I find the weather less helpful to gardening in recent years. "Changeable" was good with short spells of rain and showers followed by warmth. Any particular weather type seems stuck for weeks. In recent years I seem to be gardening for a six month cool wet season followed by a six month hot and dry season. After often record breaking rainfall from October to February which ended last year's drought here (I somehow managed to miss every single summer downpour despite others within a few miles getting lucky several times!) the drought has begun with virtually no rain for six weeks and a very drying constant breeze with low dew points. Throw in below average temperatures and it's about as bad as it can get for growing.

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Bedding plants - buy now and spend the next fortnight watering or buy later and find the best choice has gone?

I must admit most bedding plants don't really pot my compost- many seem to do little to bring the wildlife in so we've more or less done with them, other than native British types like primroses. This time of year the woodland bank in our garden, a mix of spring bulbs and native annuals & perennials like cowslips, with a sprinkling of pulmonaria, festoons us with bees, bee flies and hoverflies every time the sun comes out.

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I'd rather grow from seed than use bedding, as indeed I used to, but time and space no longer permit

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Good afternoon folks. Had a gift card of £15 to spend in Hillier garden center. A Rosebush, Mixed geraniums, and tomato plants were purchased. Along with TWO bags of 50 ltr of container and basket compost.  All plants will be placed in the shed overnight.

Some extra funds got paid out at the tills.

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6 Strawberry plants added this morning. Purchased from the local CO-OP. Not far to travel....

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Bone dry. Dust in the lawn.

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I've hardly had to cut the grass this spring. Good growing weather involves a moist soft wind from the SW or South and we haven't had any this spring so far.

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Anybody enjoying Monty's latest Gardeners' World? Loving it ourselves.

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We planted some courgette and cucumber seeds at the start of the month, in peat pots on the windowsill. They quickly germinated and got to the four leaf stage looking really healthy, but over the last week or so they have gone brown and withered and looks like none will survive. Any ideas? I wonder if they might have got too wet and some point.

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Three more bags of compost purchased this morning. Plant labels have been cleaned. Soon be better weather for planting and sowing as long as there are no frosts.

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Bought some bedding plants today and some seeds for late sowing. I'll keep the plants under cover until Monday and then plant them for some natural watering -n.

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I'd rather grow from seed than use bedding, as indeed I used to, but time and space no longer permit

 

Before our first child, when we were still in our first house, I went through a phase of growing bedding plants from seed.

By the third year, I'd taken it a bit far. We had no greenhouse so used the spare bedroom.

The missus wasn't happy. But I had loads of pots and baskets  abundant with my home-grown plants. 

I kind of lost interest after that year, though.

After we moved to this house (another newbuild), I designed the gardens to be much more low-maintenance. No bedding. Not even any bulbs. Mostly foliage plants and shrubs. 

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My wife and I have a runner bean competition between ourselves to see who has the most coming up each day in the containers. At the moment 11/ 10 in my favour. It should be an equal 16 each.

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Time to take out my old straggly heathers from a narrow border at the front.

In their place, I shall be putting in 6 French Heathers. They are 3 for £5.00 in Lidl this morning.

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3 new additions to my planters and tubs this morning. New Cherry tree, A holly bush, and some golden peppers. To go with it TWO of garden compost and a tub on wheels. 

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Took advantage of yesterday's weather to spruce up the garden; short back-and-sides for the ceanothus now the bees are no longer visiting it, hoed up several hundred self-seeded opium poppies (puzzle - why can't my resident slugs go to work on these instead of my French beans?)

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More a botanical than horticultural link this, with a mathematical spin that I hope will appeal to TWO readers...

How the cauliflower got its mesmerizing fractals
https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/how-the-cauliflower-got-its-mesmerizing-fractals/

I hope Bertie likes it!
Roger

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Flying Ants - a weather-related phenomenon.
With the prospect of this summer turning hot and humid we might start to see the annual swarming event of winged male and female ants; "Flying Ant Day" as it is popularly and inaccurately known.

Timing will depend on local conditions, which is why your ant reports across the county will be interesting. If you do see this, look up and see if the Swifts and Housemartins are enjoying them.

Here is the Natural History Museum account.

Flying ant day: when winged ants take their nuptial flight
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/when-why-winged-ants-swarm-nuptial-flight.html

Ant ID on Naturespot:
https://www.naturespot.org.uk/ant_ID

Enjoy.

Roger

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Flying Ants - a weather-related phenomenon.
With the prospect of this summer turning hot and humid we might start to see the annual swarming event of winged male and female ants; "Flying Ant Day" as it is popularly and inaccurately known.

Timing will depend on local conditions, which is why your ant reports across the county will be interesting. If you do see this, look up and see if the Swifts and Housemartins are enjoying them.

Here is the Natural History Museum account.

Flying ant day: when winged ants take their nuptial flight
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/when-why-winged-ants-swarm-nuptial-flight.html

Ant ID on Naturespot:
https://www.naturespot.org.uk/ant_ID

Enjoy.

Roger

And the gulls if you're near the coast.

This is great news for seagulls, because scientists have suggested the ants produce an acid that gets the birds "slightly" drunk - and - and an RSPB gull expert has said gulls are 'mad for them' and gobble them up like 'M&Ms', which can cause them to be even more excitable than usual.

https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/flying-ant-day-explained-wonder-4242257

Not quite sure whether to post this link because like Devon Live the outlet tends to get overexcited about snow in the winter which bears little relation to what is on the ground or might fall from the sky. God forbid I think there might be a Dorset Live on its way.

Looking at some of the other Cornwall news I wouldn't want to be there right now. 

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Before you start fretting about wasps, have a read and listen to this British Library clip! Great!

In the depths of a wasp nest.
https://blogs.bl.uk/sound-and-vision/2018/11/in-the-depths-of-a-wasp-nest.html

Roger

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