First batches of sweet peas go in the propagator for the 2026 season.
4 December 2025
Autumn cuttings out of the propagator to make room for the sweet pea sowing! Carnations, pinks and pelargoniums.
1 December 2025
An autumn task has been clearing the beds and adding woodchip. 56 wheelbarrows shifted so far – from trees we had pollarded or from wind damage. I just need to dig it all in now!
20 November 2025
Dahlia tubers trimmed to about 15cm, dug and roughly cleaned/labelled before putting into crates for drying in the greenhouse. After drying for a few weeks, they will have their final inspection, trim and clean before being stored in a frost-free garage until needed next season.
1 November 2025
Final harvests of apples, crab apples and medlars.
1 November 2025
Autumn and the clearing up begins – gladioli corms drying in trays in the greenhouse. These will be cleaned up when fully dry – and made ready for replanting next year.
10 October 2025
I can’t believe it – the final few days of my 2025 dahlia season. A stand of Fairplace Amber with blooms coming out for the next few days. These are in the most sheltered spot at the back of the plot – many other plants are now blown over or broken down on the exposed side of the plot – with 8 out of the past 12 days recording gusty winds well in excess of 30mph. Thank goodness, I just about made it to the end of the August shows with the plants intact! Sadly, not much left for the final two shows of the season at Street and Yeovil.
11 August 2025
A lot of colour now emerging in the main bed of 200 plants – should have something for the August shows! In the end, I peaked at a cut of 44 vases for the Cornwall Dahlia show at Heligan over the Bank Holiday weekend. Smaller cuts for the following week at Downton & South Wilts see me nearly finish the bed.
11 August 2025
A week to go before my first of the August shows – at Taunton and Castle Cary. A few mediums coming along – Ryecroft Helen and Fairplace Lesley. Fingers crossed for two vases of three…!
27 July 2025
‘Fairplace Firecracker‘ has a few too many wayward petals to make much headway on the show bench, but I love the colour, especially on a dull day after some rain.
22 July 2025
At last, some rain! Amazing how much difference a few millimetres of rain makes. One of my seedlings – collerette ‘Fairplace Betty‘ producing some nice blooms, after struggling with the earlier hot conditions.
22 July 2025
What a strange year! After a week away, it has been a bit of a struggle to keep the dahlias going in the 30+ degree heat and dry weather. Some plants looking very stressed, with the leaves on some varieties wilting or burnt (not due to me watering in sunshine, I should add!). Wasps by the hundred – attacking the plants for the sap. The hot weather never stops the weeds though! Have been tying plants in today as wind is now forecast.
15 July 2025
What I loosely describe as my Taunton dahlia bed – the 95-odd dahlias destined for the early shows at Castle Cary and Taunton. There is always a bit of a ‘will they – won’t they’ make it at this stage. I have only just started to secure buds and it usually takes about 3-4 weeks until the blooms are ready. But in this heat, they may come on a bit quicker. The wasps have been a real pain in the hot weather.
3 July 2025
I have given the old-fashioned sweet peas a few waterings to fatten up the seed pods, and they now just need to dry off before harvesting for next year.
3 July 2025
That’s it for this year. A very short season in the end, but I can’t keep up the sweet pea watering in this heat and such dry weather – so just the three shows. Now to concentrate water resources on the dahlias – as they’ve been rather neglected and have been sulking in the hot dry conditions!
22 June 2025
Off to the show we go! Too packed in the car really – but my first attempt at transporting blooms for 24 vases of 15 stems. I will need to take fewer, or plan for a van next year!
22 June 2025
A quick picture of Bristol, taken just before the New Forest Sweet Pea show. Keeping the water on them with 30 degree heat is very hard. Not sure the decision not to layer for the National worked this year, but they made it to three shows in the end.
22 June 2025
What a difference a year makes – the sweet peas are far more advanced than at the same time in 2024. The first colour appears by about 15th May. They are terribly weedy, but that’s partly lack of effort on my part but also acts as a bit of a mulch to keep the base of the plant cool/moist in the dry weather. It doesn’t look pretty, but seems to work!
10 May 2025
It’s the beginning of May, and space is at a premium. The ‘big sort’ of dahlias starts, as they are removed from greenhouses to harden off and are sorted into varieties ready for planting.
