Hello all, another wet morning so I thought I would write a bit of an update on my cutflower garden. Its been a funny month so far, we have had a couple of weirdly warm days but then some days it’s felt like winter again. Hail storms and the wind! I love my job and working outdoors at Bluebell cottage nursery but this has pushed us all to the limits this spring, just as we think we might be able to shed a couple of layers, back come the cold winds and even frosts to get us back into our thermals and twenty layers! No wonder the plants are a bit confused too, though on the whole they are probably taking it more in their stride than we are. The only doom-scrolling that I do is the looking at the long term forecast on my weather app and scrolling forward looking for a spell, even just a couple of days, of sunny weather! Oh well we just have to carry on, the seasons will just pass as normal. I think we have probably been spoilt a bit the last couple of years with some dry warm spring weather. But Spring is officially here and I do love this season, that burst of green on the hedgerows, the return to colour from the monochrome landscape. The blossom, the daffodils and the birdsong.
All is busy in the Higgledy Anne potting shed, in fact its chaos in there, no Instagram perfection here, seed packets, compost, pots and seed trays everywhere. But the great thing is I can just pop in there for half an hour after work and prick out some seedlings or sow a few seeds and then just lock the door and head back inside. In my previous garden my kitchen table was my potting up bench and so I feel very lucky that I have a space of my own to potter in. It needs a bit of a paint soon and the roof is leaking a bit but its a great place to be in!
This is my view from the potting shed, all is greening up in the garden now at last.
Bit sad about my tulips this year as the ones in my dustbins have got tulip fire so bit of a tatty display compared to how they normally look. Enjoying them for what they are but might not grow any again next year. The ones I’ve grown near the greenhouse and the potting shed have been fine so may still be able to grow some. The back garden is looking nice and green though and the Cherry blossom is blooming well. Can you spot Jed on the last photo!
How are your seedlings doing? Have you been following the Higgledy garden sow-along with Gemma? All the links to the posts can be found here. I think it has been a tricky year, there hasn’t been much sunshine so the light levels have definitely been lower than normal and it has stayed quite cool. Sometimes it has felt like the seedlings have had a little pause till there has been a bit of warmth for them. I sow some of my half hardies on the bedroom window but then once they have germinated and they are ready for potting they have to manage in my unheated greenhouse. Many things have germinated quickly but others have taken their time about it. Phlox ‘Creme Brulee’ was up quickly but ‘Sugar Stars’ was a bit reluctant to get going. My Nicotiana took time too, apart from ‘Sensation’ which was first out of the blocks, was worried after I was singing their praises! But they are here now and will start growing strongly now, they are tougher than they look those little tiny seedlings.
I’m keeping an eye on my Zinnia seedlings as they are delectable to slugs and they can be ravaged in one night so, checking them each day. Now its all about juggling the space in the greenhouse, the hardy annuals don’t need much protection so they are chucked out of there first. They can sit in the sheltered spot near my greenhouse until they are ready to go out in their final spots. But the half-hardy annuals need protection from frost and we had a couple of cold nights last week and some forecast for this week so I have some fleece that I just pop over my seedlings and remove the next day. It soon warms up in my greenhouse now though.
Just to say though, there is still plenty of time to sow things, especially if you are going to be sowing directly as once the frosts have passed you can even sow half-hardy annuals outside. There is still a lot of growing time. Keep an eye on your emails and on the socials as there will be a new bundle coming soon for all the seeds that are good to sow now.
All my autumn sown seedlings are in the ground and growing well now, the Cornflowers, Corncockle, Orlaya grandiflora, Echium, Nigella ‘Delft Blue’, Cerinthe, Ammi majus and Ammi visnaga. The Sweet peas have been planted and I’m keeping an eye on them at this early stage, tying them into their supports as needed. The Canterbury bells are looking fabulous and I have some Ranunculus that are just starting to flower.
I have started cutting some flowers for the house again, I love this bit, snipping a few stems, walking round the garden to see what is looking good at the moment. I post a lot of these on Instagram and I’m trying to take part in the #weeklyposychallenge led by Caroline. Have a go its a lovely thing to do. The biennials are just starting to get into their stride, first to flower is Honesty, beautiful and tall with stems of white or purple flowers. I just never seem to grow enough of this, I need to really sow and plant more as you want to use it for cutting but also you want to leave some for their fabulous seed heads. So note to self, sow more! Wallflowers are a joy with their sweet scent and much needed vibrant colour for your bouquets, I’ve written about them here. Still to come are the Sweet rocket, Canterbury bells, Sweet William and Foxgloves.
I know it might sound crazy but once the biennials start flowering its time to start thinking about sowing them for next year. Biennial sowing time is between May and July for flowering in the spring next year. You have to plan ahead with biennials. Between us myself, Ben and Gemma will be helping you out with your biennial seed sowing with blogs and sow alongs. Keep watching this space and our social media posts.
Higgledy Anne
(I’m on Instagram anne_hinks if you fancy a follow)