tues 29 May 2012 Diamond bed planted up

Hot but with a breeze and threat of thunder

Plan to fill the diamond bed with compost in readiness for Watering the greenhouse and plants delivered yesterday

Community garden and the diamond bed is being planted up, small ceremony planned
Jim asks me to photograph proceedings, which I do.

As seems to be the standard, the ordered plants are not all delivered, instead we have offering of coleus or ginger heucheras as replacement for red in the red, white and blue colour scheme. After some discussion a design is agreed and planted, followed by tea/coffee and cake.

More watering

mon 28 May 2012 Watering with wheely. Forest garden fruit

Hot

new boots too big now
With C and J we check on bees after a hot weekend, they are already busy and the poached egg plant Limnanthes douglassi is by far the most popular stop, it is covered in the bees.

Worked with fellow trainee Caroline all day watered the plants in green house, then filled up the wheely watering cart and watered all newly planted beds the forest garden, the japanese garden.
 

Delivery of plants for the diamond bed and others arrives. Unload and put in greenhouse area.

After lunch we plant the Redcurrant, Whitecurrant 'Versailles', Rhubarb 'Timperley Early' and a fruiting Gooseberry 'Careless' in Forest garden, I prune the two currants to half size, we water in and then mulch with black bagged compost.

Weeded the bulb bed and picked off and squashed lily beetles when Jim arrived and pointed them out.

Lilioceris lilii red lily beetle image from http://wordswewomenwrite.wordpress.com/2011/07/
might try her method of removing them...
'I put a sheet of white cardboard covered with petroleum jelly on the area under the plant, then knock them off with a stick, and stuff the whole mess into a plastic bag.'

Tues 22 may 2012 Weeding & dog poo

Hot hot hot

Weeding and tidying beds, working alone in central garden while thinking up questions for Gardeners Question Time later.

Trod in dog poo and then later dog poo on gloves also. The downside of working in a community space shared by dogs, cats and their owners.

Joined later by P and L who had been mowing. I still waiting for boots my size before I can mow

'Forest garden'  doing ok

 

hesperis

Mon 21 may 2012 Watering greenhouse, Clear wow bed

Sunshine

With J & C to check and  & water the greenhouse plants for hanging baskets.
red white and Blue theme.... Felicia amelloides blue , Impatiens 'bright coral'

Then over to Grosvener? estate to prune back low hanging branches on entrance tree? and then the yellow flowering tree in raised bed.

Lovely entrance and designs Lutchens?

pm lifted remaining tulip bulbs, primroses and primulas, weeded and tidied bed.

Tues 15 may 2012 Bees

Cold and wet

I have a standby doctor appointment to sort cough and cold so not working today but head in to garden for 9am hoping see the Bee man at work. 

Dissapointed that due to the wet weather he is not coming, maybe this afternoon. The swarm appears smaller and is definitely more active. I leave and Jim says he will call if the Bee man is coming, no news. A brief spell of sunshine and then thunder, hail and constant rain. just hope the waggle dance has worked and the bees have found a new home themselves.

the swarm is rehoused by beekeeper at Kennington, a brief sunny spell in pm, but I am at doctors so miss all the excitement

Mon 14 May 2012. Bees swarm

A day of weeding with Caroline. Green flag due.

But some excitement at tea break to hear that some of the bees have swarmed. 

"Swarming is to the beekeeper what losing all of his calves is to a cattleman"

Tues 8 May 2012 Weeding, pruning, untangle climbers

weeding with Lucy