All the Veg is Planted -Yea!

 Sagina

We have the young baby vegetables planted in place at last. 

Well, apart from some broad beans that are still in small pots. There’s time for those yet and we’ll get those in as soon as I have finished making a wigwam shape out of bamboo poles. I can’t make the climbing structure until we remove last years old broccoli plants, but they are still producing florets. Granted the heads are progressively getting smaller and smaller as we pick away at them but so far they haven’t flowered or gone to seed. It takes me an hour to get a small pan full but I’m not giving up on them yet. It’s always the same with these plants, they do tend to be in the way a bit as we rotate the crops. I’m not complaining though as even a small portion is very welcome at any time of year.

It’s always a relief when the young plants go into the ground as it’s not long before they start suffering when they get pot bound, especially the broccoli and kale as they tend to go to seed really quickly if they are subjected to any form or stress. 

I made the structures for the peas, mange tout and beans a week or two ago and they are happily spiralling their tendrils around the poles and reaching for the sun.  We have parsley coming up, it’s been very slow to appear and I’d nearly given up on them and the ‘pick and come again’ lettuce is doing really well. It’s been kept out of the glaring sun we had last week as they don’t really like it too sunny all day, a bit like my head.

More Seasonal Changes

The tunnel is mostly empty now because it was getting far too hot for most of the plants apart from the young perennial plugs which seem to cope with the 40 degree heat and one of my dogs who for some reason insists on sitting in there. I think it might be something to do with her staring at the two resident frogs for hours. She does the same with cats too until they give her a swipe. 

I also have seven gifted tomato plants filling up the available space and loving the heat. I wasn’t going to grow any this year but I just can’t say no when someone calls around with them in their arms. It’d be impolite to refuse. 

I had to remove the chamomile plugs I have growing as they were starting to get too soft and leggy They have now taken over the patio as the 20 packs are covering every paving slab and available ledge. The patio chairs and now in the middle of the lawn out of the way (and in the shade). The family are very patient with me and let me get on with taking over the place with the small plants. I’ve been a couple of years making my small chamomile lawn and these will be filling in all the gaps in a few weeks so it’ll be business as usual on the patio in not time.  I’ll be growing them under cover later in the year to fill any more gaps that appear in winter but I doubt we’ll be even thinking about the patio then.

Irish Moss

I’ve started to grow ‘Irish Moss’ or pearlwort (Sagina Subulata) in plugs for a bit of ground cover, not for a lawn, more as a rockery plant.  I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before but Irish moss isn’t Irish and it’s not a moss, but it does cover the ground really well only growing to about 4 cm in height. It’s a plant originating in the sandy, gravel hills of Europe and is very popular with people who have gaps in slabs or a bit of a decorative green space they want covering. The plant is evergreen, has small white flowers and all it does in winter is get smaller and more compact until the warmer weather starts up again. It doesn’t have the fragrance of chamomiles but not everyone wants the sweet smell of apples when you walk on a lawn. I’ve already covered half of the garden with them as we have a lot of cracked concrete to cover, maybe I can cover the patio slabs for next year.

Family Wedding and Watering Plants

 Tiny Plug Plants

I was at a family wedding last week. We do seem to be going to quite a few at the moment as our nieces and nephews are settling down. I still think of them as toddlers running around but most of them are reaching or have passed the age of thirty so they are toddlers no more. 

 

Thankfully we didn’t have to travel too far this time as it was just over the water near Exeter in Devon. 

The last wedding was in Alicante and although I was getting the impression they chose the far away holiday destination so we wouldn’t take them up their invitation, we went anyway. Apparently it’s quite the in thing to go to exotic places now, not only for the wedding but also the stag and hen do’s.  A friend of mine went overseas no less than five times last year to his mates stag parties and it cost him most of his wages but at least he’s amassed some air miles so he can go somewhere on his own to give his liver a rest.

The wedding venues the relations have chosen have all been fantastic and there are so many factors to take into consideration when doing the planning especially the unpredictable weather. Precautions were taken and all of the outside ceremony areas had some lovely canopies put up just in case the weather turned. The day was forecast really heavy thunder, lightning and rain so this was a wise precaution to take. The young people camping just had to hope their canvas was waterproof. 

As it turned out the precautions weren’t needed to keep the torrential rain off, they were more being used as shades from the sun. Somehow the weather predictions of the impending storm just kept being put back and back, much to everyone’s relief.   

I do realise that at weddings it doesn’t really matter about the décor, the food, weather or if things run smoothly, it’s all about the loving family members and friends getting together for a good old knees up and celebrating the couple’s big day. I’m saying that for anyone who is getting stressed about planning a wedding as I am beginning to realise just how much time and energy (and money) can go into them. 

