Digging & Dreaming

Autumn Flowers

It's been a real wash out of a summer on the pt. The long, sunny evenings that normally make it so great to be there at this time of year have been virtually non-existent and the damp has meant that the weeds and slugs have had a field day.

Despite this it isn't all bad news because the cutting flowers have been glorious for the last couple of weeks. This is a bunch that I picked for my Aunt and Uncle last weekend. A mixture of rudbeckia and dahlias that are a common sight in bouquets. I also like to be a bit freestyle about what I pick so there are some things in there as well that are much less common - bronze fennel, garlic chives and artichoke leaves, amongst others. Basically, if I like the shape and colour and I've got enough to spare I'm happy to pick them and bring them into the house.

Grow or Buy?

I read an article in a magazine recently that was praising the virtues of the Sweet Pea as a cut flower. Apparently florists all over the country are experiencing unprecedented demand for them, and other cottage garden flowers, from their customers. I can fully understand why people would want to have a vase of them in their house because they fill any room they're in with the sweetest scent that is the epitome of summer. But buying them from a florist? That I can't understand.

Sweet Peas have to be one of the easiest flowers that you can grow in the garden. They can be a little greedy but if you keep them fed, watered and reasonably warm you will be rewarded with glorious blooms. However, once they come inside there's a day or two of intense perfume and colour before they fade and die, which doesn't strike me as a flower ideally suited to days on a shelf in a shop. If you grow your own there's no need to despair because the more you cut them the more flowers you get which means you can have them in your house for week after week all through the summer months without spending more than the price of a packet of seeds or a tray of seedlings. When it's as easy as that why bother doing it any other way?

Pot Luck Foxgloves

 Last year I had two different types of foxglove on the plot - the standard purple ones and the beautiful white Digitalis Alba. And this is the result... gorgeous pink foxgloves which I've never seen before but I really like.

My tip with flowers like foxgloves, calendula and nasturtiums, which all self seed like mad if you give them half a chance, is to leave them to it. Then, when the seedlings start coming through the following year you can move them to wherever you want them.

Magnificent Marigolds

Marigolds are terribly under valued little flowers. There's a feeling about them being too suburban or too unfashionable but I'm not going to be swayed by the current trends because I really like them. They're easy to grow from seed - though I have confess that I was a bit behind this year and ended up buying a couple of trays from my local nursery. If you look after them and dead head them they'll reward you with flowers right through the summer.

They certainly shouldn't be confined to the back garden though because they're excellent companion plants as well. No allotmenteer in their right mind should be without them! Their sweet smelling leaves help repel whitefly and nasty soil nematodes and their petals are edible making a welcome addition to summer salads. Useful, pretty and tasty - what more could you ask for from a little flower like this?

Lovely Lily

Last summer I was given a lily for my pond in an attempt to get rid of the algae that was taking over. I diligently planted it as the books recommended and it promptly disappeared, never to be seen again - or so I thought...Come spring little pads started to appear and the first flower is now here in all its glory.Lilies keep the algae at bay because their leaves are great shade letting the water stay cool slowing down algae growth which worse in warm water.

I inherited the pond when I moved onto my plot and was really in the dark about looking after it so it's been a steep learning curve but I must be doing something right because the newts are back again this year and there are dragonflies all over the place. My boyfriend is a bit more knowledgeble coming from a one pond family (original home of the lily) but, apart from keeping it healthy and ticking over we haven't even thought about the possibilities of more watery planting. Maybe that can be the next challenge...

Parsnip Flowers

At the end of winter I had a couple of parsnips left and, as I was sick of eating them by that point, decided to leave them to flower. Like carrots, parsnips are biennials which flower in the second year after sowing. They're also great companion plants because hover flies, with their aphid eating larvae, love them.

The plants are about 5 foot tall and are very similar to wild parsnips which you can find growing all over the country. The flowers aren't at all showy to look at but the plant as a whole is quite striking. It'll soon be surround by winter squash plants so will be great to add some level and visual interest to that bed before the pumpkins and squash start growing and steal the show.

By the way...

...The poppies are here! They aren't looking quite as good as last year because the weather's been a bit dull and rainy and the plant looks distinctly windswept but they're still pretty stunning. They're always the first really sign of summer for me.

Chive Talking

  This picture is the of beautiful Black Isle Blush Chives which was developed by the Poyntzfield Herb Nursery and won an RHS award of merit in 1995. Far too nice to eat - in fact I think it's so nice that I'm growing it as a border flower in my garden as well. As with most perennials , if I keep dead heading it I should have flowers all summer long.