10 May 2025
A few Old-Fashioned Mix being planted.
1 April 2025
The sweet peas are now putting on a bit of growth, having had the tops pinched out a few weeks ago.
18 March 2025
The ‘Season of the Sticks’ – getting ready for sweet pea planting.
18 March 2025
Most of our veg are going to be in containers this year – for a variety of reasons! First peas and broad beans in!
18 March 2025
The sweet peas will need to be moved outside very soon – and the date for pinching out the tops is rapidly approaching…. if I am to generate flowers for mid-June shows.
10 February 2025
The very first of the dahlia cuttings now underway. A favourite time of the year. If only the weather would improve so I could get on with outside jobs!
10 February 2025
A sneaky look inside the double-height propagator where the large leeks are starting to move on a bit now. Unfortunately, they will have to be kicked out into the greenhouse soon – when seed sowing and dahlia cuttings get fully underway.
27 January 2025
There is plenty to do in the greenhouse. I have been pricking out parsley, onions and leeks. The first batch of chrysanthemum cuttings is now outside the propagator – just being allowed to ‘stabilise’ for a couple of days before potting up.
27 January 2025
With the weather so bad outside it is difficult to do anything on the ground so the usual winter ground preparation and fruit tree pruning is well behind schedule – but I did manage to plant a few shallots and tidy up pots of blueberries (using ericaceous compost) and some pot roses – mostly miniatures.
27 January 2025
All the main batches of sweet peas are now in the cold greenhouse. I can cover with fleece if needed, but the aim is to grow them under fairly tough conditions at this stage.
6 January 2025
A very cold morning – 6C. Sunrise over the orchard. The eagle-eyed will spot that some tidying up is needed on the dahlia seedling beds in the foreground- but plenty of time for that.
6 January 2025
The dahlias have been moved into the greenhouse from their storage location in the garage. They need a bit more tidying up. There is minimal heat on so far – with more cold weather forecast they are safer here than where they were!
6 January 2025
The first batch of sweet peas (Jilly) are out of the propagator – and stabilising in the frost-free insulated greenhouse before transferring to the cold greenhouse in a couple of weeks, unless we get a really cold snap!
20 December 2024
The leek pips that I ordered a while back have arrived and have been placed in a propagator (set at 18c) with 12 hours per day under grow lights. This is experimental for me – the first year I’ve had a go at long blanch leeks (Pendle). I am expecting to put the extension on the propagator in a week or two to allow them to stretch up!
10 December 2024
Mid-December and it is time for sweet pea sowing – with the aim of having them out of the propagators (set at 18c) as early as possible in the New Year – the change in climate means that I don’t do early autumn sowings anymore. Once the propagators are free of sweet peas, the chrysanthemum & dahlia cuttings will start to take their place along with any other seed sowing. (The Kelsae onion seed have already been squeezed into a corner!)
10 December 2024
People often ask me how I store my dahlias. With heavy frosts now on the greenhouse and the tubers dry enough to store, they’ve now made the move to the back of a (frost-free) stone garage block. They are stored in a variety of crates – some of which I have had for 30 years. There is no other packing, but they will have some old curtains on top of them for the worst of the winter. I check every so often to make sure they are ok.
20 November 2024
Dahlias processed (cleaned of soil, trimmed and labelled) and finishing drying in the greenhouse – very nearly ready to transfer to the (frost free) shed for storage.
15 November 2024
Oh dear, what a mess! This was the Taunton dahlia bed after the tubers have been removed – many of them will be heading to Yeovil Late Chrysanthemum Show and Tuber Sale. The tubers are drying in the greenhouse before being cleaned up for the sale or for storage. The bed now needs weeding and turning – it will be left fallow over the winter before it is prepared again next spring. Only 300 or so left to dig up!
24 October 2024
Not quite sure what I’m going to do with these pumpkins (Dill’s Atlantic Giant) – each weighs about 30kg, and they were grown (and neglected) on last year’s compost heap. Grown for fun – and a bit of a display/talking point in the driveway! We prefer to eat our butternut squash!
