John's Gardening Diary (01/05/20)

Daffodils are mostly passed so they all had a sprinkling of Nitrogen to build up reserves in bulbs; leaf will be allowed another month to grow before cutting back.

Started spraying roses and hollyhocks for black-spot and rust respectively. This is a protective mildewicide and will be carried out at regular intervals throughout the summer. You will have gathered that I am not an organic gardener but spraying is only carried out where absolutely necessary and not where a pest can be left for natural predators.

Planted out broad bean Sutton – a dwarf variety that requires no staking. Decided to start the seeds in cells since germination had been a bit patchy of late. The 5mm of rain on Wednesday night came just at the right time for them and freshened up the whole garden – more please.

Laid out freesia for summer flowering. The corms were started in the greenhouse in March and have been hardening off in the cold frame. It is a bit early for planting out so a frost watch will be maintained for them – pressure for room prompted this move. Wire circles in pic are to support the slender flower stems when they appear.