Birthday and Sweetpeas

Well what a time to start at Heale, Spring and sunshine and growth. It was my birthday this week and I got to spend it planting my favourite flower, Sweet Pea against canes, single cordon. I have never done this before and as I am still between amateur and professional I am used to planting them willy nilly and enjoying the chaotic result. This is Heale and I am now learning to plant strictly to a line, even spacing, the same number of each cultivar, with fab names like "Purple Pimpernel".

Each plant is very carefully tied to the cane with a wire, careful not to crush the stem. Every week during growing, twice a week we will be pinching out and removing tendrils and creating huge long stems and big flowers, which are used in the house.

I spent most of my time in the Kitchen Garden for two days, tidying, weeding, turning soil, and harvesting crops. We had Leek, Cavalo Nero, Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Beets and Celeriac. We also planted out Salads and Broad Beans, different varieties again to lines using a string. The Broad Beans are grown in double lines to allow a string either side of the plant to hold it up as it grows. We have sown Radishes too.

We cut down the Santalina within the Buxus edging, to promote new growth and it looks much better.

A great week again, it is so peaceful. The garden is in the Valley so the mornings are misty and full of cobwebs and the sun slowly burns through leaving vivid colours and a very warm garden - I got burnt in April! - the Prunus Shirotae, Mount Fuji is stunning right now, buzzing with Bees, heavy white blossom filling the tree branches. It is all I can do to stop looking at it and taking photographs but must get on, must get on!

I ended my week with the boys coming to see me with Birthday cake! Lucky me. They then played hide and seek across the little bridges of the Japanese garden, rushing past Bamboo and Spring Bulbs. Magical.