Flying visits and more flowers

I still can’t quite believe it’s the first of June today, I have no idea where May went but my favourite month seemed to pass me by in a flash! It might have had something to do with all the garden shows we were touring at this past month, every weekend we were setting up stall in a different location and of course the weekdays are filled with cleaning/making stock and packing/unpacking the van. So my time up the allotment in May has been brief and rushed which I’ve just hated…

Nothing pleases me more than walking down the allotment path and seeing my plot come into view, there’s a happy feeling deep down that just comes to life as soon as I step through that gate. Especially now that the allotment has burst to life and everything is looking so green and lush, buds are appearing and crops are busy growing… how would that not make a person happy?!

This evenings list of jobs included planting out more flower seedlings and the border is starting to fill up nicely now. The Honesty and Ammi Majus that were planted out nearly a month ago are coming beautifully plus the Cosmos and dwarf Sunflowers which moved in last week have settled in perfectly. The giant sunflowers planted around the back edge of the border have put on lots of growth and the same can be said for the globe artichoke which also has a baby artichoke growing inside! I also directly sowed some poppies into this patch last week and I’m pleased to see they have germinated. Today it was Scabious and Zinnia which were being planted out and I managed to save a few seedlings for my Dad who likes to plant a small patch of flowers in his container for the bees. The varieties of Zinnia are ‘Zinderella Peach’ and ‘Queen Red Lime’, I’ve grown Zinnias for the past 3 years and just adore the bright blooms plus these two favourites look absolutely stunning. Scabious is another cut flower favourite and a staple in my flower border, I’ve chosen to grow ‘Black Knight’ this year as well as my all time favourite variety ‘Sternkugal’ which produce the most beautiful dried seed heads ever.

I’m also pleased to tell you all that the ‘Gigantuem’ Alliums waited until I returned home to bloom and I am so happy they did! They have been teasing me for the past 2 weeks now and I would have been so sad if they had flowered whilst I was away working. It’s been a long time coming but I am so excited to see them pop into life and I’ll be sure to show you all when they do!

Right now however, I’m taking these brief allotment visits as and when they can come. There’s a few major jobs that need to be completed yet like weeding the raspberries, taking bags of weeds to the tip and tidying the plot up a bit but I’m so pleased and proud of myself for getting this far. It’s been hard work looking after an allotment all by yourself with a busy work schedule but looking around the plot and seeing all the plants growing I can’t help but smile. Hopefully soon I’ll find some time to actually sit down and enjoy the plot rather than rushing around all the time, but for now I’ll simply try to enjoy those rushed moments and fit in as much as I can.

P.S I filmed a quick Vlog and allotment tour which is now over on the Youtube channel if you fancy a watch: https://youtu.be/J0RhQFrwe-I