My normal spot for building my auricula theatre has been taken up with a temporary log pile!īack to the Flower Show favourites and another great one was the beautiful Hooksgreen Herb exhibit. Today I popped my parent plants of Brenda’s Choice, Piers Telford and Beatrice on the doorstep so that we can enjoy their flowers. I bought my first auriculas about four years ago and now have quite a collection and this is exactly the time of year that they come into their own. (Sorry not the best photo but the display was lovely) My favourites – well I do love auriculas and so loved seeing them in displays, gardens and also the stunning theatre on the Hill View Hardy Plants. Being early in the year I was full of admiration for the exhibitors who had coaxed plants into flower or leaf but yet had not gone over the top to create false shows. It was just the right size to wander round for a day taking in the gardens, displays and the stalls. The Show was held in Bute Park, about 10 minutes walk from the station. I needn’t have worried it was a perfect day. It had been a long week and I was a bit tired so wasn’t sure if I could face seeing perfection knowing that I had left a lot of imperfection at home! So last Friday I set off to spend the day at the RHS Flower Show Cardiff with mixed feelings. So here is lovely little broad bean plant ready to go into the ground with a healthy root system and a few minutes later happily planted!Ī trip to a garden or a flower show is always a risky thing – it can generate a feeling of enthusiasm or a feeling of complete hopelessness when the realisation dawns that the perfection observed will never be achieved. I find that if you put tow or three little newspaper pots in a 9cm pot then fill with compost and plant the beans they are easy to move around and the plastic pot reduces the amount of water that is lost through evaporation. A good use fo the excess newspaper and a biodegradable pot that can be popped straight into the row in the vegetable plot. So I have planted broad beans and french beans in little newspaper pots. Beans and peas really don’t like having their roots disturbed so planting in a seed tray and then pricking out is not an option. This year I decided to get one step ahead of my furry friends. How many times over the years have we watched for the first sign of the broad beans and peas only to find that they have been munched by our friendly mice and voles and not a single one is left to grow. Mice and voles are cute furry little creatures until they find a vegetable grower and then there is a conflict of interest! What havoc they can create – in the seed trays and in the vegetable garden. Maybe coming home from holiday is not too bad! Finely chopped courgettes with a tiny red onion and slivers of freshly picked cucumber. We enjoyed an egg salad with lettuce, radish, basil, rocket and potatoes. The french, broad and runner beans are looking hopeful but where are the parsnips? They are usually one of our best crops and as for the peas it will be a meagre crop.īut after unpacking there was a real sense of satisfaction and living the good life when we picked and harvested and then we sat in the evening sunshine and ate a completely home produced meal (well except for the mayonnaise). And as usual there are the successes this time- lettuce, radish, cucumbers, courgettes and potatoes. Next stop is to check the vegetable garden and greenhouse to see how things have fared. Roses, delphiniums, hollyhock,sweet peas on long stems and mesembryanthemum which bring back childhood memories of lying on my tummy watching the flowers open as the rays of the sun warmed them only to close again when a cloud passed by. Yes the weeds have done well but so has the garden. When we got back today I was amazed at how things had grown in eight days. There is the thought of work, routine and things to be done, But as soon as the house appears and we enter the drive there is that feeling of homecoming and familiarity and then there is the excitement of seeing what has happened in the garden – always the first thing before unloading the car or checking the house. It’s always hard coming home after a lovely holiday.
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