Not that I ever need an excuse for watering: but getting the hose onto the foxglove spires to kill the black fly is marvellous.  Andrew suggested it to me as a way of getting them off without ruining the spike. Aesthetically it’s far better to blast them off rather than having grey smears of dead bugs all over the pretty flowers.

I’ll happily squish green fly off the roses. but not the black beasts. It’s fun to do it to the broad beans too.

Mind you, I did a happy hour of watering, and woke up the next day to some good soaking rain. Ah well. All plants appreciate a drink.

I have strimmed and mowed the entire garden area, and the first terrace below the house. I started just after 8am and finished at 820pm.  That is an awfully long day with ear protectors clamped to one’s head.

The long day has to be understood as I am bagging up all the lawn clippings and taking them up to the top potager as a mulch.  I could probably win an hour at least if I just emptied the grass collector into the nearest compost pile.  But it’s all part of the recycling drive.

At least when I come back to the courtyard I can get a good strong whiff of roses.  They always seem to come out during Chelsea Flower show week.  Makes me feel like I belong to a vast army of gardeners; most of whom live in Britain where roses thrive.  But I’m rather proud of mine, as these endless shots show.

Well I must have done some gardening today: my fingernails are filthy. But without the prodding from the photographs in my blog file I don’t think I would remember.  I blame hayfever.  Addled brain from either too much sneezing or too many antihistamines.

Now I remember: cramming more baby spring onions into the already crowded onion and garlic bed. There isn’t a bit of space available.  Well, I do have a bit of a row ready for some more cleomes, but really it’s onions galore.

And keeping with the upright and green theme, I have planted twenty more eragrostis seedlings in the calabert garden.  The first group (proudly grown from seed) were too tiny to cope with the very cold weather last week. And I held back some forty or fifty more seedlings.  They are still in the potting shed sunbathing.

Next week I may plant them in their final destination – the bank below the pool.  It’s a very dry bank, parched really. So eragrostis might be the only thing that will thrive. Apart from weeds, sorry wildflowers.

The roses are almost but not quite out. They should be perfectly blooming by Thursday when all the house guests descend in droves. But for perfume, the wisteria is doing its best. 

Sunday may be the sabbath, but my work for the last two days has been a rather solid session of weeding.  A pleasant task if you start early enough in the morning, or wait until the sun leaves the lilac bed and under the wisteria before you get settled into a steady rhythm of pulling out weeds.

It’s one of those instant result things: perfectly neat crops emerge from the thicket of pesky weeds.  And my mania for straight rows tends to come out in the pictures.   My happiest result is finding that almost all the pasnips I sowed have germinated.  I couldn’t remember what parsnip seedlings looked like, so I had to wait until lots of exciting weeds germinated in the same area and then try and guess. 

And it wasn’t that hard. The parsnip leaves are thick and glossy and weeds never grow in such straight lines.

I know it’s mad but I have to start cramming the crops in now: and I have sixty cleome flowers to fit in somewhere.  As this onion and garlic bed may be the first to clear in June, I thought this might be a good place to plunk the flowers.

I never counted on cleomes germinating as they are maddingly difficult. They either germinate quickly and then rot, or just sulk so long in the pots that you give up and relegate them to the far distant corner of the potting bench and forget to water them.  But with a great amount of dumb luck I have sixty of them, up and bursting.  So they are going to sit next to the parsnips for a bit.  I don’t think it’s a combo ever been attempted before, but we shall see.  And with all the self sown cosmos popping up everywhere in this vegetable bed it may be a riot of colour later.

I put in the night scented stocks that were getting leggy in their pots. They are crammed around the parsley, oregano and a few lilies in the bean andpea quadrant.  And added lots of coriander confetti plants to the edge of the climbing beans.  Shade is going to help them from bolting, but I have no idea if I’ll get enough height and bulk from the beans to warrant this planting scheme. It was a day of we shall see.

