Tag Archives: lovers meeting rose

#gdnbloggers, Blooms, Soft fruit, Taking stock, tomatoes

Blackcurrant, blooms, bogey and bindweed #gdnbloggers

Have you seen the sunshine, have you smelt the pollen?!

It’s a bit bright outside, and I don’t recall seeing anything on the weather about it. Anyway, doesn’t matter, I shall do my best to enjoy it.

From the safety of the kitchen, as  I cough, splutter and sneeze my way through conference prep.

 

currants
lovers meeting
tomato flowers

It is that time of the year again, where I pootle off to the annual conference of The Association of the teaching of Psychology.  Having prepared one workshop on mental health and the classroom, I had a second one to prep, but before that, I took a walk to the plot.

I knew that this wasn’t going to be easy; I had already woken up sneezing, dopey, and full of bogey. As such, I had breakfast and dosed myself up with ant-histamine to take my second cuppa tea to the plot with me. The plan was to pick any fruit that had ripened over the last few days. I came away with most of my black and white currants-these are wellington and versaille varieties-with red ones yet to turn, as well as polka raspberries. What I forgot to do was check if any more fall gold raspberries had come through, I realised that after I had come home and had to stick the kettle on again.

The process of picking the fruit was hampered by sneezing and on loop. I was however hell bent on getting it picked, even if I was struggling to breath, coughing up my lungs and couldn’t string a coherent thought together. Up until this year, I have never ever, felt so flipping hamstrung in trying to survive hayfever. It woefully frustrating and does nothing but make me further frustrated by the lack of productivity on the plot.

Real life commitments have made it more difficult to work on the plot, I have spent increased time at work and also had training commitments. As such, bindwind has appeared as though the creature from the black lagoon. It’s a horrible, invasive thing that is probably from outer space.

However, there are some positives. Whilst they are quite diminutive, the roma and marmande tomatoes are starting to flower. I don’t think that there will be much of a bounty this year, but at least I might have some tomatoes to go with the gorgeous roses.

roses, Uncategorized

Not just roses: #ethicalroses #gdnbloggers

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first bouquet
third bouquet
donated to SSAFA Norton House Selly Oak

As well as there being fruit and vegetables on the allotment plot; we also have roses. Roses, gladiolus and sunflowers tend to make the floral triad  on the plot. However, this year, we only have two out of three. The glads are starting to make an appearance, with thin green blades protruding through the soil. For now, the roses are well and truly kicking off.

If anyone tells you that having an allotment plot or gardening in general, isn’t romantic; then they really haven’t ever smelt the roses. Especially roses that are home grown, grown and not flown; roses that  are grown in fairly English soil-I add that caveat as I know that the clay on the plot has been there since the second world war and probably a great deal before that too-and not clocked up air miles from lands afar. Regardless of the variety, these roses are English roses, and just happen to be tended to by a Bollywood Gardener. Both the roses and I, have roots and firmly here on this, this sceptre’d Isle. ( We have William Shakespeare 2000 and Falstaff the fruit tree on the plot, one day there might be Anne Boleyn and others).

I can also say, that should there ever be a partner and significant other turn up; I would rather they worried about diamonds-ethical ones, yes-rather than placating me with roses. I can grow my own, and I like them.

There was a worry that since we have had rain fall in sheets, that the plot was on a serious go slow. It is as far the tomatoes and squashes are, even the runner beans. The roses were still very bare; but then they started to bloom and burst. Plus there are aphids all over the shop, and I rather they weren’t.

In the space of ten days, I have gathered-it feels wrong to say harvested, do you harvest roses?-three bouquets. This for me, is the truest sign that summer has started, and that allotment change is coming. That there will be blossom, buds, and fruit. Two out of three bouquets have been sat in their place upon the sill in the kitchen, with the third being donated to a good home.

It is a shame, that the blog doesn’t have smello-vision, as I cannot write to describe the scent of these fresh blooms. Zingy lemons doesn’t cover it all. And they do smell, they do honk! Very often, you might buy a dozen roses from a posh florist, they don’t whiff. These do, and wonderfully so. I always laugh around St.Valentines day (No, the single cynicism has nothing to do with it) with the flush of roses, and how they look lovely, really pretty, pricey; but that’s it. Nothing else to them; and that for me, says a lot about romance and roses!

pink lost label
ruby wedding
the floral trug and roses
yellow lost label

At some point, I did actually count how many roses bushes there are on the 200 metre square plot. I just can’t remember the exact figure, but it was around thirty. Ten, are hybrid tea roses; the posh sort; such as lover’s meeting, ruby wedding, the peace rose, Christian dior and silver jubilee to name some of them. There are a couple of poundland roses, pink sprawling bushes with thick stems, vicious thorns but lovely compact blooms that leave carpets of petals. These are a wonderful surprise. Started out as sticks that were no bigger than a foot; but then grew like triffids. Thorny, vicious triffids, that you want to be angry with but when you see them bloom, you stop seething.  Last but not least, the bulk of the plot roses are lost label roses. Roses, that in transport and transfer from their place of birth to their retailer have lost their labels and ended up in a bargain bucket. With these, it is basically pot luck as to what they are and what they do. Some of them, are tall and sprawling-the yellow ones, largely-the others are pink and stay quite close to the ground. When these are in full bloom, the top half of the allotment, is an avenue of roses and just smells amazing. On a nice day-yes, I know, British summer day-with the right wind passing through, the fragrance of roses is out of this world.

aubergine Analogue study 2014, roses

#NaBloPoMo: Frosty, fruit, freezing feet

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Hawwww, I have very cold feet. Really should have worn two pairs of socks in the red wellington boots.

