Veg Plotting

Happy Easter!

2026-04-02T08:30:00.001+01:00

I've had a lot of fun experimenting with various flowers and combining them into a seasonal wreath for our front door as I've noticed lately that a year round door wreath display is becoming a bit of a trend around here. Have you found that? I'm not usually a great follower of fashion but I do like the idea of adding a visual welcome to our front door which extends beyond Christmas and New Year,

I've chosen snowdrops, daffodils and forget-me-nots for mine as these add a lot of cheer in the guerrilla garden on the public land next to our house which adds a little rebellious twist to the convention. I planted the snowdrops and daffodils and nature decided to lend a hand by bringing in the forget-me-nots* to extend the season of interest.

Have a blooming good Easter and see you soon!

* Forget-me-nots are also a poignant nod to the Alzheimer's Society as it's their official symbol and daffodils remind us of the work of Marie Curie Cancer Care.

That's shallot!

2026-02-16T10:00:00.018+00:00

This year's constant rain has given me plenty of thinking time about the garden, but today's sunshine (at last!) tempted me out for a good, long walk with a little detour for seed buying along the way. I've been pondering my patio pots and what I could try for the first time as a bit of an experiment. My local shop provided the ideal solution: aha, why not try some shallots!?

I've grown these before on the allotment, though pesky onion white rot there meant I had to give up and give the soil a chance to heal. I've chosen shallots over onion sets this time as I think they give more bang for my buck, plus they feature in one of my favourite new lunch recipes, a creamy mushroom pasta. At 3 packets for a fiver I think they're worth a try. They're shallow rooted so ideal for pot growing albeit they'll need quite a bit of width to bulk up rather than depth. I'm eyeing up my Plantbox troughs as part of my experiment as well as more conventional pots. I haven't had much success with growing a lush wall feature with my Plantbox (unlike the adverts and the picture in my head, harrumph), so it'll be great to see if I can repurpose it into something more useful.

We've just passed the magic 10 hours of daylight here in the southwest today, so it's high time to get diddling in the garden, hurray!

Have you any garden experiments planned for this year - edible or floral?

For Valentine's Day

2026-02-14T08:30:00.005+00:00

Here's my copper foil glass heart lovingly made for today in a workshop at The Pound arts centre recently. It's perfectly paired with a stand lovingly crafted by NAH in his garage workshop here at home.

We're also a good match in many other ways and celebrate our 42nd wedding anniversary next month 😍

Happy Valentine's my love x

Close encounters with AI

2026-02-04T08:30:00.083+00:00

To be honest I feel quite ambivalent about AI and largely avoid its use, where I can. I try to ignore the AI information presented within search engines and I don't usually use it to create anything etc etc. I'm worried about copyright issues for instance, and how it's already replacing garden writers who have extensive knowledge gained over many years of experience. Articles can be generated quickly, often with dubious content which is often published without fact checking first. I'm reminded of a central tenet from my time in IT; Garbage In, Garbage Out (aka GIGO), right?

However NAH recently benefitted from AI technology when a surgeon assisted by a robot using CT scan data peered deep into his lung and determined the small lump there is benign, thus avoiding him losing around a third of his lung. The latter operation was the preferred approach until the robot technique was developed and often the removed material revealed a benign lump rather than a tumour. We're quite relieved he didn't have to go through all of that! I'm also sure my quick result obtained from my breast cancer screening last year was probably sped up with the use of this technology too.

My crafting friends have used it to answer some of my questions e.g. how to use PVA glue to stiffen a piece of crochet ready for hanging. One of NAH's friends also uses it to quickly produce a computer program which he can then debug and edit.

I can see good things can come by it, but I'm scared of the bad things, so I've stayed away from consciously using it myself - who knows how much I've been using it unconsciously? Quite a bit, I bet.

However, yesterday a number of my online friends played around with CHATGPT to create a fun characterisation of themselves. I resisted joining them pretty much all day, but eventually gave in to temptation thus proving I'm pretty shallow when it comes to the use of new technology. You can see the results above of me as a 'confident gardener in a blooming paradise' - CHATGPT's title, not mine.