The most challenging project has been to weed what I call the stipa bed. It’s the annoying patch at the end of the lawn that divides the vegetable garden from the rest.  And I had plans for a large thicket of verbena bonariensis to deliniate the two. Lots of plants up in the first year, lots of cuttings taken in the autumn to add to the hedge in the spring.  But the cuttings rotted and froze, and the hedge has not worked.  I’ve lost eighty percent of the plants this winter. And I know they are short lived perennials,but they just don’t self seed as well as I had hoped.  I weeded very carefully along the hedge edge and made sure I didn’t yank out any of the babies,  but there’s still only a few spots of vb among the very bald patch.

This area is crying out for a more evergreen hedge.  But I am reluctant to commit to something that will be invasive, have roots that dry out the soil, and steal light from the vegetable garden.  I’m leaning towards a beech hedge. But may just go for a line of euphorbia wulfennii plants and link the ones that grow so well at the end of the herb garden.

There are plenty of blank spaces here now that I have weeded. And I do have dozens and dozens of verbena bonariensis seedlings growing away in the potting shed. They germinate like mad in the controlled environment of moist soil in seed trays.   So I may try and cram in some of those and gaura plants that I’m growing on as well.   It will solve the August problem of how to make things look pretty, but won’t solve the May and June blank canvas issue.  And because of the spring that lurks nearby on this terrace the plants have to be sun loving and not mind a moist environment as well.  Don’t think there’s a chapter on that in my RHS plant books.

I dead headed most of the tulips which are now over. And tried to halt the advance of ivy and brambles in the lilac bed.

So now, Sunday night I can happily say that most of the areas of the garden are weeded. Lightly.

Next week it’s the mighty mow and strim sessions. And a spot of landscaping of the duck pond area.  And probably more weeding. Those plants tend to pop back up when your back is turned.

The plants have had their first water this week.  And what a delightful task it is too.  I didnt’ finish until almost 9pm, but as it was still light I just couldn’t put away the hose.  Tomorrow I will finish the watering of the courtyard roses, the lilac bed, and the shade garden. But for now I’m pleased the lower vegetable bed has had a good drink.

I was late starting as a visiting EDF van managed to get bogged up at our walnut tree.  Quite how he managed it I’m not sure, but he was hooning up the road looking for Jean Daniel’s house and he managed to skid off the track.  Boy racers and dirt roads with soft verges really don’t mix.  He was chirpy and didn’t seem terribly fazed. And neither was I, out came the rope and the planks and the water bottle to distract him while Jean Daniel raced back from the village and towed him out.

We don’t have the particular towing hook on the front of our car, and I’m relieved we don’t have to take that responsibility.  I could just picture him ripping the branches off the walnut tree as he sawed and heaved his wheels all the wrong way.  Most diverting.

Anway, my work is done for the day and I’m already plotting what needs doing on the morrow. There’s lots o’ weeding to be done on the very end of the vegetable bed where the verbena hedge used to live.  And the stipa garden needs sorting.

I did actually have a teensy mow of the road too today. Just to pick up the cut grass from our neighbour’s strimmer. And to do one edge. I have heaps to cut but I don’t want to do it too soon and be obliged to cut again before next Thursday’s guests.  Goodness, I’m becoming a lawn bore.

Now that’s the weather one yearns for.  Sunny, no wind, barely a breeze and the only thing in the air is the scent of wisteria blossom. Perfect. I even had to take my shoes and socks off when I vacuumed the pool. The heat coming up from the tiles was impressive. But then the ants found my toes and I had to bid a hasty retreat. But at least I tried. I like these ‘firsts’.  First shoes off, first poppies in the wildflower garden, first bight of sunburn on the back of the neck. I shan’t go on.

Sowing seeds this morning wasn’t a first. But a necessary start to the day as I had lost so many squash.  So in went winter squash, and then spinach and beetroot, both red and white varieties. I hadn’t planned on sowing more, but after weeding the radish and beetroot bed I was amazed at how poor the germination in the ground actually was. Not the radish, they are like weeds, but the beetroot.  So in went another forty up in their little warm incubated trays and here’s hoping.