The storm did come. It was very late at around 10:30 in the evening and the spectacle was better than a firework display and on par with seeing the Northern Lights.  Everyone came off the dance floor and stood at the windows oohing and aahing at the sheet and bolts of lightning passing over us. You can’t plan or buy that sort of spectacle. It made my night.  

The rain was a deluge for a short while and gave everything a good watering.

Watering

As the storm wasn’t passing over our house back home I left instructions for my lad to water my young plants and vegetables twice in the day. Some of them are really young, especially the 70 perennial plants that arrived an hour before I left for the airport. 

We potted them up into small pots and put them in a sheltered area away from direct sunlight until they established a bit. I’ve actually never seen plant plugs as small as these before, to give you an idea of the size you can probably get at least 8 of these tiny plugs into a regular plug cell. If you recall I got them all for €2 so I wasn’t complaining and they arrived healthy enough.

My lad asked me when he should water the plants and veggies in the garden. I said just water them when you can, it doesn’t matter to me when they are done as long as the roots have water.  There are some that say leaves get scorched in the heat of the day but I have never had that happen to any of my plants. The beads of water are supposed to act like magnifying glasses and scorch leaves but there’s nowhere on the planet where this would happen so that doesn’t bother me.   

Late in the evening is said to be an issue too if the leaves don’t have time to dry off as they could get mouldy. I’ve not really experienced that either with more mature plants. Generally if you need to water then it’s going to be a drying breeze anyway.  I suppose in an ideal world we’d be watering either in the early morning so there’s less evaporation or late afternoon as it gives the plants time to dry but sunshine and rain come at any time and mostly together at this time of year so we might as well just go with the flow and do it when we can.

Springrowth Landscape and Garden Centre - Summer Bedding

 A great choice of plants down at Springrowth Landscape and Garden Centre in Derry

The Mayflowers are out brightening up the hedgerows and plant growth is in full swing. I’ve been cosseting my young plants in the tunnel for a bit too long I think as some of them are becoming very leggy, especially after last weeks heatwave. It has been sunny but I thought the cold winds might scorch the fragile leaves of young plants but that wind passed a while ago.

My chamomile plugs especially are forgetting they are supposed to be groundcover and are doing their best to stretch out, way over their suggested height. 

It’s time to take the plants out of the tunnel and allow them to enjoy the true nature, and toughen themselves up outside where the wind and rain can blow and strengthen the leaves.  Living too long in the tunnel can make plants soft and susceptible to pests and disease as they have no adversity.

I admit to even gently brushing my hands over the tops of the plants in the morning and evening to emulate a bit of wind so they at least form some sort of resistance. My lad says I’m wasting my time but in the case of the chamomiles the procedure does emit a gloriously relaxing smell of apples. I’m even doing it now the plants are finally outside. It’s therapy for me even if the plants don’t need the attention.   

We’ve actually managed to plant up some summer bedding this year. I invested in a few large pots and took a trip over to SpringrowthLandscape and Garden Centre on Springtown Industrial estate in Derry to get a few choice plants. 

Summer Bedding Plants

I’ve mentioned before that Cyril (formally the Buncrana town Gardener) set up the centre and this year he has made some super sturdy, custom built covered display areas for the ever growing range of bedding plants, shrubs and ornaments.  He also specialised in gravel and bark for low maintenance gardening but it’s the huge range of annual bedding I was interested in.  

All of Cyril’s plants are locally sourced and have a look of maturity and quality. One key factor I am finding now is that the larger supermarkets who sell bedding don’t care for the plants upon arrival and don’t water them at all. They will discard the plants when they wilt and die after a couple of days and I assume this is something to do with the shops health and safety policies about leaving wet patches on the floor. 

At Springrowth Cyril does a fine job of making sure the labelled plants are in great condition before being sold and cares for them constantly.  I didn’t want this to sound like an advertorial but sometimes when someone give such a great caring service you just have to shout it from the rooftops. The centre is also open on Sundays from 2 till 5 which is handy.

It was Julie who did most of the plant choosing as I was too busy having a gardening natter with Cyril.  Julie made some fine choices and we came away with a mixed selection to fill up the four large pots. 

