This is the journal of my endeavours to grow a range of fruit, veg and flowers from seed, grow organically, and my attempts to create a personal paradise with 1/2 acre of maintained gardens and 1/2 acre wild meadows. Northern Ireland's average daily high temperatures are 18 °C (64 °F) in July and 6 °C (43 °F) in January. Soil type: Clay

Thursday, 26 April 2012

This Week in The Garden

This week the weather forecast in the local paper read: Monday - sunny spells with chance of rain; Tues - possible showers; Wed cooler with thunder storms. Thurs - windy with showers. Just another typical week in Northern Ireland! I'm back into Winter  clothes!

Left: I've noticed black spot on rose leaves this week. I have a horrible problem with back spot! Our wet conditions seem to contribute to this.
Azalea is in flower.
Forest Flame is showing new growth in red.
Forest flame flowering white; foliage growth in red. 
Almost every garden in Northern Ireland has a Forest Flame!
Harvested some rhubarb this week. I simply added a tablespoon of sugar, stewed it until soft, and ate it hot served over ice cream. Yum!
Hope you're getting better gardening weather!
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14 comments:

  1. elaine 26 April 2012 at 14:08

    The weather here has been apalling all week so not much gardening done. Lovely pix of your azaleas etc. - sadly they won't grow in my garden as my soil isn't acidic enough. Your rhubarb looks scrumptious - mine has simply shot up in all this wet weather.

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  2. ann26 April 2012 at 16:04

    Yes, the rhubarb looks healthy and yummy. You fix it the way I do; I especially like it on toast. Don't know which is better, though, hot over ice cream or ice cold on cottage cheese. Mine is coming along. Well, Colorado is officially in a drought. Great! Much of our summer watering depends on snow pack in the mountains. Fortunately we have well water. Queen Elizabeth would be a good addition to your garden. As for my blog, momentary panic. I re logged in and it all went back to normal. Have a good week end.

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  3. The Stay @ Home-Gardener26 April 2012 at 17:49

    Sweet Kitty. Very similar to our own, Kiki. How are those spuds coming along? - cloud

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  4. becky308626 April 2012 at 17:55

    We have a cat like that too called Simba. Your flowers are lovely as well. I can't seem to grow rhubarb here as we don't get cold enough in the winter. I wish I could though.

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  5. Jo27 April 2012 at 02:07

    We haven't got any better weather here, Kelli, and the forecast is for much of the same. The azalea is really pretty.

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  6. Sue Garrett27 April 2012 at 02:39

    Still yukky here too! We have a blackspot problem on the roses on the allotment but not usually so soon in the year - I'll have to check them when the rain eases up and we can actually get there.

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  7. Sarah Shoesmith27 April 2012 at 04:36

    It's a pity about the rose blackspot - given the weather, do you think it will be the big disease this year?

    Lovely rhubarb by the way! The perfect comfort food for a rainy day. I added the juice and zest of an orange to some last night - it was a revelation! (Not my idea... I nicked it off a Jamie Oliver rhubarb/ginger crumble recipe).

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  8. Mark Willis27 April 2012 at 23:33

    Awful weather here in Hampshire too. Good weather for Rhubarb though. It likes lots of water (though no doubt some sunshine would be welcome too!)

    I only have two Rose bushes, but they get black spot too. They lose all their leaves, but they always recover and have a second flush, so I don't worry too much.

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  9. Egretta Wells blog28 April 2012 at 14:25

    Hi Kelli, here in Florida, my rose bushes have very few leaves, but still they bloom really well!The tropical weather with rain showers and then hot sun really makes them get black spot and the leaves just drop off. I am like Mark...I just don't worry too much about them. Every now and then I spray them with a preventive spray and it does help.

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  10. Crystal29 April 2012 at 09:31

    Still a bit damp here today, we've had the most April rainfall for 130 years. They're forecasting a heatwave for tomorrow, but it's one of those 'one day only' deals I'm afraid. No blackspot on my roses yet. I fed them this spring for the first time ever. Don't know if it's made a difference yet.

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  11. janice1529 April 2012 at 11:04

    I'm a new follower, I always have a fear of rub barb I guess because the leaves are poison rite...would like to know more about it...thank you for sharing...with Love Janice

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  12. RobinL29 April 2012 at 18:35

    Same problem here, went back to winter clothes this past week. Rain, rain, rain! I'm getting frustrated, because every time it's nice out, I'm working and can't garden. But if I have the day off, it's guaranteed to rain! LOL

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  13. Malar29 April 2012 at 19:11

    Soon there will be roses to enjoy! Good harvest of Rhubarb!

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  14. Unknown30 April 2012 at 14:39

    I recomend roasting rubarb its delicous and retains its firmness

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