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episode hello everyone and welcome back
to gardening with then well it's
Wednesday we're halfway through the week
which means it's nearly time to get back
to the allotment and I can't say fast
enough roll on the weekend because I
can't wait to be back down in my
allotment and wow what a week it has
been so far I've obviously hit 10,000
followers on Instagram so you got that
bonus episode last night uh two episodes
in one day so once again thank you for
all those that do support me and that
have subscribed to this podcast and
listen to it on a regular basis it does
mean the world to me and everything that
I get from the ads goes back in towards
my allotment and being able to share
more tips and advice with you all and
sharing what I get up to so thanks for
those that are loyal supporters and that
have subscribed to it and yeah and
thanks for those that do message me
about the episodes it's great to hear
from you all and that you enjoy
listening to them
so what are we up to at the moment well
obviously I'm on night shifts at the
moment so I'm not getting down to the
allotment but I am getting planning on
what I'm doing at the weekend and stuff
like
that so when it comes to this time of
year it's great to start thinking about
what flowers you want to grow on your
alotment because flowers are the one key
thing that bring the
pollinators to your plot and to help you
get more produce and I've been going on
about that for quite a while now that
obviously growing flowers encourages the
Beast to the allotment and you will get
more produce from it and that is one key
thing that I've learned over the years
and I'm always looking at new things to
try growing on the allotment and
different flowers and stuff like that
and growing flowers is obviously a
fantastic part of it as well because
when you when you've got an allotment
and you're just growing fruit and veg it
can just be completely green because
there's not much color in it and all you
get is just a few flowers what form them
thing but it's mainly just a green color
so adding flowers to your allotment can
improve the color and the look of it and
make it really really nice and that is
what I'm doing mainly this year and
hopefully over the years to come as we
learn more about different flowers that
we can grow on the
allotment so what flowers are good
flowers to try and grow if you're a new
way that is a good question because
you've all got to start somewhere and I
tend to want to B grow all the flowers
from seed if possible uh if I do spot
Bargains in shops of plants I will buy
them and plant them because I'm trying
to get as many perennials as possible so
that I don't have to grow as many
flowers further down the line obviously
I'll still still be growing them but I
won't have to grow as many as I get more
perennials to fill the gaps in and keep
growing really because the perennials
come back year after year whereas a lot
of the ones that you grow from seed will
just be annuals and they'll just grow
for the year and need replacing the year
after so some fantastic flowers to try
and grow are obviously sweet peas which
I've talked about quite a lot in these
podcasts and they are one of the best
flowers that you can grow and they don't
take up much room whatsoever you just
need something to for them to grow up
against and you can be getting blooms
all the way through Summer and the more
you pick them the more flowers you will
get on them and your friends and family
will love you love here because you'll
be picking them literally every single
day cuz they produce that many flowers
on them and you can get a fantastic
return from the seeds that you purchase
some seeds can be quite expensive for
sweet peas but you can pick up some
bargain ones as well so have a look
around and see what seeds you want to
buy next up is sunflowers now sunflowers
are something that I've grown from a kid
really I've always been into growing
sunflowers for the joy of just seeing
how tall you can grow your sunflower and
with the right care and attention you
can get a massive sunflower going up 12
to 14 foot depending on how much you
actually look after it and it's all it's
enjoyment it's one that you can grow
with the kids if you've got children or
the grandchildren uh I've not got no
kids so I'm just growing it for the fun
of myself really uh which is always fun
and it it's great to see the color that
you get from the sunflower
and I've purchased 1,800 sunflower seeds
it's a mixed sunflower pack uh for this
year I purchased one last year and we
got some fantastic looking sunflowers in
them uh so I've purchased one again this
year so hopefully we can get a massive
array of sunflowers down at the
allotment this year to show off and for
you to enjoy uh in all the photos that
I'll be sharing of it uh but yeah
another good thing with sunflowers is
