Autumn has get a pretty good reputation. The wonderful colours of the last leaves before they fall. Brown, orange, red and a lot more in between. Temperatures still good enough to really enjoy being out just to sit. And it is the latter that I was able to do recently, but for a short time. I have been in the land of workers for a few weeks.
Not my normal internet stuff but something very different and enjoyable that I do a few times a year. Anyway coming away from that I faced the bad reputation of Autumn, rain, wind and cold. But I did manage a few minutes on 106 on the way home. Looking around the various plots shows the transition from the crops that have hung on from summer, produced a bounty in Autumn but welcoming in winter. The end of the runners, the squashes and the peppers to the sprouts, kale, leeks and parsnips. I noticed the gaunt outline of the gone over sweet peas with skeleton like fingers of seed pods. Sweet Peas. Something to focus on for here and the garden at home. If you were to "invent" a flower then Sweet Peas would take some beating. Bearing gloriously scented and coloured blooms and thriving under " if you pick the flowers then you will get more regime " A divergence. Many vegetables and flowers are easy to grow but if you are able to be in the happy position of having more time, some experience and listening to others, then you have much better and visible results I am now well into my apprenticeship as an allotmenteer and if there were one, an action out of my annual appraisal would, amongst other matters say " needs to grow more flowers here " Thoughtful gardening often comes as result of experiences in the past. Inspirations flows from that. In this instance I go back almost half a century to a large walled garden in West Kent. It was attached to a project in community home for young people placed there because the system of families, schools and their local communities could not manage them. I was struck by the kindness provided at this difficult time for them by the staff there, who were highly qualified and motivated. A therapeutic environment. But I was struck most by Ted who had expanded the walled garden away from being the food resource for the home into a haven of calmness, beauty and encouragement. He was the perfect compliment to the therapies, treatments, medication and sheer hard work of staff in the house. In his early 60s, I suspect that he knew about many of the demons that plagued the youngsters; though I never asked. Some, not all thrived in that garden in more ways than one. And the Sweet Peas there, oh the Sweet Peas. Grown as a part of the crop rotation plan there was a fifty foot row growing up " hazel tops ". Trenched, fed and watered did they produce. Many on thick twelve inch stems. The masses of flowers adorned the main house, the local church and the homes of local villagers - a classic example of community outreach. I was just getting to know Ted better when the memo came in to move me onto another project. I remember tips he game me for growing Sweet Peas delivered in his lovely Man of Kent burr, " Sow 'em in November, cutting a nick in each seed, three at a time into deep pots, pinch 'em out when six leaves 'ave developed, plant in April and water 'em like hell throughout " I was about to say that sounded straightforward enough but Ted finished with, " pray for 'em too boy and always give 'em a smile ! " I intend to " nick " all that advice ..... And the varieties that I will be growing are below, I bought the seed last week from Gardener and Scardifield in Lancing, West Sussex UK https://www.gardnerandscardifield.co.uk/branch/garden-centre-lancing/ Scarlet Tunic https://www.mr-fothergills.co.uk/Flower-Seed/Sweet-Pea-Seed/Sweet-Pea-Scarlet-Tunic-Seeds.html#.X7kMpuvfWrU Capel Manor https://blog.mr-fothergills.co.uk/mr-fothergills-names-new-sweet-pea-capel-manor-after-well-known-college-and-partner/ Lady Salisbury https://blog.mr-fothergills.co.uk/new-sweet-pea-lady-salisbury-celebrates-link-between-horticultural-establishments/ Painted Lady https://www.mr-fothergills.co.uk/Flower-Seed/Annual-Seeds/Sweet-Pea-Painted-Lady-Seeds.html#.X7kOKOvfWrU here to edit.
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AuthorI launched this website on 16th August 2020 to bring together my thoughts on gardening,, its importance for health and wellbeing and two projects running concurrently, a renovation of my own garden on the West Sussex coast at Lancing and a nearby allotment. But also to learn from other gardeners about the inspirations for their plots, about their gardening projects and enjoyment of beautiful plants and gardens Archives
February 2024
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