I also managed to get some proper netting for the brassicas up at the top vegetable garden: and not before time. I spotted my first cabbage white butterfly today. Pests.

But no sign of deer or hare or any other critter. It’s that eery calm when you think you are going to be predator free this year.  In fact the only predator in the broad bean area is me. I just can’t resist pinching the tips and scoffing endless juicy leaves.

In the afternoon it actually felt too hot to work. But this being only day two of the weeding frenzy I just took myself off to the shade garden and worked my way in.

It’s exciting how healthy so many of the once spindly plants are this year. I have towering digitalis (complete with healthy affliction of black fly), lupins, gladiolus, geraniums galore, and thalictrum that are almost as tall as me.  Well, that’s an exaggeration, but the wet weather this month has coaxed a growth spurt that would make anyone proud.  To help them further I have cleared out a lot of weeds lurking underneath. That pesky sticky long plant that winds its way everywhere. Most effective in getting me to curse and walk about with tendrils sticking to my shoes.

Next up I shall take some santolina cuttings and maybe try some more gauras as well. I need to bulk out my plants and the seeds I have sown are a week or so off pricking out at least.

Back after a week away. I missed the worst of the wet and the cold, but have a tail end of a nasty mistral wind blowing today.  It looks set to improve from tomorrow, and my plants will be grateful.

I know you aren’t meant to anthropomorphise and all, but the word huddle just about sums up the state of my tomatoes, aubergines and other potager plants.  Blasted by wind, cold and wet.   They have put on very little growth and look a bit black around the leaves. Do we blame the Icelandic volcanic ash yet?

Can’t blame the state of the road on anything but rootling wild boars mind you.  They are getting close. This is just above the house near the walnut trees. Goodness only knows what nourishment they were looking for underneath a sandy no plants grow here road.

This morning I decided that the best way to escape the wind (until it warmed up) was to get into the potting shed and give it a well deserved spring clean. It took hours.  But it’s done, it’s neat and I now will keep a lot of my too small seedlings in here for a bit rather than risking them outdoors.

This cold wet weather has brought out a very rare enemy in the phalanx of attackers in the garden: the slug. Or snail. I haven’t found any to kill so I’m not blaming one or the other. But slime trails around the base of all but one of my squashes lends itself in their direction.  Annoying.  So I am putting little plastic bottle cloches over what’s left and hope for the best. Oh, yes, and they ate all but one of my cucumbers as well. 

Needless to say, now that I have a pristine working environment I lost no time in sowing more replacements.  In went cucumber seeds, squash seeds, plus a few trays of sunflowers (autumn beauty and Italian white).  I have two more packets of squash seeds to do later. But right now I want to tie up all the sweet peas that have put on growth and get them going up the poles.  And maybe start on some weeding. It’s a bit of a weedy wonderland out there. Where to begin? It’s a toss up between the courtyard gravel garden or the blackberry bushes.  Maybe I’ll toss a coin.

Pause here while we admire the first of the Gertrude Jekyll roses out at long, long last.

*****

I did the blackberries and the rest of the soft fruit.  The greedy me took over: which would I prefer to have? Easy access to fruit or a clear expanse of gravel.  It took ages and I managed to find the nettles and the brambles. But the blueberries, the jostaberries, white currants, black currants and yes, the blackberries are now weed free.  Huge volumes of weeds resulted in this mighty task.

No pictures yet, except for this before shot of the white currant drowning in weeds. I’ll take some tomorrow morning.

Other chores today included finishing the netting on the lower left quadrant of the potager: a playful job in the mistral wind, but I have threaded long bamboo poles down the bottom of the nets to hold them down.

And I have added more Cavallo Nero brassicas to the top left quadrant of the veggie bed.  I found them bursting out of their pots up in the shed this morning, and decided that if I hauled out some of the lurking leeks, I could fit a dozen more under one of the now freed up cloches.

