Lets Get Growing

Over the last few years I have tried to improve our front and back garden by growing flowers, fruit and vegetables by seed.  So far we have had mixed results but still love the challenge and achievement of being able to look at the things you've grown and know you've nurtured them from seed.  I took great pride in planting sun flower seeds last year with Nye and hoped to be able to show him the plant as it grew.  Unfortunately the gang of slugs and snails that live in our garden scuppered by plans but this year I am determined to win the battle.

Baby Nye's 1st Sunflower Seeds

This month Center Parcs sent all the family bloggers a pack of sunflower seeds to plant to get into the spring vibe.  As the end of the month nears, I have finally got round to planting up my seeds and I am hoping they will have sprouted by the end of the week.  I do love how the seeds discard their outer shell and twist up from the soil.  Sunflowers are actually one of my favourite flowers.  I even had them in my wedding bouquet.

Photography by Danielle Benbow

As I mentioned above I have had mixed results but here is a list of my top 5 plants to grow.  I can assure you  that if I have managed to keep these alive, you can too!  I buy most of my bulbs and seeds at £1 land and have found that they grow well but for more specific varieties (like purple sprouting broccolli) the garden center is probably your best bet.

Seeds starting to grow

1. Sweet Peas (Sow Seeds March - April)
2. Purple Sprouting Broccoli (Sow Seeds March - June)
3. Daffodils (Plant Bulbs October - December)
4. Gladioli (Plant Bulbs March - April)
5. Tomatoes (Sow Seeds March - April)

DISCLOSURE - I am writing this post as part of my role as Center Parcs Family Blogger. To be in with the chance to become one yourself and win a short break to a Center Parcs Village of your choice,  share your gardening experiences on your blog and tweet us a link to it.  You can take a series of pictures of your family sowing seeds or making plant pots or, simply write about the experience and share your gardening tips with other families. Be sure to include the Center Parcs and Tots 100 handles in your tweet, as well as the #CPFamilyBreaks hashtag.

Please find the full terms and conditions for the challenge here, and do make sure to be careful when handling certain plants if you are prone to allergies.

Good Luck!

Guest Post - Outdoor Lighting with John Lewis

As the weather has finally perked up and we all want to be outside as much as possible, now seems to be a great time to get thinking about the garden.  When the nights are longer and warmer outdoor space is often under utilised as a place for relaxing and unwinding.  Even with a small patio garden like us it really is fantastic to use the garden as an extra room for entertaining.

This week I wanted to share with you some of my favourite pieces from the John lewis collection of outdoor lighting. Here are some items that I love and how I would arrange them for our home.

Outdoor Lighting Sources.

Key Pieces

Butterfly Fairy Lights

I have been wanting a string of pretty outside lights for ages and these butterfly's add a perfect touch of light to the garden.

Solar Centre PIR Solar / LED Utility Light

Having an outdoor light can be really useful and great for security.  This solar powered light is a great as it means you can install it yourself and run it for free!

Disclosure -

This is a guest post, all words and opinions are my own.

Plant's I'd like to grow 2012-13

One of the benefits of going running and being a stay at home mum is taking note of some rather beautiful front gardens on the long walks.  I've seen my fair share of sofa's and washing machines gracing them too, but I've also seen beuatiful corucopias of colour and fragrance.

As a reminder for getting things planted now and for next year, I'm going to put together a list of some of the things I'd like to have blooming next year.

Name: Cosmos

Name: Daffodil

Name: FOXGLOVE

Name: Dahlia 'Happy'

Name: Peonie

Name: Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora 'Emily McKenzie'

Name: Crocosmia 'Lucifer'

Name: Allium sphaeroceph

Name: Limonium Sinuatum

So far I have planted some daffodil bulbs and a Peonie (although the leaves are already looking a little crispy).  If I had a list of things I'd like to grow by the end of this year it would include a Rose and lots of climbers.  So far I've managed to look after 2 passion flowers, a jasminum and 2 honeysuckles.  As well as my gladioli finally flowering and a successful season for my new lilies!  Fingers crossed I can keep them  all through the winter.  I have also recently bought a beautiful rose which had blackspot which I am treating, booo!

There's not a lot of interest in terms of colour or foliage in our garden over winter, perhaps something I should look at next spring when I get the gardening bug back.  Right, now I need to work out the best place to plant our new blueberry and raspberry plants! Fingers crossed for fresh fruit for Nye come 2013.

Plants I've managed not to kill

Plants I've managed not to kill by jenni-clutten on polyvore.com

Z Gallerie - Phalaenopsis Orchid - white Set of 3
$57 - zgallerie.com