Well would you Adam and Eve it, (rhyming slang). It's been hot hot hot today, such a contrast from yesterday when I was constantly having to wipe my dripping cold nose. Today it's been shorts and teeshirt weather. I thought I would give you an update on the sunflowers, my little babies are shooting up, the tallest being 15 inches high. The wind has dropped so it's time to get them outside.
There are eighteen, one of them is a little sickly and has not grown as tall as the rest of them. This spot in the garden has the most sun, it comes up from behind the trees and makes it's way across the back and round the side of the house, then goes down at the front of the house. The plants are still in the sun now at 7.15pm as it shines through the gap between the two houses.
I have used six plastic storage boxes and put three plants in each. I was going to use nine boxes with two in each, but I didn't have enough compost, and they wouldn't have fitted on the decking. I hope they have enough room to grow, they didn't appear to have very big roots when I took them out of the pots, so I'm hoping that they carry on growing and don't get too crowded. I bought the boxes from Tesco for £1 each, when I started growing vegetables five years ago. I have grown tomatoes, cucumbers, and carrots in them. The plastic hasn't crumbled, unlike the ones I bought from Poundland. These are not so brittle and should last a few more years. This is Bugsy's favourite place to take a snooze. The wood must get quite warm.
And then I noticed he has stretched out so I took another photo.
Toodle pip.
My, those sunflowers look healthy, hopefully you'll get a lot of seeds.
ReplyDeleteLove Bugsy stretched out.
Briony
x
Those Sunflowers are coming along nicely, and Bugsy is the picture of contentment.
ReplyDeleteThey will be fine and should make a fabulous display. Look forward to updates.
ReplyDeleteDianne - Hereford
Hi, Ilona: I'll be following along to see how your 'babies' do, as I've never tried to grow sunflowers before. Good luck!
ReplyDelete(and concerning your previous post about chickpeas ... I love to eat them straight from the can!)
Sharon in Alabama (USA)
The sunflowers are looking good and with Bugsy keeping a eye on them they'll come to no harm. I'd guess the tesco tubs were reduced to a reasonable £1 and would be better quality than poundland-you get what you pay for. Glad the weather is better, it wasn't so good when i was in north Lincs last friday.
ReplyDeleteDave.
I like your trellis idea behind the sunflowers. They will need some support soon and your bamboo canes will do a great job.
ReplyDeleteBugsy is one smart cookie. He knows that sunflowers make great big flowers full of seed the birdies really like. He's staking the place out to get the best bird grabbing position!
ReplyDeleteJane x
Bugsy looks soooooo happy... he's actually grinning in the second photo haha.
ReplyDeleteYour sunflowers look like they are already doing well and it seems that you have put them in a good position for producing plenty of lovely flowers.
ReplyDeleteBugsy looks very comfortable "guarding them"
Susan
My experience with growing sunflowers is that they have small, shallow root systems so they should do well in those bins. Mine always end up getting blown out of the ground just about the time they start to make seeds so the poor birds don't get homegrown sunflower seeds over the winter like I planned in the Spring. ;)
ReplyDeleteDo you keep the heads afterwards Ilona? I've heard that the birds like to peck at them and get the seeds out. I use the seeds instead of pinenuts...much cheaper!!
ReplyDeleteArilx
Hi Arilx, I have never grown sunflowers before. I bought a pack for £1, seeds, compost and plastic tray, worth a try I thought. I might eat the seeds, or maybe I'll let the birds have them, and save some for next years crop.
DeleteHello Ilona, from House fairy.
ReplyDeleteI see you have spotted the thread to "no spending for 6 months" on mse. I have put comments on there quite a lot. I have a diffrent user name to this one. I think it can be difficult to reduce spending on unneeded things when you firt start.
Hi House fairy. Yes, if you are in the mindset of spending it's difficult to get out of the habit. At least a thread like that makes people think more about what they buy, whether they need the item or not.
DeleteHi Ilona, Did you make that trellis or buy it? I wish I knew how to make one like that because I could use that for my bean plants in the garden.
ReplyDeleteHi. By trellis do you mean the canes I have stuck in the boxes, and tied with string to the cross bar near the top? It's just 18 canes fastened with string. I have also put two lengths of string across, fastened to the garage at each end, to stop the canes from being blown about.
DeleteWow these are looking fantastic. Mine have only just poked their heads through the soil - guess its a mark of just how cold its been 'up North' :o)
ReplyDeleteThanks! In the picture it looked like the canes were on the wall behind the sunflowers.
ReplyDelete