24 October 2024
The big dahlia dig begins. Finally got around to starting on the bed of dahlias grown for Taunton Show. So that’s the first 100 lifted I’m very pleased with the size of the tubers on Fairplace Lesley and Fairplace Firecracker – these were plants that produced blooms for Taunton Show at the beginning of August, with cuttings taken in March. Shows how big a dahlia tuber can get in just a single year! 4 tubers filled the crate! I need to dry and tidy them for storage now…
24 October 2024
End of the road? It’s now well into October and despite a few ground frosts in the orchard the dahlias are still blooming. These Fairplace Lesley have been flowering since the beginning of August – these plants were used for the Taunton show! I will be lifting the first few tubers of some varieties shortly as they will be heading to Yeovil Dahlia tuber sale and they need to dry out. The rest, such as these, will be left in the ground to put on weight for as long as the frost keeps at bay.
12 October 2024
Wow! Our first frost and only 13 of September (a milder one the night before, but no picture taken).
14 September 2024
Not strictly in the garden – this was staged in the kitchen. A bit of fun staging some dahlias – with pretty much the last cut of the season. The weather has not been kind to the plants and these are best viewed from a distance! From left to right (back row) Hillcrest Charlie, Taratahi Ruby, Alf’s Mascot, (mid) Blyton Softer Gleam, Mary’s Jomanda, (front) Blyton Stella, Josudi Hercules (centre nearest) Gurtla Twilight.
8 September 2024
Summer near the Somerset levels! – strong winds through August destroyed some of the dahlia covers and damaged around 70 plants.
31 August 2024
The smaller of the two main dahlia plots a few days before the Taunton and Castle Cary shows. After a strange and late start to the season, dahlias in the Taunton bed came through ok.
1 August 2024
The top of the sweet peas at the end of the 2024 season (after heavy rain).
5 July 2024
A slightly different angle of the garden – looking very lush and (mainly) green as we head into July.
1 July 2024
Late evening in the garden – end of June. Sweet peas are in full bloom – nearly 600 of them across 16 varieties. I managed to get my timing right for the Early Sweet Pea National Show at Wisley on 26-27 June – they reached a peak the weekend before the week of the show. All seed was spring-sown (given the change in weather patterns). I don’t layer the plants for several reasons – which I won’t delve into here.
June 2024
My first year trying fully biodegradable tape to secure the sweet pea stems to the canes. It’s less flexible than ‘traditional’ plastic tapes (the brown version of the tape is a little thicker). So far, so good!
11 June 2024
An experiment in the smaller greenhouse using ‘Autopots’ – an automatic watering system. It is gravity fed from a water tank also containing liquid feed. I am fascinated to see how the plants do.
11 June 2024
The first colour is showing on the sweet peas. A little later than in 2023. The dull wet weather in May has made the plants put on good growth, but it has not been warm or sunny enough to bring on the flowers. Fingers crossed we can make it to the early shows!
1 June 2024
Early days in the dahlia beds – all plants are now in the ground and many are showing signs of growth.
1 June 2024
The first few dahlia cuttings have now made their way outside (but with some cover overhead). A few plants of Rosemary Dawn (Large Pom).
3 May 2024
Full capacity has been reached in greenhouses, small poly tunnel, cold frames etc. So …no choice but to start putting plants outside on tables to harden off – with some fleece at the ready! The capacity problems will ease as soon as some plants make their way to Castle Cary and Street plant sales in a week or two. Planting out in our own garden can then also quicken pace.
3 May 2024
Not looking very impressive at this stage – with wet and windy conditions – but most of the sweet peas are now in the ground. Photo taken before I start to tie them in and tidy things up. The slugs and weeds are thriving everywhere!
7 April 2024
Most of my pots of daffodils are now over, but the tulips in pots by the patio look great.
7 April 2024
The greenhouse is full, and plants are spilling out into the small polytunnel – which is giving them some protection from the wind and rain. Most of these are destined for the garden but a few will make it to our local garden club plant sale.
1 April 2024
My first show of the season – Broadwey and Upwey. Took enough blooms from the small polytunnel to stage 20 vases of dafs plus this container of mixed daffodils.
18 March 2024
Dahlia cuttings are now well underway. I have about 360 in the propagators at this stage, with roughly 800 to go. I take lots of spares, for pot tubers, plant sales and replacement varieties in case some of my primary ‘banker’ varieties fail to generate enough cuttings. I will aim to plant about 400 this year.
