May Bank holiday to 13th

The garden is growing rapidly and looks rather nice, despite most of it being plants that will be getting removed! I am deliberately neglecting my pots of Sempervivums and they seem to be thriving on it. By the end of the summer they should be beautifully congested if all goes to plan. 

The lawn has been mowed and the dandelions deadheaded, with the cuttings mixed into the compost heap with shredded paper and wood ash from the chimenea. Not sure that's wise but the wildlife seems to be thriving in the heap. I have put some plants into the new border, but will have to add more as it still looks somewhat bare. The plants are Alchemilla mollis ("Lady's Mantle"), Helleborus ("Hellebore"), Salvia turkestanica ("Ornamental Sage"), Potentilla, Lavandula angustifolia 'Munstead' ("Dwarf Lavender"), and Viola ("Violet"). Rather a mixed bag but needs must for now.

On Saturday I weeded the first veg patch as it had a lot of bindweed and bittercress in it. I also removed the net covering and covered the bare patch in the middle with a piece of chicken wire to keep the cats off. Seems to be working so far. I then made tripods out of bamboo canes and planted the runner beans and French beans, followed by the sweetcorn. The runner beans have already started twining their way up the canes.

A friend of my Mum's called me yesterday and said she had heard I was in need of plants and offered me a selection, so I now have Golden Rod, Euporbia, more Alchemilla, two varieties of Geranium, and various other plants. How kind!

After work today I pottered about and sowed some seed in the first vegetable bed where the garlic had failed to do anything. There are now two rows of multicoloured carrots and another row of spring onions. I also thinned out the existing row of spring onions and replanted most of the seedlings in spaces by the shallots, garlic and broad beans. Not sure any of it will work but it is worth a try.

There is much wildlife in the garden. The birdsong in the surrounding trees is prolific and lovely. I keep seeing spiders carrying their egg-sacs - at first I thought this was a dark spider with a pale abdomen but it turns out that I was seeing females carrying eggs. Slugs and snails abound, but appear to be keeping off the vegetables for the moment. Fingers crossed that this continues. I have also seen ants, woodlice, and flies.

Beans and Sweetcorn

One of the feline visitors. Almost friendly!