When I'm in England I get very jealous of all the beautiful gardens I walk past. I am not a good gardener. I have neither the patience nor the stamina to spend hours digging and weeding. I am however a good planter. I plant anything I can get my hands on and in my mind's eye they grow tall, bushy and flower profusely. I have lots of excuses as to why my garden isn't blooming - it's too hot, too dry, there are too many pine trees etc, but it's just as hot 100m down the road and our neighbour's garden looks great, we have an automated watering system and now the looming pine tree has been airlifted out, I can't use that excuse anymore. Every year I buy packets of seeds in England and hope they will thrive in my Turkish garden. I had success once with Dahlias and Cosmos, so every year I hope ( if I invested as much energy in muck spreading as I did in hoping, I'm sure my garden would win a medal). This year I'm banking on Aquilegia. They grew so well in my English garden and self-sowed with such abandon that I rarely had to buy a packet of seeds.
It will be a long wait as they flower the year after planting, by which time I will probably have forgotten where I planted them. In the Spring I really thought I was on to a winner with my sweet peas. The plants were growing vigorously and even started to produce a few flowers but as soon as the temperatures rose, they turned brown and died, despite constant watering.
I don't have much luck with locally bought seeds and bulbs either. I planted 50 tulip bulbs last year and 6 came up. But I'm not giving up; 33 years of indiffent success has not put me off, and I'm off to the garden centre tomorrow to stock up with Cosmos seeds and, on the one day next week that I'm back in Turkey, I will order a few tractor loads of manure to give them a chance of blooming. Hope spring eternal in the BacktoBodrum garden.
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I sympathise, BtoB!! I also tried aquilegia after seeing it all over our friends' beautiful Cornish garden but no luck. We have tried so many things - talk about blood, sweat and tears! Not to mention money! My hubby has put his foot down and says he's not spending a penny more on the garden .... well, we'll see! Good luck with yours in the meantime!
ReplyDeleteI saw a picture of Dawn's garden in Istanbul and she has lovely aquilegias so I have hope.
DeleteWe have all the lovely tropical things...but I would like some sweet peas again. I'll have to get a future visitor to mule the seed in, though, otherwise customs will confiscate them.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the garden!
Sweet peas are so English - I will try again next year
DeleteB to B, I really sympathise, too. I've been killing plants for all of 40 years now and haven't given up. My husband Mark is keen on tomatoes but on our windblown island, they don't have much of a chance and productivity is pathetic. But that won't stop him. He'll have a new scheme for next year. Garden shops love people like us!
ReplyDeleteEver hopeful
DeleteI'm trying South American plants used to hot and dry but can also cope with cold in the winter in our French garden, so they maybe worth a go, red hot pokers, rudbeckia, acanthus, so they may be worth a go? Recently planted I have to say so we haven't done a winter yet!
ReplyDeleteI'll have a go
Delete. . never had 'English' seeds do anything here. My tip - your neighbour has beautiful plants, go raid their garden. All you need will be a black boiler suit, a black balaclava, a plastic bag and a trowel!
ReplyDeleteI need his muck heap.
DeleteWish I could advise you, Annie but as you know our formidable landlady arranged all the planting in the Bodrum garden and our neighbours did most of the weeding and watering!
ReplyDeleteAnd that garden is still stunning
DeleteB2B, Although the seed packet probably states that they will grow in full sun light, I doubt the seed merchant had Bodrum in mind. Try sowing them in partial shade where they can catch the morning sun but have some protection later in the day. You could also try sowing half the packet a good month earlier than instructed on the packet.
ReplyDeleteI will try an early sowing next year
DeleteIndeed don't give up BB; must say I not much of a gardener but do enjoy our little Japanese garden and the acers, I admire you keep going - best of luck!:) ozlem x
ReplyDeleteNow I would really like a Japanese garden like yours, Ozlem
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