# In the Garden



## Jodee

I thought we had a gardening thread already but couldn't find it so thought I would start another one.

In my soggy garden February 2020

Lets see what's happening in yours?


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## Robin

I’ve got some flowering shrubs, (winter flowering honeysuckle and viburnum and some daffs. I’m not venturing out for a close up til it stops raining, so here’s a view from the back door!


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## Jodee

Fab Robin   I have the quince in flower and there is some apple blossom developing but I don't think will last long with all this rain.  Lots of primroses in flower in my garden also.


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## Northerner

I have quite a few crocuses, but they have been battered and blown to bits by the wind, pummelled and drenched by the rain and smothered and frozen by the snow  Hardy little beggars -saw this as the snow started to melt


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## Northerner

Jodee said:


> I thought we had a gardening thread already but couldn't find it so thought I would start another one.
> 
> In my soggy garden February 2020
> 
> Lets see what's happening in yours?
> 
> View attachment 13348


I think it will be a good couple of weeks before my daffs see the light of day, just poking their heads out on the soil currently


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## Robin

Northerner said:


> I think it will be a good couple of weeks before my daffs see the light of day, just poking their heads out on the soil currently


All the 'daffs' I’ve got out at the moment are actually dwarf narcissi  'February Gold', which do exactly what they say on the tin. My common or garden daffs are only just thinking about life.


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## trophywench

Snowdrops have nearly finished flowering now and garden looking really drab.  However - lots of nice new green leaf buds on the hydrangeas already but the dried flower heads from last year are still on them - potty!


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## grovesy

I took a picture but it was too large to attach here.


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## Drummer

The accordion player at practice last night showed me a photo of her 'new pet' a huge bumble bee.
She found it outside in the cold and brought it inside to defrost. It seems to be happily visiting her flowers in the conservatory now, and hopefully will survive until the warmer weather comes - a few hours of warmth must have woken it from hibernation, but the cold night almost finished it off.


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## Wirrallass

Northerner said:


> I think it will be a good couple of weeks before my daffs see the light of day, just poking their heads out on the soil currently


....and it will be 12 months before I see my daffs! They're stil in the shed sprouting, along with tulip bulbs; crocus; snowdrops; + more. Why? Well... 
1) I was ill. 2) No compost to put in tubs & window boxes; and 3) Bad weather.
So I'm going to experiment and plant them all in troughs & tubs, wave my magic wand ~ and see what happens! Watch this space!
WL


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## Wirrallass

My wallflowers coming to life. The fragrance is heavenly. One of my late mums favourite flowers, thus why I grow them
WL


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## Jodee

Northerner said:


> I have quite a few crocuses, but they have been battered and blown to bits by the wind, pummelled and drenched by the rain and smothered and frozen by the snow  Hardy little beggars -saw this as the snow started to melt
> 
> View attachment 13359


That's wonderful Northerner  x


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## Jodee

trophywench said:


> Snowdrops have nearly finished flowering now and garden looking really drab.  However - lots of nice new green leaf buds on the hydrangeas already but the dried flower heads from last year are still on them - potty!



Re hydrangeas - mine too.  I did spot a few green shoots on the clematis also.


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## Jodee

Wirralass said:


> View attachment 13368
> My wallflowers coming to life. The fragrance is heavenly. One of my late mums favourite flowers, thus why I grow them
> WL


Wow that's great, my wallflowers are still sleepy.


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## Jodee

@grovesy - that's a pity grovesy

@Drummer - great love those bumble bees


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## Northerner

trophywench said:


> Snowdrops have nearly finished flowering now and garden looking really drab.  However - lots of nice new green leaf buds on the hydrangeas already but the dried flower heads from last year are still on them - potty!


I've still got quite a few snowdrops  I had a lovely lacecap hydrangea at my last house - it would grow like fury in the summer!   Need to get a camelia too, I had one of those and there were about a billion beautiful big pink flowers on it every year


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## trophywench

Those gillys are early!


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## grovesy

I have snowdrops but most fading now, crocus, daffodils, primroses, iris, winter flowering heather, camellia, clematisis but I have some for every season.
I bought a new Camellia a couple of weeks ago in Aldi.


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## Northerner

This was my lacecap hydrangea from my last house  Must get another


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## trophywench

Loved your lacecap Alan.  Bootiful!


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## Northerner

trophywench said:


> Loved your lacecap Alan.  Bootiful!


It was stunning  Unfortunately, I think the person who bought the house has dug it up


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## trophywench

Northerner said:


> It was stunning  Unfortunately, I think the person who bought the house has dug it up



Philistine!


