As I am writing this it is dark and it is raining. It has been raining for days which is in a way a good thing. Plants and gardens need the rain. But people don’t. I need sunshine and happy days!
At the moment, I am not a happy gardener. We are renovating our garden terrace so our back garden looks a mess. The seedlings I planted out have all been eaten by slugs. It’s not the end of the world, but it is frustrating!
Making a list of what is working in the garden helps me see the bright side of things. So I am joining Carol again, from May Dreams Gardens. I am showing you what’s blooming in my garden at the moment. Why don’t you join in and show us what’s blooming in your garden? Please leave a comment to tell us about your garden. Just click on a name in the comments if you want to visit other blogs.
Cobaea scandens
I started 10 cobaea seeds and was happy to see 9 of them come up. I kept them indoors until the Ice Saints had gone. The Ice Saints celebrate their name days in mid-May. After they are gone, all risk of frost is supposed to have passed. The seedlings looked healthy and strong! They were beautiful and quite large when I planted them out. They did not survive the dangerous jungle my garden is. Seriously, have you ever seen a leopard slug? Their Latin name is Limax Maximus, literally, “biggest slug”. Need I say more? Maybe I will grow my Cobaea in pots next year. Any advice is appreciated.
Slugs
Have you noticed there are more slugs this year? I have even seen them in my dahlia garden. Last year I didn’t have any problems with slugs there. The allotment garden is dug over every year with a machine. The tilling apparently kills the slugs. After spreading manure on the plot and planting the dahlias, the soil is completely bare. No leaves or other plants to hide under.
Slugs are a conversation topic on social media. Garden lovers are exchanging tips on how to prevent slugs from eating their plants. Have you tried spraying your plants with garlic spray, placing coffee grounds or crushed egg shells around plants, or placing beer traps in your garden? I have tried all of these methods. Slugs and snails don’t mind crawling over the coffee grounds or crushed egg shells. The beer traps work. A few slugs drop into my beer trap and die, but most just take a drink and leave.
Flowers slugs like to avoid
Slugs especially like seedlings and fresh new leaves. Everybody knows they feast on hostas. There are also plants that slugs don’t like:
- alchemilla mollis (lady’s mantle)
- anemones
- aquilegia
- geranium species
- hellebores (though there are holes in my hellebores)
- lavatera
- nepeta faassenii
- penstemon
- rhododendron
- ruta
- sea holly (thistle)
- sedum
These are all plants I grow in my garden. As you can see, it’s perfectly possible to fill your garden with slug proof plants. If I am smart, I will grow more of these, and leave the seed sowing to others.
Even though the internet tells me sweet peas are sometimes troubled by slugs, mine are doing okay. They are flowering and I hope to show you lots more next month!
Hello Pauline,
so nice to hear from you again.
What a sad tale. It happens. Give it all time.
We seem to have fewer slugs and snails this year. Maybe because I went after them early last year.
I do protect my Hostas by growing them in tubs, as I do the outdoor and dahlias.
You still managed to make a pretty post, with the sweet peas against the lovely dish.
Hello Joanna,
I am on a slug hunt almost every evening, flashlight in hand. I hope it will have some effect. At the moment, they are feeding on my clematis (after having eaten all my seedlings). Better luck next year with the cobaea scandens. Maybe I should grow them in tubs aswell?
Slugs are even more of a menace than usual this year. I suppose it is the mild winter we have had, in the UK at least. I had a hellebore decimated by them over the winter. It’s only now I’ve moved it to a safer location it looks to be thriving. It is even bearing a late bloom!
We have had a very warm winter as well. That, and all the rain we have had make them very happy. I haven’t had too much trouble with slugs eating hellebores but I do think they will eat anything. Hopefully yours will recover and bear more blooms next year!