14 March 2024
Daffodils in pots now coming into full bloom. Hoping to find a few blooms for upcoming spring shows at Broadwey and Keynsham. This small tunnel can then be used to protect other plants, currently starting off life in the greenhouse.
12 March 2024
A busy time in the garden. The very first pot of dahlia cuttings is now out of the propagator – Hillcrest Charlie, Tracy Diane, and 2x Ruskin Andrea. Ready to pot up.
There are a further 300 early dahlia cuttings settled into the propagators, with the main batches ready to be taken in a few weeks. I am about on track for this stage in the year.
11 March 2024
Very difficult (wet!) conditions this year, so difficult to prepare the ground. I have just about managed to do the first tidy of the sweet pea and dahlia beds. The posts are starting to go up for the sweet pea cordons.
28 February 2024
First batch of sweet peppers are up, always an exciting time as the seedlings emerge.
3 February 2024
With more sweet peas this year I will grow fewer dahlias. I need to start them a week or two later to get the sweet peas through the propagators and into the cold greenhouse – so it is a juggling act! The first signs of life on the pot tubers from Halls. I will be running about two to three weeks later than normal for taking cuttings – but there is plenty of time.
31 January 2024
The onions were sown just before Christmas and pricked out into modules in January- a mix of large and smaller varieties including Fasto, Toughball, Red Flash, Ailsae and Kelsae, as well as a few leeks (Mammoth).
31 January 2024
The start of a new season and the fun begins – a few of the 500 or so cordon sweet peas I aim to grow this year! I am growing around 30 plants each of 14 or 15 varieties.
31 January 2024
Nearing the end of the season – the charm chrysanthemums have finally come into flower on the patio. This is Jenny Wren. Hopefully, they will survive the first hard frosts and will keep flowering into early December. Most of the other early-flowering and late-flowering chrysanthemums are safely tucked up in the greenhouse. We will soon be thinking of getting ready to take cuttings for next year!
22 November 2023
At the end of September – the apples and pears in the orchard are looking good. Quite a heavy crop on this medlar – ‘Nottingham’. Destined to be turned into medlar jelly in late November/early December.
1 October 2023
At the beginning of September – staging at Dorset County Show. A full car of flowers and some veg – all from the garden.
5 September 2023
After posting about hot dry weather…… we have had very strong winds and lots of rain. Just managed to put up some covers. This was the first opportunity to inspect the damage after being busy at Castle Cary and Taunton flower shows. Quite a few bent & broken stems – always disheartening to see. Not much you can do to tie up 1m+ plants against 30-40mph winds! That said, Taunton and Cary were very enjoyable and there are still plenty of stems coming for the next shows.
8 August 2023
Not a photo taken in the garden, but very pleased to pick up a few first places at the National Sweet Pea Society early show at Shepperton. A long overnight drive hampered by road closures, but an enjoyable day! The sweet pea season has been very early this year, so I am not sure the sweet peas will last much longer – given the sustained period of dry & hot weather.
2 July 2023
Cuttings starting to come out of the propagator in larger numbers now. These were potted up yesterday. Particularly pleased to have a reasonable batch of orange small decorative dahlia ‘Roger’s Choice’ – a sport of Sheval Megan secured by Roger Downting. I aim to grow a fair number of these this season, together with Sheval Megan, in the small dec division.
14 April 2023
Starting to plant out the sweet peas now – a double row of Gwendoline. A bit mixed in terms of quality. Hail storms over the past few days have left them a bit battered. Unfortunately, we also lost some plants due to a couple of deer that managed to break into the garden and decided to nibble 50-60 plants. But, hopefully, we’ll have enough left to complete the 200 cordons planned for this year, and they’ll pick up once the weather becomes more settled.
14 April 2023
Remiss of me not to take any photos of the daffodils and spring flowers in the garden this year. So here is a picture of my container of mixed spring flowers which I exhibited at the Dorset Spring Show.
3 April 2023
The first dahlia cuttings of the season, taken on 23 January, are stretching up and look like they are nearly ready to pot up. Will leave a few days yet, as appearances can be deceptive! These 5 plants of Mary Margaret Rowe (med Dec)& Kilburn Glow (Wat) will likely be used as ‘mother’ plants (to generate more cuttings). Cuttings mix is equal parts perlite, horticultural sand and multipurpose compost, rooted in a Geopod set at 19 degrees with T5 grow lights to boost light levels.
