General

Lavender

As mentioned previously when I started my garden two years ago, I was given a few lavender to plant. My goodness, I did not realise how huge they grow and spread. I have had to trim them down periodically, but I love the smell of them.The thing I love about lavender is they are a very hard plant and apart from trimming them down, they do come back each year. Here is a little tip which I tried out myself last winter, that is once the flowers dry out, pick the seeds off, put them into a little jar and put them into any room around your home and you get a lovely aroma from them, and as you all know there are a lot of cosmetics etc, made from lavender - that is, of course, if you like lavender.

Sweetpeas
Last year I tried my hand at sweetpeas and had a hit and miss with them. I decided to put them in again this year, and, through trial and error, I was successful and had several pickings of mixed colours. Herewith a few tips that I learnt that could be helpful to those starting up gardening like myself:-

1. Sweetpeas need a lot of watering
2. The more you pick your sweetpeas, the more flowers you get
3. Keep topping the sweetpeas up with compost
4. Be careful not to let your sweetpeas droop, keep tying them to your supports
5. Keep taking off dry leaves, especially at the bottom of the plant to create new growth

I was told that once your sweetpeas come to an end pick the pods off and put them in a jar in a dark place until about November, then put them into seedling trays, and leave in your greenhouse until they are ready for the summer garden next year.

I hope this will be of some help to you for next year.

Foxgloves
I was given a foxglove this year, it flowered once and then seemed to die off, although I have kept in the pot and trimmed it down and watered as usual, it does not seem to be doing anything. If there is anyone else out there that have grown these, please let me have your comments.

Lupin
I also acquired a Lupin which I put straight into the ground, pink in colour, this flowered once and also seemed to die off. I don't know - I don't seem to have much joy with plants that I am not familiar with and once again would appreciate your comments.

Cabbages
I forgot to tell you about these veggies - a friend gave me a few last year, and told me to grow them in between the flower garden as the slugs would leave the rest of my plants alone, well the slugs never came near the cabbages and went straight for the other plants, needless to say we had plenty cabbages for our own use.

Begonia's
I put two plants in last year, they did not seem to do too well, when clearing the flower beds out the end of summer last year, I thought I got rid of them. Well, what a surprise when walking about my garden, I discovered they have come back and in full bloom although the flowers are drooping. I was wondering whether to lift them out towards the end of summer and put them into tubs and perhaps put them into hanging baskets for next year, although I am a little worried about doing this in case I kill them off - once again I would appreciate your input.

Recently, I took a walk around the area I live just to see what other peoples gardens look like, I was so impressed with the layout and the different designs and borders others have, it made me envious of them, especially given the tiny space I have to work on but at the same time it has given me some ideas for my summer garden next year.

I am hoping that I can keep a lot of my plants that are in my garden at present for next year in the hope that I can cut down my work load. I would therefore only have to work on the tubs and hanging baskets. However, I am one that gets bored of the same things every year, so will have to get other ideas on other plants for next year.

If any of you have any comments please do not hesitate to contact me.

Protea