For one centrepiece we got rosemary. These plants are generally trouble free and with a bit of cutting back every year it should be able to stay in the pot for a long time. I think herbs perform better and taste stronger if they are grown in poorer, dry soil which is more like their natural environment. This year though the rosemary will have company as we also have lobelia, surfinias, impatiens (busy Lizzie) petunias and begonias. The other pots will incorporate more trailing plants as we have trailing fuchsia, begonia and bacopa, the centre pieces of these are upright geraniums, which are always a favourite for me as you can neglect them for ages before they complain. Mixing these plants together will add a lovely dash of colour to the garden and most of them are getting ready to flower now so it won’t be long.

 

We did have some fuchsia plants in the garden, which until this week actually looked dead.  It’s only when you break off a small stem you see they are still green inside which means there’s life in them yet.  I’ve heard of a lot of people digging theirs out this year thinking the frost had killed them only to find the new growth is coming from the base of the stem. If you have done this yourself then it’s really just a case of popping it back into the hole and tamp it down. They are sturdy shrubs so will have vigorous new growth on not time.

Zen Plants

 Ginseng in a pot

Relaxing and admiring the plants in the garden is always a delight. What about when we go indoors though?

We can always look out of the window but in the evening when the soft lights are on, having some easy to look after, compact, serene looking plants is a lovely addition to the home. Even through (speaking for myself) I’ll probably be looking at a computer screen. The plants are there for me to admire when I do lift my head up occasionally.

This time of year prompts really fast growth from a lot of houseplants and it’s not long before they are out of hand, taking up too much room, going leggy and dropping old leaves and petals everywhere. Busy Lizzies and begonias are just two that spring to mind.

I think wholesale growers are realising this and this year some of the larger Dutch companies such as Van der Plas are promoting bonsai, dracaena and fiscus type plants to retailers for the consumer to enjoy and have as a relaxing meditative focal point in a room. To make things more marketable for us the consumer, these types of plants will be going under the banner of “Zen Plants” which instantly gives us waves of relaxation. The types of plants under the “Zen “banner are generally easy to look after, don’t drop too many leaves and are attractive to look at and blessed with a serene look that really impacts on their surroundings. There are exceptions to the rule though and some really hot, centrally heated houses might not be suitable so if you are thinking in investing in a €200 bonsai tree, I’d start with something a bit cheaper first to test the conditions.

Zen Plants

Zen plants as a phenomenon before the advertisers decided to use the phrase as a selling point, dates back from the end of the 14th century, when Zen Buddhists created stylised gardens of exceptional beauty in order to meditate and contemplate the world. Respect for nature was key part of the overall design. They would pay a lot of attention to the finer details of the plants, maybe more than most of us would so the types of plants we will be seeing should be tidy and compact for us to ignore for long periods

Some of the plants have a calming effect and can look a lot older than they actually are as their trunks mature, which adds to the look. Bonsai, Ficus Ginseng and Dracaena lucky bamboo all have powerful shapes, natural strength, and a stylised appearance. “All three species fit well with the growing interest in bringing more calm and meaning to our lives.” Boldly claim van der Plas the plant wholesalers.

Bonsai in Japanese means ‘tree in pot’. Woody plants are transformed into miniature trees by pruning and trimming whereby the appearance is determined by the plant’s essence.

Examples of plants that are particularly suitable for bonsai are Chamaecyparis, pomegranate and Crassula ovata, Ficus species are currently the most popular. 

The Ficus ginseng is cultivated in southern China and Malaysia. A small-leafed Ficus microcarpa is grafted onto the distinctive trunk, which is then pruned into a bonsai shape.

It can be narrow and tall or broad and low, depending on the pruning. To achieve the best aesthetic effect, the pot usually takes up less than one third of the total height of plant.

Dracaena lucky bamboo is an eye-catching feature plant, and is available with straight and twisted branches, woven, as a mini bamboo forest or as a solo statement plant.

All shapes need a lot of water, which is why they’re often sold in a glass bowl, vase or other vessel where the water is visible. This also contributes to the plant’s Zen look.

What to look for when buying Zen plants

• Bonsai and Ficus ginseng need to be well-rooted. The trunk and foliage must also be attractively in proportion.
• A lack of light can cause leaf shedding. Check that the leaves are sturdy and the plant has been hardened.
• Check for mealybug and scale insects.
• Dracaena lucky bamboo should not have any yellow stems, and must be sold ‘on water’.

Care tips

• All “Zen plants” like a light spot with no direct sunlight.
• Bonsai and Ficus Ginseng like having slightly damp soil but not wet feet.
• Dracaena lucky bamboo should always be standing in a layer of water.
• Some plant food every 3 to 4 weeks is sufficient.
• If Zen plants grow too big, they can be pruned back.
• If the temperature remains above 15°C, these plants can also be placed on the patio.