A bank holiday weekend - what are you gardening plans?

[didireallysaythat]

It's still cold. My akebia quinata which survived the winter, put on a load of growth and was getting ready to flower was killed by a cold April. We've had no rain for over a month. The water butts are empty.

But are we disheartened? Are we heck!

Tell me of your plans for the weekend!

I'm planning to plant the first seeds in the raised beds. Yes Lord Monty did this weeks ago but he doesn't live in the cold east of England. I'm now potting on plants to free up the smaller pots so I can prick out from seed trays.

What are you planning?

@didireallysaythat My runner beans came through in about a week. Unheated greenhouse in the North. The French beans are not showing through yet but I would expect them to be slower than runners.

@Mintjulia It's always worth a try. If I want to take cuttings from something special I would take different kinds of cuttings (heel, nodal) at different times of year. So even if the first ones fail you don't give up. I've been trying for years to take cuttings from a pittisporum. The ones I took last autumn look promising, not properly rooted but not dead!

@YonWeeLassie thank you! I planted runner beans last Saturday and from what I can recall from previous years there should some sign from them by now. But no. Nor the second batch of courgette seeds which are on a sunny windowsill inside - none of the first batch germinated... And all fresh seed.

Runner beans are the only veg I was going to bother with this year - feels silly to buy from a garden centre when they usually germinate so easily. Plus sods law if I buy any the ones I've planted will all germinate

I’ve spent the morning potting on tomatoes, courgettes and cucumber. I’ve pricked out some marigold seedlings and planted some cauliflower in pots.
I’ve got peas, beetroot, french beans, carrots and so far one solitary parsnip in various tubs and planters in the greenhouse, but not brave enough to put anything out yet. I’m in the NE and we’ve got frosts forecast until next weekend at least.
I’m getting fed up of playing ‘okey Cokey’ with trays of now quite large toms / courgettes / cucumber / aubergine etc - putting them in the greenhouse to get the sun during the day and bringing them in the house at night because it’s so cold.
Need to go buy more compost as well, because I want to sow some cosmos and maybe put sunflowers in bigger pots.
That’s before I start tidying / weeding in the garden ...

@didireallysaythat. Were theyseeds you harvested? Sometimes you just get duff seeds. I'd sow a few more. I'm thinking of trying to grow some runner beans up the hedge. It's a hornbeam and not very dense.

@igivein I never bring things back in the house, but that does mean I lose the odd thing to frost in an unheated greenhouse. I list a couple of tomato plants but I had too many already.
Courgettes and chillis doing well. DS bought me a big selection of chilli seeds for Christmas, enough to last me years. Ive ended up with about 20 plants and 5 varieties, one of which is so hot it will be dangerous! I will be giving those to adult DS to grow on his window sill.
Anyway it's rained so far all day so no gardening getting done here.

@YonWeeLassie I left left toms and cucumbers out wrapped up in fleece one night, but they did the total diva wilt / look like death thing.
They perked up again, but I didn’t want to keep stressing them like that, so in they come.

Strimming. Well bush cutting to be precise. The acres of friggen wild garlic that we get each year. Did some yesterday and today and the smell would knock you side ways. Still a load more to do, I’m cutting back half keeping half and letting it flower.

Well the bank holiday weekend was a complete wash out with non stop rain and high winds. Nothing on my list got done but on the plus side my water butts are full again.

@Proudboomer we didn't get rain until 6pm Monday but it was horribly cold. Still haven't planted any seeds outside.