I'd planned to clear the summer bedding, replant the daffodil & tulip bulbs & to plant out the winter flowering pansies - but looking at the front of the plot, it did seem rather mean to rip out snapdragons and nasturtiums which were still flowering.As I was dithering about this, secretary Haydn came down, and asked whether I'd consider serving on the committee - I declined on the grounds of a lack of time but suggested that returning allotmenteer Christine might be interested. He also advised whipping out the summer bedding.
Soon after, Rhubarb Brian came past & I asked him the same. "You should do what you want to do"," he rather unhelpfully suggested.
I grasped the nettle (actually, literally), and whipped out all but one magnificent plant which is clearly still in its prime. I have no idea what it is - it did strike me later that it might be a weed, but it's pretty enough to stay for the time being.I popped all the daffodil & tulip bulbs in along the edge of the final bed (d2) & the winter flowering pansies in front. They do look rather lost at the moment, but I don't want to make the same mistake of cramming too much in, as I did with the summer bedding.
Happy with what I'd done, I picked some runner beans then went home by lunchtime, later making some Sarah Raven's pumpkin soup which is utterly delightful.
Pretty looking flower...Rather you than me with the committee lark :O)
ReplyDeleteDave
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Exactly the same plant appeared in my runner beans earlier this summer, lovely flowers and big bell-like seed pods - no idea what it is though! Great blog, helps me keep going on my allotment in Sunny Suffolk!
ReplyDeleteYour mystery plant looks like a sort of physalis to me sweets.
ReplyDeleteIf it is, the fruits look like cape- gooseberries but they are NOT edible.
My friend, who gave me some seeds last year said "take off the seed pods or you'll have loads next year"
It is nice, isn't it, Dinzie?
ReplyDeleteI think that you are right, Clare - thank you for letting me know! It looks like the piccy on the packet of the tomatillo seeds that jumped into my basket in the garden centre too.
Thank you for dropping by, Jenny - looks like we've both had an imposter in the ranks!
The leaves on your plant look more serated than on the Wiki picture - could that be because yours are more mature? Very pretty but probably no benefit for English wildlife.
ReplyDeleteI had a further google, Bilbo, and I think that it is a shoo-fly plant - so clearly not one for the ranks when I want anything pollinating, but pretty enough to stay for a week or two at this time of year, as long as I whip the pods off before it seeds everywhere!
ReplyDeleteActually, I've been thinking about this - surely it can't repel all insects, or how would it get it's own flowers pollinated...?