My gardening view this month is one of overflowing beds – at least in the vegetable garden.
I don’t grow in neat rows and certainly wouldn’t win any prizes for being tidy. The season starts with good intentions, but then things start self-seeding – poppies, marigolds, borage, and rocket, which I grew for the first time many years ago and haven’t been without since.
These volunteers do add a splash of colour – more than welcome given the recent wet weather – and the bees and butterflies love them. I always let some of the rocket flower as that’s a really good source of food for pollinators. The pale yellow flowers are also rather pretty.
Some of the crops are also rather over-enthusiastic and I rarely keep the squash confined. This year, I’m growing one variety over an arch but even then there are bits of it that are making a bid for freedom over the brassicas.
The sweet peas, part of my Gardening Trials, are still going strong and there’s a good range of colours this year. We’ve had vases of flowers scenting the house for weeks.
The rest of the garden has hit the July slump so I’m grateful for the self-sown hollyhocks for a bit of colour. I first grew these many years ago and since then they’ve crossed, multiplied and popped up all over the garden – rarely in the borders!
This year there seem to be fewer than usual and I’m wondering whether the severe winter saw off some of them. It makes those that are left even more precious.
One thing that did survive was the agapanthus that’s planted out in a border (top picture). I fully expected to have lost it so seeing it flower was a real bonus.
The broad beans are over now but the dwarf French beans are just starting. The others – runners, climbing French and borlotti – are taking a while to get going. The dahlias are also slow this year although I do have a couple in flower.
There are also signs of squash appearing and we’ve been picking courgettes. The most prolific and healthiest plant has nothing to do with me though. It’s planted itself in the corner of the strawberry bed, presumably from the compost. Why is it that self-sown things are always stronger than anything I’ve nurtured?
The real excitement though is the first of the tomatoes – as usual, I’m growing rather a lot of plants. Originally, they were destined for the small greenhouse only. However, I couldn’t bear to compost spare plants so a few have gone into the new, big greenhouse.
The raised bed in there is working well and filling up with aubergines, chillies and peppers. There’s even the first chilli forming. All we need now is some sunshine to ripen them.
How’s your gardening view? Do let me know in the comments below.
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I’m in the first year of growing vegetables in our brand new garden. For the first time in my adult life I have lots of garden space. My planting started as neat and tidy but my raised beds are now a patchwork of different edible plants and flowers. My favourite raised bed combines sweet peas on a wigwam of canes, calendula (touch of red which is beautiful), Zephyr courgettes and red cos lettuce…messy gardening is the way to go.
I always grow sweet peas among the veg and the calendula – they grow where they like. I think ‘messy gardening’ is more beautiful.
I envy those who can successfully grow edibles. I really ought to try again, but my first attempts were dismal. I can grow herbs okay but the S&S don’t seem to like them. I think your way is like a potager, marrying edibles with ornamentals.
Potager is a good description – though not a very neat one! I also struggle with slugs and snails so I start everything off in modules and plant out when big enough to have a fighting chance.