Sophie's 2022 Gardening Year!

2022 has been my first year gardening. We moved into our first home last year, and I spent 2021 keeping an eye on the garden to keep track of where the shady areas were, what the soil was like, just generally getting familiar with the ecosystem.

I started 2022 sowing my first TRPG seeds! Sweet peas and Nigella Miss Jeckyll in white and blue were the first seeds I planted, and were two highlights of my garden this year. It quickly escalated from there, and suddenly I had a TRPG online shopping basket filled with snapdragons, forget-me-nots and my first ever bare roots.

The bare roots were a first for me, and quite a challenge, but they have definitely paid off. There were some casualties along the way - namely the Bleeding Heart White - but I am in love with the Astilbe 'Japonica Washington White' and Hosta 'White Feather'. These were especially welcome in my garden as I think it’s North facing, meaning it can get quite shady in places, so the shady collection on TRPG website meant I could still keep these areas full of plants.

I learnt a lot from Lizzie’s Instagram when it came to looking after my seedlings, especially in terms of using a greenhouse and hardening off. I also joined my first sprinkle party this year, sowing the last of my nigella and some gorgeous Alyssum “snow cloth”. Lizzie’s spring garden was a total inspiration so I was straight in with the bulb pre-order so I could have my own sea of tulips! I’m especially excited for Tulip bakerii lilac from October’s subscription box.

After planting my first bulbs this autumn and winter, I thought the garden would slow down but there was still lots to do and plenty of plants thriving. I was totally stunned that my sweet peas were going strong right until the end of November, and may have lasted longer if my trellis hadn’t broken and I’d had to dig them up! They looked fabulous with the Cosmos Purity all autumn long! I also had the Flower Seed Advent Calendar to keep me going in December and I can’t wait to sow these next year, my favourite so far being Nigella Delft Blue.

I think my favourite plant this year has to be the Sweet Pea Blue Shift, closely followed by the Astilbe 'Japonica Washington White', but I have honestly loved all my TRPG flowers. They’ve really got me into gardening and that passion has helped me during some tougher times this year. 

It hasn’t all been successes, but has provided some lessons for next year. I’m hoping to redeem myself with Bleeding Heart White and ordered a couple of bare roots from TRPG December restock. I also tried my hand at growing pumpkins this year, and while I did get two small pumpkins at first, the plant died before they could ripen! A new year's gardening resolution is definitely to use my gardening diary more too, so in future seasons I can look back and see what worked well, and maybe not so well, and also keep track of what is growing when.

This year has got me looking forward to my 2023 garden. I have my Flower Seed Advent Calendar seeds to plant, bare roots to arrive, and spring bulbs to flower. I have learned so much from Lizzie so hopefully I’ll go into the new year a much more seasoned gardener!