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## Pumper_Sue

All snow drops have finished now as have a lot of daffs. Crocuses are out now in small batches. Anything else has their winter woollies on due to hail, sleet and snow today. I've spotted a few garden snails wearing a snorkel due to the liquid sunshine we have in abundance.


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## nonethewiser

A mire would best describe our garden. Had clear out last year planting new shrubs, some look ok others not so. Planted them late summer so lesson learnt, spring would have been better time to give them time to establish.


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## Northerner

nonethewiser said:


> A mire would best describe our garden. Had clear out last year planting new shrubs, some look ok others not so. Planted them late summer so lesson learnt, spring would have been better time to give them time to establish.


Hope they all survive and thrive  I'm pretty sure a large proportion of the daffodil bulbs I planted have failed, as there are far fewer poking through than I would have hoped for, but you never know I suppose I will find out in the coming weeks!


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## grovesy

Northerner said:


> Hope they all survive and thrive  I'm pretty sure a large proportion of the daffodil bulbs I planted have failed, as there are far fewer poking through than I would have hoped for, but you never know I suppose I will find out in the coming weeks!


I find they flower at differnt times in my garden, my front garden can flower up to 4 weeks before my back garden.


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## Northerner

grovesy said:


> I find they flower at differnt times in my garden, my front garden can flower up to 4 weeks before my back garden.


There's certainly a big variation in the amount of sunlight my front and back gardens get at this time of the year - east-facing at the back and west facing at the front, but the sunrise isn't high enough in the mornings to get far above the houses/trees before it starts moving round to the front of the house by late morning, so front gets more light  In summer, because it's a bungalow, I get a lot of light all day because the house isn't high enough to block the sun


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## grovesy

Northerner said:


> There's certainly a big variation in the amount of sunlight my front and back gardens get at this time of the year - east-facing at the back and west facing at the front, but the sunrise isn't high enough in the mornings to get far above the houses/trees before it starts moving round to the front of the house by late morning, so front gets more light  In summer, because it's a bungalow, I get a lot of light all day because the house isn't high enough to block the sun


I have a South front and north back.


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## everydayupsanddowns

We had a nice showing of blossom from our Cherry Plum. Only a few years old, so still hasn’t produced any fruit, but the blossom comes out even earlier than our snowdrops!


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## grovesy

My snow drops are mainly over. Even some of my daffodils are finished too.


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## chaoticcar

My poor crocus have been underwater but they are still flowering !


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## everydayupsanddowns

grovesy said:


> My snow drops are mainly over. Even some of my daffodils are finished too.



Yup, my snowdrops didn’t really show this year. I think they got too dry over the summer


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## Northerner

everydayupsanddowns said:


> Yup, my snowdrops didn’t really show this year. I think they got too dry over the summer


I got quite a few, just starting to die off now 




chaoticcar said:


> My poor crocus have been underwater but they are still flowering !


Mine are still flowering, but the leaves have become very limp and bedraggled


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## grovesy

everydayupsanddowns said:


> Yup, my snowdrops didn’t really show this year. I think they got too dry over the summer


I have some that have not come up to, I had some in front garden that have not shown up. The dry might explain as my front get the sun most of the day.


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## Pumper_Sue

Just spent the afternoon in the garden cutting back plants and even cutting the lawn. I see the fuchsia's as in bud and the raspberry canes also.
I decided I must sort the grass out at least, as have hand surgery on Thurs and according to all the bumf, there's no driving for 2 weeks and no grass cutting or gardening for 4 weeks. If that's the case I wouldn't find my lawn mower if I ventured forth in 4 weeks time.


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## Northerner

Pumper_Sue said:


> Just spent the afternoon in the garden cutting back plants and even cutting the lawn. I see the fuchsia's as in bud and the raspberry canes also.
> I decided I must sort the grass out at least, as have hand surgery on Thurs and according to all the bumf, there's no driving for 2 weeks and no grass cutting or gardening for 4 weeks. If that's the case I wouldn't find my lawn mower if I ventured forth in 4 weeks time.


I hope the op goes well Sue


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## grovesy

Hope the op goes well. 
I did a bit of cutting back yesterday,  but the lawns are still like bogs. Have had more rain today. Though I did some stuff in the greenhouse, putting up plug plants till the ground drystone a bit more. Sown some sweet peas but did not have enough toilet roll inners to sow both packets of seed I have.


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## everydayupsanddowns

Fingers crossed the surgery goes well Sue (no pun intended!)


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## Pumper_Sue

So far the date has been changed 3 times 1st apt was 19th march. Then the surgeon wanted it brought forward  so changed it to the 17th! then last week told it changed again so now the 5th!

