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?