that they produce fantastic canes as
well uh once you let them dry out and
die off they'll become lock hard the
stalks and you can use them for canes
the year after if need to be uh say if
you're having to buy canes so the more
sunflowers you grow the more canes you
will have for the allotment and you can
use them that way as well so there's
always benefits in growing
sunflowers another good flour that I've
learned how to grow is geraniums now
geraniums are quite expensive to buy
from the shops uh for the amount that
you get in a pack of like six or
something and they actually really
really easy to grow um you don't get
many seeds in a packet uh but they are
fantastic and easy to grow and I've had
success year after year with geraniums I
really can't believe it now you can get
just set colors or you can get a mixed
bag uh depending on what you purchase
but all I'll be doing is sewing my seed
now and they will be flowering from like
August to October and I've dug all my
geraniums up what I planted last year
and I've put them in pots and put them
in the shed and they flowered all the
way through winter they're still
flowering to this day um my plot
neighbor keeps telling me that I need to
cut off these flower heads or they won't
shoot out at the bottom so I need to
listen to him soon and cut the flowers
off and let them start growing from the
bottom to Bush out a bit better but yeah
I really can't bear to cut them flowers
off because they're brightening up my
shed at the moment and it's absolutely
fantastic to see so I do love geraniums
and they don't take much care and
attention whatsoever you just snip the
top off once the flowers have died and
it'll
encourage to grow so if you've not tried
gr geraniums before go out and get a
packet and give them a try they are
really really easy to
grow now another good flower that I do
grow on my allotment which does bring
fantastic colors every time I grow or
kalunda and I can never say that word
right I don't know if I'm saying it
right to you uh but they you get so many
seeds in a packet for that one for the
price and they're extremely cheap and
the best thing about them is that they
just flow after flower after flower all
the way through Summer and Autumn and it
can add so much nice color to the plot
and the bees absolutely love them and
the best thing about kalunda is that if
you forget to chop the heads off once
they've died they'll go to seed and they
just set the seeds out everywhere they
fire the seeds off everywhere and some
allotment people say they're worse than
weed because they just set the seeds all
over the place but I don't care if this
flowers growing all over my plot I
really don't care because it's
attracting the bees and it's free
flowers
as well so that is one fantastic flower
to grow and I'll certainly be growing
some more this year if not there'll be
plenty popping up around the plot from
last year uh you can never get the ball
out but yeah one fantastic flower to
grow that is so I'll be growing some of
them and then there is I'm growing
gladiol eyes as well this year gladiol
eyes uh I purchased I think it was 100
bul 100 corns should I say they're not
called bulbs they're call corns glad
eyes 100 corns for 9 and they mixed bags
so all different colors and the thing is
with gladiol is you can plant the corns
now and they'll be flowering towards
July August
time and you can use them obviously for
vasas and stuff like that but you learn
to yet one flow on the corn so it's up
to you if you cut them off on I
certainly won't be cutting them off
um but they do stand proud in the uh
borders of your plot uh they look
absolutely fantastic and the color that
comes from them as well and I asked my
followers about cuz I'd read that you
meant to dig the corns up and store them
in a shed and then replant them the year
after but I asked my followers what they
they do and a lot of people just tend to
leave them in the ground and they come
year after year uh they just need to be
deep enough so that they don't get
affected by the frost and kill them off
uh but yeah gladi eyes are one of the
best things that you can grow on the
plot so yeah those are some of the
flowers what you can try and grow and
have success with let me know if it's
your first year in growing flowers I
always love to hear what everybody else
is doing and if I've encouraged you to
grow flowers let me know because I do
get enjoyment out of encouraging other
people to do stuff as well so I hope
that you have a f fantastic
Wednesday the weekend is nearly here uh
it's fast approaching thankfully and
hopefully this nice weather will
continue and hopefully I'm still hoping
for that heat wave in March so hopefully
we get one of those as well too so until
next time remember keep smiling keep
gardening and keep listening to
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