How did I get the result? Surprisingly easy to enter the information, fairly long by comparison to generate the result which left me feeling pretty uneasy about the resources I'd used up in generating this piece of frivolity.

Here's the screen shots of what I entered...

...As you can see I needed a bit of hand holding seeing it was my first time. which then led to this next entry...

... which produced the result you see at the top of this post. NAH thinks it looks nothing like me and it's hilarious. He's also printed out a copy to laminate and put in our downstairs loo. Personally I love its positivity and I wish I could grow hair like that!

I still feel guilty about using it for something fun and frivolous though.

How do you feel about AI? Do you use it in your everyday life, if so, how?

UPDATE 16/2/2026

I've had some brilliant and thought provoking comments, thanks to everyone who's contributed.

I've seen quite a backlash over the past couple of weeks to the kinds of AI image created like mine. Lots of people joined in the fun and it's clear many people didn't like the frequency of seeing them and prefer to see authentic images in their timeline. I get that completely, and usually feel the same which is why I'm quite surprised at myself at joining in the fun. The cynic in me wonders who and why the meme was created and what they or AI algorithms stand to gain from it.

However, it's also clear AI is well embedded into our online lives already. Yes, I could have chosen not to take part in this instance, but I have no means of stopping what Google's, Facebook's etc AI presents me with when I do a search or look at someone's post. Is there an alternative to these without AI? Are they as effective? I certainly don't have the answer.

I had a wry chuckle to myself a couple of days ago when I saw the harshest critic I'd seen of these images show what they'd prepared for a client. It included a translation into their client's language to help with their bid for some work. AI of course had helped with that translation and probably hadn't been given a second's thought on how it was achieved.

We may rage against the machine and the people who use it, but it's clear it's here to stay.

Unusual Front Gardens #40: A very hungry caterpillar

2026-01-15T08:30:00.000+00:00

Here's something to cheer up those January blues with a look back at the hot days of last July and a discovery I made on my Cheerful Chippenham judging round. It made me chuckle a lot at the time and I've only just realised how ironic it is now as most of Chippenham's box hedges have been decimated by the dreaded box caterpillar.

Cheerful Chippenham is a great project to be involved with. Around 30 volunteers are each given a specific part of Chippenham as their patch and have around a month to have a look at everyone's front gardens alongside some judging criteria to ensure we're all consistent. Those who have done something positive with their plot are deemed worthy of a Good Front Garden award. It's surprising how many aren't, including me! Long Covid meant I lost the plot big time last year. Roll on summer 2026!

Hopes for the New Year

2026-01-01T11:31:00.003+00:00

I've walked many miles over the holiday season and seldom does the view match my mood as perfectly as this graffiti did in the footpath tunnel under the local railway this year. It's not the most salubrious of places or views, but it's a sentiment I wish for us all in 2026.

Happy New Year everyone, and here's to a peaceful 2026 for you and yours. I also hope we get to do more of what I saw on the opposite wall! 😊

Weekend Wandering: the festive doors of Lacock

2025-12-19T08:30:00.002+00:00

Lacock village is always a good bet for a good door display and Christmas is no exception. Here's a small selection of various wreaths I found on a wet and windy day recently which really helped to dispel the gloom and provide plenty of festive cheer. I hope you like them too.

Have a wonderful Christmas and a peaceful New Year. See you all again in 2026!

Weekend Wandering: Candlesnuff

2025-12-14T11:00:00.006+00:00

My latest find just yards from our house is this intriguing candlesnuff fungus (aka Xylaria hypoxylon) growing on a pile of logs by Hardenhuish Brook. It looks like little reindeer antlers adding a festive decoration on my walk into town, though the Woodland Trust tells me* it can be found year-round. I'm delighted to see it for the first time.

Apparently the greyish white part contains the spores, so I hope the recent high winds have spread them out a bit as we have tons of fallen deciduous wood in need of a little decoration. Although it's the first time I've seen it, this fungus can crop up pretty much anywhere, from woodland through to urban parks. Have you spotted it in your neighbourhood?

