The life and loves of a time-poor plantsman
As the dahlia season draws to a close, it’s time to celebrate those that dazzled during this uniquely cool and wet year. We ended the last growing season by lifting all of our tubers from our allotment – over seventy cultivars. This back-breaking task was left until the days immediately preceeding New Year, when all […]
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When the National Dahlia Collection announced its closure in September 2020 The Beau and I were bereft. This little patch of dahlia heaven was not only what brought us together, but was also the home of a dahlia The Beau had named after his late husband, the beautiful white ‘Johnnie Ellis’. Apart from that, it […]
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I am surprised and embarrassed to note that the last time I wrote on TFG’s blog was back in January. Where have the last 7 months gone? I will endeavour to post more frequently going forward; however, we all know how life/full-time jobs get in the way so please, bear with… It’s National Allotments Week […]
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The title of of this post is tongue-in-cheek given I’m sat at my desk with rain pattering on the skylight and a brisk draught whipping around my ankles. Three weeks of ‘too-good-to-be-true’ weather ended, here in the South East of England at least, with an almighty thunder storm last Wednesday. More storms on Thursday were […]
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Our garden is at its lowest ebb from early February until the Ides of March, on the 15th of the month. Battered by gales laden with salt and sand, scorched by snow and starved of light, everything but the eternal evergreens* is pale, frazzled or mushy. I try to like what I see, but I […]
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January 2020 After waiting only four months, we got the news that we had reached the top of the allotment waiting list: if we were still interested, would we like to come and choose the one we wanted? Yes, we were still very much interested, although, I have to admit, I was a little hesitant […]
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The year 2020. Where to begin? It’s tempting to dive straight into the obvious negatives – and let’s face it that would be rich territory – but I’m prepared to stick my neck out and say that in many respects it has been a good year, for us at least. I hope you won’t think […]
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Since the end of August the garden has taken one battering after another. In Broadstairs we have experienced gales from every point on the compass, heavy rain and unusually chilly nights. By the end of September both the Jungle Garden and the Gin & Tonic Garden looked more like they usually do in early November. […]
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“Growing your own produce is great if you want no food, then 400 tomatoes, then nothing, then 120 cucumbers, then nothing, then 3 carrots that weren’t eaten by the local wildlife, then 40 weird looking courgettes, of which only 3 are edible.” This quote pretty accurately describes where we are right now with our allotment. We […]
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As you know, we both adore dahlias: sadly they don’t adore our garden. Dahlias appreciate a little elbow room and plenty of sunshine to grow well, neither of which they readily find at The Watch House. One recent garden visitor, pointing to Dahlia ‘Firepot’, exclaimed ‘everything looks so healthy …… apart from this poor thing!’. […]
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