Any bets as to whether it will cancelled?
Had another letter from the hospital to tell me they had changed another outpatient apt from Monday the 9th of March to the 26th of may, which would have meant a 27 week wait altogether.
So I rang up and asked why it had been changed, no one knew why as the clinic was still on that day so I demanded they gave me back my original apt. Which I'm pleased to say they did.


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## Northerner

Pumper_Sue said:


> So far the date has been changed 3 times 1st apt was 19th march. Then the surgeon wanted it brought forward so changed it to the 17th! then last week told it changed again so now the 5th!


Hope you don't get another letter saying they've changed it to 1st of March, given that progression!


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## Northerner

My forsythia  Nice to have a bit of colour


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## grovesy




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## grovesy

Having succesfully  got the picture small enough to post I could not work out to add text. I think the reduction has blurred the picture abit.


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## everydayupsanddowns

grovesy said:


> Having succesfully  got the picture small enough to post I could not work out to add text. I think the reduction has blurred the picture abit.



so pleased you managed to upload the picture 

And a lovely splash of colour.


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## grovesy

Thank you.


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## Northerner

Not a great picture - should have worn my glasses!   This is the only one I have!  Daffodils are out at the churchyard, and their crocuses have fared much better than mine. Blossoms out on some of the cherry trees


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## Wirrallass

grovesy said:


> Having succesfully  got the picture small enough to post I could not work out to add text. I think the reduction has blurred the picture abit.


After you've posted your pic press the key that has an arrow on it pointing to the left. This will take you to the next line where you want to post a message. Hope you get the gist of this grovesy.
WL


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## grovesy

Yes I think so. I am busy trying to cut down my overgrown winter Clematis Winter Beauty, before the garden waste gets collected at the end of the week. Also before the other summer flowering ones below start growing more vigorously.


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## Robin

Thought I'd practise uploading photos with a pic of my hellebores. They normally flop over, but I think it’s just so wet that they’ve had plenty of moisture. The white ones were here when we moved in, but the pink ones have all appeared by magic in the years since.


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## Robin

Now that was really weird, no matter what I did, I couldn’t prevent the image coming out sideways...until I emailed it to myself, and saved the emailed version and uploaded that..hey presto, right way up.


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## grovesy

Love the colour of the Hellebores . Mine only hold there heads down in the frost.
I have a dark purple near black, that I bought quite a few years ago that only seems to flower every few years. I was really disappointed with it as I paid nearly £10 at Wisley, when I got it home I had cut out of the pot it was so pot bound. 
I have heard and read Carol Klien(gardening expert), saying that Hellebores can be promiscuous and may be it is a seedling from before your time.


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## grovesy




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## grovesy

I did this all my phone but all though it is easier to upload , it is a bit small and fiddly.


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## everydayupsanddowns

I put a Kerria Japonica in a gap during the autumn, and it’s already showing a little Spring colour.


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## everydayupsanddowns

grovesy said:


> I did this all my phone but all though it is easier to upload , it is a bit small and fiddly.



Lovely Lenten Roses @grovesy


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## grovesy

everydayupsanddowns said:


> Lovely Lenten Roses @grovesy


Thank you most of them don't owe me anything as they come back year after year, the colour lasts for weeks when little else is in flower.


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## trophywench

Never ever heard hellibores called Lenten roses before!

There again my mother never liked calling anything her mother had known and told her the proper name of, by a 'common' name.  Anything whatever 'common' was beneath contempt for her.


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## everydayupsanddowns

trophywench said:


> Never ever heard hellibores called Lenten roses before!



It’s what my Mum always called them. We’ve a clump we adopted from their garden.


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## grovesy

everydayupsanddowns said:


> It’s what my Mum always called them. We’ve a clump we adopted from their garden.


I have heard them called it before, so I knew what you meant.


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## Docb

Look what I have just found.


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## SB2015

Looking through this thread it is lovely to see evidence of the changing weather.
Only clearing and digging up stuff today in preparation for our new shed.


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## Robin

Docb said:


> Look what I have just found.


Ooh, purple sprouting, yum!


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## eggyg

I’m no great shakes in the garden, but I can cut things down and pull weeds etc. Mr Eggy has planted his onions and his seed potatoes are chitting. Grass got it’s first cut on Thursday. That makes a huge difference to the general appearance. Most of the daffs are out except our favourites. The triple headed narcissis. They smell gorgeous too. Heather is out, forsythia is looking pretty poor so far though. By the end of our social distancing I’m expecting to be able to open it to the paying public it’ll be so splendid!


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## grovesy

It has been nice to spend time in the garden the last few days. I did think my Muscari had given but they have all suddenly started to spring  up in the last few day.
Still having trouble posting pictures.