* = scroll down to item 7 on their list

Weekend Wandering: Public Art Discoveries

2025-12-06T08:30:00.001+00:00

It's been great to find lots more public art around Chippenham this year; enough to make this collage for your delectation.

From left to right and top to bottom we have:

Mustard Bustards by @lucas_antics next to Cousin Norman's and Artel31 on Union Road; Morris Dancer by the ever reliable Chippenham Knatty Knitters on Chippenham High Street for this year's folk festival; In Unity Beauty Unfolds by Sophie Mess at Rivo Lounge
Kingfisher by Nathan Pritchard in the Kingfisher pub car park on Hungerdown Lane; Chippenham collage by 2024's Fringe February contributors; Canal scene by Ed Poster at the bus station
Winnie's Barbershop by @hardlytryinganyway on Sheldon Road; Mystery horse next to St Andrew's church; Rainbow High Street project led by Public Art Chippenham for Chippenham Pride 2025

Sadly the Morris dancer was the last topper for the post box as it's now gone solar as have at least 2 others in Chippenham. Fingers crossed the other locations get their usual Christmas toppers from the fun Knatty Knitters group. The kingfisher was commissioned last year for the pub's 60th birthday and the Chippenham collage includes a little tile I decorated last year. I hope this piece finds a permanent home after its temporary display at The Arc climbing centre earlier this year. I don't know much about the horse - except W and I didn't like it that much when we found it on one of our walks - and the same spot previously had a giant hand there during Lockdown. NB the rainbow street was a temporary installation and is no more.

It's not just graffiti art to find around Chippenham; my posts from previous years have plenty of commissioned paintings, sculpture, stained glass, mosaics and other objects too. There's also indoor work to explore - have a look at my Google map for the full picture across the whole town (see what I did there? 😉)

You may also like my previous posts about Chippenham's public art:

My original post about Chippenham's public art and the voluntary work I did with Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre to find it
More about In Unity Beauty Unfolds down by the river
The creation of the canal mural at Timber Street
Pewsham Belle WI's involvement in the Chippenham collage (mine's the one on the left!)
Westmead's sculpture trail

Adventures with Stick Me

2025-11-20T08:30:00.002+00:00

I have a new alter ego in the shape of Stick Me. She was created for British Heart Foundation's Strong Woman Challenge in April to bring in a bit of fun and help document progress. Seeing my first alter ego was VP, I wonder if any future ones will also have to rhyme? 😉

My drawing skills aren't that great, especially when it comes to people so it was fun to acknowledge that and still have something useful for my intended purpose. The drawing above is Stick Me's latest incarnation for my review of progress for October's Strong Woman challenge compared to April's achievements. As you can see, I'm very happy! I wasn't in a happy place at the start of April due to the effects of Long Covid plus shoulder problems due to hypermobility; the Challenge showed the start of a return to health again and October's challenge shows real progress.

Over £300,000 was raised from October's Challenge and I'm happy to continue with the monthly donation I've been making for over 9 years. I carried on from mum's regular donation in memory of my dad and now it also acknowledges the help we've had during and since NAH's heart attack in 2020. I'm currently using their website for heart friendly baking ideas and I also pointed my friend W in their direction last week when her husband ended up in hospital with a hypertensive emergency.

I look forward to further adventures with Stick Me!

Here's April's adventures with Stick Me from my journal 😀

Down by the river

2025-11-14T08:30:00.016+00:00

We've had just a few sunny days this month, so it was great to go for a decent walk recently with W in pretty warm sunshine for November. Our usual meet up spot is on the Town Bridge; it's always an interesting view whilst waiting, further enhanced since late September by the latest mural courtesy of Public Art Chippenham.*

This one's by Sophie Mess (@sophiemess_ on Insta) who's noted for her vibrant botanical art and she doesn't disappoint in this instance. I'm glad to admit I made a small crowdfunder contribution to this one, especially now the mural's been revealed as the subject matter resonates with me and quite a lot of this blog's content. I'm pleased she's included the word Unity in her piece, which is a link to Chippenham's town motto, Unity and Loyalty. It's good to be reminded of it during these strange and relatively turbulent times.

