Flowers opened last week

The past two weekends have been relatively sunny, dry(ish) and mild, so I’ve been working quite a lot in the garden and the allotment. I’ll post photos of the allotment later this week, but at the moment the garden is looking much better, with perennial plants that come in bloom much earlier.

Los ultimos dos fines de semana ha hecho bueno (relativamente) y el jardin y la huerta lo notan, sobre todo el jardin porque tengo estas plantas perennes que florecen mucho antes. Hace una semana me llegaron unas bolsas de compost y rellene las macetas que estaban a medio llenar desde que me mude el ano pasado, asi que ahora esta todo listo para plantar, pero estas plantas de las fotos estan en su mejor momento ahora.

I got a delivery of multipurpose compost to fill up the rest of the pots in the garden, which have been half-empty since I moved in last June, and they’re all now ready for growing. But before I sow and transplant any new stuff, here’s some perennial plants that are looking good at the moment:

I’ve had this viburnum for a few years now, and I absolutely love it. It reminds me of my dad, he loves viburnums too. This is right in front of my kitchen window, and it looks (and smells!) its best at this time of the year. I can smell it when I open my bedroom window.

Tengo el viburnum delante de la ventana de la cocina, y es una de mis plantas favoritas de todo el jardin. Me recuerda a mi padre, y huele de maravilla, incluso cuando abro la ventana de mi habitacion.

My one plant of dog’s tooth violet (the yellow flowers) produces a few more flowers every year. I had to transplant it so I cut all the flowers first, and they make this beautiful handful with some bluebells.

La planta amarilla (erythronium dens-canins en latin) tiene unas flores preciosas, y de una sola planta cada ano salen mas flores. Tuve que transplantarla a otra maceta, asi que corte todas las flores e hice este ramito con unas campanillas (que huelen que es una gloria).

This nemesia has survived from last year, and it started flowering already. Most people treat them as annual bedding plants, but I find they tend to survive in my patio garden (perhaps being so close to the house offers some extra weather protection?).

La nemesia aqui la suelen tartar como anual, pero a mi he visto que se me suele conserver todo el invierno (puede ser que esta protegida de las inclemencias por estar al lado de la casa?), asi que ya ha empezado a florecer.

And finally, I love this dicentra (dicentra spectabilis alba). It does not smell, but it looks gorgeous with all the leaves and hanging flowers, it is bushy yet delicate and I really like it, also it does very well in shade (this strip of the garden barely gets any direct sunlight, at least not this time of year).

Y por ultimo, la dicentra. Esta planta no huele, pero me encantan las hojas y flores, y a demas se da muy bien en sombre (a esta parte del jardin, al menos estos meses, no le da el sol directo).

First lettuce seedlings planted out - under cloche

This is something I did last weekend. I had some lettuce plants that I sowed at the end of February and were ready to be moved to a bigger pot. You can see in the photo the root system was developed (you can see little white roots), and the plants had a few leaves each:

Tenia estas plantitas de lechuga que sembre a finales de febrero y ya estaban listas para el transplante. En la foto se ve que las raices estaban desarrolladas y cada planta tenia varias hojitas. Las he puesto en la huerta, pero como todavia hace frio (y viento) las he cubierto con estas campanas de plastico. Lo del viento puede ser un problema - el otro dia me encontre las campanas en la otra punta de la huerta - asi que las sujete con unos ganchos de metal. Estan plantadas muy juntas, pero voy a usar las hojas individuales en vez de la planta entera asi que espero que se den bien:

I planted them outside, taking advantage of the improved weather, but it can still get cold at night so I've put them under these plastic cloches. I had to peg down the cloches because it can get quite windy at the allotment - the other day, pre-pegging down, I found them at the other end of the plot! I'm going to pick the leaves individually as the plant grows, so I've planted them quite close together and I hope they will grow well:

Propagation under way

These are the seedlings I'm growing in the house at the moment. I start most of them in the kitchen windowsill, which is the warmest spot with most light. These haven't germinated yet (lettuce, onion, chard 'bright lights', and in deeper pots in the corner some sweet peas).

