The Charming Nook

Today’s post is a short overview of a smaller project I’ve been working on over the last few weeks.

I know I am not alone in noticing that the population of slugs and snails this year in the UK seems to have exploded. This is probably due to the cooler temperatures and rain we have had for most of this Spring and Summer. Even though we are now at the beginning of Summer, the temperature is still not what it should be for this time of year 😦 I know many gardeners and growers are also finding that their plants are struggling to establish without the usual warmth and sunshine we get at this time of year.

I’ve also had some new plants nibbled when I’ve planted them outside; I tried to start sunflowers from seed outside, but had to bring them in and resow a few, after some were eaten with days of sprouting.

Due to these challenges, I’ve been focusing on starting off plants indoors, holding off planting them outside and potting them on for longer indoors. I am hoping that more established plants will have a fighting chance against any slugs or snails.

I will also be using copper tape and organic slug pellets (that do not cause harm to birds and other wildlife) to help protect my plants too. I am also considering using some nematodes.

With all the above being said, I still intend to try growing some plants that I know slugs and snails enjoy nibbling on…

A few weeks ago, I saw an advertisement from Farmer Gracey for the most beautiful dahlias (this post is not sponsored). They are a well-known and well-loved dahlia variety, now being very popular in bridal bouquets and floral arrangements: Café au Lait dahlias.

They provide huge blooms that are really pretty, with delicate colouring, ranging from a soft creme/light coffee colour (hence their name), blushed with hints of soft pink.

I bought six tubers from Farmer Gracey and potted each of them up into large plastic pots with a mixture of store-bought potting on compost and farmyard manure.

I put all of these pots onto my bedroom bay windowsill, which is South-West facing. This windowsil has been perfect for starting off seedlings and growing on plants. I will probably continue to use the windowsil for years to come:

Those of you that follow my blog, will know that the Mr and I recently finished installing a new greenhouse in the garden, which you can read about here, so I have since moved the dahlias into the greenhouse to continue growing with protection:

They all started off really well, but one dahlia suddenly drooped last week. It has since recovered, so it’s a bit of mystery…

I pinched out the top growth of each of the dahlias the other day, to promote bushy growth and encourage more flowers:

I have since moved the dahlias outside in their pots and I plan to plant them out at some point into a new border. Now we just need the sunshine to come back…

If I can get even a few blooms from them this year, that would be lovely! I am hoping to keep improving them year on year, so it doesn’t matter if they only provide a small display this year. The blooms look like they will be a really interesting variety of tones to add to the borders and I can’t wait to see what they look like in person!

I will post a new update on the dahlias as they continue growing over the next few weeks 🙂 Happy gardening!