Next up is a competition for the next project: ideas for the decoration of the Open Reach and traffic signalling cabinets in the Artisan Quarter. Entries will be exhibited in the Yelde Hall in January - so we'll have a gander at them then. If they're anything like the ones now gracing the streets of Shrewsbury, we're in for a treat!

* I wrote about the first one here.

NB If you think Sophie's work looks familiar you may have seen it gracing various underground stations and posters around London during the summer to advertise Saatchi Galleries' Flowers exhibition. You can see the amazing artwork she did inside the gallery here - which I also saw when visiting in July to see my dear friend Susan's RHS Gold Medal winning botanical art. Nothing but the best for Chippenham!

Coming of age!

2025-11-02T16:59:00.000+00:00

I'm celebrating Veg Plotting's 18th birthday by kicking through the autumn leaves in the sunshine! My blog may have come of age today but I haven't 🤭 It was pouring with rain on that day; I much prefer today's weather and I love the buttery yellow leaves in the woodland next to our house.

I hope there's sunshine wherever you are today 🥰

Unusual Front Gardens #39: The aliens have landed!

2025-10-31T12:28:00.006+00:00

Perhaps not quite as unusual as some of the others in this strand owing to the date, but I'm delighted by this recent transformation on my way into town. On Thursday I had to make my way around a lorry parked on the pavement with a delivery of scaffolding. Then look what the owners did to take advantage of the situation ready for Hallowe'en the next day!

I spotted the owner as I took this photograph and congratulated her as best I could whilst shouting across the busy traffic between us. She was delighted with my reaction and told me they're having work done on their house's drainpipes. What quick thinking to make something amusing out of much needed building work 👌👏😍

For Apple Day: Eat your way to the river

2025-10-21T08:30:00.025+01:00

It's Apple Day, one of my favourite days of the year and what better way to celebrate than to tell you about my recent trip to Longney, where Gloucestershire Orchard Trust have 18 acres of apple orchard under their tender care. Here you'll find older orchards with some trees well over a century old, plus their newer plantings of around 94 Gloucestershire cultivars which have just acquired national plant collection status at Plant Heritage. The jury's out on the actual number as DNA testing has revealed at least one locally named variety is actually a more well known one: Ribston Pippin in this case. Don't worry, there are dozens there which definitely have their origins rooted firmly in Gloucestershire and their cultivation at Longney is vital to their continued presence and preservation. There were around 200 local varieties at one time and today it's around 100 still in existence.

Steve Mason - the Trust's Curator - was our knowledgeable guide who invited us to taste our way through the orchard's bounty as we made our way towards the River Severn which forms the site's furthest boundary. He told us that at one time both sides of this mighty river were lined with orchards, and they are proud to have this remnant under their care. It's not just apples, there are local varieties of perry pears and all kinds of stone fruit, both earmarked as future projects to acquire national plant collection status.

It's an exceptional year for fruit* and we had no problem in finding plenty of apples at their peak of perfection to try. I was delighted to see both Ashmead's Kernel and Falstaff in the old orchard as these were two of my favourites on my allotment. We also saw the site's oldest tree, a fine and healthy looking perry pear, probably 200+ years old judging by its size.

* = known as a mast year, which happens around every 4-5 years

Then on to the relatively new part of the orchard, home to the Gloucestershire cultivars. Each one has two trees planted, to guard against any problems encountered. Here we tasted Leathercoat, a fine tasting russet and possibly the oldest variety here with its origins dating back to the 1600s. If you look carefully at the photo you'll also see the Trust's natural lawnmowers, the sheep that help to keep the grass in check so these trees can flourish.

We've made it to the river! We watched its flow turn from a rising tide through high tide and then start to fall. It's a peaceful and atmospheric spot with just whispering reeds and birds forming the soundtrack to the day.

