5th MAY 2014 CENTRAL PORTUGAL
Rain stopped again after couple of miserable damp
and cold days and sun has returned to ‘Portuguese’ normal. Day temperature is above
25 degrees and night no lower than 15 degrees, so we may see some growth in the
newly planted seedling on display in the ‘cloches’. Tomatoes have been ‘Knocked
back’ again by the damp and cold but are usually very forgiving especially my
‘Purple Ukraine’ and ‘Red Alert’ varieties, so expect the ‘crop’ to be only a
few days late in the summer.
Courgettes and Cucumbers enjoy the wet but also can
do with a bit of sunshine to ‘kick start’ their usual record breaking growth
and cropping - 30 days from planting to first crop picking. Not as fast as some
of the new varieties of ‘Sweet Corn’ coming out of the United States; some claim seed planting to harvest of the
2metre high plants with ripe ‘corn cobs’ in 60 days. Just fits in between the
end of the very cold prairie winters and the extremely hot dry summers (maybe
this is the way all plant breeders will aim with the anticipated climatic
changes threatened weekly),
Roses this year are going to be terrific, the early
‘bloomers’ are performing with great vigour and the forecast ‘dry spell’ due
for the next two weeks should see an ever increasing panorama of flowers as
they last so much better in the ‘dry’. Remember when ‘cutting back’ the
flowered stems to put the cutting straight into damp ground to increase your
plant stock for next year (the cutting has
a 50% chance of rooting at this time of year).
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| PRETTY CLIMBING ROSE WITH NO NAME! |
The ‘heady’ scent of Jasmine and Orange blossom is
now all pervasive on all the terraces, it’s amazing how quickly the wonderful
aromas of the last few weeks become over invasive and ‘cloying’ when
experienced on a daily basis (something about ‘never being satisfied’ comes to
mind. However, rest assured the garden
will quickly produce another banquet for the senses in the very near future. (Maybe
that’s what keeps ‘The Gardener’ going for the whole twelve months of each
year).
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| LOVELY HEAVILY SCENTED JASMINE |
The various varieties of winter squash plant grown
from seed are now ready for planting. This can be an awkward plant to grow with
success as they need a lot of sunshine plus heat and just the right amount of
water and feed - too much of the latter two components can produce masses of
running foliage (up-to 10metres) , lots of flowers and NO squashes. Choose the
planting position with care, full sun for most of the day, dig the planting
hole deep (up-to 800mm deep and 800mm dia.) fill with well rotted compost (or
newspapers/torn car board boxes mixed with feed will also do very well) and
fill to the top with water to allow everything to damp down, top of with soil
and plant two squash plants (just for insurance after the effort and ‘sweat’ of
digging the hole), water twice per week and await results.
Must get on with preparing the tubs for the array of
Chillis and Peppers now ready to be planted before the Head Gardener returns.
Must dash -
see you soon.
Stuart.
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