Plant Watch June

I was standing in the garden the other day, having a chat with the owner of the place. She was saying she’s really impressed, and how loads of things are flowering that have been there years and never flowered before. It’s true it’s looking pretty lush. But personally I put a lot of it down to the weather. A mix of hot and wet weather has really brought lots of plants to their best.

As I pointed out, the story isn’t so good with my share of the plants there… My plantings of coriander, rocket, fennel and spinach have been rather reduced. There’s a fair bunch of rocket, but no coriander, and one plant each of the others (though having survived the seedling stage, they are now looking strong). My single marrow plant, which was kept at home until it really couldn’t be kept on a windowsill any more, is getting well and truly attacked by the snails in spite of beer traps all over the place. The peas are just a memory.

On the other hand, the squash are still surviving being half eaten. They’re actually looking quite lush now, and I spotted the first fruit set. Nasturtiums are flowering. The globe artichokes took their time getting established, and have been mildly nibbled, but are now growing strongly. And the sweet corn is flowering and setting cobs… a bit of a surprise as it’s only about 3 feet tall! Never mind, each stalk is thickening with what looks like it’s going to be 2-3 cobs each. Not complaining! The clouds of pollen that come off the male flowers at the top when you shake it are quite amazing, and the cascades of thread from the top of the cobs, ready to catch it…

Meanwhile back home is all the stuff that was intended for the garden but ended up staying. I’m enjoying meals with side salad of mint, lemon balm, chives, parsley and basil. The tomatoes went a bit yellow, but applications of some Baby Bio I’ve had hanging around for years seem to be helping. There are masses of tomatoes set (I guess the vibrating worked!) and more flowers coming. I’ve had to nip out the tops to stop them outgrowing my windows. Some of the tomatoes have passed cherry size now, and are heading towards golf balls…