HANGING BASKETS PLANTS and TOMATOES
It's a funny thing but on 12 May 2012 I was commenting on how I hadn't yet made up my hanging baskets because of the bad weather but that in May 2011 the hanging baskets were already on their brackets outside and the plants in them were growing strongly. In my post on 19 May 2010, I showed my baskets already outside and how I planted them. Anyway, I have bought the plants I want this year as well as two new baskets which are a little larger than my others and very strong. I already have two metal and two plastic ones but the spaces in the sides of the plastic ones are so narrow that it makes side planting, through the slots, rather difficult. Shouldn't have any problems with these new ones though.
I bought what plants were selling quite cheaply this year and I have to keep in mind that my baskets are on an east facing wall and so are limited to the amount of sunshine they get. Early morning in summer until just after noon and that's it. I buy those that don't mind partial shade. I like petunias but they constantly need dead-heading. They also get sticky and I think they attract aphids and caterpillars. I like white bacopa, as I mentioned in a previous post and have already bought mine. I have also bought a tray of dark blue trailing lobelia, trailing geraniums (pelargoniums) in red, and upright fuchsias 'Heidi Ann'. Sounds like the Union Jack flag. I hope they don't look like that!
The begonia tubers that I planted on 6 April are coming along; well, most of them. Some haven't shown signs of life but about ten have and that's enough.
I did something that I said I wasn't going to do this year; I bought tomato plants. Three. I couldn't help myself. They were there, on the shelf, crying out to me to take them home and kill them off. No, actually, I grow tomatoes ok but last year I had little fruit on them and I told myself it just wasn't worth all the effort. But the optimist in me - and gardeners have to be optimistic - made me go ahead and buy them anyway. I'm trying different varieties. I've bought Tumbling Toms before and one year, 2010, the tomato yield was absolutely fantastic but since then the yield has been quite abysmal and it would have been cheaper to pay top prices in the supermarket when you consider the time and effort, and expense of potting compost and liquid feed. The tomatoes I bought today are only young but they are sturdy and strong and I think that gives them a better chance of getting established in my own environment. No tumblers this year though. I bought (shown left to right) Alicante, Italian Plum, and Gardener's Delight. We'll see how they get on. Sunshine would help.
Alicante is a medium sized tomato and considered easier for the novice grower. That'll do me. Gardener's Delight is supposed to be a cherry tomato; and the Italian Plums are, well, plum tomatoes.
This looks like a good guide to growing tomatoes by the Daily Mail Online 11 June 2010.
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| Two hanging baskets with wide spaces for planting in the sides |
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| Upright Fuchsia 'Heidi Ann' |
I did something that I said I wasn't going to do this year; I bought tomato plants. Three. I couldn't help myself. They were there, on the shelf, crying out to me to take them home and kill them off. No, actually, I grow tomatoes ok but last year I had little fruit on them and I told myself it just wasn't worth all the effort. But the optimist in me - and gardeners have to be optimistic - made me go ahead and buy them anyway. I'm trying different varieties. I've bought Tumbling Toms before and one year, 2010, the tomato yield was absolutely fantastic but since then the yield has been quite abysmal and it would have been cheaper to pay top prices in the supermarket when you consider the time and effort, and expense of potting compost and liquid feed. The tomatoes I bought today are only young but they are sturdy and strong and I think that gives them a better chance of getting established in my own environment. No tumblers this year though. I bought (shown left to right) Alicante, Italian Plum, and Gardener's Delight. We'll see how they get on. Sunshine would help.
Alicante is a medium sized tomato and considered easier for the novice grower. That'll do me. Gardener's Delight is supposed to be a cherry tomato; and the Italian Plums are, well, plum tomatoes.
This looks like a good guide to growing tomatoes by the Daily Mail Online 11 June 2010.