My gardening DIARY

MONDAY

Never thought I’d say this but we’ve had too many strawberries and Neil’s been forced to make jam with some of them! Strawberries lack pectin so it’s a good idea to include a few not-quite-ripe fruit, which contain more pectin, plus lemon juice.

TUESDAY

In between potatoes planted in one of our concrete troughs, I’d planted parsley grown from seed, but put out as chunky plants. It struck me what an exceptionally striking foliage plant parsley is. It would make a great addition to some container planting.

WEDNESDAY

I’ve always wanted a pear tree but there’s no room! Problem solved by planting an espaliered pear across the short end of our broadest vegetable bed. I always thought of espaliers for walls but, providing they have sturdy end posts with wires stretched across, they’re happy.

THURSDAY

Last autumn I planted up a strawberry pot with succulents. They were in small pots and I managed to squeeze them in, planting one with a big rosette of leaves on the top. Its centre shrivelled but has been replaced by two rapidly expanding offsets. Most of the contents are doing well and it’s about time it went outside.

FRIDAY

Never thought I’d need to start deadheading dahlias so early but some of our bigger, older plants are already producing loads of flowers. One with dark leaves and orange flowers forms the centrepiece in a water butt along with purple-leaved sedums, cerinthe ‘Purpurascens’ and dark-flowered iris.

SATURDAY

Collecting aquilegia seed as well as seed from a dark wallflower, quite different from its fellows. I’d marked it with a bit of ribbon because at the seed stage flower colour is indistinguishable!

SUNDAY

It’s time to take cuttings – we’ve taken stem cuttings from penstemon, salvias, Buddleja weyeriana, pictured, and blackcurrants.