Can you tell what this is yet?
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| It's the first gooseberry! |
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| I wonder what colour this tulip will be? I love the green bud |
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| This is a shoot of one of 5 clematis I've added to the plot- like my Dad before me I love them! Mind you so do the aphids by the look of it! |
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| I think this is the cherry, but it could be the pear. The apple blossom is pink |
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| A Spanish bluebell. Would be nice to have the native ones. Something for the future |
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| The wiggly hazel is such a bonus on the plot. I've planted a blue-ish clematis to go through it during summer |
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| Grape Hyacinths are nothing special, but they look lovely close to |
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| Just showing that there are veggies on the allotment too -honest! |
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| My favourite tulip- I think it's called Strawberries and Cream. If it isn't it should be |
Nice to see things are getting along on your allotment, the slugs are out here too, although not as bad as I had expected – the greenflies are far worse, terrible this year! I have started spraying with the best cure I have found so far, have used it for many years and I swear by it – an organic mix of fermented soya beans and herbs. You mix it with water, pour it on the ground and water well, it is taken up by the roots up to the leaves and the greenflies hates the taste and refuse to munch on the plants. The best part is that it lasts 3-4 weeks so you don’t have to do it so often. Never tried it on edible things although it is safe to do so, apparently the taste can’t be detected by us, although the smell when you mix it is terrible! Don’t ever mix it indoors, the smell will linger for days (done it once, never again!) It even works for red lily beetles (only the adult, not the larva), here is a link to the only place you can buy it here in UK: http://www.bakker.co.uk/product/pireco-foliar-for-insects
ReplyDeleteLoved your Strawberries and Cream tulip!
Thanks Helene! Yes we've had loads of aphids too this spring, but in the garden not on the allotment. I'm cultivating the garden sparrows, who have been working their way through the greenflies on the roses! That mixture sounds amazing- though if it worked on slugs and snails I'd be absolutely overjoyed! I may investigate a similar thing for slugs- some people use a garlic solution don't they?
DeleteI usually see a big build up of aphids at this time of year, followed one day by discovering the whole lot are gone, just ghost aphid-shells left behind- presumably munched by ladybird, lacewing and/or hoverfly larvae- it's always happened, so I hope they can defeat them this year too. And as for red lily beetles- they are so destructive aren't they? But one year I squashed a load and they screamed (little high pitched beetle screams- its the honest truth!) and I have therefore never grown lilies since! (Also I worry about the dangers of cats and lily pollen....)
I know the lily beetles scream, they are known for that, it’s one of their defence mechanism to warn other beetles of danger. Doesn’t stop me from killing them though, they ruin my lilies! I have around 180 lilies in my garden and a 12 year old cat, neither him nor the local cat population seem to have had any run-in with my lilies, but I am always deadheading my lilies before the petals drop, partly so I don’t have to go and pick the petals up from the ground and also so the pollen won’t drop so easily when my cat brush by. I don’t grow any short lilies, only tall ones. I think if lilies are grown with some consideration it is possible to have both them and cats around. But I have no sympathy for lily beetles! If you use the Pireco diligently for one year, you won’t have many lily beetles to kill next year as there won’t be many larvae produced, that’s what I see in my garden now, the population has gone down considerably and I probably have mainly strays from other people’s gardens.
DeleteI am far too soft Helene! My sympathy stops at vine weevils however- we all seem to have a limit.... The adults get squished and the larvae and left out for the birds: the sneaky eating of plants from the roots up by the little blighters cannot be tolerated!
DeleteThe joy of lilies is that they are just so beautiful isn't it? I am probably over cautious on the damage-to-cats front! And if I grew them again I would certainly extinguish the beetles somehow, though I must say as well as possessing a fine squeaking voice they are a rather fine shade of red! And yes lily beetles do seem to hop over the fence from other people's plants don't they? If it's not one thing it's the other!
Yes, I seem to be battling one pest after the other too, it’s always something!
DeleteIncidentally, the ‘wonder solution’ I wrote about for green flies is not so fantastic right now, it works much better later in the season. That’s because the roses have rather small leaves still and don’t need to take up so much water – and not so much of the liquid I drenched the ground with. In a month or two it will be much better when the leaves are fully out, and it works well for spider mites too when we get to hotter weather. But the greenflies are bad right now, aren’t they?!!
I use nematodes for vine weevils, a bit pricey, but it works, I buy it at Amazon twice a year.
We have a similar tulip that has flowered every year for years now but no flowers yet this year - is your earlier than usual.
ReplyDeleteI planted them last year Sue, so it's difficult to tell (or remember) if it is earlier. It is certainly earlier than some other tulips on the plot, but not as early as others!
DeleteMy tulips are almost ready to bloom as well! Is the grape hyacinth also fragrant?
ReplyDeleteIt's a lovely time of year with everything getting ready to bloom Aga isn't it? I don't think the grape hyacinth has a scent- I will lie down and smell it one day!
ReplyDeleteOh yes, they do smell! I have few by my pond and went one day to check them out-lovely, delicate perfume:)
ReplyDeleteLovely Aga! I'll have to wait until next year to try them now!
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