17 February 2023
Inside the propagator, in the main greenhouse, everything is starting to get underway. Chrysanth cuttings and the first few dahlia cuttings (to be used as mother or stock plants)
6 February 2023
Sweet peas sown in January (with heat) are now all transferred into the cold greenhouse with the door open on good days. A variety of pots & containers are being tried this year.
4 February 2023
Garden compost added to beds and starting to weed the beds ready for another year! A few late daffodil pots are shown in the foreground.
1 February 2023
After the ‘big dig’. That’s all the tubers dug from the garden – after a very early frost for us this year. Digging was hampered a bit by the rain and muddy conditions too – but glad to get them all in. Now the drying and sorting begins – so order will be restored soon!
1 November 2022
The dahlias are starting to get into full production – middle of the show season.
7 September 2022
The roses on the pergola are looking really fantastic at the moment.
21 June 2022
The sweet peas have been a bit of a struggle this year and not as good as 2021. They are coming through much later than planned, and with significant losses and some rogue-coloured plants this year – making it difficult to get a matching set. With the better weather this week, the Hannah Mcgovern (red) are looking quite striking.
21 June 2022
The new dahlia bed for the 2022 season, as we have moved the fruit bushes that were in this spot. This bed takes just under 200 miniature and small flowering types, mainly decorative and ball. A small seedling bed sits to the rear. Framework up for later in the year, if I decide to cover. Have been on slug patrol most nights, so the plants are generally in much better condition than at the same stage in the 2021 season.
21 June 2022
The final few pots of daffodils in the garden. Here we have daffodil Clovelly Ayr (front), Daffodil Delnashaugh, (middle) Daffodil Merlin (back). The yellow double in the middle pot is supposed to be Daffodil Heamoor, but isn’t!
22 April 2022
The sweet peas are nearly ready for planting in a few weeks. Need a bit more hardening off.
February 2022
Compare this with the picture taken on 25 June, just after layering. In full bloom now, but expect stems will start to shorten from here on in.
16 July 2021
Trying to get the timing right by ‘second stopping’ and occasionally ‘knocking back’. I’m going to let the first batch of plans start to flower now….only 3 weeks until the first shows on 6/7 August and then a short gap until the dahlia shows start.
16 July 2021
The sweet peas are now starting to look at their best, after a long period of bud drop (caused by the weather). Sweet Pea Gwendoline, Pluto & Mollie Rilstone.
6 July 2021
The roses on the pergola are now reaching their peak.
25 June 2021
The sweet peas are being layered to keep them going a few more weeks.
25 June 2021
Just two weeks after planting, and the collerette bed is showing goods signs of growth. (Susan Gilbert to the right and Anne Brecenfelder to the left.)
9 June 2021
A picture of the onions, shallots and carrots, with the cordon sweet peas in the background. The onions have been a real struggle this year after a cracking season in 2020. Not sure if it is the compost, the season, or both!
9 June 2021
Compare this with the same plant last year (see below), a full 2-3 weeks later flowering, due to the colder spring.
9 June 2021
The garden is now looking quite lush, with the sunshine after the rain. A favourite time of year.
2 June 2021
A forest of sticks and a temporary windbreak! The frosts are hopefully over, and planting has begun on the dahlia plot.
27 May 2021
The barn provides a temporary frost-free holding area for the dahlias prior to planting.
13 May 2021
The orchard has suffered under the heavy frosts in April, but some of the later flowering trees are looking good now – Crab Apple ‘Butterball’.
9 May 2021
We are enjoying the Camassia in the border, from a plant picked up at our local garden club.
7 May 2021
The daffodils in the orchard are in full flow now.
29 March 2021
The hellebores (Harvington series) are just past their peak, but still looking good.
29 March 2021
Looks like we will have plenty to do next week, the first batches of seedlings have been taken out of the heated propagators. Here we have peppers, tomatoes, chillies, parsley, helichrysum, statice & marigolds.
21 February 2021
A glimpse inside the Geopod…the final batches of chrysanthemum cuttings and the first few batches on dahlia cuttings. Certainly, a very slow start for the dahlia cuttings this year. Much slower to throw up shoots this year, due to the general light levels and temperatures outside the greenhouse. Plenty of light here for the cuttings we’ve taken, as the Geopod is temperature and light controlled.
