Bye bye, lavender shed

Lavender is a lovely and popular flowering herb. The lavender I grow in my garden isLavandula angustifolia, also known as English Lavender. The variety I have is called Hidcote, which is a relatively compact lavender with deep purple flowers. Versatile and easy to grow, this lavender is a useful wildlife attractant on the sunny fringe of my forest garden.

I joined Facebook in October 2007, and Twitter in May 2008. Social media has been a massive part of my life for more than a decade. It was originally a way to find and connect with like-minded people, and a natural extension of my blog. I made good friends, some of whom I went on to meet in the flesh.

My plants must know, better than I do, that winter is on its way. Yet they’re showing little signs of giving up hope yet. The edible dahlias – which in theory I should be lifting this month – are still unbelievably floriferous. I took this picture on yesterday morning, after chopping back the floppiest ones yesterday. Ryan took the ‘discarded’ flowers round to his mum.

I have resigned from my job, in the hope of a happier life, and the looming period of self-imposed austerity has brought out my Inner Womble

Despite the damp weather on Saturday, we went out and planted the potatoes in my new raised beds in the Sunset Strip – one bed each of Kifli (which – since it’s not labelled – I need to note is nearest the house) and one of Axona. We had some spare Axona tubers, so I’ve planted up two crates as well. They’ll all need earthing up in due course, but hopefully by the time they poke their first leaves above ground, the risk of frost will have passed!

We are now officially a two-shed family

Thompson & Morgan is launching two intriguing new winter squash varieties that they say taste just like mashed/baked potato when they’re cooked. As an alternative to potato, they contain fewer calories and less carbohydrate, but more fibre. T&M think they’re on to a winner with these, given the trends towards healthy eating, plant-based diets and home-grown vegetables.

In May this year, I said goodbye to Lavender Shed. Since then, we haven’t made much progress in erecting its replacement, Ryan’s new workshop. Now that the weather is cooling down we will pick up that project again, but it means that it will almost certainly be next year before we can remove Seagrass Shed and erect my greenhouse/shed hybrid.

Lavender and lilac are two popular flowering plants that are often compared for their beauty, fragrance and uses. While they share some similarities, there are also several key differences between them that make each unique. Let’s have a look at Lavender vs Lilac!

Some flowers look best in groups or large swathes. These fields of cultivated Lavender demonstrate the point clearly. Imagine the scent from all these individual stems of flowers a heady experience. For commercial purposes growing in rows makes Lavender easier to mechanically crop and maintain.

Lavender will not sprout willingly from old wood. So when pruning make certain some green wood remains. Lavenders bloom on the stems that grew that year. Pruning is designed to encourage more flowering branches and give plants a longer life.

Here are the Best Planters with Lavender Ideas that will help you showcase this gorgeous plant in all its glory. From classic patio planters pots to creative tea cups, we’ve got you covered!