Looking after ourselves
Sunshine and warmth! Wow!
I've taken a risk and planted out some tomatoes, a whole month ahead of our local last frost "all clear" date.
I'll be keeping an eye on the weather forecasts in case the current warm weather backflips, but all too often I don't get any toms due to the short growing season. It's theoretically possible to get a crop through here, but there's not much leeway if you don't get onto them as early as it's safe to do so, so I'll live dangerously this year and see if it pays off.
I bought a punnet of twelve yellow pear toms and one with six sweet yellow chilli capsicums; half of those are now sitting in Dad's old veg patch up a little further north, and the other half were carefully transported home on the train, in a carry bag. I also stuck in some pumpkin seeds, sunflowers, cosmos and echinacea "up north-ish", some portulaca, lovage and strawberries. The lovage, strawberries and capsicums are in homemade wicking pots; the rest are hopefully tough enough to grow under conditions of almost complete neglect.
I did get a little bit of asparagus from Dad's old patch, a few snowpeas had grown, and there was ample evidence of snails having enjoyed the rest of the plants. Them's the breaks.
@Former-Member @Determined .... Yellow Pears are fairly early, so I think they're in with a chance.
The grass here has reached waist high in places, but Hubby with the whippersnipper has reduced a decent part of it down this afternoon.
Hi @Former-Member and @Smc I went to the nursery today too and got some ‘wooly bush’ plants , portulacas, Little succulents called sedums I think and a good old daisy .. then I mowed my lawns with Ms M’s help this morning - a great sense of achievement and then afternoon was planting and watering time - I can’t wait to see them grow ! My manchurian pear tree is fabulous and green right now!
@Former-Member Yep. 
I've been enjoying Thelwell's cartoons since I was a teenager or younger. I'm not a horsey person though, and that's one of his main themes. He did a lot of other topics too, but the horses are what he's really well known for.
Have fun with the dahlia. I've got one I planted a couple of years ago that's meant to be pinkish-burgundy, but its been struggling so it hasn't flowered. Will the alyssum and the white pompom be growing together? They'd set each other off well.
Our flowers at the moment include a couple of types of poppies, centranthus, assorted bearded irises, calendulas, columbines, French lavender, phlomis, some salvias, some roses, a few sweet peas and snow in summer. Catmint, yarrows, centaureas, senecios, nigellas and buddeias are sending up their flowering stems but haven't quite budded/opened yet. So my garden is very Jeckyll and Hyde... I cringe at all the weeds filling the back yard, and stand gobsmacked at the incredible sea of flowers in the front yard...
Here's some more Thelwell to finish the evening. 'Tis very much my bedtime.
