April Open Days Overview!
Wow, how nice it has been to be able to reopen the Bloom garden and welcome lots of lovely new faces, just in time for spring! We have been closed since October 2020, as a result of the reoccurring lockdowns, but fingers crossed we are on the other side now and we can continue to hold regular open days for women from the community!
Our first open day back on 10th April greeted us with four seasons in one day: snow, sun, wind, and hail! It almost felt like we were characters out of The North Wind and the Sun story, where each weather system is competing to see which one can get us to take our coats off! Needless to say, the coats stayed very much on, but that didn’t stop us getting lots done. We built a new table, and now have ample space to drink teas and eat biscuits! Our autumn-sown Stocks were potted on, giving them some extra breathing room and nutrients whilst they wait to go in their final beds. The cold frames were weeded, and we sowed lots of seeds which were collected from our sweet peas last year.
On Wednesday 14th April, the weather was a lot kinder, we had some lovely April sunshine, giving us an opportunity to plant out loads of autumn-sown flowers, including Ammi Majus, Daucus Carota and Honesty. This job requires some measuring and the ability to plant in a straight line, and our attendees certainly stepped up to the job! The beds are now extremely satisfying to look at, with rows of symmetrical seedlings.
Saturday 17th April was another beautiful clear and sunny day with a new group of women in the garden. More autumn-sown seeds were planted out, including Larkspur, Clarkia, Corncockle and Nigella. Climbers were planted next to our newly built trellis, and we can’t wait to see these in bloom soon! One of our attendees tackled the mighty job of separating out some Sweet William seedlings which had gone wild! They were completely intertwined with one another, resembling knotted hair, and it was quite a task to carefully separate each individual seedling without damaging the roots. This was an amazing job to get done. It is our first year growing Sweet William, and so far, the separated seedlings are doing very well in their new individual pots. We also spent time sowing loads of half-hardy annuals, including one of our most-loved flowers last year, Cosmos. Cosmos doesn’t like the cold, so it will be kept in the green house until all signs of frost have passed.
Saturday 24th April was yet another glorious sunny day and we got so much done! We had a dream team make a new bed at the very back of the garden, ready for our sweet peas to be planted out soon. The local robin was watching over us, inspecting our handy work. We think he approved as he was quick to jump onto the bed once we’d finished. The bed was built with all things found, including recycled cardboard, discarded bricks and wooden planks. We love it! Loads of snapdragons were planted out, and two amazing women in the afternoon tackled ivy, ants, and brambles at the back of the garden to clear a space for some exciting new things. In the process of clearing we found an old fire pit, with lots of stone we can salvage to make future beds.
It feels so good to be back in the garden, learning and sharing with other women, and we can’t wait for our May open days!
Big thanks to everyone who has attended so far. We can’t wait to see you all again soon! xx