The Gift That Keeps On Giving...

Last spring / summer I waxed lyrical about Miracle Gro Wildflower Mix, and it really was something special. However, I have now discovered that due to self-seeding, many of the beautiful flowers I enjoyed last year are growing once again, with absolutely no help from me!

Although the planters in the South-facing back garden have only just started to sprout foliage, with the promise of flowers to follow, my North-facing front garden (especially my window boxes) have been in bloom for the past few weeks. I am very much enjoying the view from my kitchen window as I spot alyssum, stocks and wallflowers along with Californian poppies.

The tiny patch of 'waste-land' by my front door was glorious a year ago, and that too is filling up nicely with all manner of wild flowers. Long may it continue...!

Pretty Pansies...

My small suburban garden remains devoid of much colour at all, despite it being mid-June. The red jasmine has started to flower (much to the bumble bees delight) but there are noticeably less blooms this year than last year. There are a few flowers on the thyme and one tiny, dark blue lobelia flower but everything else is just green….apart from two small clumps of pansies. These were the plants which I picked up for just 30p last October in tescos, and which provided me with colour in my window boxes month after month. When they finally succumbed to the snow I pulled up the few surviving plants and put them in a shady border, not thinking for one moment they’d thrive, but here they are! What pretty little things they are…

JUNE 16, 2013

Simply The Best...

I rarely comment on my front garden as I generally simply spray weed-killer between the paving slabs and on anything attempting to grow in 3 of the 4 borders, and not a lot else. However, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I’m HUGELY impressed by my 30p pansies!

Not only have they survived the winter frosts and snow, they’re actually STILL in flower 4 months after I brought them home. The window boxes could do with a scrub with some hot, soapy water (a job for the spring I think) and the rusty brackets definitely need a new coat of paint (another job for the spring), but the plants themselves are still a ‘sight for sore eyes’ from the kitchen window.

Shame I didn’t buy more…!

FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Bargain!...

I rarely comment on my front garden as I generally don’t plant anything out there, however, a month ago Tescos were selling trays of 20 pansies at just 30p (they looked half-dead but I figured even if just 5 plants survived it’d be worth it) along with large potted chrysanthemums at just 50p each (really regret not buying more than three but there was a limit to how many I could carry).

Four weeks later all 20 pansies are doing brilliantly in my window boxes, giving me a real treat when looking out of my kitchen window. The two chrysanthemums I planted in the front have also done incredibly well (I’d split the third into 4 separate plants and they are currently starting to grow in the back garden).

I have to say, it’s probably my best ever garden bargain yet!


SEPTEMBER 29, 2012