Islands, gardening and snow!

Martin Clunes: Islands of Britain is a new  three part series starting on ITV1 Sunday at 9.oopm with 1/3. The North in which the actor heads to the most remote islands in Scotland.

How Britain Got the Gardening Bug is on BBC2 Tuesday at 8.30pm in which Caroline Quinton narrates this programme looking at the country’s interest in all things horticultural since the Second World War.

I missed Cruickshank on Kew: The Garden That Changed the World on Tuesday evening but I’m pleased to see that it’s being shown again next Wednesday on BBC2 at 7.00pm.

Also on BBC2 Wednesday at 9.00pm is Snow an engaging  documentary which looks at the science, history and mythology of the white stuff.

That reminds me that I want to read the  novel Death Wore White by Jim Kelly.   I’ve enjoyed his previous five books which all feature a journalist unlike this one which switches to two police officers.

Have a good weekend!

Just six!

Six plants  I can’t live without is, as I  mentioned last week,  a meme that I read on Maureen’s A View from England blog that I’ve obviously got to do!

I’ve actually chosen six that I like to grow, and indeed do with one exception.

Daffodils, or narcissus if you prefer, are the flowers that I think really do herald the arrival of spring. Much as I like the traditional yellow ones I also like the all-white ones and the various mini varities.

I grew up with roses as my mother had lots of them in her garden, mostly red ones and my own favourite Icebergs, and always had some in vases. Although I only have three roses on the plot I’m also lucky enough to be able to look at Nikki’s wonderful collection whenever I like!

I like poppies be they the familiar red ones or the small Californian ones. I had lots on the plot last year which hopefully self-seeded to do so again this year. Just in case I’m also sowing more including  Iceland mixed colours.

Sunflowers are such a wonderful smiley flowers, especially the tall singles with their big sunny faces peering down!  I wrote this post yesterday morning, which was dull and wet, when the post arrived which included a lovely card from Beginninghere. She also sent me a packet of  Vanilla Ice seeds which look to be a wonderful variety to grow.

Blue is my favourite colour but I often feel that blue flowers don’t always have the impact that they should, perhaps because of the lack of contrast with green foliage.  However last year I grew cornflowers which I loved for their intense colour, long flowering season and the contrast against the biscuit-coloured grasses among which they grew.

The one plant that I would like to have is a hydrangea. For me there is nothing that matches its sheer, but not too showy, presence. It is a wonderful plant that provides all year round interest. What more could you ask for!

PC, Plot and TV

I got another, second-hand, PC and monitor yesterday morning along with a new,  for free,  mouse. After lunch when it was all tidied up and reconnected I sat down and spent the rest of the day setting it up and down loading various programmes.  Anyway it’s all working fine and it’s good not to have it keep freezing up on me.

I was on hut duty this morning when Mary, a plot neighbour, came in for some eight foot bamboo canes.  She mentioned that she had something for me so I carried the canes across to her plot to see what it was.  She said that she hoped I would like it, which I do,  and  would find it a good home on my plot, which I have.  So meet  Fox Juniorwho has taken up residency by the log pile.

I’ve been plotting every day last week, mostly sowing flower seeds, so today I just pottered. Whilst doing so Margo, another  neighbour,  gave me a couple of clumps of  forget-me-notsand some day lilies, all of which I planted and watered in.

That’s all I did except to mulch around the strawberries which now have lots of flowers on them

There are two interesting looking programmmes on TV next week.  On BBC2 Tuesday  at 9.00pm is Cruickshank on Kew: the Garden that changed the World and on BBC2 Wednesday at 9.00pm is Rain, a documentary which explores the science and significance of rain.

I hope to do my meme entry on  Six Plants I Can’t Live Without on Tuesday, that is if I’ve decided which ones they are by then!

Computer problems!

My computer has been hiccuping for the past week or so and it’s definitely getting worse so if I’m suddenly not around for a few days then please assume that it’s gone kaput!

As it is I almost certainly won’t be doing an post over the weekend, unless I buy another one tomorrow and get it up and running!

I’ll endeavour to return to normal as soon as possible, but if that’s going to take more than a few days then I’ll use one at the library early next week just to let you know what’s happening.

Springtime smiles!

It’s been noticeable looking at various posts over the past week how the sunny, warm weather has been conducive to springtime smiles!

A new job hasn’t been the only reason why Olivia has been so happy, and Glo picked up on this with a delightful spring sonnet.

Chippy has been cheery out and about, whilst Deyank has been watching, and photographing, some of his yard dwellers.

Daffy had fun bathing her dad’s boisterous Labrador,  and Irishpisky went to the Isle of Skye for a few days.

I had a comment on an entry from Re who has just started a blog,  and Louise has a new one adding to her two others!

I’m also pleased to see that  Princessfairytoes is still blogging, albeit far too infrequently.

Lastly I found this meme over on Maureen’s blog which some of you may be surprised to read I actually want to do! I usually don’t like doing them,  and  generally do so with reluctance. I shall do this one either over the weekend or early next week. How about doing it as well?

Have a good weekend!

The rest of the plot

This post follows on from last Thursday’s Just vegetables.

The soft fruits  -  blackberries  (back),  raspberries (middle) and strawberries (front)  -  are all growing welland I’m hoping for a few more berries than I got last year!

The grape that my good plot neighbour Joe gave me hasn’t been growing well in the container it was in so I’ve replanted it in the ground by a corner of the compost heap where it’s sheltered and will get plenty of sunshine. The mini-daffs that were also in it I’ve replanted with others by the stone feature.

