You can barely see them, but I’ve filled the chrysanthemum holes with zinnias instead. The plugs were just DOA. This bed now isn’t far off from being done, just as long as all these plants now grown and bulk. Some bedding plants might be needed later.

Not much is happening from the seed I’ve sown in Bed 3, so I’ve stuck some cornflowers in here, with the hope that they won’t mind the dryness.

A couple of rudbeckia grew well at home and I’ve put them in the front bed and by Mr B’s gate. The chocolate orange rudbeckia I was excited about never came to anything though.

I’ve put the last of the marigolds into the middle of the wigwams.

The first cosmos flowers, which managed to get flower buds before I could pinch them out. So they’ve been pinched this way instead.

I’ve now opened and dug what will probably be the sunflower bed. After a few false starts, some of the sunflowers don’t look too bad – though way behind what they were last year.

I’ve put a bunch of Californian poppies in with the ones that came up from seed.

The first cosmos peppermint rock have gone into the second veg bed. One’s about to flower, so as soon as that’s open, it’ll get picked / pinched.

Some zinnia whirligigs are now in the back bed and middle bed. Still trying to break up the symmetry a bit.

Before lunch, I dug over Bed 2 and it was surprisingly easy to break up, so I got it completely finished.

After lunch I planted the French beans. The purple and yellow are alternating, starting with purple from the far end. I’ve now got 5 plants left over that I don’t know what to do with.

The two Red Alert tomatoes have gone in the back bed, as I’d already planted up where one was meant to go, I thought I’d better get them in before I ran out of room. They’re now surrounded with marigolds, but I still have some flowers left.

I’ve thinned out most of the veg and I’ve stuck some of the bigger beetroot into a pot of compost, just to see if they might take.

 

 

Having worked on the morning of the bank holiday, I took Friday afternoon off to plant my tomatoes. The joy of the spacing already having been worked out! I’ve put marigolds both sides and there might even be space on the sunny side for a line of veg of some kind.

I’ve uncovered Bed 2 and edged it. It was ever so overgrown, as is the last remaining bed. The earth is pretty dry and compacted :-/

The borage has come back big time and will need a bit of thinning. Not least the ones that are right on the edge of the path, or even in between the tiles!

I popped down to the plot in the middle of repotting at home, in order to get some medium-sized pots from my store. Happily I had quite a few.

I managed to take the vegetable seeds with me too and so now those are sown, three days later than the marker says.

I’ve marked up where the chrysanthemums can go when they’re big enough. Another attempt at dotting not too regularly.

I’ve tied in the cerinthe as best I can. Most of the ones I’ve grown have silly big kinks in them, which I hope might correct themselves.

I sat down to shovel out compost and enjoyed the ledge for a while. It’s so pretty, I can’t stop admiring it.

I’ve marked up the second veg bed and laid out the compost, but then realised that my vegetable seeds weren’t in the basket after all.

Mum and I put together a frame for the tomatoes with canes and twine. I like to think that the few triangles we made mean that it’s secure for life.

In the morning I finished off the delphinium bed, covering it with compost and sowing purple candytuft seeds and a sprinkling of poppy seeds.

I planted some calendula in the left boundary and in a little hole behind the pear tree. One nicotiana has gone into the back bed and two are now in the middle bed.

I planted the salvias at the end of the back bed. Attempting to not just end up with regulated symmetry is going to be a bit of a trick with this bed. I’ve got some  centrepieces and now the rest needs to be a little more random.

Finally, the new robin came down to find some food while I was only a bed away.

I dug the tomato bed again and marked out where the tomatoes will go. The second bed got a double dig.

I uncovered and edged the tomato bed and the second veg/cosmos bed. The tomato bed also had its first dig over.

Those dark clouds did eventually provide more than a few drops of rain. There was a mad moment of heavy rain, thunder and lightning, and hail, just as I was about to leave. I hid in the shed instead.

All the rain didn’t do a great deal to the earth, as Plum Corner looked pretty, but fairly dry on my way out.

After lunch I miraculously managed to plant out everything I had taken to the plot with me. That included 4 new foxgloves – my latest temptation at the supermarket. These should be white with red markings.

The other two are a peachy-orange colour. One’s on the left, one’s by the trellis. Also still going strong by the trellis is what I’m sure is a weed. It can stay for the moment and I’m fairly confident I’ll have enough plants to fill the hole when it’s done.

I’ve also put in a few cerinthe and a little zinnia at the back of the middle bed.

An early visit to the plot to do some watering and the first poppy is open.

Some good work at my potting table – pinching out the dahlias.

Another beautiful day, but now of course I’m wishing there could be some overnight rain soon.

In the morning I planted all my morning glories around the obelisk and sowed my remaining seed in the gaps. I threw down slug pellets, as collars seemed rather big to deal with. Let’s see if that’s enough.

I also planted the last pink achillea with its mates in Bed 3 and put two of the orange ones on opposite corners of Bed 7. I’ve realised that Bed 1 can be the meadow bed again and Bed 7 and 11 will be more structured, with larger plants like cosmos, zinnias and the chrysanthemums – which I hope I’ll have soon.

In the afternoon I planted the last orange achillea, but not before clearing a load of grass from the lemon balm, and then digging some up and moving it into a gap at the back of the bed. Then I gave the two holes a layer of compost before putting the achillea in.

There’s one delphinium that got a bit damaged and is still struggling. Most of those leaves are barely attached, but I’m leaving them be in case a tiny but of sun power is still getting through to the plant. There’s some new growth coming, I just need it to hurry up.

I finally decided where to put the last two small yellow geums. One is near the apple tree by the trellis, the other is on the edge of plum corner, among the rejigged lemon balm. That puts it pretty close to the big yellow geum in the middle.

I made another mix of flower seed for the remaining holes in Bed 1: aster, cornflower, poppy, flax, calendula, penstemon, some unknown black seeds -corn cockle? -, cape gooseberry, malope, mystery thistle from 2018.

I sprinkled a bunch of poppy seed among the gaps in Plum corner and under the fence brace on the left of the gate. The seed seemed to germinate like mad on the ledge, so let’s see what happens.

To keep the achillea company, I’ve now sprinkled coreopsis, flax and pink candytuft seed in a wide border around the edge. I know coreopsis doesn’t mind the dryness, but I don’t know about the others.