Hello, I am Pheigi, a Scottish girl trying to grow a cut flower garden on an allotment in my adopted home of Japan. Starting at the very beginning you can come along as I plan, plant, grow and hopefully harvest beautiful 🌸
The summer heat has kicked in this week but luckily (for me) rainy season dragged on a couple of weeks longer than usual so the garden was actually pretty well watered.
For some reason the thumbs up button isn't working for me.... Nice to see you still had colour to come back to.. Enjoy time with your Mum. Here in Dunedin, New Zealand, we also say 'wee' for small 😊
Your right! “ Rolly Polly Pill bugs do eat roots AND will devour marigolds. All that they left of my Marigolds were main stem and the flower. All leaves gone!!! The plants died🥲
It’s not anemone talk (lovely arrangements by the way), but I’d just like to say how much I like your thin cotton wrap/gown. It looks so cool and luxurious! ( Anemones that I grew in pots this year were better though later than the ones in the ground. Don’t know why.) 😊
I think you did very well considering you were working with last year's ranunculus corms. I soaked, pre-sprouted and planted 70 new ranunculus this early spring; only about 20 grew into plants and when they started producing blooms they were decimated by thrips. I had to pull them all out and discard them before the rest of my garden was infected...such waste of time and money...I don't think I'm planting them again to be honest...
All of your anemones, long and short, are just beautiful and you arrange them nicely, as well.!! I planted anemones for the first time this year here in central Germany and I only got my first bud now. It's been rainy and miserable for many weeks now. I plan to plant lots more for next spring and have already purchased many varieties of anemones Mistral. If you can also find them in Japan, you should look for them. Their colours are just stunning.
3.78ish liters to a gallon What kind of milk did you use? Does it make a difference if its skim, Whole, 2%? Maybe i missed it, how long did you leave the milk spray on for?
I used full fat milk because that’s what I drink but I don’t think it makes a difference. I did 2parts water to 1 part milk and just sprayed and left it on. It gets washed off by the rain so you may have to reapply if it rains within a day or two of you spraying. Hope it helps.
It seems like the ones that do so well are all fall-sown. I’m still learning too. Mine that overwintered did really well well but I don’t think they would survive the winter in my zone. The ones I mulched heavily also did better that the unmulched ones. I mulch with hay from my chicken coop so they were probably pretty well fertilized too😂. Thanks for taking the time notes. It’s inspiring
I learned my first year that everything for spring and early summer has to be fall sown. Mulching seems to be the way forward and is much easier than digging up and storing. Maybe I need to get me some chickens…
To feed your plants you can start with a kelp liquid concentrate, or maybe even make it if you’re in a beach town! I use it when transplanting and it’s the best support for transplant shock. Because it’s higher in nitrogen I only use it 1 or 2 times, so it doesn’t attract aphids. Give it a try!
How long did you find they lasted in the vase? I'm finding the first shorter stems aren't lasting very long, and am not sure I'm cutting at the right stage for the later stems. Love your experiments and data tracking (: it's the best way to teach and learn!! thank you!
I get 7-10 days in the vase if I cut them at the right time but that can be tricky. Even cutting every three days I found I was missing a lot at the perfect stage. you want them to be about 1/2 inch out of the collar (the little ruffle under the flower head), but not yet open. If you let them open and they get pollinated they fade really quickly and they do keep stretching a little in the vase so I tend to cut too early and have a slightly shorter stem than risk them opening and only lasting a couple of days. I found the big purple lasted the longest.
I’m newly obsessed with with Iceland poppies! I’ve gotten five days after dunking stems in boiling water I harvest at about the stage yours were in the experiment. Have heard of a lot of problems with cracked bud stage
Great video! Having trouble understanding why so many people like the brownish\orange dead\dying looking color better than the vibrant red or yellow blooms... To each their own I suppose...
Cosmos don't mind heat, humidity, low fertilization, heavy wind, and drought situations once established. Maybe you should try different seed, location, or placing in the ground after sprouting and not potting up?
I direct seeded the first year and transplanted the second. I have now tried 5 different varieties but they all give out mid season. The first flush is really nice but the heat here gets above 40 degrees Celsius regularly and I have no water on site so they suffer and just crisp up and brown by the end of July. I will keep trying though. I’m sure I will find the perfect balance eventually.
I would love to unfortunately I am working on a rented allotment plot which measures 4x5meters so doesn’t leave much room for sheds and water barrels. I bring water down daily during the summer in large water tanks but it doesn’t give the plants the drenching they need.
