Start of the month: August 2012

2nd August 2012

So, anyone notice the slight change to the title of these posts? I'm clearly struggling to always publish on the 1st day of the month, so decided changing the title was better than apologising yet again, for missing the date.

Welcome to the August 2012 start of the month blog post for the front garden!

July was a bit of a roller coaster. Started dull & wet, then we had a week of glorious sun, then back to dull & wet. It was a bit sunnier and warmer between the showers through July, and the Heleniums are now in full flower. I've already picked a couple of big bunches for the house so I have their lovely brightness inside and out.

Helenium 'Sahin's Early Flowerer'

Sadly almost all of the nasturtiums that were in flower last month have now been destroyed by the black fly. Very good weather for blackfly. Though I beat the blackfly to the last of the broad beans, which I finished picking and plants now pulled up (roots left in ground to rot and let nutrients stay in soil).

I also finally picked some garlic. This is Metechi freshly dug up.

The bulbs are much smaller this year than previous years. Metechi is usually known as a garlic with larger (and hot) cloves, but it seems all the rain has really effected the bulb size. From the couple of others at the lottie I dug up (i.e. Susan Delafield) it looks like the whole crop may be smaller than usual. I'll save the absolute best ones of each variety (I have about 13 or so varieties this year) and hope they will revert to form next year.

The tomato plants, who were shying away last month, are finally getting into their stride. Shows just what a week of sun and warmth can do. Lots of flowers and tomatoes now forming on my heritage variety Estonian Yellow Mini Cherry.

Tomato 'Estonian Yellow Mini Cherry'

The other heritage tomato I'm trying, Porter, is coming along and has quite a few tomatoes that need just a bit of sun to go red. Please come back sun....

Tomato 'Porter'

The Daubenton Kale is finally growing after I took the advice of @AlysFowler and pinched out the tips.

My plants just were not growing beyond seedlings, and after seeing Alys's amazing plant on Twitter, and experiencing Kale envy, I asked her how she got hers to grow, and she advised to pinch out the tips. Advice duly followed and now they are growing really well. Though might be another couple of months before they are the handsome studs that Alys has!

The teasels are now flowering and attracting lots of bees; here is one dashing in for some pollen before the next burst of rain.

Perhaps my favourite success is having grown Pennisetum thunbergii 'Red Buttons' from seed, and having it now flower. This was an easy grass to grow from seed and this plant is a good size after just six months.

Pennisetum thunbergii 'Red Buttons'

Despite the weather, the front garden is coming along ok. I lost a large amount of my strawberries to the deluge and slugs, but have had a good crop of broad beans. The nasturtiums were 'black flyed', but the Heleniums are doing wonderfully and I hope to show my new Helenium, 'Rubinzwerg' in flower next month.

First day of the month: July 2012

1st July 2012

The front garden has grown up a lot since we last visited it, back at the beginning of May. June was missed as I was on holidays then and when I got back, work rather took over. And the greenery took over too.

In May, the view from the street was becoming lush, but now it is jungle-like.

Street view for passers-by

The Teasels are magnificant, with many side-shoots so lots of flowers and seed heads for the goldfinches. The white campion is also flowering well and the Heleniums in the centre bed amongst the obelisk are at full height and a few of them have started to flower. A few. The thing is, it's all very lush, but also all very GREEN.

The Heleniums have a mass of flower buds, but the lack of sun means not many have been tempted out.Some of the nasturtiums have also started flowering, but many more buds are staying closed.

When the nasturtiums do flower - lovely!

shy tomato plants, but the lettuce (bottom right) is doing well

The tomato plants have grown a little, and are about to form flowers. But unless we get more sun the chance of them turning into edible treats is small.

It's not all gloom and rain. Harvest-wise, I've harvested a couple of kilo's of broad beans and have just another another kilo to pick once they get big enough. I have been picking lettuce for a couple of months, and recently started picking strawberries. In fact it's going to be a good year for strawberries. We have already picked 1.3kg at the allotment, and that's barely touching the fruit that is there. They are a little tart this year, compared to last years super sweetness, and a friend and I have been wondering if this is due to a lack of sun to bring out the sugars?

Pear Beth

Thinking of future crops, I tied in my pears to develop their structure. Pear Beth is now onto it's 2nd espalier row, with Onward a bit behind with it's first.

Pear Onward

The front garden is south-facing garden and I have planted for a hot aspect. I am harvesting some crops, which is pretty good compared to how I've heard some gardeners are doing. And it's good to see that with the strawberries, which are planted under the pears, means I am getting a yield from that space whilst the pears are still growing.

There is room for improvement. I dislike the asphalt path leading to the front door and side of the house (below), but this is a massive job and an expense I cannot currently afford. So I've left along the hollyhocks, cowslips, aquilegias and geraniums that have self-seeded as they help soften the asphalt glare a bit.

View from side of house towards the street

Overall, despite the lack of colour to-date, I'm fairly pleased with the way the front garden is looking this summer. Let's hope the sun returns and the tomatoes and other plants can start to make the most of the south-facing advantage.

The Potato and Tomato must have - Blightwatch!

Thanks to VP for alerting us gardeners to Blightwatch. If you grow potatoes  (me, 17 varieties this year!) or tomatoes and worry about blight, then this is the service for you. Read all about it on VP's blog and then sign up.

Ok, maybe not much use to my Aussie and Kiwi pals, who probably dream of having such exotic problems like blight whilst they battle drought after drought. But for those of us in the UK and Northern Europe, just the info we need!