Flowers in the garden

The chives are always very reliable on producing flowers this time of year. I have 2 clumps at the moment, one in the garden in open soil and these in a pot. Flowers and edible. you cant beat it.

This is my blue berry bush and boy is it small sat in a 5inch red plastic pot but with this amount of flowers I might eventually get some blueberries. I have layered a stem in to another pot just to the left on the picture, I layered it back end of last year and intend to leave it this year in the hope it will root. This variety is called goldtraube and is self fertile. It is planted in ericaceous compost (acidic compost) which blueberries love. I have a second blueberry plant variety bluecrop which is also self fertile. Although they are both self fertile blueberries fruit better when 2 varieties are present.

The last flower today is a blue iris, well not quite in flower but nearly there. I have just potted this in to a larger planter and it is situated next to the half barrel pond. It looks natural in my opinion.

the weather is Wakefield today is warm and sunny

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Red Haven Peach produces in third year!!!

The title is a little bit over the top. I have two small peaches appearing so far. (I counted 5 flowers a month or so back). this is the first time any fruit has appeared on the tree since purchase (acquired from either aldi or lidl)

The peach is a red haven and is still in a 15litre ex paint bucket. It is kept very well watered and this is a picture of a baby red haven peach

This next shot is of the family frog. Last year we had two in the half barrel pond in the back garden, so far this year we only have one (and no frog spawn seen earlier in the year either) but there is always next year.

The strawberry plants are all in flower. In the rear garden I have some June bearers and a perpetual (or ever bearer) called Albion. This is a shot of Albion. In the front garden there is also the June bearers growing, the ones at the front only get sun till 11am in the morning but these are also in flower and produce nice strawberries. My short guide here on staking strawberry runners

the weather in Wakefield in the words of Bernard Matthews... "beautiful" or is it "booooootyful"

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My Kiwi is blooming, blooming marvelous

Well I have waited 3 years from buying my kiwi  plant "actinidia arguta issai" from Aldi I think and I think it is starting to bloom. it is still in an old Morrisons type flower bucket and I still dont know where I am going to put it this year but I must find some where.

I dont know how many buds there are but I reckon may be 40 plus and the plant is about 8ft tall and growing rapidly.

I have started to feed the plant with a hydroponics solution feed that I had left over from about 3years ago. At the time I tried growing tomatoes in a hydroponics set up with plant feed from the hydroponicum (this is there website) I had mixed results, generally positive but at the time I thought I could have been better. I was inspired at the time because I had been there and it was great fun.


My next plant in flower is the wisteria "prolific" again it is still in a very small plant pot (may be a 2litre pot), Again this need finding a permenent home but I think it has started flowering. Awesome. I love wisteria flowers so they will be good to see.

Both plants are about 3years old, I cannot remember exactly and both are looking healthy.  I need to find them a permanent home the trouble is though that down the side of my garage I currently have a rose, another kiwi, a passion flower, a grape vine and 2 clematis, non very big but all taking up room.

This is the rose. I have been trying to kill it off for the last 4 years with no success. I think it is a wild rose. As I seem to be a total failure on the rose murder front I accepted defeat and put a trellis up, the bird feeder has always been there and I will say the birds seem to appreciate the rose being there for extra cover.

Wakefield today has been cool compared with the last couple of weeks, a short rain shower tonight dampened the ground and over all very pleasant

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My first Swarm of the season... Awesome doesn't even come close!!!

Got a call yesterday afternoon (22nd April 2011) from Duncan at my association asking me to pick up a swarm near where I live, I was advised it was in a tree but the house occupier had a ladder. So having prepared the car and required kit a few days previously off I went.

This is what I found. It looks high up, because it was. Well 20ft maybe 25ft.

The plan was to put the ladder to the left of the swarm, climb up and lop the branch the were on and holding the branch with swarm attached bring those girls down to earth. That was the plan. 

Due to excitement, I did not take many pictures. but below is a close up

 

Well what actually happened was this.... the ladder went up. so far so good. I went up with branch loppers. this plan is coming together. I cleared the branches that were in the way to make room for me and lopped the branch off the bees were on. this is the point where the plan failed and if I might say so, with style and finesse. That branch with those bees on is how can I put this, bloody heavy. I stayed on the ladders, that's good. the branch when I could not hold it due to the weight, hit the floor. Bees how ever have wings and flew. They were every where. They did look great but that was not the plan.

I came down and watched with the house holder who commented they looked like that when the flew in before. Did they now.

Now is the part for patience. I waited may be half an house and they settled on an old picket fence underneath the tree. Some good luck. At this point I brushed them in to a national brood box and strapped it up. The opening was left open and I came away (leaving the box)

I went back at dusk that evening knowing that all stray bees would have gone in the box with the queen, I stuffed the hole with some sponge and took the bees to my apiary, once the hive was sited, the sponge was removed and I now need to go and check on them.

With this swarm, the cut out and the two colonies from over Winter I am now at 4 colonies and it is only 24th April (mindst you one colony has a failing/failed queen so really I have 3 healthy colonies I hope)

bees on the hive entrance 22nd April 2011

A shot of Apis Melifera "Yorkshire" IE Mongrel going in to my hive at my apiary. This is the strongest of the two that went in to Winter. the other one I believe the queen has failed due to a distinct lack of brood. A shame but that is the natural circle of life and what I am now left with is survivors or the best of the rest.

Colony Cut out - 30th April 2011

A late post just to document a cut out I did in South Leeds on the the 30th April 2011. My bee keeping association took a call from a roofer stating work had stopped due to a bee colony in a roof. All the roof slates had been removed and the new sheeting had been installed apart from this one corner where the slates had come off but the felting was still in place. I think it had took them a couple of days to ring us and the colony was very docile, may be from the very cold nights (they were still hitting freezing). This is the space that was left once all the comb was removed. It was a good sized colony.

 This is the box the colony went in. I had national frames with rubber bands round them and slotted the comb in. This is the box trussed up ready to be lowered down the scaffold I was working from. I only just managed to get the comb in.

 Just in case you dont know what scaffold is. This is where the bees were taken from. I was working in the top left hand corner of the house. The cut out took around 90 minutes and then I went back later on giving any flying bees time to go in to the box.

and the bees are now doing fine. I did not know if I had killed the queen or even got her, but the colony went to my apiary and left to get on with living in piece and quiet

Weather on the 30th April 2011 was wet and damp and freezing during the night time. Today on the 23rd April 2011...heat wave (twenties) with short rain showers

 

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Fruit trees are sprouting new leaves

A couple of shots below. One for the "Victoria" plum tree I have in a tub and the second for the "Jonagold" apple tree that is in an old paint pot.

This is the "Victoria" plum tree (hose pipe and car cleaning brush in the background)

This is the "jonagold" apple tree, This is being trained as an espalier and is still in a 15litre ex paint bucket. I think this year I will upgrade to a larger bucket of some design

Both showing signs of plenty of growth. I have added some bone and blood meal tonight to feed them

The weather in Wakefield today has been pleasant but a little cool

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