Bloody Weather!

Been a bit weird lately eh?

Last week here in the garden in Dumfries it was 19c and lovely and sunny.  Spectacular spring weather.  Has been for a couple of weeks.

Of course for the garden this brings its own problems.  The young seedlings (of which there are loads) in the greenhouse were literally cooking.  At one point it was 50c inside despite having fully open vents etc.  This meant moving plants in and out to keep them cool - in late March!!! Saved a fortune in heating although it was still cool at night.  No rain for the newly planted onion sets and seeds in the garden.  No rain, for 2 weeks in Dumfries in March???

The perenials have been booming away with loads of new buds and the younger ones have been needing a drop of water

And then almost overnight.....

Freezing cold, howling gales and lashing rain. 

We shouldn't be surprised really.  It is just April!  If we are finding it a shock imagine how the plants are taking it.  They can't throw their coats back on!

2 weeks ago in the local garden centre there were people buying loads of lovely tender bedding plants.  Reminded me of a friend who used to own a successful garden centre.  He told me once that they purposely grew on loads of bedding plants in heated green houses getting them ready for some early spring sun.  They then got them on the shelves asap without hardening them off.  People got summer in their heads, bought loads and got them planted while the sun shone.  Then my friend would hope for a sharp cold spell - like now.  The poor plants of course would die in the cold and a few weeks later he would sell the people more plants, this time hardened off! Kerching!!

I appreciate thats a bugger of a trick but who's to blame?  Don't plant tender plants out when there is still a chance of cold.  Fools rush in.  Its a long time until the cold is past up this end of the country!

Stay warm out there!!

Frugle Gardener Tip - be properly tight!

I was out at our local garden centre here in Dumfries on Saturday.  Its just been extended again and is now officially pretty massive.  It has always been really good too, and I have got to know one or two of the staff there over the years and most of them are actually gardeners.  (You'd be surprised how many aren't in some places - just ask a tricky question).  Its a lovely place for a wonder round, the kids love all the toys and books, Mrs M likes the lovely flowers and gets ideas for different plants and I can browse exotic veggie seeds to my hearts content.  I tell you what though, its not half getting an expensive place to shop!  Thats not a criticism of this garden centre, I imagine its comparably priced but generally the sector is getting really pricey in direct correlation to gardenings growing popularity!  Funny that!


I'm a proud Scot and with that comes a love of being, shall we say, a bit tight!  I enjoy saving money, I can't explain it, its a cultural thing!  When we were there there were people loading up baskets and trolleys with lovely lush looking plants, buying packets and packets of seeds and countless specialist tools.


Do you want to know the secrets of not spending a fortune in the garden centre?  Make friends with your neighbours, always carry a pair of secateurs and some freezer bags with you and gather seed where you can!


I know, neigbours can be a pain.  I'm lucky here, my neighbour Wullie is 176 years old, a lovely man and knows stuff about gardens.  Know your neighbours and you can take divisions of their perennial plants from them as they will from you.  You will be able to see what grows well in their garden and will therefore (probably) be alright in yours.  If you grow too many tomato plants they will probably have something to swap with them.  Same with relatives and work mates!  Take advantage.  Once you become "a gardener" you become part of a secret all knowing and very friendly society!

At one time I would have suggested carrying a sharp knife but that can land you in all sorts of legal horrors these days.  Carry secateurs though when out walking the dog or to the pub or to visit friends and suddenly every plant is a source of lovely fresh wood cuttings!  Especially in the next few months.  Nip a little of that lovely flowering thing of neatly, stash it in your bag.  Pop it in some moist compost with the bag over the top for a few weeks on a windowsill and old Mumma Nature might just bless you with some rooting.  And there you go - a free plant!!  Ok it won't be in the scale of some of the beauts that sell for £25 in the garden centre for a few years but who's rushing??  Mrs M also is a big one for doing this with the odd (very odd) bunch of flowers she gets bought.  Below is what transpired from the supermarket bunch of carnations she got yesterday for mothers day....

Baby Carnations - for free!

Gathering seeds sounds almost mystical but in fact its very easy and once you get the plants growing and then grow some more from their seeds it really does become extremely rewarding.  I still grow certain tomatoes from seed which Wullie the neighbour grew first 30 years ago - thats a lot of generations from one seed packet!!  You can get your seeds from flowers, some veg, many many plants.  Most will need dried off slowly and stored but with a bit of luck on your side, some moist compost and a bit of TLC the world of free plants will be yours young Jedi!

Until next time, Happy gardening!  Don't spend it all at once!