Here Comes Summer!

The sun is shining and summer is here at last.... I sooo love the summer sunshine and the warmth. My friend Mozart I call him Mozart as I cant prounouce his name never mind spell it....hahaha ...well he is coming to help me in the garden today..I still have some plants to put in my garden..so he is going to give me a hand to do all the heavywork. I have some lovely Begonia sempiflorems to plant out into the garden they do like semi shade so I may well have those under the Laburnam tree I have in my front garden. I cant wait to see everything in bloom...my heart sings with joy when everything is in bloom...

LAUGHTER OF LILACS.

Rainbows of roses.
Songs of the robins.
Lily of the valley borders.
Sunshine to warm the heart.
Oh what joy this season does impart!

~~By Anne Morrow Lindberg.~~

Companion Planting

I have this year decided to try out companion planting both in the vegetable garden and flower garden. My gardening bibles being Louise Riotte books on companion planting the first book "Carrots Love Tomatoes" and her other book "Roses Love Garlic" I would recommend both these books even though the author is american the contents of the book are very interesting and worth trying out. So both my kitchen garden and flower garden including containers have a mixture of herbs, flowers and vegetable plants that compliment each other whilst also being a natural method of controlling and deterring pests that are inclined to attack certain species of plants. For instance planting cabbages with onions will deter the white cabbage butterfly from laying their eggs on the leaves..therefore ensuring that the larvae does not eat away the cabbage plants. I have also planted the herb Thyme near the cabbages also this too helps to deter the cabbage butterfly from laying eggs on the plants. Other plants such as Runner beans I have planted nasturiums and Morning Glory amongst the runner beans, this helps to deter black fly attacking the beans. All in all I would recommend anyone to try and purchase the two books I have mentioned and give companion planting a go...After all you have nothing to lose but perhaps lots to gain for all your hard earned efforts by producing crops and flowers that are enhanced via a natural method that also look pretty in the garden.

My beautiful garden

Ohh I sooo love English gardens they seem to blossom and look so much fresher than anywhere else in the world

Oh, to be in England

Now that April's there,

And whoever wakes in England

Sees, some morning, unaware,

That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf

Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,

While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough

In England - now!

Robert Browning

Of course it is now May and late spring I sooo love this season and then look forward to the onset of summer...!

All is growing well in the garden..up to now!

All is growing well in the garden and everything is looking so fresh and productive at present. I cant wait till the fruits of my labour along with my daughter Lucy and boyfriend Steve of course...can be savoured by devouring all the lovely vegetables that I along with my helpers have planted... in order to save myself some money in the supermarket! I think I much prefer homegrown to the vegetables and soft fruits that are sold in supermarkets!