Why do I call them chores? These tasks today were a delight. A whole day devoted to gardening; what could be better? And weeding does give one a satisfied feeling once the hand stops throbbing and you ignore the blister forming on the secateur hand. Tomorrow I shall do the courtyard and get the netting up on the top brassica rows.

I even managed to have a few of my first crop today: strawberries. Half a dozen of very sweet and very tasty fruits. Lots of budding berries this year which is amazing considering what they put up with over the winter. But they aren’t dainty fruit. Why, I even found a small crop growing under the monster clematis under the vines.  I’m trying to get this clematis to reach for the dizzy heights of the courtyard above; but it resists.

Irises in the courtyard, now that’s a treat.  These came from a sale at the museum of garden history in one of those temptation moments. But I don’t regret it now. Very fetching.

And now I’m back indoors and I have managed to do everything but the horse manure. Amazing how one can prevaricate.  I have planted out squash, courgettes, zuccinno, nasturtiums and marigolds. I have watered lavishly (despite there being a drizzle of rain) and paid special attention to the newly planted coriander from yesterday. As well as soaking all the soft fruit trees. They are full of fruit and need just a few more weeks before they ripen.

And I have netted the brassicas and swiss chard up at the top vegetable plot. A bit of a dog’s breakfast as the netting I (expensively) purchased wasn’t ten metres by two metres as it proported on the label. Too narrow. So I have had to patch up with nets in the shed.

The shed is definitely a work in progress: I have to haul out all the plants for the next two weeks, and fuss and worry over the smaller seedlings that won’t take an outside venture. I must text Nicolas and ask him to water them as well.

And now I am confined to the house for a few hours. The temperature has dropped, the drizzling has picked up and I have been forced to light the fire.

But linger on my lovely grafted aubergines.  I’m not sure they are happy in this cold weather, but they must lurk and hopefully put on growth.

Under grey and threatening skies, I have raked like billy-o. First up Jean Daniel’s future potager. A close cropping of the grass, and then a carpet of three of my largest weed proof fabrics. They will go down for the summer (and hopefully not get blown away).

I need to remove the big tree, but can’t shift it on my own.  I managed the branches but have to put that on the to do list later this month.  But I must go back up with my wire cutters and get rid of the last random fencing.  But I was on a roll with the rake. So went down to the duck pond.

It aint pretty close up, but from a distance is looks like a rough bit o lawn.  I raked, then actually went down and hauled out the mower to get an even closer crop.  I’ll leave it for a bit and see what happens.

The wildflowers are just starting to come out on the edge of the lawn, that was a fetching sight as I wheeled my overflowing barrow all the way up to the top potager. Za chyem? Because I am using the big strimmings as a mulch to cover the weed proof mulch. Overkill? Well it may look prettier.

One good thing about all this raking; I am looking more carefully at trees and my surroundings as I have to stretch in between heroic scrapes of the rake.  And I can’t believe that the mirabelles have so much fruit already. They produced so much last year I just assumed this year the poor trees will be having a rest.  But it looks quite promising right now. Tiny little fruitlets.

Right. A light luncheon and then out with the sturdy barrow again to collect all the horse manure on the lower terraces. Oh joy.

Weeding around the fruit trees; that was an early afternoon chore that yielded pleasing results. The weather isn’t balmy, but warm enough to shed a few fleeces while I attended to the orchard.

To my distress, the peach leaf curl is back again. That despite chopping down  all the diseased peach trees up near the house two years ago. But it must lurk in the soil, despite my best efforts.  I spent a good bit of time picking off every infected leaf on the two trees – peach and nectarine.  The apple trees are unaffected.

I weeded around the area, rebuilt some of the wire supports, and generally made it look like a neat orchard again.  The three soft fruit trees were also tidied up. And I did the olives. No picture of those little trees – they disappear into the background of general weediness on that little bank.  But it gave me an idea for a later project: remove most of the accumulated soil from the olive tree bank and sort out the levels in the east garden lawn.