cactus | A Pentland Garden Diary

With the constant snow on the ground and freezing temperatures we’ve been well behind this year in terms of our garden planning. I’ve been out for a wander around a few times seeking inspiration but with everything frozen I’ve just not been finding it – most unusual.

Thankfully this all changed yesterday when we had to take a trip to Dobbies to purchase a bird table, an 80th birthday present for Sandy’s father. We were soon happily browsing the seed potatoes and the bulbs section and I started to get that familiar buzz of excitement that usually comes when we’re planning what we’re going to do in the coming year – phew!

It’s still too early for us to make purchases – we learned that last year and instead of ending up with a conservatory full of seedlings getting scorched we’ll be investing in some temporary greenhouses that can be opened up to the elements on good days but protected through the nights – we can still get frosts until May so need to learn to hold our horses a little. Maybe this year, we’ll actually get it right!

There was also a stunning cactus (Euphorbia Marmorata), part of an amazing display there but at £90 I resisted (for now), although I do think it would make a great addition to the other cacti and succulents we already have in the conservatory…

A quick look around the garden this past week has given us a lot of pleasure – we have things now flowering and producing edibles that we’ve never tried before and we’ve also had three indoor cacti flower – a complete first.

One thing I’m most excited about is the apples, we planted the tree three years ago and for the first time had lots of blossom, guess the pruning worked. We didn’t know if it was self-pollinating but, looking at the apples now starting to form, I guess it is.

The tomatoes that we grew from seed are doing remarkably well and even more exciting, the test container using Chase organics SM5 tomato feed already has tomatoes, guess it’s safe to say that it works.

The potatoes are flowering. We planted Pink Fir Apples, Salad Blue, Epicure and Mayan Gold this year. As well as Oca and Jerusalem artichokes, we’ll have plenty of tubers that’s for sure.