The Wilde Carrot Diaries

As I sit at our kitchen table, listening to talk of the war in Ukraine and Russia’s nuclear threats on the radio, having had a broken night with a seven-year-old with Covid which sent his temperature spiralling, I am looking out onto our garden, offering a little corner of peace. On the last day of…

Plot 1a

Carrots and Calendula started out as a blog about my garden, but at the end of last year – after being on the waiting list for five years – I finally got an allotment. Plot 1a is completely overgrown but in a beautiful spot on the South Downs. Yesterday afternoon I even had a good…

Six on Saturday: Fresh Start

I have been feeling quite overwhelmed in the garden lately, what with the weird weather watering the weeds and making it less appealing to garden. Hence the radio silence on SOS. But two things happened this week to inspire me to make a fresh start. The first was visiting the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower…

Six on Saturday: Coming up roses

The garden is in full flow now even though this year I haven’t had as much time to devote to it. It seems to be happily doing it’s thing anyway and in June this means roses. I suppose I am happily reaping the rewards of previous years’ planting. In fact the new roses I added…

In a vase on Monday: June flowers

It’s been a long time since I joined in with IAVOM but this morning I was up early with our sixth month old cockapoo and the June flowers were looking so lovely I couldn’t resist. This simple glass vase is just filled with flowers from the border behind it. A backdrop of fern fronds with…

Six on Saturday: Late May

The garden is late in every sense this year. This time last year roses were blooming and everything was parched. This year the plants are happy with their wet feet but many are only just coming into flower. My gardening season has been delayed as well but now we have a warm sunny bank holiday…

Six on Saturday: the romantic garden

I have still to get my gardening mojo on this year. It’s gone from being cold and dry to cold and wet. There’s been the occasional splash of sunshine but I’ve remembered about slugs and snails and I’m fearing for my sweet peas. The garden is loving all the rain though after the extended dry…

Six on Saturday: May Day

Something very dangerous happened yesterday – I was left alone in a garden centre for an hour while Baxter went for a ‘puppy pamper’ in the attached dog grooming spa. Much money was spent on plants. Was there any forethought or planning? Who am I kidding, I just bunged one of everything I liked into…

Six on Saturday: The Sociable Cutting Garden

Until now I have referred to our four metre by metre raised beds as my Front Garden Allotment, but this year I am shifting focus to growing flowers for cutting. I am calling it the Sociable Cutting Garden because there is always someone to chat to as they pass by or our neighbours, or at…

Six on Saturday: Cold and dry

I don’t know about your part of the world, but here in Sussex, England we haven’t had proper rain for weeks (a smattering of snow last weekend but no rain). It has also been extremely chilly even in the sunshine and dropping to freezing at night and the plants are not very happy. Growth is…