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## Jodee

I have Babies:-
Little Toms - gardeners delight...  actually they are not in the garden, but inside for the moment.


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## Jodee

Great raised beds @eggyg

So sorry @grovesy  I would love to see your pictures.

Can you right click on them from FB to copy, then come here and paste?  Will that work for you?

I will try one of mine.....



Above is image from FB - just did right click + select copy image, come here and right click again then select paste.  Surprised it converted to a png though.


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## Jodee

Another  Spring is arriving ...


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## grovesy

No because the pictures are too large for here.


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## Jodee

grovesy said:


> No because the pictures are too large for here.


Oh shame,  pity you can't put them through an imaging programme to crop or resize. 

There could be something on your phone or camera that you can select for a smaller size image.


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## grovesy

Jodee said:


> Oh shame,  pity you can't put them through an imaging programme to crop or resize.
> 
> There could be something on your phone or camera that you can select for a smaller size image.
> [/QUOTE
> I am not the only one having a problem,  and it is only since the forum change.


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## Jodee

grovesy said:


> I am not the only one having a problem, and it is only since the forum change.



I wonder those having trouble, what devices they are using - maybe communicate similar device info to Admin (as below)

I'm on the PC win 10 using google chrome browser and not having any problems.

Hope things can be resolved for you and all those having difficulties.


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## Ditto

Copy and paste doesn't work for me.  Nothing works for me on the forum now unless I put it in myself. What the heck have I got clicked by mistake. 

My Mum's blue Hyacinths came back again. Nice. My first Tulip out, a red one.


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## grovesy

Jodee said:


> I wonder those having trouble, what devices they are using - maybe communicate similar device info to Admin (as below)
> 
> I'm on the PC win 10 using google chrome browser and not having any problems.
> 
> Hope things can be resolved for you and all those having difficulties.


Admin are aware thanks. They are going to raise again with the forum architect.


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## Northerner

Some new colour 

Not sure if I planted these, I don't remember seeing them last year - are they a type of daffodil?



And these, which I do remember, but have forgotten the name of (I'm no Alan Titchmarsh!  )


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## grovesy

Not a Daffodil,  but flower looks more like a type of tulip, though the leaves don't.


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## Northerner

grovesy said:


> Not a Daffodil,  but flower looks more like a type of tulip, though the leaves don't.


Thought they were just snowdrops until they opened up, as I have had a lot of those in the same area


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## grovesy

Yeah can see the foliage that is why I don't  think  it is a tulip.


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## trophywench

Small Narcissus, perchance?

Is it Aubretia, the mauve one?


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## Robin

I bought a pack of those last year. (Northie's question mark tulips, I mean) Polychroma Tulip is what it says on the packet, and underneath, 'the first tulips to flower'
Correct, @trophywench, it’s Aubretia.


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## Northerner

Robin said:


> I bought a pack of those last year. (Northie's question mark tulips, I mean) Polychroma Tulip is what it says on the packet, and underneath, 'the first tulips to flower'
> Correct, @trophywench, it’s Aubretia.


Thank you!  They're lovely, but I've only got about 4 of them


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## grovesy

Robin said:


> I bought a pack of those last year. (Northie's question mark tulips, I mean) Polychroma Tulip is what it says on the packet, and underneath, 'the first tulips to flower'
> Correct, @trophywench, it’s Aubretia.


My first thought was a Tulip but  I thought the leaves did not look like Tulip. I notice I have some in my garden, I noticed after posting earlier. I think they were bulbs I bought last year in Wilko.


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## Wirrallass

Wirralass said:


> View attachment 13368
> My wallflowers coming to life. The fragrance is heavenly. One of my late mums favourite flowers, thus why I grow them
> WL



My wallflowers are growing nicely ~ I hope they stay in bloom longer than they did last year.
WL


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## eggyg

Last year we re organised our garden, built raised beds and two ponds. We also laid thick black plastic sheeting around the raised bed area and covered it in stones. We had to get rid of a small border to do this. These appeared today, tough as old boots tulips!


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## Tee G

@eggyg - That happened to me when we had a new lawn laid a few years back.  Thought i had removed everything but a couple of tulips in the 'old boarder' kept popping up - until they got their heads chopped off one too many times with the lawn mower awww  LOL


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## Tee G

@Northerner - Your white star, yellow centre flowers are tulips.........Tulipa Tarda


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## grovesy

eggyg said:


> Last year we re organised our garden, built raised beds and two ponds. We also laid thick black plastic sheeting around the raised bed area and covered it in stones. We had to get rid of a small border to do this. These appeared today, tough as old boots tulips!


