Plant Swap

A couple of weeks ago my gardening group had its first plant swap! What fun! 

It was a fab night with food and socialising and lots of plants to choose from. We also brought along gardening books and magazines to swap them too. However, the plants proved most popular on the evening.

I came home with lots of goodies, some of which are pictured here. I acquired two new shrubs, one a Weigela which is now potted up. I also came away with 2 Agapanthus, 2 Lychnis Coronaria, Primula Auricula and various other plants. Some I have in holding areas until I do some further Autumn tidying.

It was amazing to see such a variety of plants brought along by our small group. I think we had about 15 people on the night. Everyone was delighted with the numerous free plants they took home and we'll be planning this event on an annual basis.

Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.

New Seeds

I've started planning for 2015 and recently I purchased a few seeds from an organic gardening company based in Surrey.

I'm always excited to get new seeds (even though I have hundreds of seed packs)! However I now share seeds with my gardening group so it's not as bad if I have lots of them!

I bought 6 packs of seeds, one of which is still to come. Here's what I chose:

Asparagus Lettuce (organic) - apparently when it bolts the stems are edible and have a flavour like asparagus. This appeals to me as bolting plants seems common place in my garden.

Orache Green (organic) - this one can be eaten when it bolts too. It's related to spinach, eaten like lettuce, but the flavour doesn't go bitter when it bolts.

I also ordered Giant Red Mustard Greens (organic) as I thought it would be attractive and I love the taste of mustard; and Red Curled Kale as I was out of seed and enjoy the beauty of this plant amongst others in the garden.

In terms of flowers, the French Marigold Mr Majestic are deep red and yellow and I'm assuming easy to grow lik most marigolds, with a long flowering period (June to October). 

Of course, there is always a random purchase, and this time my random choice was Cobaea Scandens, a vigorous climber with large purple, bell shaped flowers and dark green foliage. What I will do with this, I haven't quite figured out! But its all part of the fun!

Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.