Week 14

 

There's a buzz in the air, and for once it's not a Vuvuzela! It is the hum of tiny insects busy at their work. There are flowers to pollinate, food to be had and honey to be made. They have little time for football, let alone the World Cup.

We had a mammoth task on our hands for this weeks Busy Beez Gardening Club. All our young plants needed to be planted out. From Sweet Peas with the promise of their heavenly scent, to the Pumpkins for our Halloween Disco.

These are our 'Veg-e-tables'. We have two at the Infants entrance and two at the Junior's. This week we planted up the ones in the Infants with pumpkins and the violas from the hanging baskets. Seeds were also sown of lettuce, beetroot and radish. These large, brightly coloured containers have already generated much interest, which hopefully will continue as the plants grow and crop.

Mrs H kindly donated some bedding plants, which were quickly put to good use in the hanging baskets in the courtyard. Here we have the trusty stalwarts begonia's and petunia's. They might not look much right now, but in the coming weeks will explode into a fireball of colour.

All the plants are making the most of the warmer weather this week. This includes the dreaded weeds. If allowed, these will flower and set seed, multiplying a small problem into a much larger one. As the Busy Beez only meet once a week for around 30 minutes, and we have had so many jobs to do in such a short time, weeding often gets forgotten. This week, some of our Beez made a start on conquering these beasts, beginning with the garden by the carpark.

Once cleared of dandelions, thistles, speedwell and chickweed, we were able to plant out the last of our Sunflowers and Sweetpeas, both of which will use the raillings as support. The daffoldil foliage is yet to be trimmed back, but the fresh green leaves here are those of Crocosmia, also known as 'Montbretia'. These were planted by our Beez last year, and will provide fiery orange spikes later in the year.

There is colour to be found right now though. From the Hardy Geraniums (Cranesbill) to this little fellow. From an unfriendly looking flower spike, these beautiful Sweet Williams have burst into colour.