You have reminded me my Red Tulips that come back every year have not made an appearance yet.


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## eggyg

grovesy said:


> You have reminded me my Red Tulips that come back every year have not made an appearance yet.


Unfortunately they don’t last long do they? It has been 18 degrees in Cumbria and bright sunshine all day. The petals have opened up really wide, they’ll have fallen off by tomorrow!


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## Ditto

Testing... Yay it worked. Some of my Tulips with weeds! I must get out there...


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## Tee G

Im leaving my weeds these days @Ditto  - spent too many years having it way too neat and tidy -  Insects 'n bugs, need all the help they can get.  And some of them are so pretty!


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## everydayupsanddowns

Managed to pick up some Sweet Pea seedlings at the supermarket this morning, which was great news as our local community garden centre closed down even before the restricted movement rules came in.


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## Northerner

everydayupsanddowns said:


> Managed to pick up some Sweet Pea seedlings at the supermarket this morning, which was great news as our local community garden centre closed down even before the restricted movement rules came in.


I usually order a lot of my plants from J.Parkers, but looked this morning and they are not taking any new orders currently


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## grovesy

Northerner said:


> I usually order a lot of my plants from J.Parkers, but looked this morning and they are not taking any new orders currently


I would check again in a few days, as Suttons did it for a few days, and have now reopened. It was sue to volume of orders. 
I have been getting some from Thompson and Morgan.


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## Ditto

Tee G said:


> Im leaving my weeds these days @Ditto  - spent too many years having it way too neat and tidy -  Insects 'n bugs, need all the help they can get.  And some of them are so pretty!


 I was going to leave my Dandelions because the bees need them. 

Northie I usually call in at Parkers, just up the road, can't now though. I always spend too much though. One visit I spent a £100 on bulbs, family weren't best pleased. I did used to get most of my plants from the car boot, cheap as chips. 

Just tried to post a pic of the fir tree and it says photo too big to upload so need it on fb or Google photos first then.


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## everydayupsanddowns

Looks like bedding plants will be a little harder to come by round here. Time to see if there’s any life left in some of those old seed packets.


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## grovesy

Some of the Garden Centers around here are doing deliveries of plants and sundries. I dont know how long it will last. As some started a Click and Collect no contact service, but that only seemed to last a few days before they stopped.


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## Ditto

I usually get my bedding from Aldi but not going Aldi now so that's out! So is Mum's Camellia.


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## grovesy

I grow most of mine, I not sure i will have enough compost , even though i bought 3 bags , before I was down to my last one.


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## Wirrallass

Ditto said:


> I usually get my bedding from Aldi but not going Aldi now so that's out! So is Mum's Camellia.
> 
> View attachment 13781


That looks similar to a photo of mine!

WL


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## Ditto

Except yours is better.  Did you take it with a mobile? My mobile's Chinese, I might throw the damned thing away. I've gone off things Chinese.  One of my Fuchsia's is flowering. I'm always amazed when some of them make it through the winter.


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## grovesy

Ditto said:


> Except yours is better.  Did you take it with a mobile? My mobile's Chinese, I might throw the damned thing away. I've gone off things Chinese.  One of my Fuchsia's is flowering. I'm always amazed when some of them make it through the winter. View attachment 13785


I am sorry but even I phones are Chinese.


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## Ditto

The yellow peril taking over the world!  

I need to get in the garden, but I don't have the oomph...last years apples are still hanging about, oh the shame.


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## grovesy

I have some marigolds that have flowered through out the winter. I noticed a for-get-me-not, in the picture there.


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## Ditto

Some plants don't know whether they are coming or going, stupid global warming. Got tons of Forgets, they come up willynilly every year, I luvs them.  The marigold is from seed I helped myself to from the neighbours, they grow all over the outside of their bungalows. I luv them too.


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## grovesy

Ditto said:


> Some plants don't know whether they are coming or going, stupid global warming. Got tons of Forgets, they come up willynilly every year, I luvs them.  The marigold is from seed I helped myself to from the neighbours, they grow all over the outside of their bungalows. I luv them too.


I try to pull the forget-me-nots up before they seed. The marigolds I buy a pack of Wilko's own Marigold Called Art Shades mixed ,about £1. I just sprinkle them on the ground and them come up, they are different shades.


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## Ditto

You pull them up!? I encourage them.  I like them threading through everything. They are horrible though when they've gone over, I get them up as quickly as possible then but hope they'll self-seed for the following spring and they usually do. I miss Wilco!  Is it still open?