Show me the apples, I hear you say! Well, here's just a few of them in collage form. My thanks to the Trust for hosting and the Garden Media Guild for organising. Oh, and here's a helpful map with origins and descriptions the Trust has put together of the Gloucestershire apple cultivars, some of which hail from closer to me in Chippenham than some of the Wiltshire ones.

From left to right, top to bottom we have:

Unknown but delicious (oops my fault!); Leathercoat and Ampney Red - both are Gloucestershire cultivars;
Then Pitmaston's Pineapple, Falstaff, and Howgate Wonder in the old orchard;
And finally the Ashmead's Kernel tree and the venerable old perry pear tree - both Gloucestershire cultivars and found in the old orchard

Happy Apple Day!

A prince amongst quince

2025-10-08T08:30:00.029+01:00

I'm exhibiting my first ever quince for all the world to see 💛 I've had the tree for years and I've monitored it carefully previously for any signs of flowers or fruit; then I threatened its days in my garden as numbered many times when none appeared; so of course the year when I've ignored it completely is the time when it presents me with one solitary fruit. Naturally, it is truly a prince amongst all quince.

I made the discovery when harvesting the figs, which have gone bonkers this year and screened off the quince tree from the rest of the garden. Perhaps that's the secret to success?

At first I had quite a time deciding whether it was ripe, but that initial lime green I saw has now morphed into a wonderful warm yellow and a fruity fuzziness that tells me it's time. Now what shall I make with it? 🤔

Your ideas are welcome...

You may also like:

I've just fished out the link to my recipe for poached quince, which in turn links to my recipe for quince tart. Both are delicious, though note I used Japanese quince for the tart that time. I find they're interchangeable with the true quince albeit a lot smaller in size.

Postcard from Yorkshire

2025-09-22T08:30:00.011+01:00

We're just back from a fortnight's cottage holiday in North Yorkshire, where the weather was a bit iffy but we still found plenty of places to enjoy ourselves with new discoveries amongst those already familiar to us. It also meant we could spend time with the Yorkshire branches of our family - now plural as our niece has settled down into her new home in Leeds.

It wasn't all rain, there was still lots of sunshine and we often found rainbows gracing the valleys seen from our higher viewpoints. I feel my photo sums up quite a lot of the Yorkshire we found this time: dramatic skies with rainbows and pools of sunshine; brooding stone walls; and vegetation sliding into its more Autumnal clothes. This was the roadside scene close to Stump Cross Caverns, a welcome venue on a rainy day which we explored with UV light torches.

There was space and time to breathe deeply and ponder recent dramatic turns in life, then return home refreshed and ready to face what's to come.

Friday Bench: Meet Geoffrey

2025-09-19T08:30:00.002+01:00

I'm rather taken with Geoffrey, a friendly giraffe used to promote Toys R Us since 1965. I'm even more taken with his bench inside W H Smith in Chippenham. Prior to the chain's sale earlier this year, it was agreed that certain stores would also have a Toys R Us section within them. Geoffrey's bench marks the transition from one of our traditional High Street retailers into something more fun and entertaining, though sadly rather empty when I took this photo.

At some point the name W H Smith will morph into its new owner's chosen rebrand name, T G Jones* - rather bland in my opinion which appears to have been made up, unlike the original name which refers to the company's original founder Henry Walton Smith and reaches back to the year 1792.

* = it has already in nearby Malmesbury, though they have yet to erase the etched W H Smith from the glass doors. They seem to have retained the corporate blue colour on the shopfront too, for now at least.

UPDATE - it turns out Chippenham's branch is a listed building so permission was needed for the changes. I'm still calling it Smith's!

How Advertising Works in Chippenham #41

2025-09-05T08:30:00.001+01:00

Decide to put your house on the market
Research thoroughly the best Estate Agent* to get you the swiftest sale and best price for your property
Agree to have a For Sale sign placed outside (not everyone does these days)
Wait for a blogger with a camera to notice that Scott really does need to use his full Christian name in his advertising
Et voila!