@@fromthewitchsgarden I see, I've watched a few videos about the population decline in Japan and how many rural houses are lying empty. Could be a solution there.. 🙂
My ranunculus was nothing short of pathetic!! 3 flowers from about 40 corms, but I thinks there are few things going on! They are from last year, they were not great then either 🤦🏻♀️ I presprouted in Jan I think, planted out about 6 weeks ago in a low tunnel but was worried they would get too hot (sudden heat wave) so took tunnel off🤷♀️ I am now going to pull them out, they are taking up valuable space!! I think it’s also to do with the size of the corms, they were tiny so I need to dig deep in my pockets and buy bigger ones, I will have a big tunnel by next winter so will put them in there, I am based on the west coat of Scotland where it is VERY wet, hence the low tunnel!!
Yay to the west coast, I was born on the Isle of Lewis. The corns like to be a bit cold I think (but not frozen) we are mild here so I put mine out in October as they take a long time to grown big and strong. If you are going to put them under a low tunnel you could try putting them in much earlier and maybe put a straw mulch down if it is going to be really cold? Good luck.
Thank you for the update. I may have to give ranunculus another try. I'd be happy to send you some pastel-colored corms, if there aren't any restrictions shipping to Japan. I've just completed planting my cut flower garden, using every bit of space in my small yard in Portland, Oregon, zone 8b.
Thank you so much for the lovely offer unfortunately Japanese customs control wouldn’t be as excited as me. No seeds, corms, bulbs or tubers allowed in.
I would like a tour to see all the blooming flowers and the overview of your garden. The sweet pea peeking in the shot looked so pretty! But only if you have time and want to...Thanks Pheig =)
I have so much random footage of the garden clogging up my phone I was just thinking I need to take the time and turn it all into little videos. Fear not, thanks to your kick up the bum, I am now on it.
Isn't it funny about how some people don't like the smell of 'mums and marigolds because it smells of cat pee to them? I actually like the smell of them both but cannot stand the smell of boxwood. To me that smells like cat pee🤭. The garden is looking pretty good so far from what I could see.
It is strange how the same thing can smell completely different to different people. I hate the smell of strawberries and cant stand going in to the supermarket when it is strawberry season here in Japan. Love the taste though.
Thank you, they are very pretty but it’s been pretty windy here the last couple of days and I have to keep rescuing their tails from the rose bush. Small garden problems.
I gingerly googled hairy balls 😬. Ahh it's the Swan Plant we grow over here especially for the Monarch butterfly. The eggs are laid on it, caterpillars eat all the leaves then turn into the butterfly. They get quite tall. You'll have fun with them 😊
Ha ha ha I can only imagine what popped up. I’ve never heard of swan plant. We have plenty of butterfly though so hope I haven’t just planted a caterpillar magnet.
I just found your channel and want to wish you a bountiful and beautiful season ahead. Also, can we take a moment to admire your hat? It's absolutely charming! 🌼🌱
Thank you so much, the flowers are starting to come thick and fast now. The hat gets to make a short appearance before it is swapped out for my mosquito net hat which is in no way flattering. Good luck with your growing🌱
I would have to be eating that dill! What about bronze fennel? That's pretty too! The borage is fabulous. I love chervil for eating. I had one winter over and was excited for it to bloom and seed naturally in my garden but alas a root grub invaded the root and turned it to mush hence killing it.Clary sage grows kind of like the borage I think. I get pill bugs, they eat all my seedlings! Argh! I love your herb garden =)
@@denisefaust6408 Nothing that has worked very well I am afraid. I try to scoop a lot of them out when the little ones are hatching and moving them somewhere else (the little bit of scrub land on the corner of the road) but there are so many hiding in the mud that I can never get them all. I have heard putting out hold an orange at night then lifting it in the morning with all the pill bugs stuck to it and removing them that way works. If you figure something out please let me know!
A great use of a difficult space and I didn't know you can use Borage in the vase - you learn something new every day 😊 Do bees visit? (I was thinking the tennis players would probably complain 😠) Enjoyed the video 👍
The tennis players are more likely to complain about the kids accidentally soaking them with the hose while trying to water the garden than the bees 🤣. We have a tiny patch of grass down the other side of the house that the kids planted with wildflower seeds a few weeks back so we will hopefully have more bugs in the garden this summer.
Love Dahlias . This is my first year growing them and I am going from seeds . As of now I have 40 coming along beautiful/ no blooms yet but happy healthy plants so far. Looking so forward to seeing the colors and shapes that are producing.
Peggy, my experience with Lisianthus is they grow very top heavy and very tall. I've always staked mine. Also, if you are a zone 9, you should be able to leave them in the ground over winter. They will come back huge the second year. I live in zone 8 and they always come back for me.
Oooooh that is good to know, thank you. The Lizzies have taken so blooming long to germinate and start getting height on I was thinking this would be the one and only time I grow them so great to hear they will come back for me.
