Gardening in Emsworth.

  Last year I bought a set of watering kits for potted plants which were quite successful, but have only just remembered about them this year, well into the drought.  They consist of a pointed terracotta pot (top photo) which you push in the soil.  You find your own bottle, the neck of which will fit into the pot.  The bottle should be filled with water then inverted with your hand over the opening before putting it quickly into the pot.  The water diffuses into dry soil through the terracotta (see above).  I set this one up this morning with fingers crossed! I bought the kit from Chimney Sheep, though they're not on their website at the moment.  I've broken two of the pots through pushing the bottle in too hard.  There are tougher looking versions in Emsworth Hardware which are made for using with wine bottles - worth a try!

 Yellow is an unusual colour for a dianthus - aka pink or carnation.  I bought Dianthus 'Yellow Harmony' at a rare plant fair knowing nothing about it.  It's turned to be a great plant to lighten up a border.  The lemon yellow flowers seem to float above it's stems, like dots of light amongst darker colours.  It's drought tolerant so a very useful plant in these hot summers.

I've had a few plants appear this year which I haven't seen for at least a couple of years.  Interesting that the seeds have germinated in autumn and spring this year - what stimulated this?  Drought? Winter rain?  It's a bit of a mystery.  Here they are: Clary sage, Salvia sclarea.  A mediterranean plant - quite spectacular   Two varieties of verbascum, the pale flowered possibly Verbascum x hybridum Snow Maiden and the yellow flowered Great Mullein Verbascum thapsus, which is a native plant occurring on stony dry soils. At least two years ago I grew Wild Carrot, Daucus carota,  from seed I collected locally.  It didn't come back until this year.  It's an annual, unlike the plants above which are biennial. Ammi majus or Bishop's Flower   is another umbellifer which disappeared after its first year grown from bought seed.  It's a elegant plant with dainty finely divided leaves, and the flat umbels are particularly attractive to...

  These voracious caterpillars are having a good go at one of three mulleins(Verbascum) that had self sown in my garden.  Their colouring is very distinctive and dramatic, I assume to put off predators.  I've looked up the adult moth and apparently they look like a piece of bark.  What a contrast!  

Swiss chard is a wonderful crop to grow - it's easy, undemanding and stands over winter, getting into growth as spring begins.  The plant in the photo was sown last August, and I've been eating it for weeks. I cook it like spinach, and particularly like it in an omelette or fritatta, Chard a member of the beet family and is biennial.  A large taproot maintains it through the winter, and it goes to seed in early summer.  I prefer types with white midribs, but recently I picked up a free packet of 'Bright Lights' with a mixture of red, yellow and white midribs.  It's harder to find the white varieties these days!  It can be sown from March to September. I've just sown some, a few in a small pot.  When they've germinated and produces few true leaves I'll plant the whole pots in the ground, weeding out weaker plants to leave the strongest one to grow on.  

 I've become keen on ferns since I bought a collection of  5 hardy ferns for shady places.  They are planted under a big old apple tree surrounded by fences and sheds on three sides.  Just at the moment they are unfurling their leaves, known as 'fiddleheads' in New Zealand.   Each leaflet unfurls as well, beautiful to see.