What type of gardener are you?

If you want to get growing but aren’t sure where to start then Mr Fothergill’s and David Domoney have all the information you need. They’re teaming up to give people who want to start growing their own information to get started, including tips on which herbs and vegetables you can grow on your windowsill.

Take the quiz and get free seeds

Mr Fothergill’s has a fun quiz too to help you work out what type of gardener you are, and they’re even offering you some free seeds, so they’re removing any excuse you had to get started.

I’m a Garden Whisperer…

!My quiz results: A garden whisperer - it's not showy, but you can get the job done when it comes to helping plants thrive

It made me smile anyway.

But actually, and without knowing what the other options are, it does seem to fit. Generally I have success in the garden, even when I think something is past its best - the ornamental quince bush which took a trampling from the tree cutters last year is a good example.

It was looking very sorry for itself and so I decided to give it an unseasonal trim. Not only did it stop it looking distinctly “less dead” but it rewarded me with new growth, more flowers and looks a lot healthier. It’s usual flowering time is now - and I can see it flowering from the house - so to get a second set of flowers after the worst of the heatwave was a real surprise, and very welcome!

So why not take the quiz, sign up for your free seeds and leave a comment to let me know what type of gardener you are!

*This isn’t a sponsored post, though I understand why you think it might be. It’s a fun thing - with free seeds - that arrived in my inbox that I wanted to share. Like you, if you take the quiz, I have signed up for some free seeds. That’s it.

My garden in September

I realised yesterday that with everything else going on (and mostly going on away from the blog) that somehow we’d reached way into October before I’d shared my regular garden update post. So here it is, there are less photos than usual, but that’s reflecting less time in the garden for all the reasons I’ve already mentioned.

It was good to look through the photos though, as seeing that we had sun was a good reminder, and a bit of a shock after all the rain we’re starting to get used to. The lushness of this climbing plant was rewarding too, as it was one of the ones I spent time rescuing after the new neighbour got a little too over-enthusiastic trimming my plants. I was pretty certain I could rescue some, but I wasn’t sure how well they’d behave, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised.

rescued plants thriving

You wouldn’t believe quite how much they’ve grown - most of the way up the fence panel. We added the plastic-coated wire fencing, which we’d brought back from the allotment, to use as a trellis. MOH wasn’t keen on the aesthetics, but actually it’s worked well and I’d consider actually buying some in the future to use instead of trellis. It’s easy to put up - we used a staple gun - and quickly it fades away, the dark colour helps.

tidy climbing plants and fairy lights

Some pretty garden lights also make it a little more magical, though it’s been a while since we’ve sat outside. The table is still uncovered, being the optimist that I am, I’m hoping that it will be dry enough soon so that we can cover it up for the winter.

While the photo below isn’t the best, you can see just how far it’s come in a relatively short space of time.

look how much theyve filled out

In case you’re wondering, the brown and dead/dying plant on the far side of the trellis is the ivy that our neighbour was trying to remove, and trying to make out was ours. It isn’t. And it’s no longer there, or at least that part isn’t. They’ve done the same further down the garden and have rather cheekily, somehow heaved it over the fence, which I’m not too happy about. And while we never had The Chat before, I’m trying to resist the urge for the dead ivy to miraculously hop over the fence again. I know I should be the bigger person, but, the dead ivy hop is very tempting.

Let’s look at some pretty fairy lights instead, before we move on.

sunlight streaming through the fence

The other thing that’s odd, is these dahlias. When I bought them they were in bud and soon flowered. Then nothing. Nada. All summer. As the weather started to turn they forced a few more flowers, and then dormant again. They didn’t exactly bring colour to our patio, well apart from green, and as you know green isn’t something I’m short of.

a burst of yellow dahlias

The cyclamen and the black grass continue to be a good combination. A subtle combination, and one that’s probably not enhanced by the dried leaves, or weeds. But it’s real at least.

delicate cyclamen crispy leaves and black grass

The gerbera has been the star this year. It’s flowered, and flowered, and flowered. Actually I probably should check on it…

gerberas adding colour

And the lettuce. This is still the first sowing, I didn’t need to do a repeat sowing as we were still eating this well into the month. I suspect it’s a bit bitter now, but it was well worth growing. Much better than the plastic bags of salad from the supermarket. Though I know which lettuce I want to grow next year, I’m very much a mild lettuce kind of girl, these are mostly peppery, which MOH is a fan of.

still harvesting lettuce

My challenge for the weekend will be to get out into the garden and actually take some pictures so I can do an October version of this post, hopefully as late in the month as this one!

How’s your garden been?

'Get Set Grow' this May

Gardening is good for you, and so is growing your own food. But growing anything yourself gives an inordinate amount of pleasure, doesn’t it? Whether it’s runner beans or sunflowers with the kids, flowers to brighten up your space or fruit and veg to eat, the process is enthralling each time.

But it’s also beneficial to our health and wellbeing. It’s rewarding and productive, provides exercise, and if you’re growing edibles eating freshly picked, homegrown, organically grown produce is a way of keeping healthy and saving money too, not to mention the complete lack of air miles.

This is my new monthly linkup, where you can share your gardens and/or gardening posts (old or new) that complement the month’s theme. For May, that’s Get Set Grow.

The linkup will stay open all month, so pop back if your post isn’t published yet, and remember you can link up an old post too.

MAY: GET SET GROW

MAY: GET SET GROW

Get the harvesting high!

Researchers have found that seeing, smelling and picking fruits and berries can release dopamine from the brain’s reward centre, resulting in a feeling of mild euphoria and wellbeing. So there’s the perfect excuse to hit the PYO farms when they open later in the month!

Eat the rainbow

We know that we should be eating five a day, or up to ten a day depending on what advice is flavour of the day, but there’s also benefits to eating different coloured fruits and vegetables as they contain varying beneficial ingredients:

  • Red: Tomatoes, red onions, rhubarb chard, peppers, chillies, strawberries and rhubarbs

  • Orange: Carrots, squash and pumpkin

  • Yellow: Golden courgettes and tomatoes, sweetcorn, yellow beans and peppers

  • Green: Asparagus, spinach, peas, beans, mangetout, rocket, lettuce and salad leaves, kale, cabbage, cucumber and pak choi

  • Blue: Blueberries

  • Purple: Beetroot, broccoli, aubergine, purple beans and asparagus, red cabbage, radish and plums

  • White: Cauliflower, celery, leeks, onions, garlic, shallots, spring onions, potatoes.

Plants of the moment for summer displays and crops

Flowers: Nemesia - I’m sure you’ll know what these look like if you google them, Poppy varieties, Pinks, shrubs including Berberis, choisya, ceanothus with its lilac blue flowers, weigela, lilac and many viburnum.

Young seedling plants: tomatoes, peppers, chillies, cucumbers, strawberries, courgettes and squash.

But there’s dozens of other crops such as salad leaves, beans, rocket, spinach, beetroot and carrots which can be grown from seed, which is even better value.

I now have some seed compost, and I’ve got plenty of seeds, all I need to do is put them together and let the magic happen, what about you?

“TheGardenYear

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