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## grovesy

Ditto said:


> You pull them up!? I encourage them.  I like them threading through everything. They are horrible though when they've gone over, I get them up as quickly as possible then but hope they'll self-seed for the following spring and they usually do. I miss Wilco!  Is it still open?


I usal pull them up to plant other plants that flower for longer.


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## Grannylorraine

I have some bluebells which look lovely, and was just nice to be out there and here the birds, something I have never paid much attention to before.


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## grovesy

I have Robin that sings is heart out but used to perch in a tree that overhung my and my neighbours garden, from a house that backs on to ours. The tree has been cut down to about 6 foot, no foliage,  cant see where he is perching now.


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## Ditto

I luvs Robins. They come right up to you and wait for worms while you are digging! Cheeky things.

My fave Primrose.

Some Daffs and the Skimmia near the backgate looking good this year.

Two Snakeshead Lillies...I only have success with these in pots. They don't seem to 'come back' in the ground. 


Everything is all over weeds. I shall try for an hour this afternoon, give the Bookworm a rest.


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## grovesy

I thought my more unusual coloured Muscari had not come up this year but saw a few of them when tending to my garden today. They were just slow to make an appearance.


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## Robin

Just practising uploading photos, with my tulips that have just come out.
The pear and plum blossom is also out, but it’s turned so cold, I don’t know if there’ll be any insects around to pollinate them.


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## Ditto

Those are so beautiful. 

Grovesy post a pic of your Muscari, how are they unusual? My normal ones come back every year, I luvs them. 

My paler than the usual dark pink Ribes. Prettier I think.


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## grovesy

Ditto said:


> Those are so beautiful.
> 
> Grovesy post a pic of your Muscari, how are they unusual? My normal ones come back every year, I luvs them.
> 
> My paler than the usual dark pink Ribes. Prettier I think.
> View attachment 13813


I can't get pictures to post on here since upgrade.


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## trophywench

We had a ribes (flowering currant) in our front garden.  Always stank of cat pee …...


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## grovesy

trophywench said:


> We had a ribes (flowering currant) in our front garden.  Always stank of cat pee …...


I was never a fan of them either.


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## everydayupsanddowns

grovesy said:


> I can't get pictures to post on here since upgrade.



I think the forum architect is going to have another look at this @grovesy

noticed yesterday that our Heuchera looks like these a bit of it that might split away, which is great news, as I was hoping to get another to add into a space where we lost something in the Autumn.

Not the foliage colour I would have gone for, but I will take it!


----------



## grovesy

everydayupsanddowns said:


> I think the forum architect is going to have another look at this @grovesy
> 
> noticed yesterday that our Heuchera looks like these a bit of it that might split away, which is great news, as I was hoping to get another to add into a space where we lost something in the Autumn.
> 
> Not the foliage colour I would have gone for, but I will take it!


I never used to be a fan of Heuchera but a nieghbour up the road have some that always look colourful. So when our Wyevale Garden Centre was taken over in the summer by Longacre, they had some that were good and reasonable I bought a few. They have not disappointed over the winter some are sprouting flower shoots.


----------



## Northerner

I've had a sudden explosion of these pretty little yellow beauties - anyone know what they are called? I think I had some in my garden when I lived in Southampton too...


----------



## Docb

Yes, they are a plant with well established medicinal effects and are to be encouraged.  Not sure what they are called in Yorkshire but the French call them pissenlit.


----------



## Ditto

I keep meaning to eat a few of those leaves, new ones of course... 

I must go and smell my Ribes...mine's a less common pale pink one, maybe it won't smell so bad, I'll keep yous posted. 

Grovesy I couldn't post pictures before now I can! I have to put them on Facebook or Google first though, to make them smaller, they're huge straight from my mobile. Too big for a forum. 

Mum's Camellia is fabulous this year, is it all Camellia's or just hers? Anybody got a Camellia? Can you see it at the back there, next to the ginormous Eucalyptus? I must get a close up...I'm so techie, I have to walk up to it lol. My idea of zoom. I'm a Luddite.


----------



## grovesy

Ditto said:


> I keep meaning to eat a few of those leaves, new ones of course...
> 
> I must go and smell my Ribes...mine's a less common pale pink one, maybe it won't smell so bad, I'll keep yous posted.
> 
> Grovesy I couldn't post pictures before now I can! I have to put them on Facebook or Google first though, to make them smaller, they're huge straight from my mobile. Too big for a forum.
> 
> Mum's Camellia is fabulous this year, is it all Camellia's or just hers? Anybody got a Camellia? Can you see it at the back there, next to the ginormous Eucalyptus? I must get a close up...I'm so techie, I have to walk up to it lol. My idea of zoom. I'm a Luddite.
> View attachment 13850


I don't see how that would work.


