Abundant blooms and colour
And the glorious summer continues, with flowers in the garden in abundance, creating colour and beautiful blooms. The pots and chimney are thriving with trailing begonias, fuchsia, lobelia, nemesia and petunia – the show of flowers are magnificent and I’ve been kept busy watering and feeding them! Cornflower ‘Blue Diadem’ planted on the border of the vegetable patch is a brilliant blue, and the peas ‘Kelvedon Wonder’ are ready. I picked a bowlful for dinner and they tasted so sweet and fresh, only taking two minutes to cook. What a wonderful feeling it is to eat your own produce.
The Garden News bright yellow cephalophora have suddenly burst into colour on my middle plot. I’m quite puzzled as they appear to be glorious pink poppies in different
hues! They make a lovely display, but were a surprise when they flowered. They’re keeping me busy deadheading.
The challenge this week is planting a rhubarb crown which was given to me. I’ve been unlucky twice with a rhubarb crown I planted in the garden so, with a little research, I decided to plant it in a large pot. I’ve picked a sunny corner of the garden and my partner Eric helped me bury the pot two-thirds down in the soil. I’ve put drainage in the bottom and filled it with a mix of manure-based compost. By planting it like this I can monitor the water intake, keeping the rhubarb moist but not waterlogged.
The zinnias, another free packet of seeds from Garden News, which I planted in troughs, are coming into bloom. This is the first time I’ve grown them and I love their double-crested flower heads in various colours.