My gardening diary
MONDAY
After the cold weather we’ve had, most of our magnificent gold-coloured molinia have collapsed from the base so it’s time to compost the old stems.
TUESDAY
Basil we’d been growing undercover has almost reached the end of its life span, so we’re stripping all the good green leaves to make pesto to accompany pasta.
WEDNESDAY
It’s so much easier to tidy up old stems of phlox and similar perennials on dry days, but we’re being ultra-careful not to tread on embryonic new shoots that are just beginning to form!
THURSDAY
All the beans are composting now but we left the roots in. One year, after a particularly mild winter, our runner beans regrew in the following spring though they didn’t start to shoot until May – so the new growth wasn’t frosted. They flowered and fruited earlier than those sown that spring and made buxom plants.
FRIDAY
A favourite rose here is ‘Paul’s Himalayan Musk’. It only flowers for a few weeks but is glorious when it does, the perfume from its pale pink flowers pervading the garden. We can see much more clearly now which of its tall, twining stems are dead or dying and need cu ing out.
SATURDAY
Peppers don’t really suit me - in fact the whole solanum family can be bad news for anyone with arthritis. Potatoes and tomatoes, though, are compulsory; I’d find it very difficult to do without them. Neil loves peppers so we always grow some, but the chilli pepper ‘Hungarian Hot Wax’ are coming to an end now so we’re harvesting the last few.
SUNDAY
In the polytunnel two huge tree pots were planted earlier on with Tagetes patula ‘Tall Scotch Prize’. Its flowers are straight out of a child’s colouring book with alternate vivid yellow and dark mahogany petals. The plants are still going strong and giving us enough of their ‘jester’ blooms to fill a vase every few days.