The Accidental Gardeners

The Cottage Garden

February 7, 2024 / / 0 Comments

The off white picket gate with a latch on the other side that I could only just about reach, standing on my tiptoes. The rough edges of the top lightly scraping the underneath of my right forearm. The metal latch felt warm to touch in the Summer evening sun. I nudged the gate open with my knee, grateful that it swung open so freely.

The tall pure white Cosmos and their soft foliage tickled my face. They were taller than I had remembered. The petals cupped a bumblebee giving it a safe haven to rest and gorge on the pollen. My sandalled feet crunched on the gravel as I made my way down the path.

The strong scent of English Lavender waved me into a sense of complete happiness like it always did at this time of year. How I longed to lay amongst lavender hedges and breathe it in deeper. The bright yellow beacons of Echinacea pollen beckoned me closer, inviting me to run my index finger over their spiky yet surprisingly soft mounds. I moved in closer to smell them, quickly moving back to allow a bee their right of passage.

Oh how the Hollyhocks with their peachy glow towered so high above me. There were only a few flowers left towards the very top, far out of my reach. I removed my sandals as I reached the cushiony lawn and tiptoed through the Chamomile towards my destination.

I could already see the vibrant globes of crimson peeking through the lush green leaves. Reaching behind the cold frame I felt the familiarity of the wicker handle of the basket that always awaited me. I dragged it out, knowing that the first fruits wouldn’t make it to the basket. Plucking the brightest red tomato that I could reach, I took a bite, the seeds bursting out onto my white t-shirt. It was the sweetest one I’ve every tasted, yet I know I think that every single time. I filled the basket to the brim with all the ripe heirlooms I could get to before returning back through the garden closing the picket gate as I left.

Thirty five years later it is still a journey that I take with complete appreciation for the world around me. The only difference being that I no longer have to enter and exit through the picket gate. For this has become my home.

Three things to do NOW in the garden

September 26, 2023 / / 0 Comments

We can all feel the weather starting to change, right? The mornings are becoming crisper and the days are getting shorter. Hopefully you still have a lot of colour in your garden right now. I want to share with you my top three things that you can do right now in your garden that you’ll thank me for later.

1. Start Collecting Seeds

Now is the time to start thinking about collecting seeds from your favourite flowers. I’ve let some of my Echinacea go to seed as they were definitely starting to fade with the change in temperature. Some of my other plants aren’t at that stage yet, but now is a great time to start collecting. I always use a paper envelope, don’t forget to label it! If you’re short on time just snip off the whole dry seedhead and pop it in. You can separate the seeds out when you’ve got more time. Make sure you store them somewhere cool and dry. Oh, and did I already mention to label them, well here’s your second reminder.

2. Make Wreaths

Now is the perfect time to make wreath frames from living greenery and dry them out in time for, well I’m not going to say the C word. I’ve experimented this year with using Wisteria and they’re drying out really well so far. You can literally use anything that is soft enough to twine round into a circular frame. Make them as big and full as you like and pop them somewhere cool to dry out. I’ve got mine in our small greenhouse but you can dry them out indoors too.

3. Cut Flowers for Drying

Another thing to do now, especially when your flowers are still looking their absolute best! Think how great they’ll look on your handmade wreath frames too. There are quite a few different methods for drying flowers so find a way that works best for you. I do two different things depending on the flowers. For Echinacea and small Dahlias I place them in empty vases with enough airflow around them to dry properly, so leave a bit of space between them. For dinner plate Dahlias and fancier flowers I hang them upside down with a piece of string. You can bunch a few together this way to save space too. Then for things like Amaranthus and grasses again I just pop them in empty vases.

We live in a tiny house, but we’re fortunate to have a dark pantry where I can dry my flowers. You want the room you store them in to be kept fairly dark to prevent the colours fading too much. The colours will fade, but personally I think they look so interesting and sometimes quite unexpected.

I hope you’ve found these reminders helpful. I know I’ll be glad I’ve done this preparation now when I’m making my dried flower wreaths and sorting my seeds out in the winter months.

Have you got any tips you’d like to share?

Sharing my mistakes, to save you money.

September 20, 2023 / / 0 Comments

I’ve made a lot of mistakes in the garden which have cost me. I want to share with you three of the mistakes I made so that you can save your time and money.

  1. Not reading/not taking notice of plant labels

This is probably one of the biggest mistakes that I have made, and it seems like such a simple one. But, when you’re wandering around the garden centre or browsing all the beautiful plants online, it’s so easy to get carried away. Those fabulously flamboyant flora that just jump in your basket and before you know it they’re on their way to your garden! You know exactly what I’m talking about, we’ve all done it. Well, if you don’t read the label and find out what conditions those plants need to thrive you’re making a big mistake. I’m not going to tell you how much money I have spent on plants that weren’t suited to our growing conditions, because I don’t precisely know the answer, but it was a lot. They looked stunning for about a week or two before they ran out of fight and withered away. So, always take notice of the conditions and hey if you’re dream plant won’t like your garden, don’t break your own heart trying to force it.

