Cheating at Gardening: Free Plants

At the end of January I decided it was time to get gardening again. I sowed a few seeds and a few more and a few more. My greenhouse is too cold still for seedlings so I have used any space in the kitchen, utility room and hallways and I have a feeling the family will shortly need to check into a hotel.....

In February I foolishly popped into a well known garden centre  for 'just a look' and left clutching some gorgeous fuchsia plug plants and a couple of clematis. These plants are doing splendidly and so today I have decided to tripple my investment. The 8 annual fuchsia have become 24 and the 2 clematis have become 8. Obviously I took cuttings. I'm no Monty, but I'm pretty sure I followed advice given on the web and am hopeful that my new babies will thrive. [Even if I can't spell Fushcia/Fuscia on their labels!!!]

Having taken cuttings from these plants, I fed them well with Lou's Poo plant tea and the clematis were repotted to larger pots with a good layer of Lou's Poo Beans at their roots.

Garden of the future...

Tabby isn't interested in gardening..



Spring will come. Spring will come. SPRING WILL COME!!!!

Each year I lie to myself on 21st December (the herald of lengthening days,) telling myself that this date [not 1st of March] is the (slow) beginning of spring. This fat fib works till about mid January and the distraction of Christmas and my Birthday passes. I'm now just beginning to lose patience with the weather, though I know there is still approximately 8 more weeks of cold, stinky-stuff ahead. Sigh.

Salvia Seascape

In any case, I am sowing a new garden display on every available warm, bright spot indoors. I'm having to use indoor space because the greenhouse is already full of sweet-pea, lupin, spinach, nigella and cornflowers! My newer sowings are not as tough as the Autumn gang and therefore need that extra bit of love to get them going.

So, in the proper, posh propagator located on the windowsill of the utility room 50 tiny Thompson and Morgan Salvia Seascape are just emerging.

DIY Propagator - Sandwich Trays!

Also on the deep windowsill, but in makeshift propagator, (catering sandwich tray,) is a bed of Sutton's Statice Sinuata, next to that another of Sutton's BandQ Stock, Cinderella Mix and yet another of Thompson and Morgan's White Bride Snapdragons.

It seems without noticing I'm doing it, I've chosen to grow tall spires this year. This could be a subconscious effort to lift the flower garden above the height of the natural meadow grasses that invade. I've had to concede that I cannot pull every piece of couch grass so I'm going to garden on a higher plane from now on.



Stock, Cinderella Mix



Cinderella Stock

 

 

We are even growing chicks in an incubator.... though I suspect, after doing a bit of amateur candling with a torch the other night, that we are actually just warming and humidifying rotten eggs.... I'm quite nervous for the utility room as they are due to hatch or explode this weekend...