with just the bees buzzing and birds singing, and it’s then that I’ll perhaps give a prayer of thanks.

Have a good weekend, and as Dave Allen always said at the end of his shows ‘…may your God go with you’.

[* RAF Northolt was in the news yesterday and I may well do a post about that next week, probably over on Sofa flying where this week I showed some wet sunglasses.]