For the first time ever, I found myself grateful for the overhanging trees on our neighbour’s property. Having received a package of lavender plants as part of our pledge to have more bee-friendly plants in the garden, my boys and I were adamant they were getting potted up despite the threat of rain.
True to form, the rain started pelting down as soon as we had sat down ready to pot up. Not wanting to go back in the house my boys and I instead took full advantage of the overhanging trees by moving their little picnic bench underneath them finding ourselves quite comfortably dry while the downpour continued round about us; I now see those trees in an entirely different light having found them quite a nuisance for some time.
The lavender plugs were tiny but the smell coming from them was divine; the only job I got was filling up the pots with soil while my boys carefully handled the plants by their leaves and put them inside the pots I had ready then gently firmed the soil around the base of them before watering. I think they made quite a good job, but it may be a while before they’re planted out so the final resting place for the lavenders just now is inside my boys’ mini greenhouse.
We ended up enjoying ourselves so much regardless of the rain that we ended up doing far more potting on than originally planned (again the only task I had was filling the pots with soil). We potted on our alpine strawberries, the mesembryanthemums which are flowering nicely, the dianthus we grew from seed (in truth nearly all the plants we’ve raised this year we grew from seed ourselves) and the rosemary cuttings which have rooted really well.
When we were finishing up we noticed we were not alone having been observed for some time by a little blackbird sitting on top of our compost bin all nice and snug on my husband’s gardening gloves which he’d left outside. I did try and get a picture but when I reached for my camera it took off and landed where our mini pond is.
It was now time for the mad dash to our house and yes we ended up getting soaked. I hope the bees appreciate what we’re doing for them!
Take care,
Nicole 🙂