May is here and there’s a lot to do to keep your garden blooming all summer long
Here at Lolly and The Hare, cut flower garden, Spring has well and truly sprung.
Spring flowers are growing, blooming and being sold. The Summer flowers will be on their way soon, the hedges look lush and green and we are already planning ahead for our Autumn crops. Hopefully the weather will keep on getting better and we can feel the warmth on our skin and soak up the Vitamin D from The Sun, this is very welcome after what seems to have been and endless grey, wet and cold Winter/Early Spring.
There is so much beauty in there garden but still so many jobs to be done, here are a few to get you started.
Sow More Seeds
Many of you will have started seeds off in the greenhouse last Autumn or on windowsills earlier in the Spring, but it is not too late to start some off now. Choose some fast growing annuals such as Marigolds, Sweet Peas, Zinnia and Phlox. I prefer to sow them in small pots until they are large enough to plant into the garden. When buying compost, go for Peat Free, peatlands are the world’s largest carbon store so digging it all up for our gardens is having a catastrophic effect on this planet of ours.
Plant Out
Anything you have been growing under cover can now be hardened off and ready for planting where you want them to be. Just check the weather for any last minute frosts, especially before you plant out Dahlia. Once your plants are in, keep them well watered and maybe give them a liquid seaweed feed to give them a real energy boost. Please choose Organic feeds, again, our environment needs us all to make small changes.
Second Sowings
If you are an avid seed sower then you can also do a second sowing of Half Hardy Annuals such as Snap Dragons, Amaranthus and Molucella. You will then get continuous blooms right up until the frosts come again.
Baskets and Pots
If you have no patience for seeds and you are after instant gratification in your garden then head to the garden centre. Now is the time to go and get all those lovely small plants for your hanging baskets and pots, they will soon grow and flower and provide you with gorgeous colourful displays. Feed them with some tomato feed every now and then and they will show their thanks.
Chelsea Chop
So called as we all do this around the time of The Chelsea Flower show although don’t leave it until the show this year as it’s been moved to September. May is the right time for this. Prune your late flowering herbaceous perennials back by a third. This will make them flower much later but you will get so many more flowers you will be happy you did it.
Visit www.lollyandthehare.co.uk or follow me on Instagram @lollyandthehare to see availability of my gorgeous cut flowers. The farm is just outside Buckingham and all the flowers are grown by me and my dog, Lolly.