All over the place

All over the place is what my allotment flowers have been this year.  Last year I had a few beds on our two allotments especially for cutting flowers.  But this year as we are giving up one of the allotments later, we decided to concentrate on growing just on the one allotment.  We realised that we wouldn't have enough room on plot 8 to give up a bed just for flowers, so instead we have planted them in amongst the vegetables.

I got carried away with my seed sowing and did far too many. Some of them didn't grow well at all, they were very thin and straggly, some had poor germination.  I don't know if I sowed them too late or if it was the weather or the wrong growing conditions. The best ones have been Rudbekia, Calendula, Zinnia, Malope, Dahlias, Sweet peas. Cosmos has grown well with lots of foliage but is only just starting to flower. I'm hoping they will produce plenty before the frosts, I love their different shades of pink.

These Rudbekias are planted amongst the sweetcorn. They are a very reliable flower, this variety is 'Marmalade'

The sunflowers are also planted near the sweetcorn. I think this variety is 'Vanilla Ice'.it doesn't grow tall, but produces lots of smaller flowers, ideal for cutting.

This is the second year we have grown Zinnia and I really love them. Lots of pink, yellow, white, red and orange.

Calendula is an old favourite. I planted these along the edge of the long path.  They flop about a lot but keep on going despite getting knocked as we walk past.

I like growing the flowers amongst the vegetables, it certainly brightens up the plot. I shall do the same next year. And although I haven't grown as many flowers as I did last year I have still had plenty to cut for the house.

Sweet peas

The sweet peas at the allotment have been brilliant this year. It's the first time we've grown them on Plot8 and they really seem to like growing there. When I planted them I didn't have much hope for them. They looked a bit straggly and weary and for a while didn't do much  but after what seemed like weeks and weeks they really took off.  They've grown so big, climbing up the support frame that it's difficult to get past them on the path.

People have often asked me what the secret of growing sweet peas is. I really don't know. I have grown them in the garden at home successfully for a few years but then in recent years they have not done well. We grew them on Plot 10b last year and they did well, but this year's crop on Plot 8 is probably the best ever. They get plenty of sun and the soil was  manured last autumn.  They seem to be very happy with that.

We're still cutting big  bunches of them every time we go to the allotment and it's lovely to always have vases of them around the house. As the days start to get cooler I'm wondering how much longer they will keep looking so good. I will enjoy them for as long as I can.

Into September

Where did August go and July for that matter? The summer holidays have gone by so quickly. I was looking forward to leisurely days, pottering about in the garden, catching up with a few jobs and not watching the clock for school pick ups. Well I didn't have to watch the clock, and my days were probably leisurely but not in the way I'd planned. We had some lovely days out with the grandchildren. We had family to stay and more days out with more grandchildren. We've done garden visits, been to the seaside, explored historic houses and walked a lot. It seems to have been a whirl of activity but lovely too.

So here we are in September. There's a quieter feel to the days now the grandchildren are back at school. And things are different with the eldest now at high school. There are a lot of changes to our routine.

September brings changes to the garden and the countryside as everything changes colour and berries appear. I feel I need to go out and pick blackberries even though there are some in the freezer from last year. And after last year discovering a secret place where we found sloe berries I want to return to pick more, make more sloe gin.

The garden has been very good at looking after itself these last few weeks, but I know there is much to be done. The allotment  is producing plenty, but our work on the two plots we have at the moment is of sorting stuff out and making more storage space as we prepare to give up one of them at the end of the year.
It's like moving house.

We are looking forward to some time away later this month, time to slow down, to rest, to walk, to enjoy new scenery.