The FastDay Forum

Caroline - I have never used so called beds in my greenhouse, but big planter buckets (for tomatoes, cuces etc) and large pots for chilies and herbs. That way it is solo much more easy to change the soil every year. Of course, using the bags of soil directly is even more easy

Have re-planted my seedling once and they (specially the cucumbers) grow like crazy. Think I'm going to get my herbs (you know the type you get in the grocery store) new soil in new pots

I have been busy rejuvenating one of the beds in my garden. Lots of cutting back, replanting and lots of compost being dug in to improve the soil.

I haven't grown any vegetables (apart from new potatoes) for the last couple of years and my vegetable beds are seriously overgrown, as are my fruit beds! I have bought some mini-plants to put in - just to get me going again, mangetoute, runner beans and mixed lettuce.

We have half an acre (not all garden I'm glad to say) and at the moment I am over-run with creeping thistle and bindweed. I don't really like to use weed-killer, but I'm going to have to on those thugs!

In my greenhouse I am currently nursing three cherry tomato plants (different colours), one cucumber plant and one bell pepper plant, plus some geraniums bought as plug plants but since re-potted, and some osteospermum which aren't hardy, so must be kept in for now! I also have a huge number of herbaceous perennials waiting to be planted but I have to clear another bed before they go in. I just wish it was warmer and less windy out here on the Fens!

My greenhouse is currently full to bursting point. The forecast is for some overnight frosts over this weekend so the plan to plant things out has had to be put on hold. My OH is religiously taking out trays of plants every morning to harden them off. Things that are ready to be put out include Cosmos, Penstemons,Leeks, Sugar Snap Peas, Runner beans, Sweet Corn, some hardier tomatoes called Harbinger and some unusual Asparagus Peas. Oh and pots of Basil, Tarragon and Coriander
Having given plants away to friends we are still left with 28 tomato plants (mad I know but the seeds all germinated) Peppers and Chillis, most of which will need some protection.
There are lettuces in the raised bed and we are harvesting asparagus but only in very small quantities.
I wish the sun would shine

I have a bunch of stuff hardening off on my porch waiting to go in. Last average day of frost is May 15 I think or maybe May 1. In any case, tomatoes are waiting to go in plus a bunch of late starts - leeks, celeriac (never planted either of these before), cabbage, basil. I also started a bunch of lavender which I thought would be a poor germinater - it wasn't. Now I have to find homes/places for the excess! A friend wants me to start a bunch of stuff for her, so I'll probably do that over the weekend - okra, peppers, dill, eggplant.

Happy Growing!

@Sian S, have you grown your penstemons and cosmos from purchased seed or seed that you have collected from your own garden? You've certainly been busy to get all those thing going! We are promised frost tonight so I will moving things back into the green house too. It's rather a chore but has to be done.

@debbiejgb, the latest frost that I can remember, since we moved here twelve yeas ago, was June 24th!, although my deadline for planting out less hardy things used to be the May half term.

I have spent far too much time on this forum today, so I'm off into the garden to add more compost to one of the beds. I'm hoping that the exercise will warm me up, do me good and keep my mind off food for a while!

@StowgateResident I lived in northern Minnesota for a several years, last frost could also be in June (snowed in July a few times even) with first frost mid August. No tomato growing there! I am several hundred miles south (and east) of there, and the growing season is MUCH longer, but the summers are hotter for longer, too! I find them enervating - wonder how that will affect my step count! The heat of summer just dries out the lawns/garden something fierce, so I water the garden a fair amount.

@StowgateResident everything has been grown from bought seeds. I am a new convert to Penstemons having bought a couple of plants last summer which were still flowering at Christmas. I've always shied away from them as they can be tender, which they may well be as last winter wasn't very cold.
I started the Tomatoes very early and OH made me a greenhouse-within-a-greenhouse over the heated tray so we didn't have to heat the whole greenhouse. They are now about 30 cm tall and have flowers and I'm hoping for an early crop when the warmer weather gets here.
I've got Rosada - a baby plum variety, a pack of mixed baby plums, Sweet Aperetif - an apparently very sweet cherry type and Harbinger which is an Heirloom variety and suited to outdoors. The Sweet Aperetif were on a 99p offer and the Harbinger where free, so you can see how easy it was to get to my current forest of tomatoes.

Penstemons are very easy to propogate from soft stem cuttings. I take off the bottom leaves and just poke them into some compost.Because you need so little it is easy to ask for /steal ( oops did I say that?) bits from new varieties that you see. I keep them outside all the time so they are naturally hardened off. It takes a few years to get up to size. I find them fairly hardy but do tend to take a few cuttings to replace any losses.I did read somewhere that the broader the leaf the less hardy which I think has been borne out in practice. In the spring don't cut the top growth back till they start to grw from the base.

Thanks for that @Lil I have looked at the rather sad brownish top growth but done nothing about it - another job for next week

[carieoates]

this is what our neighbours have as a view as they drive down the block paved roadway down beside our house. We do have a bit in our garden but aren't they lucky.

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Here are my happy heucheras. I have been collecting different varieties for several years. Because they are shade tolerant I had them in a shady bed behind a low wall. There were occasional casualties and every year some of them had to go into rehab in a pot. Last year we had some work done on the garden which created a new bed. I decided to put shrubs into the bed behind the wall where they would be more visible. I moved the heuchera into the new bed which is in the sun. They seem much happier in their new home.

Went to local markets yesterday and picked up some seedlings for restocking my veggie herb patch. I have 3 large raised beds and always delight in going out everyday and picking something. Have been a bit neglectful lately and pulled out a rambling sweet potato vine which I thought was just grow growing on top of soil. How wrong was I? Have a glut of sweet potato and I might be facing that bed churning out sweet potatoes for some time to come. Though carbolicious I have indulged a tad, DH gets the bigger serve, lucky him

I just love how my garden keeps giving even when I have neglected it. Time to do some tidying up, reconditioning the soil and getting better at making compost. I get a bit slack with my gardening but do just love picking a fresh salad. So have to allocate some time gardening

[wildmissus]

I thought I would show you all what I am growing in one of my pots.

It is called a 'Cat' and the variety is 'Grey and White Moggy' It likes to be kept well fed but tends to wilt when the sun comes out.

Absolutely gorgeous! Just made me laugh. Thanks @wildmissus!

Lovely heucheras @Lil - I have some in my NE facing front garden, in and among other plants, but have just bought 2 more - a lime green one and a light red, and may now keep these in pots in the back yard, which has much more sun.

Visited wonderful garden centre today and bought: 2 french eared lavenders for the back yard (pots) verbena bonariensis, nepeta, stachys (lambs ears) a varigated euphorbia, lilac ivy leafed geraniums, gazanias and violas. No more! At least until after I get back from holiday

Verbena, nepetas, stachys along with 2 aconitums bought 2 weeks ago all planted in the front garden in the rain this afternoon.