----------



## Ditto

grovesy said:


> I don't see how that would work.


Well, I used to use an Olympus and had no trouble, but when I got this fancy mobile I started using it for photos but they were far too large to post anywhere apart from Facebook which automatically makes them smaller. I have no idea why. The powersthatbe on that site which is boatloaded have probably put something into place for making sure nobody posts pictures that will take up too much bandwidth or whatever the heck it is. Suits me anyways.


----------



## trophywench

It's camellias generally, Ditto.  The pale pink one next door is nearly over (it flowers early) but the older and enormous one a few doors down is a deep red one and is glorious.

We've always had an excellent display of pissenlit in our garden together with millions of self seeded buddleia seedlings.


----------



## Robin

Ooh, jealous of anyone with a Camellia, we’ve got the wrong soil, and they don’t thrive round here.


----------



## grovesy

Ditto said:


> Well, I used to use an Olympus and had no trouble, but when I got this fancy mobile I started using it for photos but they were far too large to post anywhere apart from Facebook which automatically makes them smaller. I have no idea why. The powersthatbe on that site which is boatloaded have probably put something into place for making sure nobody posts pictures that will take up too much bandwidth or whatever the heck it is. Suits me anyways.


Sorry I know how to post on Facebook that is easy but transferring from there to here. I don't  really see how that would be.


----------



## Northerner

Robin said:


> Ooh, jealous of anyone with a Camellia, we’ve got the wrong soil, and they don’t thrive round here.


This was mine in Southampton - best £3 I ever spent in Woolworths!  Must get another


----------



## eggyg

grovesy said:


> Sorry I know how to post on Facebook that is easy but transferring from there to here. I don't  really see how that would be.


Click on your FB photo, three dots should come up on the top right hand side. Click on those and various options will come up, press save photo. That should then go onto your camera roll. Hope that helps and works!


----------



## eggyg

Some of our  triple headed narcissus have popped up in an unusual place, right in the middle of a rose bush and sage bush! They smell gorgeous. The others haven’t flowered yet.


----------



## grovesy

eggyg said:


> Click on your FB photo, three dots should come up on the top right hand side. Click on those and various options will come up, press save photo. That should then go onto your camera roll. Hope that helps and works!


What camera roll?


----------



## trophywench

How daft eggyg!  Still, naked rose bushes are ruddy boring normally, so I daresay they brighten things up no end!


----------



## grovesy

eggyg said:


> Click on your FB photo, three dots should come up on the top right hand side. Click on those and various options will come up, press save photo. That should then go onto your camera roll. Hope that helps and works!


Well I have checked on Facebook on my Phone, Tablet, and Laptop, and not all give the 3 dots and the one that does not give me the option to do anything with the photo.


----------



## eggyg

grovesy said:


> What camera roll?


On your phone or tablet.


----------



## eggyg

grovesy said:


> Well I have checked on Facebook on my Phone, Tablet, and Laptop, and not all give the 3 dots and the one that does not give me the option to do anything with the photo.


Hmm... I’m stumped now. What sort of phone/tablet do you have? Here’s a couple of screen shots from a photo on my FB page. They show the three dots and what happens when I press them. I have a iPhone 6s, which is quite old. I didn’t have to reduce the size as FB had already done it.


----------



## Dave W

Our plum tree has just sprung into blossom and doesn't give a hoot for social distancing as it's doing its best to attract flying visitors.


----------



## grovesy

eggyg said:


> On your phone or tablet.


None.


----------



## grovesy

Both are Samsung. I just noticed it mentions messenger I don't have it on my Tablet or Phone, by choice.


----------



## Ditto

I'm just posting from my Google photos and it works just fine. Do you have Google Grovesy? Do your photos go straight there like mine do? I was freaked out at first, I thought it was very cheeky of them doing that without asking me but now I rely on it as when my mobile went freaky and deleted all the photos on it by mistake they were on Google. Phew.

Northie that is gorgeous. Did you not dig it up and bring it with you? I would have done.


----------



## grovesy

I am on my tablet and Google Chrome on here does not seem to have on here. I dont seem to get the option to share here from Google Photos.


----------



## Ditto

I am on my old clapped out laptop what fell off the back of a lorry. What I do is, the photos are on GooglePhotos and I click on that and save one to my documents and then click 'post reply' on here and then do a bit of waffle then click the thingy at the bottom which is a little paperclip with 'Attach files' then I click the relevant photo from my documents and I also click 'thumbnail' so it won't be too big for the page. Clear as mud! I would never have made a teacher, that's definitely a vocation! 

