Things that haven’t worked this year…
Sweet peas: they are spindly & stunted! They have tiny stems. And loads of plump green aphids. And mildew! As predicted in I love Sweet peas and Sweetpeas don’t love me!
I have finally pulled up the poles I put in the back bed as there are no sweet peas growing up there. I am going to give up cutting the ones in pots (too short-stemmed to put in vases) and let them go to seed – if there is any point in having mildew-prone, short stemmed seeds….
PS: August 6th update: got frustrated with them and pulled them up! Will maybe buy seedlings from Sarah Raven next year. But must ONLY get mildew-resistant ones.
Veg: as predicted in I can’t grow veg, I can’t do that either. I have grown beans that we failed to eat and are now so huge and hard I am working out how to save them as dried beans (all 10 of them). I have a trombocino that … well who knows really? And some unappealing-looking Swiss Chard that I don’t want to eat either. I’ve got some pea sprouts that have gone all hairy.
Let it go! Give up thinking you can sneak some in, because you can’t. Try and grow some parsley and don’t worry about the rest.
Sunflowers: this isn’t quite fair because they have grown – but they’ve also been eaten! (Unlike my vegetables). This has been a bumper year for snails – but I need to remember that things need to be really big and strong not to get eaten up as soon as they get planted out,
PS: August 6th update: cut them all down
Scabious: 6th August update: I have one scabious! Pic to follow
See also seedlings: the half way point and Chilli for some more failures. But Nicotiana for a rare success!
My Garden 