The carrots growing in pots are the size of my little finger and so further thining out was required this week giving us more yummy baby carrots to eat! The carrots are now spaced approximately a couple of inches apart and won't need any further thinning. We just need to be a little patient and wait for them to grow a bit bigger before pulling them to eat. I had a photo for you but blogger doesn't seem to want to let me add any images today.

The Kenyan beans that were growing in the little plastic troughs have now finished. The plants have been put in the compost bin and the compost that they were growing in spread on the garden. I have planted some carrot seed in a couple of the troughs and will do so in the third when I get some more compost. As the troughs aren't that deep I have planted the spherical variety Lisa from Marshall's which is particularly suitable for pots.

The garden has been looking very thirsty, particularly the hydrangeas and runner beans, so the rain a couple of days ago was very welcome. Not so the fierce winds which have beaten everything down and blown over pots and parasol (not quite sure why I put this out as it's hardly been used all summer!). I am still persevering with the tomato plants, cutting off any sign of blight and sacrificing some trusses in the hope of saving others. This has meant that the plants are a little top heavy and/or unbalanced and so the poor plants have been blown over several times in spite of me putting bricks on the pots. I grew two varieties this year. Red Alert and the patio variety Tumbler. At the risk of tempting fate Tumbler seems to have been the more robust of the two in resisting the blight. I have had to remove some plant material but nowhere near as much as for the Red Alert plants.

All the onion have been lifted now. We have enough onions and large shallots to last us a good few months. I planted the sets in various places around the garden and it has been interesting to see the difference in the resulting onions. Those growing between strawberries next to the path in full sun have grown quite large while those just a few yards away but which are shaded for part of the day are much smaller. In fact a couple of them haven't increased in girth at all and are the same size as when I put them in.

The annual scabious are a delight with white, purple and pinky mauve flowers. The dahlias have been great as well. The flowers are not so large now and the colours not so vibrant but beautiful all the same. We have yellow Graham Thomas roses outside the back door. They are having a final flourish and are a joy to see when you step outside.

Garden News

In the garden the sweetpeas are now exhausted but the annual scabious are beginning to flower. I love these flowers. I was going to say that they are one of my favourites but I have so many favourites that the term almost has no meaning. Apart from the things that I wouldn't or couldn't grow because they are unsuitable for our little garden the only plant that I wouldn't have in the garden because I don't like it is the lupin - too big and blousy. The scabious flowers are white with a hint of green and quite beautiful. I have been unable to get a satisfactory photo because viewed against the dark of the plants around them the camera seems to think that they are a light source or something and won't focus on them. I am not enough of a camera woman to know how to get around this with my little point and click automatic.

I am now picking runner beans. The kenyan beans in the troughs have been very prolific and are still going strong. Those that I planted in the half barrel and squat pot are just about to flower so we should have beans for some time to come. Other garden highlights include:

The decorative Dahlia 'Explosion' with it's large, double yellow and flame coloured flowers is magnificent at the moment. My father always grew giant golden coloured decorative dahlias which he overwintered in boxes in the shed each year. I am hoping that the plants continue to flower into the autumn. I would like to have some for samhain when I build a little altar to honour the dead who have been an influence on my life.

In the pond the Pickerel Weed (Pontederia cordata) is flowering well this year. I might have to remove some this year or next to prevent it taking over completely.

Both the white and blue Hibiscus are flowering profusely and the pineapple lilies are blooming. I have had a pot of Pineapple Lilies on the patio for a few years now. Over time they have increased so that the pot had become overcrowded. Earlier this year I re potted the bulbs keeping a couple of pots for ourselves and giving a couple of pots away. We've not had so many flowers this year as not all the bulbs have flowered but I expect a better display next year.

The hardy fuchsia plants that I planted under the front window have flowered better than I expected.

Over the weekend I put in my seed order for autumn sowings: broad bean aquadulce and turnip tiny pal for the ground, spinach campania and carrot nanco for the large pots and the round carrot early French frame 4 Lisa for the troughs. I have also ordered some onion sets and the raspberry Glencoe. I've ordered Glencoe, in spite of its purple fruit not because of it, because it is a clump-forming Floricane - I don't have the space for regular canes.