You can't say it's not topical. I just potted on some of my tomatoes from 10 litre pots into 20’s. I should probably have done all of them, but I thought if I did alternate plants, then stopped the ones in the smaller pots while letting the others grow on, it should even itself out.…
Author: Jim Stephens
Gardener, no-dig allotmenteer, camellia enthusiast.
I love colour, it cheers me up.
Retired nurseryman.
Six on Saturday – 23/6/2018
There have been times when finding six things was a challenge; this week twenty six would be inadequate. What to put in, what to leave out; that is the question. One. Astelia chathamica. Aka Astelia 'Silver Spear'. This is a large plant in a prominent position that has come through at least fifteen winters…
Allotment update 18/6/2018
It's a day under four weeks since my last allotment blog and it was the comparison in the pictures above that prompted me to do an update. The growth rate in the last few weeks has been something to behold. I am now harvesting quite a range of crops and a few more are very…
Six on Saturday – 16/6/2018
It seems extraordinary that by next weekend the days will be getting shorter again. The last few weeks have seen everything happening at breakneck speed; growth, flowering and going over, but even now there are some plants that still seem to be emerging from winter. At a glance, the garden is very pink, dominated by…
In the last few days I’ve found time to take in a bit of the natural world. On Saturday I walked up Brown Willy, the highest point in Cornwall, coming in from a lane that runs north from Jamaica Inn in the middle of Bodmin Moor. Yesterday I went along the A38 to visit a…
Six on Saturday – 9/6/2018
I find myself with less to say about this week's six than usual. Showy flowers can speak for themselves. My first one being the exception to the rule..... One. Ozothamnus hookeri. There are other things around masquerading as O. hookeri. I believe this to be the real thing. Dense little bush, about three feet high,…
Six on Saturday – 2/6/2018
The last week has seen an extraordinary spurt of growth in the garden and on the allotment. We've had some rain, would have welcomed a bit more, but you get what you get. I've been trying to match the frantic pace of growth with frenetic activity of my own, chopping stuff down, planting, sowing, potting…
A walk on the wild side.
My last week’s Six on Saturday included Melittis melissophyllum ‘Royal Velvet Distinction’. This is a cultivated form of a native wild flower, which if not exactly rare, is limited in its distribution. As it happens I know of a colony growing in a lane about a mile away and since its inclusion on the blog…
Six on Saturday – 26/5/2018
I popped up the allotment first thing, earthed up spuds and planted more seedling dahlias. Rain is forecast and the clouds are gathering. A good downpour would be ideal this weekend, just before things start to get seriously stressed. What with newly planted stuff on the allotment and all the pot stuff back here, I'm…
Allotment update – 22/5/2018
The weather has been settled for a week or two, so I'm more or less up to date on where I want to be on my plot. Peas, potatoes and parsnips are the only things I've sown directly on the plot, everything else has been raised under glass and planted out. Peas and potatoes are…
garden ruminations 