Sowing sweet peas.

I have been quite busy recently so I have not written the blog with as much regularity as I have in the past.  However, now that the colder weather has set in and the allotment has been covered with green manure, I have more time to reflect on things.

I have sown all the sweet pea seeds in three inch pots and they are in the greenhouse.  Some that had been sown in October have germinated successfully and are growing on remarkably well.  They are still too small for pinching out but they will be big enough soon.  I have kept the sown seeds fairly dry and this seems to be the secret of getting almost 100% germination.  They do not seem to rot of quite so easily.

After taking some of my sweet peas down to Wightwick Manor National Trust property to show to the volunteer gardeners, I suggested that I grow some for them in their vegetable garden.  So the large mound that you can see in their vegetable garden is the result of my triple sieve digging.  I added quite a lot of their compost and scraped out a horse manure bay to add to all three spits.  I do feel a little guilty about using so much of their resources so I am going to continue triple digging across the bed to recompense.

So if you want to see some exhibition sweet peas cordons similar to the ones I grow on the allotment then come and have a look at the ones at Wightwick Manor.  The gardens and house are fantastic anyway and worth a visit regardless of my sweet peas.

 I am not going to be able to use canes so the supports will probably be hazel.
Now that I have settled into my new house, I can start to consider the design for my garden.  It is just a pocket handkerchief in size but with the allotment and my volunteering at Whitewick Manor, that is just about what I can cope with.
I have already bought some Elaeagnus x ebbingei for the hedge alongside the house.  The hedge will be very near the road and Elaeagnus is very good at resisting the effects of pollution.  The bed for them is south facing and will get dry and Elaeagnus is good at resisting drought.  It also has  nitrogen fixing Frankia alni  actinomycetes in nodules on their roots.   It flowers in the autumn and although the flowers are little white jobs their scent amazing.  They produce berries in the spring which are edible but whether I pick them depends upon whether I think I can wash off all the road pollution.
I will probably plant some of the Sorbus I grew from seed in the hedge as well just to add interest.

The back garden will probably be all shrubs but I want to get some really good ones and to make sure that I have flowers throughout the year.