I’m in Culdaff today. It’s the closest place to my home
where I actually feel as though I am on holiday. Mcgrorys have offers on a
double room for 49 euro a night which was too tempting to ignore. It's more of
a ‘staycation’ than a holiday but relaxing never the less.
Technology is helping me write this week’s article as I am
using the phone to type on Google docs. I could get used to this as it frees me
up to work anywhere, even on the beach. Tonight though I'm writing/typing sat
in McGrory’s cosy bar. The place is softly lit by a large number of soft Edison
bulbs highlighting the many framed signed pictures of bands and musicians who
have played here over the years. No live music tonight, but the familiar tones
of Christy Moore ‘live at the point’ is playing on the sound system. It’s just
the place to ponder how things are progressing in the garden.
Annuals in containers have done really well this year, so
much so you can’t even see the pots.
Usually I place the young plants in rich potting soil and then just let
them get in with it throughout the growing season with maybe just a splash of
nettle/comfrey juice once in a while. It's the first time I've actually fed the
containers on a regular basis with a liquid plant food and the results have been
very favourable. Very little yellowing of the leaves, maybe just a few old leaves
that need nipping off but very little else. Pansies, nicotinas, petunais, marigolds,
begonias and fuchsias are all doing really well and pulling off the faded
flowers before they start producing seeds also helps to lengthen the growing
season. By this time of the year most of my containers are looking very sorry
for themselves but with the addition of plant feed will probably go on until
the first frosts.
I spent my daylight hours on the beaches around Culdaff and
was amazed at the diversity of plants just on the coastline. These plants that
grow in the wild, constantly being battered by the north winds are looking
amazing at this time of year. Sand loving
succulents, rare orchids, tall water reeds and wild carrots are all looking
glorious.
ally don't mind frost and the
chilly winter winds and rain and these go under the heading of “Hardy An
Some of these plants are hardy annuals and only have a short
period of time to grow, flower and set seed for next year.
Hardy Annuals
There are a lot of annual plants we can grow in our own garden that actu
nuals”
We can start annual vegetable s off early, such as broad beans - but this week
it’s the flowers I am looking at.
The hardy annual plants differ from the annuals I have in
the garden such as petunias which will all be killed off with the cold.
Planting in autumn.
Autumn sowing is suitable for hardy annuals. Some of these
annuals can be sown directly in the ground, and will withstand most frosts.
Others are not quite so robust – they can be direct sown, but covered with
cloches or horticultural fleece when frost is forecast. Alternatively, they can
be sown in pots and kept frost-free over winter.
Direct Sowing
The benefit of sowing in autumn, and not spring, is that
you'll have a much earlier flowering display. There are three main methods of
direct sowing into the soil depending on the seeds and location.
Broadcast- scatter
the seeds all over the ground and let nature do the work
Drills – Plant in
straight lines in grooves in the soil and lightly cover.
Protected sowing –
Planting in the ground and then covering with a cloche or some other
transparent protection. Alternatively sow in pots and leave in an unheated greenhouse.
The benefit of sowing in autumn, and not spring, is that
you'll have a much earlier flowering display.
This technique is not suitable for half-hardy and tender
annuals. Unless you have access to a heated greenhouse, these are best sown in
spring.
Types of Hardy
Annuals
Hardy annuals
requiring no protection
Pot marigold, cornflower, flax, love-in-a-mist, honesty and
opium/Shirley poppies are all really hardy and will need no protection from the
frosts.
Hardy annuals needing
some protection
Californian poppy, baby blue eyes, sweet peas and toadflax
all do well but will need a bit of protection in really cold snaps.
There’s no reason for why we can’t extend our growing season
and I see no reason why I shouldn’t just relax and extend my stay at McGrorys….”Excuse me, Barkeeper.”
