Greedy feeders...

Having already written about Dahlias, I thought I'd share a photo of some of the tubers which I've potted up and which are now growing on well in the greenhouse. Now that all the cold weather has gone (I hope!) and with the continued rain, now is a great time to plant these greedy feeders into the borders. As they grow on and develop I'll post some more pictures in time. Last year I planted them alongside beautiful tall,yellow, Evening Primroses which worked really well - especially next to the red, "Bishop of Llandaff" Dahlias with their yellow centres. Getting the right balance of plants in a border to work is a real art and takes a lot of patience and learning over time - the aim being that certain plants will really help to highlight characterstics of others that you wouldn't otherwise notice - in the same way that some people bring out the best in others!

Bean re-cycling recently?

Discovering new ways of re-using what would normally end up in the rubbish is always a good thing...something I learnt from friends Gabrielle & Stuart. Have you ever ended up with excess toilet rolls and wondered what to do with them? Well here's the answer - they are perfect for sowing into - particularly for plants that you would sow individually and that benefit from being planted out without having to disturb their roots. No need for any of the expensive root trainers that you can buy now! I've started off with Runner Beans which are now thriving outside having planted them only last week - other seeds to try are any of the bean family which will work well - Haricots, Broad Beans, Peas, and Sweet Peas too. Find a tray and fill with upright toilet rolls so they're packed quite snuggly together, then fill each loo roll with compost and they're ready to sow into. Once the plants are mature enough, no need to discard the toilet roll - put the whole thing in the ground and the toilet roll will compost down nicely!