* = Realtor if you're reading this over the Pond

Gosh, I see it's nearly 5 years since the last How Advertising Works, it's great to be back! NAH and I have a list of examples similar to Scott's e.g. Sue Wellings' signature at the swimming club became S Wellings and he was at school with Terry and Steve Potts (S Potts and T Potts).

Do you have any examples to add to the list? 😉

Friday Bench: With Wallace

2025-08-15T08:30:00.002+01:00

The Gromit Unleashed trail in Bristol is providing a lot of free fun and laugher in Bristol this summer and it was the perfect excuse to meet up with my Girls Night Out friends recently. We started off as colleagues 26 years ago, and now are firm friends, though it's rare to find so many of us together these days. Here we are with Wallace providing a stand-in for our one missing group member. This photo makes me so happy!

The trail comprises 53 various Wallaces, Gromits, Feathers McGraw and Norbots spread over a wide area in and around Bristol with a few extra surprises along the way such as the roving labybird Gromit and a few items hidden around the Museum. It's great fun and don't we look fab!

Little green apples

2025-08-08T08:30:00.013+01:00

It's been an amazing spring for blossom which turned into an amazing summer of fruit, even the usual June drop did little to thin my apple crop with up to six fruit left on each fruiting spur. This combined with the hot dry weather means the trees are suffering, so it was time to give nature a helping hand this week by thinning my crop. It always feels hard to reduce this bounty but I know I and the trees will benefit in the end with larger, more juicy fruit for me to enjoy. I removed all the damaged or severely misshapen fruit, plus any extras to leave a maximum of one fruit per spur. I must have removed hundreds of apples! Some people recommend a gap of around four inches between fruits, mine are around two.

When I've done this in previous years I've always wondered if I could use this earlier crop of fruit, especially as many of them are of a fairly decent size. Some light googling reveals I can, with apple mint jelly or a pectin starter for future jam making given as the most popular options.

I decided to go my own way as my usual fig crop has been delayed due to the dry weather. I'm usually awash with them by now, so I needed something to plug that gap for breakfasts and deserts. My solution is to make an apple 'compote', comprising peeled and cored fruit simmered in a little water - just enough to cover the bottom of the pan - until they're quite mushy in texture, the kind you would see gracing an apple pie. I selected only the larger fruit, so the peeling and coring wasn't too fiddly.

I was surprised to find I only needed to stir in a minimal amount of brown sugar* to them as this early fruit is already quite sweet. Eating non-sweetened porridge on a regular basis must have trained my taste buds! My finishing touch was to add a small amount of finely chopped stem ginger** and simmer gently for a few minutes until its flavour merged nicely with the apple. The result is yummy paired with some good quality natural yoghurt or my breakfast porridge😋

What use - if any - do you make from your thinned apples?

* = approx 1 teaspoon per 12 chopped apples

** = a small cube of around 1cm after peeling carefully with a teaspoon

'Moonfire' is back!

2025-07-28T08:30:00.002+01:00

Regular readers know my fondness for Dahlia 'Moonfire', but not that it's been absent from my garden for the past couple of years. I'd managed to successfully overwinter it in the ground for over 20 years, but that's always a risk which eventually found me out. Oh, how I've missed her.

How could I resist those firecracker blooms when they winked at me from the plant stall at Chippenham's market last week? Not I - a small exchange of cash ensued and I bore her triumphantly home. I was so pleased with my purchase I even stopped on the way to take the above photo in the Donkey Field!

I've always known this dahlia as 'Moonfire', so I was surprised to see her called 'Sunshine' in some of the plant catalogues earlier this year. It turns out that this was the name given by the original breeders in the Netherlands in 1993, but a stray seedling made its way to the UK before commercial release, where it was named 'Moonfire' by Chris Sanders at Bridgemere Garden Centre. When I looked up 'Moonfire' on the RHS website, it now says 'Sunshine' is a synonym (i.e. an additional name to the given correct one) of 'Moonfire', even though the original breeder had named it as 'Sunshine'. I guess it's the commercial launch that garners the acknowledged naming. Plant names can be such a minefield!