Good job! I was wondering about the geum. Maybe with the three layers over your stock might allow you to use to cover with a shade type cloth. Looks nice =)
@@fromthewitchsgarden Weeds are growing fast but they're so green and pretty! They're mostly wild herbs so I tend to let them have a free for all. I grew some snapdragons (The dark prince) so I'll be planting soon, they are looking nice tho =)
I had multiple things doing well through the warm winter until we hit two cold snaps in February. I have the same plans to use a frost cloth next year. So many lessons learned every year!
Geesh...that is sad. I understand a bit. I grew black hollyhock last Spring and it grew bushy and green last Summer and I was excited for it to grow tall and bloom this year but when I checked it recently root grubs had infested and eaten it's roots and they turned to mush so two years of anticipation gone...wah! Who needs more lessons! We want flowers!
Gardening is all about hope for the future - we feel so happy when the flower finally blooms but the disappointment when we come back later and find it dried out is also real. I think you probably can’t have the ups without the downs and it teaches us to appreciate the moments of happiness we have in the garden. Good luck - I hope your garden suprises you with a strong bounce back. Also, thanks for the real video, it’s a good reminder. I have just planted ranunculas for the first time and definitely need to prepare myself for if none of them take!
Feel for you. All the anticipation and patience 😢. I grow a mixture of good perennials like tall alstroemeria amongst my annuals, so I know I've always got a good supply of the flowers from spring until first frost in Zone 9, they never let me down. Can you get alstroemeria in Japan?
I am here for the perennials! I am slowly starting to fill my plot with perennials for exactly this reason, and I am hoping they will slowly adapt to my crazy climate and get stronger over time. I think I planted some in a pot last year and not much happened but maybe one to try again. Thanks. Good luck with your growing🌱
I feel your pain.. We had record cold this year and I lost most of the tulips and daffodils that were in pots. Thankfully, we are at the beginning of the season and plenty of time to grow other beautiful things. Thank you for sharing your wins and losses.
Aw, such a bummer. But I think I know somewhat how you're feeling. I planted hollyhock seed in my pollinator bed last spring, it sprouted and was slowly growing even looking small but healthy through the winter. Then just last week something has been munching most of the leaves on the plant. 😔 i have a couple of very tiny seedlings I have started inside and am waiting for my frost date to pass later this month to plant them out but maybe will have to wait longer till they get big enough to withstand whatever is eating it.
Oh dear 😢 I feel your pain. I sometimes wonder why we persevere. I guess I like the act of digging holes and plonking plants in. I am now attempting growing from seed which is challenging. Barely no rain entire March but yesterday into today March rain arrived early April. This morning a wallaby was on top of the table snacking (demolishing) a tree. Onwards and upwards we just keep going on.
From far, far away your wallaby sounds adorable, I’m sure in reality watching it eat your garden isn’t so cute. I’m sure once I have a huge armful of flowers all will be forgiven and forgotten and I will start all over again next year with just as much hope and enthusiasm. Good luck with your growing 🌱
Hello, I'm so glad I found your channel! How lovely! All the best for this year. My hunch is that you might be using very fertile/ good soil to grow your cosmos 🤨 cosmos and marigolds both don't do well if you fertilize or have very good soil. Why not try some cosmos in really crummy, nutrient deficient soil? Plz just try it once. No harm in trying this, right? May be in a container?
I have been amending the soil in my allotment as it is very sandy and turns to dust in the heat so maybe I should hold off this year and see if a little tough love works.
Such pretty slimy seaweed. I am not 100% sure but I don't think we can take seaweed from the beach here, but since they let it build up and I don'tknow what they do with it , I might just take a bag full home and try this. I think it would be really good for the garden. Thanks for this video.👍💖🦘😀Cheryl
I rescued some freesia from a friends planter and it bloomed… lots of babies that will hopefully bloom next year… can’t wait! And they are floppy! I will definitely have to do this too… thanks!
Our very strange late winter weather has killed off lots of my freesia this year which were looking so big and beautiful. I’m hoping I will still get some but I guess I will have to wait for next year for a big bloom. Good luck with yours.
You should try the EOS sunflowers,(if you can get them there) they are small and multiheaded. Mine self seed all the time. It is always good to see new growth on plants that are dormant over winter. I have only 1 foxglove ready to burst into flower. My very first one i have grown so I am really happy about that. Something to look forward to- having them all bloom and look beautiful.🤗👍💖🦘🙏Cheryl
I will have a look at the sunflowers thank you. Despite massively over stocking the allotment this year I am still worried something will fail and leave a big gap in the summer and sunflower are my back up plan.
Go for little leos too, they grow 45cm, I grew mine too early and one of them mutated and grew twice the height right from seedling, I didn't understand how that happened as there were a few more i sowed the same time. I had about 12 in the garden, I think only one reached the max height as I kept forgetting to repot because they grew so fast@@fromthewitchsgarden
