Cutting patch

Do you think that a collective finger crossing and holding of breath will keep these plants alive?

I’ve grown them from seed, potted them on and hardened them off.  The chrysanth’s leaves are yellowing from being in a pot too long – so out they went.  Their flower partners are Ammi visnage, Bells of Ireland, Cerinthe and Ridolfia Goldspray.  This bed will soon be filled with dahlias, scabious and cosmos – these are in various stages of getting ready to leave the greenhouse or sitting on the hardening off table.

The sweet peas and sunflowers are already out – there have been a few losses and I’m not sure why; for the last ten years my sloppy cultivation methods have produced healthy, sturdy plants.  I suspect this site is more exposed and I need to adjust my planting out times or find a way to create more shelter – possibly both.

That should keep the vases full through the summer but then I was lured by Gardener’s World to take a look at the special deals offered by Thompson & Morgan and Sarah Raven.

I’m now the proud owner of another 20 perennial plug plants – two of each variety, although the selection was changed between ordering and delivery.

Are you wondering about the numbers?  It’s a combination of my refusal to take reading glasses to the plot, the unhelpful packaging and twilight, which didn’t help my visual helplessness.  Seriously, it made me wonder if this standard of package meets any measure of accessibility.

The plug plants are numbered but on the underside of the tray.  The white label is the key to the plant names, corresponding to the number and was only visible once all the plants had been removed.  This is the enlarged version.  No surprise that I numbered the plant labels!  However, I should remind myself that I only paid postage (£5.99) for 20 plants.

I’m still waiting on the Sarah Raven order; I’ll tell you all about that in another post.

In other exciting news, I have a stall at Brentford Market this Sunday selling my spare plants.