The last of the currants and gooseberries have arrived. I pootled down to the plot with versaille currants and invicta gooseberry plants. All of which are bareroot and in need of plugging in. When I first arrived the whole of the plot was entirely white with the frost. I have seen it snowed upon, but never so chalky white and somewhat sparkly. There was something quite eerie about it. Despite only one pair of socks I was layered up with thermals, hoody and heavy coat.

Walking down to the plot and trying not to slip over in the mud, there were roses on other plots.All looking a bit cold and frost kissed. Same was on mine, william shakespeare 2000 and lovers meeeting roses looked rather sweet in being iced over. In the last two days, we have had some rather harsh frosts.

Opened up the plant box and tried not to cut my fingers off. I am slowly running out of space to plug things into. Will have to consider carefully where exactly I plant to sink potatoes. There were three plants of Versailles currants and three of invicta gooseberry. Giving me a a very varied selection of both on the plot. I already have two redcurrant plants from poundland, but in the two years that I have had them, they have never fruited. Lots of bare rooted fruit has been plugged in now, I am still hoping to plug in some yellow autumnal raspberries that I will share with my aunty. There is a vague idea where these will go. Most likely by the autumn bliss raspberries so they are all together. At the moment though, it all looks like a field of twigs haphazardly plugged into the clay.

Dorset and Bengle Naga, Experimental Chillies and be;;s, Lost label roses, NaBloPoMo, Superhots 2014

#NaBloPoMo: Still there, still going strong

chilliesshakespeare

Ventured down to the plot today. It’s been damp and miserable all week, and with work I haven’t been able to get down to the plot. I wanted to double check the chillies, and was heartened to find that they are still there. All very bushy and green, I don’t have the heart to euthanise them. So much for entering the dorset naga challenge, I have not harvested one chilli from any of them. Seems cruel to let them continue, when there doesn’t seem to be any fruit forthcoming. They all look healthy, burgeoning with blooms. But still nothing. All very disappointing. Even now, we are half way through November. How long further will these things go? I doubt very much that I will get a chilli this Christmas! Not sure now, as to what chillies i will sow next year. Might go back to basic cayenne and see what happens.

At the centre of the plot is William Shakespeare 2000. A beautiful red rose, that when in full bloom, smells of lemons. That too is still going. In fact, I counted eleven blooming roses across the plot. Even the week before last,I had eleven roses that I harvested to fashion a bouquet from. I don’t recall roses being in bloom at this point in the year before. And there are quite a few bushes on the plot. I tinkered with the climbing roses, golden showers and i think the other one is called danse de Feu. These just needed tying in to the metal arch. Which reminded me to prune there roses on the plot. A task made somewhat easier, in having been deadheading blooms over the summer as I went along. The more established posh roses, such as christian dior, Lover’s meeting, silver jubilee, pascali, peace rose, harry wheatcroft, have grown upwards quite a bit. Less so with the width of these. The less established lost label roses are a mixed bag. Still quite small, a handful are quite tall, and still very leaf. No idea what they are, hence the name A lot pink ones, an odd orange one.Was looking at where I might squeeze in another couple of roses bushes. Given how we have Shakespeare all ready, Anne Boleyn might be one to window shop.

The autumn bliss raspberry will also need to be pruned. I’m not entirely sure what to do with those.

NaBloPoMo, project othello, roses

#NaBloPoMo: Tidying up on the plot

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With the growing season over, the plot takes on a whole new appearance. The colour and foliage has all but gone. What does remain, is the hardier spinach and chard like creatures, and of course the weeds that were missed from the first time they were spotted.

The plan was therefore to go down to the plot and start weeding and digging. I did the weeding, and some digging but not as much digging as I would like. The plot is clay, or in this weather, heavy clay. It is solid, sticky, and squelchy. The red wellington boots were covered and caked in the stuff.

I concentrated on the one bed on project othello, the second half of the plot.There are seven beds on project othello, two of which are currently occupied by cabbages. The aim is to fill a few of the others with soft fruit.

Welcome to Hobbitland
Welcome to Hobbitland

Project othello is on the right hand side of this diagram, and the bed in question has already got mint and a rochester peach tree in it. This particular bed had been full of gladiolus, tomatoes and courgettes, so was in need of a tidy up. There were quite a few clumps of grass that had sprouted across it. These were all pulled up, which was made easier by the soil being wet.

The chard is still going, as is the perpetual spinach. Neither of these likes the warmth or direct. The chard in question is bright lights and vulcan chard. Bright lights does as it suggests, lots of yellow stalks. Vulcan chard, is the red one,and always reminds me of Spock. It doesn’t bleed green, I checked. It does however make nice pasta sauce and onion bhajis.

Over the summer, the roses were in full bloom. And they are still going, some of them at least. Even those hacked down and dead headed, have new blooms coming through.