2. Being impatient

This mistake can come in so many different forms, but it’s all basically bringing the same message, give things time. This could be anything from giving your seeds time to germinate and grow before giving up, to giving your garden time to show you what it can do. I’ll go into a little more detail. With the seeds, remember that they need so many different kinds of conditions to even germinate in the first place (again, read the packet) and they need time to develop as seedlings. Don’t rush them, and give them enough time to get strong before you try and plant them on. Yes, I am very guilty of being impatient with seeds, and it has cost me money. Granted, seeds aren’t that expensive, but think of the time that you invest in them. Now, when I talk about giving your garden time to show you what it can do I mean give perennials a chance to come back. Don’t give up on them dig them out to replace with something more erm, visible. If you do, you’ll probably find that you’re digging up pretty healthy growth. The return of perennials can also be very dependant on the weather too. In the UK our weather is so unreliable these days that it definitely has a big impact on our plants. I’ve had Dahlias flower in June before, but this year my first flower appeared at the very end of August. Thankfully I didn’t dig them up, but I will admit that I have before. So, have patience with your plants.

3. Protect your Plants

My final costly mistake that I want to share with you today is this. Whatever you do, protect your plants! The irony of me writing this today, as the wind is blowing very strongly outside is not wasted on me. If your plants need to be staked, do this well before they need to be staked. Build the cages, webs or forts (sometimes) that your plants need before they put on a lot of growth. I’m going to mention Dahlias here as a prime example. Personally, I think they need a really good system of support around them, however you decided to do it. I thought I had done a pretty good job of it this year using tall bamboo canes and string. Turns out, that wasn’t enough. The wind has been too strong and the rain too heavy over the last few days and all of the tall plants have fallen or snapped. It’s too wet out there to really assess the damage right now, so don’t make the mistake I have. Give them the forts they need before they need it. I’m going to also mention here briefly about protecting your plants from pests. I’ll keep it short as I’m going to write a separate article on this. Pests are needed in our garden, in fact they’re only really pests to our plants. They’re such an important part of the eco system so I am completely against eradicating them with chemicals. They should be encouraged and naturally their predators will arrive. However as this article is about mistakes that can cost you money, there are a few things you can do to protect your young plants from pests. I do use Slug Rings https://www.slugrings.co.uk/ (Copper rings that you place around the base of young plants) and I have also used Nematodes https://www.nematodesdirect.co.uk/ (microscopic creatures that act as parasites on other creatures). These methods both work really well to prevent slug damage. I have no solution to Lupin Aphids though, sorry. Other than spraying them off with water and hoping for the best.

I hope by sharing my top three mistakes that you don’t have to make them. Are there any mistakes you’ve made that could help others?

You Can’t Handle the Truth!

September 15, 2023 / / 0 Comments

If you’re anything like me, you love a “gardening reality” post. You know the ones that resonate with you about Tomato Blight, dog patches on your lawn, Dahlias not flowering, seeds not germinating. I could go on. Well, I particularly like these posts this year as I have all of those realities, and more. 

The year started off so well with the Lupins putting on the most spectacular show I have ever seen. I was full of so much hope and promise for the Summer. I’d planned the Dahlia bed for the first time, and ordered all new tubers of the Dahlias I dreamt of. I even put in all the staking before the first shoots, which is very organised and unlike me. I had very high hopes for beautiful cut flowers. 

Then, the incredible British weather happened. 

My Cosmos and Zinnia seeds did germinate, but they really struggled with the lack of sunlight. By the time I should have been planting them out I had only one Zinnia left, and the Cosmos were tiny. Obviously I still planted them out, because as a gardener you still hope right? I forgot to mention the two new things I was so excited about growing for the first time, Cobaea and Craspedia Globosa. Well, the Cobaea got to about 10cm and died. The Craspedia made it to the border but then, nothing. 

As the Lupins faded, the Dahlias were already struggling. As I type now (12th September) I still have one that hasn’t flowered yet. I have three that were definitely not what I ordered and three tubers that didn’t make it at all. The Dahlia border is looking very sad and disappointing, bar three Dahlias (Linda’s Baby, Totally Tangerine and Cornel Brons). This is definitely making me rethink this border next year. Don’t tell anyone, but I’m thinking of not growing Dahlias at all! I can’t handle the disappointment, or the truth. 

The one food I love growing are Tomatoes, because I eat a lot of them. Well, they started off poorly with Blossom End Rot. Then they cleared up. Then blight hit. All in all, I’ve probably picked and eaten ten, from five plants. 

Don’t get me started on the lawn. We put a lot of hard work into reseeding the lawn in Spring. We actually dug over the entire space which was back-breaking with manual tools and compacted mud. The lawn looked stunning in May. Really stunning and perfect. Then, we got a puppy. It was kind of planned, but probably happened sooner than we thought it would. I was prepared for the scorched lawn spots, that’s inevitable. I wasn’t prepared for a puppy that loves to dig massive great holes right in the middle. It’s entirely my fault. I was in the middle of a presentation online and she started to bark to get out in the garden. My only option was to let her out. When I’d finished five minutes later I found her having a whale of a time in a hole bigger than her. There was mud and grass everywhere. My fault completely. Anyway, now I’ve repaired the holes and she’s no longer allowed out there unsupervised, I’m hoping the lawn may recover a bit. 

So, it’s not that I can’t handle the truth of having a bad gardening season, but I think sharing that you’ve had a bad time has to be a good thing right? A shared bad season is better than feeling like you’ve messed everything up yourself. 

How has your garden held up this Summer? 

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