Personally I think 'Moonfire' is a much better name as it hints at this plant's dramatic foliage and flowers. I would expect something called 'Sunshine' to have all yellow flowers, what do you think?

Postcard from Italy

2025-07-21T09:50:00.001+01:00

I'm just back from an amazing train trip across Europe to Lake Garda in Italy. The alpine scenery along the way was breathtaking and it was great to have a ground level view of the mountains instead of the more familiar overhead one. NAH and I managed several refreshing swims in the Lake bobbing amongst the ducks, plus trips to Verona and Venice as well as ferry trips around the lake, which is huge. So huge, even a trip on the pictured cable car up Mount Baldo (the tallest mountain on the lake at 1760 metres) wasn't enough to take it all in.

My heads still there, but I'll be back soon with more garden related stuff!

Sweet pea summer

2025-06-27T08:30:00.001+01:00

I'm loving the sweet peas I've started picking this week. They're such an easy and bountiful plant to grow, though it nearly didn't happen for me this year, as lingering long Covid meant I got terribly behind with all things garden. Luckily there were trays of seedlings on offer a couple of months ago when I went shopping at Lidl which was an opportunity too good to miss. I just about had enough energy to improvise a couple of supporting tripods from bamboo and plonk them in a couple of my grow pots going free. These are usually part of my patio allotment, so it was great to find an alternative use for them.

And here they are, the flowers now gracing the vase my aunty Lily gave me decades ago. I had no idea on the colours or scent on offer and I'm pleased to find plenty of the darker shades and scent I love in this selection. It's been mentally uplifting to have such a positive result from a much darker time earlier this year. I've wanted to grow flowers for the vase for years, but never quite got round to it. I'm happy an impulse buy has broken my duck and I hope to grow sweet peas - and more - for summer next year and beyond.

What flowers do you grow for your home? Any recommendations for easy ones for this beginner with a tiny space to grow next year?

Pesky pests

2025-06-16T10:13:00.002+01:00

What a quiet spring we had pest-wise here at VP Gardens, apart from hordes of aphids which obviously like the dry sunny weather we've had. Thank goodness I've learned patience over the years to leave them and sure enough the small garden birds targeted the roses and carried off beak fulls to feed their young voraciously calling for attention at the bottom of the garden. Elsewhere, plentiful ladybird larvae cleared the blackfly from my dahlias in a matter of days. The one pictured above has grown large and fat on what was on offer and is ready to pupate and transform itself into the adults we love to see.

Now we're in June - and with a fairly reasonable rainfall - other pests have arrived in droves to be dealt with. For some strange reason I only ever find rose sawfly caterpillars on my 'Kew Gardens' rose, perhaps its position in the middle of the garden is a favourable to the unseen incoming adults? Luckily, they readily show themselves (as shown above) when I do a spot of dead heading and it's a simple job to remove them with a squishing session*.

Back amongst the roses, I was shocked to find not one, but two adult vine weevils when I dead headed them in the top terrace bed last week. I've only seen them bothering potted plants before, so I've decided to invest in some adult weevil traps for the first time, to try and nip this expansion in the bud. Like the more familiar natural grub treatments these wooden boards also are packed with nematodes in the grooves underneath ready to invade any adult that crosses their path. Placed downwards close to where I saw them, the soil is warm enough for this natural predator to do their stuff, though I had to make sure the area was watered well so they can move out freely. I'll follow up with a grub treatment in the autumn to catch any hatched eggs that are ready for a winter's feasting.

Here's a trap placed ready for it to do its stuff.

Which pests are proving pesky for you this year?

* = as are the aphids if things get really desperate

Postcard from Wales

2025-05-05T09:50:00.003+01:00

Just back from a fabulous week in Tenby - my first time there and it won't be the last. I went with my friend W and we rented a comfy apartment in the centre of town with views of the sea and the town walls. Plenty of walking, castles, dreaming, snoozing, feasting and exploring ensued. Our timing was perfect as we had the best of late April's weather - both warm and sunny.

Highly recommended.