Veg Update (Beans, Courgette, etc)

What a busy time in the garden! The sunshine and warmth over the last two weeks has really made a difference in the garden. I've been trying to get plants hardened off and have managed to get beans, courgette, curly kale and pumpkin planted outside. Other plants (squash, peas, celery, kale, etc) are still being hardened off. I had to re-sow courgette and peas after getting a very poor success rate. The second sowing at the end of May took no time at all to germinate (now I have too many courgette plants!). Below is a little summary of what's keeping me busy.

Left and below: Bean 'Dwarf Purple Queen' grown from seed. I've planted these in containers this year. Seed sown on 20 March 2012 and 8 April 2012. 

Above and below: Climbing Bean 'Cobra'. Seed sown on 20 March 2012 and 8 April 2012. I've positioned some plants in the middle of the snapdragon bed so will see how they get on.

Above and below: Runner Bean 'Scarlet Emperor' (Climbing).  This is my first year growing climbing beans. I'm watching them carefully, feeding and watering regularly so fingers cross! By accident I planted two cobra and two scarlet emperor in this area ( I only discovered this by the colour of the flowers - lilac/cobra, red/scarlet emperor).

Above and Below: Courgette 'All Green Bush'. This is a new variety I'm trying this year. Seed sown on 8 April 2012. My courgettes last year suffered from blossom rot for the first time ever. Here's hoping for a better year!

Above: Chives in flower, leek soon to flower (at the front) and potatoes Maris Peer in the far background.

Above: The tall green plant with white flowers is what happens to a radish if its left to its own devices! 

The bad news - today I noticed two of my turnips (purple top milan), sown direct outside on 20 March, are starting to form flowers. I assume this is bad. I'm not sure if this makes them inedible? They look too small to harvest.

I've also been making nettle and comfry tea / fertilizer. For more on making fertilizer  - http://kelliboylesgarden.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/making-fertiliser-seed-spurts.html

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

May Flowers

A good splash of colour around the garden now. I think May and June are favourite months as the lupins and delphiniums are really fantastic. (The delphiniums aren't in flower yet but it won't be long). The recent warm weather seems to have spurred growth. The clay soil is rock hard as we've had very little rain. However, I've been able to get most weeds under control. Here's an overview of what's in bloom...

Above: Aquilegia / Columbine (Perennial) - grown from seed last year. In their second year the plants seem bigger and more impressive.
Below:  Nemophila 'Pennie Black', (Annual). Last Summer the plants were tiny and I wasn't impressed but this Summer the plants have come up bigger and I'm growing fond of them.

Above and Below: Lupin (Perennial) grown from seed quite a number of years ago. I've read several articles that say lupin and delphinium only last about 3 years but I find they last longer.
Pieris / Forest Flame shrub co-ordinates with the lupin colour.

Above: A bee enjoys the lupin.
Below: A new Lupin plant - grown from seed last year. 

I've forgotten what these two are.. maybe:
Above: A type of Camellia or rhododendrum tree?
Below: A type of Azalea or compact rhododendrum shrub?

Above and Below: Poached Egg Plant / Limnanthes Douglasii, (Hardy Annual) self seeds in a border with roses and other plants. I believe the rose below is 'Arthur Bell'. 

Above: Rose (type I've forgotten).
Below: Antirrhinum (Snapdragon) 'Intermediate Mixed', (Half Hardy Annual), coming into full swing after not dying down over Winter, pictured with Silverdust (Annual) still going as well.

Above: Welsh Poppy are popping up in random places but seems to work.
Below: No idea but the cats love the flowers on this shrub. They put their face right into the shrub and get high sniffing the flowers.

Happy Gardening over the long weekend!

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

Things that Invade

Things that invade the garden... starting with the creepy crawlies (and then moving to plants)! 

Left and Below: The wormy culprits doing damage to my apple tree. I know nothing about worms / caterpillars but don't these three look different?  I don't use any chemicals on the apple tree so I check it every few days and hopefully I'm getting the worms removed before they eat or damage the flower buds.

This photo shows a kind of cacoon in the middle of the photo. It involves the flower bud being stuck together. This is where the black worm lives. The green worms seem to hatch differently than the black worms. The green worms seem to be stuck between two leaves or a leaf folded over, rather than buds.

Worm inside a bud.
I've taken loads of worm / caterpillar photos - no idea why. I've picked off about 20 or so.
I just hope I get a good apple harvest by picking them off!

Other things that invade in the garden...

1. Crocosmia and Lucifer-type plants are on my invasive list. The bulbs multiply into bigger and bigger grassy clumps over the years and the bulbs can be quite difficult to dig out.
2. Vinca Minor Argenteovariegata (top arrow and close up below) - quite an invasive spreader but in the right place can be a useful plant for ground cover.
3. Honesty - I do like honesty but this year I'm seeing how it can push out other plants a bit.

Vinca Minor Argenteovariegata

Honesty

Is this a type of Euphorbia? 
It appeared in the garden one day, and it's now popping up everywhere as per the photos below.

Above: Ajuja Bugle - creeps and creeps. I remove it and it creeps back where I don't want it. On the plus side, the bees like it.

Black Mondo Grass - I bought three tiny bits of root at a plant sale years ago and now I could supply a nursery! It must like the dry conditions where it's growing as it spreads like crazy. Difficult to remove.

Bugle and black mondo creeping in on my Armeria maritime / sea thrift.

One of the biggest creeper of them all - the dandelion. I read on a fellow blogger's post that one plant can produce approx 2,000 seeds per year. Wow!

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