Estos son los semilleros que tengo en este momento en casa y in la caseta. El primer paso suele ser la ventana de la cocina, que es mas caliente y tiene mas luz. Aqui tengo (todavia sin germinar): lechuga, cebolletas, acelga multicolour, y en una maceta mas profunda en la esquina unos guisantes de olor:

The bathroom windowsill is also a good place to start seeds. Here I have cucumbers (one shoot has just appeared!) and courgettes:

La ventana del bano tambien es un buen sitio. Aqui tengo semillas de pepino (el primero acaba de asomar la cabeza) y calabacin:

Once they've germinated I move them to the shed, which is cooler but still better than outside! I have several propagators with lids, which add a bit of extra warmth and stops them from drying. Here I've sown: parsley, more lettuce, kale, sprouting broccoli, swede, nasturtium, marigold, and spring onions

Una vez que han brotado, paso las plantitas a la caseta, que es mas fria que la casa pero mas protegida que al aire libre. Tengo varios semilleros con cubiertas de plastico, que aumentan la temperatura un poquito pero sobre todo mantienen la humedad. Aqui tengo, en diversos estados de crecimiento: perejil, mas lechuga, berzas, brecol, rutabaga (un tipo de nabo), unas capuchinas (nasturtium), tagetes y mas cebolletas:

I use this old cat litter tray as my potting tray (and a portable light, evenings aren't bright enough yet):

Esta bandeja, vendida como WC para gatos, es donde planto mis macetas (con una linterna puesta encima, porque aun se hace oscuro pronto):

I have hung these recycled fruit baskets from the window frames, to give me extra growing space in the light. I have put the most developed seedlings (lettuce, calendula and cornflower), a deeper pot with leeks, and the onion sets:

He colgado estas bandejas de plastico, recicladas de fruterias, delante de las ventanas de la caseta, para tener espacio extra cerca de la luz. Aqui tengo las plantitas mas avanzadas (lechuga, calendula y centaureas azules), una maceta con mas fondo para los puerros, y las cebollas de bulbo:

The third window of the shed: parsnips, lettuce, red cabbage, cauliflower and spinach (not out yet), and rocket

Y esta es la tercera ventana de la caseta, con semilleros de: chirivia, lechuga, lombarda, coliflor y espinaca (aun sin germinar), y rucula:

Onions in plugs

I love onions and it's probably the vegetable I eat the most, so I'm planting some more now. I have some sets I planted in the autumn growing happily at the allotment, and these new lot will produce a later crop. I haven't planted them directly in the ground because I still haven't finished building the raised beds and digging: I have planted them in plugs to germinate, which should give me a few weeks to prepare the soil to plant them out. I used a sheet of egg carton, and the last few I put in plastic plugs:

He decidido plantar mas cebollas porque son de lo que mas como. Tengo unas en la huerta que plante en otono, y estas me daran una segunda cosecha. Las he plantado en una huevera de carton para que empiecen a germinar, y mientras tanto acabo de preparar la tierra en la huerta para plantarlas.

Easter flowers

This has been a really cold Easter weekend, so I'm still holding on sowing seeds in the ground outside (despite all the books and websites recommending a huge list of things to plant in March; it's a waste of time and good seed, if it's too cold). I've filled all of my indoor propagators (in the kitchen windowsill, the shed, and a couple of pots in the bathroom windowsill), in the hope I'll have stuff to plant out when spring comes. Next month or so.

But in the meantime, these flowers, which are supposed to open in winter, are looking good in the garden at home and cheer me up:

Hace demasiado frio para sembrar en tierra, y en la casa ya no me caben mas semilleros (tengo las ventanas de la cocina y del bano, y la caseta, en capacidad maxima), asi que mientras espero a que haga mejor y pueda transplantar de los semilleros a la huerta, estas flores del jardin me alegran el dia. Arriba, unas escilas azules, las pobres medio ahogadas por las hierbas (tengo que transplantarlas), y abajo el jazmin de invierno - lleva florido desde enero, es de un esqueje de mi tia Tita.

Above is a scilla, which I need to repot as it's overgrown by grasses. And below is a winter jasmine that has been in bloom since January, it's from a cutting from my auntie in Spain and is doing wonderfully now.

Aqui tengo una primula amarilla, y la planta azul que no se como se llama pero lleva florida practicamente un ano entero, verano, otono, invierno y ahora primavera!

Here I've got a yellow primula on the left, and the blue plant which I don't know the name of but is a wonder flower: it's been in bloom for a year solid, summer, autumn, winter and now spring!