Veg Plotting

  Rubber ducks lined up outside my local Lidl*, why? I don't mind because they gave me a giggle on the way home from the physiotherapist the other day. My guess is they're something to do with the virtual duck race Springboard School are running, but I could be wrong. There's news on our local Facebook group this morning that chocolate's appeared on the same route home and also in John Coles Park . Perhaps someone's on a mission to cheer up Chippenham? The mystery continues... * = NAH and I call it our corner shop seeing it's such a short walk away 😂

The snowdrops are finally coming to the fore this week, does anyone else think they're later this year? Of course I could be comparing them to years when they've been early 😉 Early, late or on time, they're still most welcome. The photo above shows some of the snowdrops I planted over twenty years ago - the first time I'd tried my hand at guerrilla gardening. They form a welcome to the shared space on our part of the estate and it gives me a warm feeling when I hear local walkers saying how pretty they are. Last year I was gifted two huge carrier bags full of snowdrops in the green, so I've taken the opportunity for some experimental planting in gravel having seen some of mine have self seeded themselves there elsewhere in the garden. We have two narrow strips of gravel which border our front drive and the path which leads through to the back. I planted lots of small clumps there and I'm thrilled they've come back this year to welcome us home. The rest I ad

I must have picked up the housplant week vibes (which ends today) because I've spent lots of time tending to my houseplants. This chilli 'Basket of Fire' is one of my more unusual specimens and I'm pleased to say it's now entering its third year of cultivation. It can be a bit rampant, but a severe haircut soon brings it back under control. The last one was back in November and as you can see it's ready to give me plenty of chillis for 2023. A sunny windowsill is all it seems to need and I'm growing mine in a self watering pot, so only an occasional top up is needed at this time of the year. I'm pretty frugal with feeding it too. I've also been tidying up the houseplants on our shady bathroom windowsill. They've been suffering from scale which is proving tricky to eliminate, so the unrescuable ones have gone, hence the empty pots awaiting fresh plants. Don't be alarmed by the jade plant on the left. This is a bit of an experiment as it had go

Happy New Year! It's a gorgeous day here at VP Gardens , so I've been out planting hope in one of the large pots in my front garden. It currently has some deep red Alstromeria , which more than takes care of the summer, but I reckon these daffodil and tulip bulbs are just the thing for spring. You may think these are rather late to plant, but I've checked the bulbs and they're still sound. Fingers crossed for some frosts and they'll still perform magnificently, though probably a couple of weeks later than if I'd planted them last autumn. I've also looked around the garden this morning and there are plenty of signs of other bulbs pushing their noses through the soil. It's always a good time to do this when the nights are at their longest because it all adds to that feeling of hope. Let's face it we all need as much of that as we can get these days. More floral hope can be found by taking part in this year's New Year Plant Hunt , which ends tomorro