Stuart's Garden: SOME LIKE IT HOT!

10^TH JULY 2016 – CENTRAL PORTUGAL

It’s HOT, VERY HOT!!!! Afternoon temperature today 38 degrees and the forecast is to rise above 40 degrees in the next few days. After such a poor spring , with so much rain and cold wind, it would seem that ‘Nature’ is suffering a ‘Time of Confusion’. The effect of the high temperatures, wall to wall sunshine and vast quantities of applied water is that everything is growing at a ‘Turbo Charged’ speed. My next door neighbours Patti Pans are the size of ‘Flying Saucers’ and so prolific it would seem an Alien Invasion Force has landed in his vegetable garden.

The weather has certainly encouraged the once fitful Tomatoes, the various varieties being grown, have all put thoughts of ‘Blight’ behind them (blessing of sunshine) and are furiously producing numerous trusses of well developing fruit. Winter evenings of ‘well sauced’ pasta accompanied by nearly fresh basil (pick the leaves now and freeze in ice cubs for a special January treat) are easily dreamed of while yet another application of the hose pipe excites the furiously ticking water meter and will presumable enhance the next water bill. (Amazing how a tumbling Euro/Pound exchange rate invades even the pleasures of the garden).

TOMATOES:-

Yellow Cherry

CuchaPlum

Large Portuguese

Principesa Borghese

Black Cherry

Money Maker

And several varieties of Basil to add to the tomato salads!

Cinnamon Basil

Italian Basil above - Lady Burns Lemon Basil below

Cucumbers are most prolific. It’s amazing how they seem to just appear hidden amongst other plants leaves (most successful planting this year is in a tub adjacent to an Ivy hedge). Even 400mm long by 1kilo weight fruits blend in to such an extent that the HG has trouble finding and picking the daily crop (quantity available can only be imagined as now producing large supply of chilled Cucumber soup – for immediate consumption as does not freeze well).

Cucumber on the way

The stately Aubergine spires are covered in splendid purple flowers which, no doubt, in the current meteorological conditions, will soon ‘morph’ into gloriously shiny deep claret globes (always look better than they taste) for kitchen transformation into ‘Moussaka’ and ‘Ratatouille’(they don’t seem to freeze well unless processed) for winter consumption (going to be a ‘Well Fed’ festive season or exotic European Fayre, it would seem).

Aubergine (eggplant) flowers

The experiment in cutting back and over wintering some of last season’s Sweet Peppers and Chilli plants has proved successful. Sweet Peppers (California Wonders) have well formed fruit and the Cayenne and Tabasco Chillis are large but still green (at least three weeks ahead of this year’s seed sown plants). Piri Piri are already 600mm tall, full of leaf but no white flowers yet.

Tabasco Peppers

California Wonder Peppers

Other produce making good progress:-

Courgettes

Strawberries still cropping well

Sweet corn progressing well

What a season for bedding plants (all grown in tubs and pots as there is no ‘Bedding’ area in garden, but calling them ‘Pot Plants’ has strange northern European connotations). The late march, April and May ‘sowings’ are well in flower with Cosmos over a metre tall and full of a plethora of multi pink and purple blooms. Zinnias, both tall and dwarf, coming into a broad pallet of colour (from creamy white, through vibrant brilliant reds to every hue of pink and cerise). Petunias (single, old fashioned in mauve white and stripped) and Tagettees in bright yellow and autumn gold’s being truly outstanding (but will they all survive in the current high temperatures – maybe a late July ‘cut-back’ will encourage colourful re-growth in September).

Cosmos

Zinnias

Tagetees

Petunias

Whilst Geraniums love the sunshine and perform with unbridled eloquence, the Fuchsias do prefer the dappled shade as they tend to ‘Fry’ in the full midday glare. (Keep feed away from the former if flower quantity is the aim but be generous with the latter for prolonged flowering through to Christmas).

Pretty peach coloured geranium

The wonderful, and it would seem still ‘unfashionable’ Dahlias (alas the ‘Snobbery’ of the ‘Garden Pundits’ who now seem to believe a patch of weeds constitutes a ‘Gardening Experience’) are in full and profuse colourful glory (tub grown, fed and watered profusely as always), soon to be joined by numerous ‘seedlings’(Bishops Children) grown from seed sown second week in June.