21 February 2021
A little later than we’d planned, but the main batch of chrysanthemum cuttings have now been potted up into 9cm pots.
21 February 2021
A job for the New Year? A quick inspection of the chrysanthemum stools (which have been in a frost free greenhouse since lifting a few weeks ago) suggests that a few cuttings will be ready to take early in the New Year.
31 December 2020
The new season begins before the end of the year. The onion seed is planted immediately after Christmas, while the dahlia tubers are ‘benched up’ in trays of compost on heat mats to get them going early. The first cuttings should be available to take by late January/early February, but the bulk will be taken in March.
31 December 2020
Late December and a heavy frost arrives. We leave the herbaceous beds until January and February before we start tidying up, so the seed heads are popular with the birds.
31 December 2020
Mid September and we are harvesting the last of the crops from the greenhouse – in this case a melon.
23 Sep 2020
Early September and the dahlias are at their peak for colour, though now going past their best for showing. With few/no shows this year, we let them come earlier than normal rather than time them for individual shows.
10 Sep 2020
The dahlias are starting to perform now – a vase of 2 x Trelyn Kiwi and 1 Deborah’s Kiwi staged for fun as there are very few flower shows this year. But check out our ‘Virtual Flower Show’ tab (under Garden Diary) for more fun exhibits!
24 July 2020
The first of the gladioli are now coming out – Indian Summer.
16 July 2020
The tomatoes and cucumbers are now in full production in the greenhouse, while the chillis and peppers are not far behind.
16 July 2020
The two largest beds hold around 50 plants each, and contain the bulk of the medium cactus & decorative dahlias, as well as the miniature decorative and ball dahlias. Here we see the Hillcrest Candy and Clayt’s Candy medium semi cactus dahlias. We will now need to select & secure the stems for the August and September (virtual!) shows.
27 June 2020
The greenhouse is now producing a supply of tomatoes (Tigerella, Alicante & Sweet Aperitif) and cucumbers (Socrates) and the melons, peppers and chillies are growing strongly.
27 June 2020
The long carrots (St Valery, seen here) and the stump rooted carrots (Sweet Candle, Early Nantes) are now growing strongly. It will be interesting to see what this experiment produces come mid-August.
19 June 2020
The bed of 28 small (250g or under) onions – Toughball – are now starting to mature with the tops starting to bend over. Should be one or two show sets here. The large onions (DTB Exhibition and Fosters Ailsae) are still growing strongly, with a little more variation in the size of the Aelsae at this stage of the season, but they still have a good 6 weeks growth in them. But all the onions have been planted closer together this year, and won’t be getting as much feed as usual, given the cancellation of shows there is little need to grow to usual full size.
19 June 2020
The last of the irises has now flowered: Iris Germanica Natchez Trace. This was an introduction to the garden last year, from a local garden centre. The foxgloves and delphiniums are now starting to take over as the main source of colour in the beds.
21 May 2020
Planting out time has begun, with fingers crossed there are no more frosts. These are the first of the dahlias (Deborah’s Kiwi, lavender, Small Cactus). Aim to have them planted by the beginning of June. An experimental year, given that most shows are cancelled. We’ll be growing fewer plants of each variety, but a wider range of varieties this year.
18 May 2020
Long pointed carrots (St Valery) emerging in the repurposed water butt, filled with sharp sand and with cores of compost inserted where sand has been ‘excavated’ using a 3 inch drainpipe.
3 May 2020
Iris Langport Wren has now come out, keeping the garden colour theme largely blue and purple at this stage.
3 May 2020
We put up a pergola in the garden 3 years ago, and planted two wisteria and two roses up the four posts. Last year (2019) the frost took the first flowers, so great to see some flowers on both plants this year.
24 April 2020
Lilac grown from seed planted in spring 2014, now starting to flower and smells wonderful too!
23 April 2020
Since we are all in lock down, we thought we would try and carry on with a few gardening experiments. I’ve seen people grow leeks in pots using recycled drinks bottles as mini greenhouses to draw the leeks up, before blanching using some old roofing felt or similar – so here goes! The leek is ‘Stocky’
6 April 2020
Fairplace 