Dinner for Bees

I normally focus on growing food that we can eat but, without some pollinating friends, we wouldn't get any fruit or vegetables for ourselves. I thought I'd widen the variety of plants growing in our garden that are both beautiful for us to look at and, more importantly, provide something good to eat for the nice insects that work so hard in our garden.

We had an overgrown and weed-filled flower bed running the length of the back garden: a prime site for an overhaul. 

There are a few lovely plants that we had to work around though, a most beautiful yellow rose with a little bit of mint growing around it (been there since we moved in), a really elderly lavender plant, another rose - a pinky white one - and the plum tree that we planted a few weeks ago, "Czar".

There is also this very small, ground covering succulent sort of plant with pretty white flowers (above left). Does anyone know what it is?

We took a trip to the garden centre and loaded up on beautiful plants. I know you are supposed to do tons of research and spend days planning what you are going to grow but I am far too impatient for that. My plant choosing principles were simply to pick flowering plants that have a cottage garden feel to them, some that will grow tall, some short and most of them hardy perennials.

We chose: gypsophilia "festival pink", silene "rolly's favourite" (campion), osteospermum "cape terracotta", delphinium "guardian white f1", dwarf pink "fusilier", scabious "butterfly blue beauty", potentilla "jackman's variety" (cinquefoil), devon pink "lily the pink" and hybrid tea rose "simply the best".

I pulled out as many of the weeds as I could, leaving a few that I like the look of (which I guess makes them not weeds any more). I read the labels on each pot and, according to the projected height and width of each one, placed them in the arrangement I thought looked best. I left them for a week before planting them permanently, to make sure I still liked the arrangement after a while, and make sure that none of them immediately showed signs of hating their new home.

After getting the hubby outside with a spade, to dig plant-sized holes in the bed, I planted everything up with a handful of potting grit and some compost at the bottom, followed by a thick mulch of compost.

Fingers crossed they all like it here, they do look lovely and the bees are already all over them, hooray!

Glorious (and edible) Garden

Oooh, I love my garden, I do. It wasn't always the case though... About 2 years ago I had a really enthusiastic attempt at container gardening and, although I did get a few tomatoes, courgettes, spring onions and the like, it was basically just an insect and gastropod carnival.

Last year was a bit of a wash out, as work and other things got in on my time first. This year, though, the balance seems to have returned and my lovely garden is taking shape again. I can't truly describe what a pleasure it is, to sit outside and drink coffee (or tea, or wine or cocktails) on the patio of a sunny day.

The smell of roses in the evening is absolutely gorgeous

The actual act of gardening is fabulous too; from the watering and feeding rituals, deadheading violas, seeing seedlings emerging... oh the whole thing is just incredibly satisfying.

We still have a sluggy, snaily problem but are lucky enough to have at least five toads in the vicinity. Yum yum say the toads.
We also have lots of ladybirds and my little beetle friends have been laying eggs recently; I hope to see a ladybird fiesta on my broadbeans, strawberries and roses very soon (as these are already being attacked by aphids / blackfly).

Ants are my real problem pests, we have at least three nests around the house and they make aphid control a nightmare. I can see the little buggers running around in my roses and broadbeans; I do respect their farming prowess, I just wish they'd go and do it elsewhere!

I don't have a greenhouse but did recently discover the next best thing - a small, moveable, flatpack cold frame. Everything I've put in it seems to be extremely happy, including seeds that have germinated perfectly well without the benefit of a proper indoor nursery.

My courgette, potatoes, french beans, chilli plant,
basil, tagetes, poppies and sunflowers all look very happy in their makeshift
greenhouse. I'm still waiting for a sign of life from the sweetcorn,
romano peppers and aubergines though...

The tomatoes are living in one of those plastic greenhouse things, one of them seems happy enough, the middle one is ok and the tiny one is all stunted and miserable looking. I've no idea why, they are in the same gro-bag, with the same watering and feeding schedule. Maybe I should play it some mozart.
I've kept the mint and horseradish corraled in pots since, tasty though they are, they're also nasty bullies and would happily take over the garden if given free range.



We've got sage, raspberries, a baby plum tree, strawberries, scented night stocks, some sweet peas and two fennel plants (one of them self-seeded by the other) in the back garden but everything else lives in a small patch out the front. I couldn't help smiling when I saw the first bright red radish on my way out of the house one morning last week.

I can wear my smug face in the garden too as I don't use pesticides, peat-based composts or chemical fertilisers. I am sorely tempted sometimes, particularly when the aphids and slugs come to feast, or I have a poorly plant like my stunted tomato, but thus far I've held out. Mainly by picturing the sad little faces of ladybirds, lacewings, honey and bumble bees, butterflies, blue tits and robins as they drop dead of poisoning. I just can't handle that kind of guilt! 
I am tempted to nematode the ants though...

We're lucky enough to have clay soil that still drains quite well, so nothing gets malnourished or becomes waterlogged and, with my predatory friends seemingly doing well (not just the pests), hopefully everything will survive.

I've been surprised how easy everything has been this time around. Maybe the weather is helping I don't know, it just seems to have clicked into place. Based on my experience I wouldn't recommend trying to grow too many things in containers, a lot of plants seem weaker for this treatment. If you do have a garden, get a helpful friend or spouse to dig over a patch of grass. Unsurprisingly, plants seem to like that best.

Veg patch plants: blueberry, broadbean, radish, beetroot, sorrel, spinach, spring onion, nasturtium, lettuce, basil, coriander, geranium, bay (in a pot so it can come inside over winter), parsley, oregano, runner bean, rhubarb, chamomile, borage and tarragon.

Links
Organic Garden 
BBC Gardener's World
BBC Gardening Guides
Soil Association
Biological Pest Control
Radio 4: Gardener's Question Time