Friday 13 May 2016

Bloomin' marvellous

We've had a week of summer and now everything's looking stunning. Blossom everywhere, all the leaves out, bluebell carpets in the woods.

Apple blossom

Cherry blossom

Pink apple blossom

Pear blossom
Looks like we might have some fruit this summer!

Blueberries forming
 Other flowers are also appearing.

One of Sally's perennial donations - identification, please
These are doing well on the heather slope - again, identification, please
One of my highlights this week was discovering that six asparagus seedlings had survived the winter. They've all got individual windbreaks now.

Hello asparagus, welcome back
It seems a bad year for slugs and snails (bad for us, good for them, that is) and the battle has commenced. We are trialling pots with copper bands to protect brassica and lettuce seedlings - they make a handy windbreak for smaller seedlings, too.

Spring cabbage with slug defence
The conservatory has been given over to the Native American plants - sweetcorn, squashes, beans, sunflowers - as well as cucumbers, chillies, peppers and okra.

Sweetcorn

Squashes

Crystal lemon cucumber

After having been warned about the growth rate of the achocha, I managed to kill one of them. Overwatering? Too much Scottish heat?

Dying achocha

The geraniums have moved outside again and we've been having most of our meals out by the triangle, too.

Stone slabs as coffee tables
The animals have been having a great time in the sun. The incubator is running for more chicks and now one of the hens has decided she is broody - great timing!

Resting in the sun

Poppy snoozing al fresco


6 comments:

  1. Lovely flowers you have!No frost any more?

    The first one is Centaurea - looks like C. montana; the second one is Saxifraga, most likely - here I guess - S. umbrosa.

    Achocha looks pretty much like our tomatillos did when we had them in the greenhouse. Actually achocha is from the Andes so it might like cooler weather than one would expect.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the identification. I'll move the achochas out today, see how they like 9-15C. The tomatillos are still very happy in the greenhouse.

      Delete
  2. Is the plant to be id'd 'London Pride'/ saxifraga umbrosa? It grows in poor, dry soil usually.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, that's it, thanks. And it is poor soil and very exposed there.

      Delete
  3. All looks lovely, your blossom is beautiful. Think the mystery plant is London pride, it will spread like mad!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It can spread all it likes where it is. The site is so exposed and the soil layer so thin there that I'm glad something pretty is happy there.

      Delete