Wirey Wipers and Weeding

May is always a very busy month for gardeners. With the warmer weather everything is growing very fast and I have been trying to keep on top of the weeding and preparing the flowerbeds for all the plants I am growing in the greenhouse. Quite a lot of these plants are now big enough to plant out but in Cumbria we can still get frosts until the end of May. I may have to take a gamble with the weather.The greenhouse is bursting at the seams with seed trays. The tomato plants, cucumbers and peppers all need to be potted on and these stay in the greenhouse.

I have started to clear another border in the orchard. I want to plant it with poppies. This ground has never been dug over before so it is full of weeds and heavy digging.

At the start of the week we had some warm days but now we have steady rain, perfect for plant growth. I have also been staking the perennials and putting up some new trellis for the climbing plants.

The potatoes are begining to show in the Artful Garden and also in the grow bags I have at home.

You can just see the potato leaves popping through the soil

I  have planted out the broad beans, cabbage and cauliflower. I put a net over the broad beans to protect them from birds and a cover over the cabbage and cauliflower to protect them from insects. I put collars around the stems of the cabbage and cauliflowers to protect against cabbage root fly.

Broad bean plants on the left, cabbage plants on the right

I have also grown  some kale for the first time.

Dwarf kale and Curly kale

These pretty white flowers in my front garden open up when the sun shines. They nestle amongst the forgetmenots.

A sea of white stars

I love these pretty blue  flowers the blue is so intense.

Tiny blue jewels

This purple perennial wallflower is a bold colour in the garden.

Purple power

I love hydrangeas as it is fascinating to see how the petal colour develops as the flower starts to open. You can also dry the flower heads. 

From pale green to pink

This orange geum is a riot of colour.

Vibrant orange

The apple blossom is coming into full bloom. It is so delicate and extremely beautiful with the soft colour tones.

Dainty pinks

Superb

This wicker gardener I found at the entrance to a garden centre.

Just raking the grass

This seat is very inviting and was near the entrance to Bitts Park in Carlisle.

Hi

Some Wirey Piper birds have flown into the Artful Garden. There are some more in flight that should arrive in the trees very soon.

  Tweet tweet, I have not yet mastered the art of landing

A Wirey Piper on a perch but for how long?