We have great hopes for the garden this year - mind you don't we do that every year? Last year was soo cold and wet though that nothing much happened and we got thoroughly disheartened but with gardening every year brings new hope and you pick yourself up and have another go. I think it was Alan Titchmarsh who said that gardeners are a always a hopeful, optimistic bunch - you have to be really.
Rollercoaster Dad is in charge of the veggie patch and although I do get involved that bit is his thing. So far the rhubarb is doing spectacularly in the old bath, parsnips, potatoes, carrots, runner beans and peas have been planted and we are nurturing a couple of courgette plants and some tomato plants that were planted earlier in the year. The strawberry plants have started to flower and the gooseberries and currants are looking good too.
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| The revamped flower bed - just waiting for the plants to grow! |
Now to the flowers - this is my bit as Rollercoaster Dad is not really that interested in these. We have two main 'flower' beds - neither of them huge. One has been a bit of a disaster the last few years so this year I am determined to get it going again so we have lots of pretty flowers in the summer. Looking at pictures from a few years ago when Little Miss Star was a toddler it did look gorgeous for at least one summer (until the builders doing our extension decided it was a great place to dump their rubble - hmmmm) so it would be nice to think it could again. Last week I splashed out on a few new perennial plants from the local garden centre and these have now been planted, bark chips put down and plants I didn't want taken out.
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| That bare patch that needs filling with flowers |
The other has been quite successful and has become reasonably established with perennials like Phlox and Geraniums but it does have one rather bare patch without any plants. I wasn't quite sure what to put there so I was very pleased and rather intrigued to be sent some
Flower Magic from Miracle Gro recently. This seemed ideal for filling that gap. Now what, you might ask, is Flower Magic?
The pack I got came in a nice pink colour and promises all sorts of wonderful flowers such as Marigolds, Californian poppies , Candytuft and Cosmos amongst up to 29 other varieties. The pack contains flower seeds, feed and coir all in one and you simply shake the pack,sprinkle the contents evenly over the soil surface, water it gently and leave, just watering if it drys out. There is even a handy indicator as to when it has got too dry as when it turns a lighter brown it needs watering. It really couldn't be simpler. You can continue to sow with it up 'til mid June so it's still worth trying it out if you have some areas that need cover - especially with our late spring this year.I sprinkled my magic about two weeks ago and as promised the first few shoots are now beginning to appear. According to the packet I might expect flowers in about 4 weeks so here's hoping. I'm certainly impressed as to how easy it is as although we grow our veggies from seed I have rarely used seed for flowers. If you want to have a go the 1kg packs cover up to 4 metres square and cost around £11-£14. I'll let you know how the magic works in a few weeks!
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| Not the clearest photo but you can just see a few shoots of those magic flowers showing through! |
Disclosure: I was sent a pack of Flower Magic for the purposes of review but all words and opinions are my own.
