Spring is advancing (although the weather doesn’t seem to have noticed) and there are many, many things to do. It’s one of the busiest times in the gardening year and I’m continually surprised by just how much work my tiny plot can generate. It’s all my fault of course – I still refuse to succumb to decking and gravel.
From the big seed order I did last summer, we’ve had the Summer and Autumn sowing and those have come through the Winter and are waiting to be either potted on or planted out so that the Spring seeds can be sown. I have to plant out to free up pots and trays and greenhouse shelf space so that I can sow more seeds. I haven’t quite figured out where everything is going to go, but there ought to be room, somewhere…
Of course, it doesn’t help when you spot the trays of cheap annuals at the Garden Centre. Nor does it help when you realise that accepting half a bucket of Crocosmia Lucifer bulbs last year probably wasn’t the best idea when you have to plant them now. Those trays of cuttings? Probably shouldn’t have tried so many or should have gone for a lower success rate as they need now attention too.
On top of all that, I simply can’t throw plants out and have somewhat of an addiction to propagation by seed and cuttings (should have gone easy on the foxglove, arum and lupins). In all it’s a perfect storm.
On the flip side, I have umpteen trays of various seedlings and plants to work with and choose from. There are the greenhouse trays and Spring-sown seed trays here:
There are more trays for the cuttings here:
Even more cuttings and arums from seed here:
Having exhausted the greenhouse staging, shelf space and pots, the stored ladder makes a perfect shelf to have trays of foxgloves and lupins in their own improvised containers here.
Of course, this doesn’t include several tray’s worth that I have already planted out both in the front and back nor the large tray of 28 irises. It also doesn’t include the remaining Crocosmia bulbs that I need to find room for.
It’s May and there’s a long queue of plants that need attention. Gaps in the borders are rapidly filling up and I really don’t know where everything is going to go. I’m in a bit of a blind panic about how to deal with the excess of plants but between expanding the borders, giving away to friends and filling in spaces, I should be able to catch-up with the backlog, if only the weather would let up.
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