Finally, my patio pots are full and bursting
Yay, it’s officially summer, and June has been a beautiful month in the southeast of the UK; it even reached 30 degrees.
Well, the plethora of new perennials we purchased over the last few months for the Cottage Garden is coming on leaps and bounds. Gradually they’re stretching their roots, and fresh fronds are continually appearing.
Every day we spot something new; it’s such a pleasure and brings a smile to your face. It’s even more special when you have grown some plants from seed. I’m particularly loving our little stumpy sunflowers and our dahlias.
I know this may sound naïve, but I honestly thought dahlias were only grown from tubers. I grew a pack from seed, and they have turned out fantastic. Well, as long as I can stop insects from munching them.
Even though I made a bit of a faux pas with potting on my chillies, they appear to have survived. We can now look forward to a crop of Jalapeno, Habanero and Zimbabwe Black chillies.
Pinterest?


What we’ve been up to this month
In the garden and on the websiteI finally believe I have now finished planting out all my matured seedlings, and the courtyard patio and the cottage garden are just waiting to burst into colour.
The many, many pots on our patio and planters are beginning to attract lots of bees and butterflies, which is excellent news. Unfortunately, the unwanted insects are turning up too.

I was slightly delayed in sowing my tomato plant seeds this year as I was experimenting with outdated seeds. Needless to say, they never sprouted, so, as not to be beaten, I purchased some fresh seeds and have 2 San Marzano plants, 3 Gardeners Delight and 3 Sweet Million F1. I planted them into their final pots a couple of weeks ago, and they are flourishing well.
As I’ve previously mentioned, we also manage the website ‘Our World for You’, which leads me onto our next challenge, as we are heading off on a collaboration trip. This is obviously very good news; however, I’ve been nurturing our young plants for months, from seedlings to blooming pleasures, and I don’t want to leave them without water.
This can only mean one thing; we need to install an irrigation system. I appreciate that these watering systems are not always very popular. However, it’s just for our courtyard patio, and the irrigation system will be dripping slowly for a short session every morning and evening. I would be mortified if my patio plants withered and died.
Needless to say, we’ll let you know how we get on.

As usual, we have been on the hunt for garden centres and nurseries that we haven’t visited before. We have recently discovered a garden centre in Offham, Kent, named Spadework. Spadework is a charity that enables people to feel more independent and lead fuller lives; it’s a delightful place.
We have now visited twice, and we left with our arms full on both occasions. I bought a lovely selection of bedding plants and a couple of perennials for our cottage garden. I picked up a Penstemon ‘Purple Passion’ and a Musk Mallow. The quality of their plants is fantastic and very competitively priced too.
We also managed to visit the Kent Garden Show a few weeks ago. It had some beautiful plants; we picked up a clematis, a couple of grasses and a Scabiosa. The only thing I would say about these shows is that they often follow trends, and many stands have the same plants. However, it is a pleasant day out, but don’t assume you’re going to find anything too unusual.

Achievements for June
Let’s keep ticking those boxesConsidering we can only dedicate a couple of days a week to the garden, I think it is progressing pretty well. Although with the challenge ahead of us, there is always lots to do.
So, let’s see what we’ve managed to tick off for June.
Other jobs that we’ve achieved:
- Planted out our final sunflowers; these ones are red.
- Completed planting out our new herb garden.
- Cleared ivy around the nut tree.

Lessons learnt & mistakes made
You live and learnI’m not entirely sure I have gotten to the bottom of this issue, but any knowledge and answers are welcome.
A couple of weeks ago, I potted on our tomato plants in their final pots, and they were very healthy and filling out a treat. Then, as they grew, the top leaves were all curling up and folding within themselves. I thought I was watering them sufficiently; however, I think it may be a lack of water.
It was happening on all of them but now appears to be just a couple. They do unfurl themselves sightly, but then they curl up again. As mentioned, we’ve now installed an irrigation system, so I’m hoping the regular morning and evening watering will solve the problem.
Our plans for the coming month
What’s on your to-do list?
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