Catching up…or at least trying to!

The past six weeks have been very busy, both in the garden and beyond.  My wife (AKA Florist in the Forest) has had a number of weddings to do for which I have been the delivery boy; we’ve also had a stall at the Penshurst Farmers Market (where we will be again tomorrow morning if you happen to live nearby) selling and promoting my wife’s floristry business and also selling a selection of plants including Verbena bonariensis, scented Pelargoniums, Echinacea, Lavender, Lemon Verbena, and Chocolate Cosmos to name but a few.

Consequently the garden has been abandoned to the gods who have variously battered it with torrential downpours, blown it all over the place with ferocious winds, or scorched and baked it with blistering sun.  Despite this, things are not looking to bad and there is plenty in bloom.  My particular favourite at the moment is Helenium ‘Moerheim Beauty’:

Helenium 'Moerheim Beauty'

Most of the roses are also enjoying a vigorous second flush of flowering, ‘Iceberg’ adding  crisp, clean quality to the garden and ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’ a wonderfully rich fragrance:

Rosa 'A Whiter Shade of Pale'

Rosa 'Iceberg'

Not all the roses are fairing so well, however, and this is entirely my fault as this year I have neglected the pot roses and it is really showing:

Signs of neglect

Last year they were fed and watered on a weekly basis but this year I just haven’t seem to have had the time to be so regimented.

The veg garden is starting to get to that point where we are on the cusp of harvesting: borlotti beans are fattening in their speckled pods, runner beans are increasing in number and size, the tomato plants are a mass of fruit which just need to ripen and some of the potatoes are ready for lifting.

A tunnel full of toms

Can't see the wood for the beans

Rasperries have been and gone but we do have plenty of blackberries which have ripened earlier than we are normally used to.

Berries galore

On top of all that that there has been plenty of action in the ‘nursery’ area of the garden, pricking out biennial seedlings, potting on more established plants and making sure that the pots are not drying out in the heat.  Add to that ordering seeds for next year and planning sowing for the August and September and we have plenty to keep us on our toes.

All in all then life has been pretty hectic and will probably be so for a few more weeks to come.

Autumn sown Sweet Peas; and Hellebores in the garden

Things are starting to happen in the garden; more on that at the weekend, but here’s a taster with this lovely Hellebore just about to come into flower:

There are also plenty of Sweet Peas coming on that were sown in late autumn last year. These should make strong plants but in order to try and extend the growing season I sowed some more Sweet Peas last week. The result of all this should hopefully be the soaring stems that you see below:

My wife cutting the Sweet Peas that we grow at the end of the veg beds.

 

My wife is picking the Sweet Peas. She is a florist and cut flower grower. Have a look at her work at