Roses: I am keeping up the fish emulsion to foliar feed roses and deter green fly plus have removed old hellebore leaves where I see green fly have populated on the under sides and wintered over.
orchid growers it is the time to re-pot now, use orchid mix for the best results, it takes the guess work out of wondering what to feed them.
Dew's are still wetting so the ground is still holding some moisture, scatter grass clippings around as mulch if your lawns have not been sprayed, they become good humus. I empty the catcher, then rake it about. So much spent spring growth in our garden needs cut back now, aquilegia's, forget-me-not, pansies, viola's and catmint, plus I have dug out all the pollyanthus to replant in a shady damp spot until next winter. Gaps will be filled with cosmos, poppies, petunias, dahlias and statice.
vegetable garden: Early morning soaking keeps moisture up through the day and helps with the germination of seeds. Successive planting can be kept up right through the Summer. If you must use spray's on your vegetables try an organic option or make your own natural sprays,The following plant leaves can be simmered in water and the resulting liquid used on plants. Basil will eliminate aphids, Chives prevent mildew occurring on cucumbers, squash and pumpkins. Coriander also for aphids and spider mite. Eucalyptus is a good general purpose insecticide. Rhubarb has been found to help prevent black spot. These may be only plants but in liquid form they can be harmful to children so keep marked bottles high up. I found that it is not a good idea to breath in fumes when bringing to the boil, keep doors and window open.
Companion planting is another option, some plants have been proven to help and enhance others so I will list what has worked. Carrots and onions together, celery and the brassica family, i.e.: cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli, marigolds and beans/brassicas.
Get corn and pumpkins in as soon as possible because they need a long growing and ripening season.
Fruit: Keep water up to currants an berries, lemons and fruit trees, it takes a lot out of a plant to fruit. There are specially prepared fertilisers for most plants with instructions for how much to apply and when. All fruiting trees and plants need a lot of water now to create juicy plump fruit, the amount of early spring rain we were lucky to get was perfect for a good start but it takes only a day of strong wind to zap moisture from the ground. Remember to cover your strawberries from birds, strawberry netting stretches out to cover a large area and does the job well, birds can strip gooseberries as well, thrown some frost cloth over them until you get a chance to pick them.
Keep food up to tomatoes as they grow, be sure to remove laterals of the taller growing variety and stake them to keep them upright as fruits get heaver. They should be flowering now waiting for the bee's to pollinate them. If your bees are few and far between on these overcast days you may have to take a hair drier into the glass house to gently blow the pollen around while leaves are dry.
Elder flower is blooming for the making of elder flower cordial, 25 elder flower heads zest and juice of 2 lemons and 1 orange
1.5 litres boiling water 1kg sugar 1 heaped teaspoon citric acid, leave sitting on paper for bugs to take off, place in large bowl with orange / lemon zest. Bring to boil, pour over flower heads and zest, cover, leave overnight. Strain, pour into a saucepan and add sugar, lemon /orange juice and citric acid. Heat gently to dissolve sugar then simmer for a couple of minutes, bottle (sterilized) and seal. Wonderful summer cocktail with fizzy water, ice and maybe a dash of gin.
Cheers, Linda
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