After discussing what has gone good and bad in my garden over the spring Here, it is now time to talk about what I will be doing over the summer, beyond just caring for my existing plants.
Seeds I’ll be growing
I have a fair amount of veg growing in my garden, but very few plants solely for the flowers they produce. I am going to sow some flower seeds, including:
- Cosmos-‘Rubenza’, ‘Yellow Garden’ and ‘White’
- Californian poppy
- Carnations
I’m also going to try my native Australian seeds again, after reading what to do with the seeds to aid germination. These natives include a native and edible passionfruit, kangaroo paws, pig face and purple coral pea.

Of course growing some food is one of the pleasures of garden ing for me. Vegetable seeds I’ll be sowing in my garden will be the following:
- Beetroot
- Leeks
- Brussels sprouts-‘Red Rubine’ and ‘Long Island’
- Cabbage-‘Red Drumhead’
- Corn-‘Golden Bantem’ and ‘Glass Gem’
Cuddles the cat loves her cat grass in the garden so some more of that will get sown too. If I don’t have any in my seed trays, I will get some more for her.
Books I plan on reading
As well as gardening, I enjoy reading books, especially when these books involve plants and gardening too. I have got a nice long list of books to read over the next few months:
- Planting for Native Birds, Bees and Butterflies by Jadyn Crupi
- The Australian Vegetable Garden by Clive Blazey
- The Seed Savers Handbook by Michel and Jude Fanton
- The Urban Food Forrester by Justin Calverley
- The Old Farmers Alamnac Flower Gardeners Handbook
- Secrets from the Flower Farm by Rebecca Starling and Christine McCabe.

These should keep me busy for a while. I don’t have a huge amount of time for reading during the week, but over the weekend I should have time to get a decent amount of reading done.
