Update on the garden:

Jobs done on Wednesday 15th & Friday 17th June:

• Sow garlic around the bare stems of rosebushes – Done
• Sow Nectarine Atinea seed in medium pot to grow – Done
• Sow the swede seeds in trough – Done
• Transfer the beans to the trough – Done
• Sowing the Trailing Mixed Nasturtiums in the middle of the beans 1st trough – Done. Gleaming Gold (semi-trailing) in the 2nd trough – Done
• Round bean bag for the Sunflower Dwarf SunSpot seeds – Done
• Cosmos – Companion planting using cosmos as a decoy or sacrificial plant will alleviate this problem for the peas – Done

I could do with 3 of these, one to go over the cabbage, a second over the Kale that I am growing and maybe over the swedes as they are also brassica plants

The tomatoes down the bottom of the garden have very slowly begun to germinate and the Money Maker tomatoes have begun to flower. I have added some fertiliser to them and placed 3 Marigold seedlings next to each plant.

The Blue Moon Rose needs some feed / pruning as the leaves are turning yellow, got rid of the leaves.

Roses and Garlic

The shorter garlic fills in nicely around the bare stems of rosebushes. More important to the success of this companion planting, garlic is said to chase away aphids, spider mites and most importantly, Japanese beetles – Done

The Marigolds have been potted on and they will be placed by their companion plants – tomatoes, 3 marigold seedlings next to each plant and 2 larger pots in the veg trug. The Blue Lake beans have also germinated, and so has the Courgette germinated. The last Marigold seedling will be placed next to the courgette.

In the veg trug things seem to be going well and also in the salad trug.

Rosemary is a strong-smelling herb (fortunately, it’s a good aroma!) that may help confuse or distract cabbage moths from cabbage, kale or other cole crops.

Last season’s Geraniums are growing well and one pot has blue Lobelia growing with it, as are the pink ones. The Ivy Geraniums are beginning to flower, so it will be covered by lovely red blooms and smell great. The Lavender plant has begun to have flowers and smell delightful.

Sunday 12 June and the week following looks to be the best time to sow the swede seeds and transfer the beans to the trough and attach to trellis, along with sowing the Trailing Mixed Nasturtiums in the middle of the beans.

Jobs left to do

Weeding the garden – a never-ending job!

Create some trellis in the 1st and 2nd large troughs – done
Then plant the Blue Lake beans with the Nasturtian Trailing Mixed – done

Replant the rhubarb into the back of the hosts patch – done

I still have time to sow some swede in the 2nd large trough. It will take between 70 and 100 days to grow rutabagas from seed to harvest – done

Hostas to Plant Out
Hosta Sum and Substance – Done
Hosta Unknown Name – Done – a 2nd plant is growing and will be ready to plant out in the hosts patch later on.

Heucheras to Plant Out
Heuchera Marmalade (re-potted prior to planting out)
Heuchera Berry Smoothie
Heuchera Lime Marmalade

Flower seeds to sow:
Tagetes

Rose Morning Glory, these are vining plants and will need to be close to the fence either at the bottom by the the compost bins or in the middle of the garden on the right hand side. I have sown 5 seeds in a blue pot and placed by the gate on Monday. It will need a trellis – done.

Nasturtiums – in one of the small troughs, I noticed some seeds from last season, so I poked them back into the soil and covered them over with some new compost. hopefully, they will germinate.

On Friday, I felt like sowing some more seeds, So I cleared out a couple of the square containers and filled with fresh compost and in one I sowed Jewel Cherry Rose Nasturtiums and in the other, I sowed Jewel Mixed Nasturtiums. They are growing well.

I plan on sowing more Nasturtiums, they will be Trailing Mixed to be sown with the beans in the 1st trough and Gleaming Gold (semi-trailing) in the 2nd – both done

Empress of India to be sown in the new charcoal trough.
Alaskan Mixed can be sown into a spare blue pot on top of the garden box or in with the Rutabagas when they have germinated so that I can see where they are.

Sunflowers
Sunflower Dwarf SunSpot to be sown in the round bean bag – done

In June – Sow winter Cabbages, Kale, Brussels sprouts, Broccoli inside module trays in June, and transplant them in your cleared potato bags in July, when the seedlings are about a month old. Sow winter carrots

Cabbage is a heavy feeder, so make sure to replenish your soil after harvesting potatoes with plenty of organic matter and fertilizers of your liking.

Save for another time?
Giant Sunflowers
Seeds for Bees in a trough
Poppy?
Primula?