The container has been moved and I’ll probably grow a nasturtium or two in it. The bird feeders, which have hardly been touched recently,  have been moved across to the other side of the compost bin.

Beverley, a long-time hardware store colleague , kindly gave me this primroseShe’s promised me a couple more, one of which will join this one by the new pond and the other go by Frog’s pond.

Joe cut a couple of his plum trees right back last year and I took one of the branches and stuck it in the ground at the end of the log pile, hoping perhaps that a robin would use it as a perch. If it does I’ve never seen it do so but recently I’ve noticed that the branch is showing signs of growth!

The alder and hawthorn trees, now both around two feet tall, are growing well with plenty of leaves on them.

The three roses – Iceberg, Pretty Lady and Valentine Heart – have started growing new foliage and I’m hoping that they’ll produce plenty of blooms during the summer.  The Iceberg didn’t flower at all last year so it’s on notice to do well or else!

The weather is looking good for the coming week so I’ll be concentrating on the flower areas. That will include sowing sunflowers Tall Single and Pastiche, and sweet pea varieties Bouquet Blend and the white Swan Lake.

I’ll also be sowing  packets of Wild Flower Mixture, Field and Hedgerow Flowers and Annual Ornamental Grasses.

Many of the  other flowers I’m going to sow are traditional garden favourites. More about them another time.

Just vegetables

Although I’ve been digging, weeding and tidying up all over the plot it’s the vegetable areas that I’ve been concentrating on.

I’ve now planted all four varieties of potatoes, of which the first earlies Swift * are  all showing

The onions are  showing signs of growth, as are most of the broad beans Masterpiece Green Longpod which grow to 120-150cm and mature July onwards.

Another broad bean Witkiem Manita* I planted later, and which are just starting to appear, only grows to 60cm and matures June onwards.

Yesterday I sowed a row each of beetroot Cylindra and Burpee’s Golden, carrots Little Fingers and Tendersnax F1 Hybrid, and spring onions Summer Isle. I’ll sow another row of each in a few weeks time.  I’ve also got lettuce Buttercrunch and  Lollo Rossa to sow.

The runner beans White Emergo won’t get sown until around this time next month. As last year I’ll use a wigwam of  eight canes and a double row of  eight canes. The sweetcorn Golden Bantam will be sown then as well.

Still to come are courgette All Green Bush, cucumber Bush Crop and tomato Gardener’s Delight.

I’ve also got some other vegetable seeds, including pumpkin Hooligan F1 Hybrid and butternut squash Hunter F1, which I may try growing.

* Georgie, in her Little London Garden,  is growing in containers a few of the same potatoes and broad beans,  which I sent her. It’ll be interesting to see how they compare given such different growing conditions.

Mostly mooching

Not surprisingly I’m not really in the mood to do an entry as I would normally do on a Sunday.

It’s been a typically wet Easter so far, although it’s not actually rained today so far, so I’ve not been plotting since mid-week. I had a look round this morning and was pleased to see my first lot of potatoes now showing, as were some onions and broad beans. Hopefully I’ll be able to do some work there tomorrow and then I’ll do a plot entry telling, and showing,  you how it’s all doing and looking.

I’ve been mostly mooching the past couple of days drinking  too many cups of tea and having eaten all the chocolate biscuits.  I watched, and enjoyed, Finding Nemo yesterday.

I’ve also been reading Empire of Sand by Robert Ryan,  which is proving to be an absorbing story.

One item of sad news is that something, a fox I would guess, clearly took exception to Daisy Duck as I found her on the plot with her head chewed off!

On the plot most of the daffodils have now finished but the window box is still looking good, and  I particularly like the mini-daffs down in the left-hand cornerI think that I shall move most of these bulbs out onto the plot later on and go for more mini-daffs and some hyacinths next year.

I want to thank everyone who commented on my last entry. It’s one that perhaps, on reflection, I shouldn’t have done  but  I’m grateful to you all.

Happy Easter!

Regardless of what the weather is like and what we do over Easter I’m sure that nearly everyone will settle down on the sofa at some point to watch a film on TV. I know that I will and I may well watch a couple of these.

On BBC1 at 4.20pm tomorrow, Good Friday, is that bright animated comedy adventure Chicken Run, which is a wonderful flight of fancy!

On ITV1 at 3.35pm on Saturday afternoon is the classic James Bond spy adventure From Russia with Love.  It’s not my favourite one, which is Goldfinger, so I may give it a miss and wait until until 5.10pm when BBC1 is showing the animated comedy adventure Finding Nemo, which Barry Norman calls a kiddies tale for grown-ups and an Easter treat for everyone.

Sunday, Easter Day, afternoon on ITV1 at 2.50pm is the comedy fantasy Groundhog Day, which is generally considered to be one of the best comedies of the 1990s.

On C4 at 12.50pm on Easter Monday is the spectacular science-fiction film Close Encounters Of The Third Kind.

If I had cable or satellite as well then I’d have many more films to choose from including the exhilarating musical On the Town starring Ann Miller.

Happy watching and a Happy Easter!

Plot plants ~ Aquilegia

One of the few flowers that I found on the plot whilst clearing it  during the latter half of 2007 was an Aquilegia, or Columbine if you prefer.

My mother’s garden always had lots of them as she happily left them to self-seed all over the place, and I’ll do the same with mine!

Being a perennial they die back over the winter then grow again in the spring. I took this photo recently and like the way water droplets sparkle on the leaves.

Last summer it looked wonderful in full flower

and I’m hoping that it’ll do the same this year.