Can't  believe how much of a tip the garden is. The Stonecrop wants recomposting.


----------



## Sharron1

I have a sort of dead hebe in a pot but in the spirit of my glass is half full. I have planted again and will see if it 'takes'. I believe it is pretty difficult to kill a hebe. Well done me


----------



## ColinUK

I used to have free reign in a huge courtyard. Now I have balcony.
Only planting I’ve done here so far is these two balcony boxes.


----------



## Robin

Sharron1 said:


> I have a sort of dead hebe in a pot but in the spirit of my glass is half full. I have planted again and will see if it 'takes'. I believe it is pretty difficult to kill a hebe. Well done me


Oh believe me, I’ve killed one!


----------



## ColinUK

Robin said:


> Oh believe me, I’ve killed one!


I’ve killed huge specimen plants before. You can kill absolutely anything in the garden!


----------



## Ditto

Lovely balcony Colin.  I've killed tons of stuff, I have a black thumb. Plants thrive despite me rather than because of me. 

Wouldn't you adam and eve it. Pride goes before a fall. My photos aren't uploading from my phone to Google photos for some reason. I have up till Monday but have taken tons since then. Good grief, that'll teach me.


----------



## Robin

Ditto said:


> I've killed tons of stuff, I have a black thumb. Plants thrive despite me rather than because of me.


I’m the same with house plants. People compliment me on mine, and I tell them, well, these are the indestructible survivors, you should see how many I killed!


----------



## trophywench

Pete has the required touch, but I don't generally, even with the blasted weeds, which survive anything I do to them!  Aaargh.


----------



## SB2015

ColinUK said:


> I used to have free reign in a huge courtyard. Now I have balcony.
> Only planting I’ve done here so far is these two balcony boxes.


Nice baskets for the boxes Colin


----------



## SB2015

‘We’ (that is OH) has set too on the paving with the pressure washer.  The excess water going into the surrounding beds.  One section at a time and makes a. If difference.


----------



## Ditto

SB2015 said:


> ‘We’ (that is OH) has set too on the paving with the pressure washer.  The excess water going into the surrounding beds.  One section at a time and makes a. If difference.


I was quite shocked at how dry everything was after that wet winter!

I just tried to upload a photo from my laptop and it is crossed out with a message 'The uploaded file is too large for the server to process' so the only way is to save them from GooglePhotos to my documents and upload from there, but it's playing up, no photos showing after last Monday. Agh.


----------



## grovesy

I have bee  having to water a patch of my garden for a couple of weeks , though that is a patch that has a large conifer type tree overhanging it.


----------



## trophywench

You'd be amazed how much a large tree drinks - a 30ft oak, around 50,000 gallons a year!

We were members of a camping club with a permanent site which was located on the edge of and within a wood called Water Wood, at the edge of the original ancient Forest of Arden.  As such there were many very mature trees.  We built a new toilet block and the original foundation were dug by hand but when the Building Inspector from the County Council came to inspect it, we were told we needed to go down the 2 meters!  Well remember one member, a now elderly commercial building contractor (as in Main Contracting Company, not a jobbing builder) saying he'd built 10 storey blocks of flats for the City Council on shallower foundations than that!  However, not in ancient woodland LOL


----------



## SB2015

Ditto said:


> I was quite shocked at how dry everything was after that wet winter!
> 
> I just tried to upload a photo from my laptop and it is crossed out with a message 'The uploaded file is too large for the server to process' so the only way is to save them from GooglePhotos to my documents and upload from there, but it's playing up, no photos showing after last Monday. Agh.


I have finally overcome this issue, by emailing myself and attaching the picture.  This squishes it down a bit in resolution.  I then go to the email and save the picture from there in drop box (I made a folder called Squishes Photos: you can tell I am a tech expert!!!). Then I can use it from there on the forum.  It is a bit lacking in spontinaity ( need some help with spelling @trophywench please) but it does work.


----------



## trophywench

Try spontaneity, dear Lisa, dear Lisa …...


----------



## trophywench

I had to have a think about it too, but then by remembering how spontaneous is spelt, worked it out!


----------



## Jodee

Happy Easter Everyone


----------



## Jodee

Plants flourish in the right conditions generally.


----------



## Jodee

Northerner said:


> This was mine in Southampton - best £3 I ever spent in Woolworths!  Must get another
> 
> View attachment 13851



That's a wonderful Camellia Northerner, I never got my pink one past the 1st winter, my white one does well each year though


----------



## Jodee

Tulip time in the garden:


----------



## Jodee

The baby toms are growing and the cucumber when 1st sprouted  they have grown even bigger now but I don't have a recent photo


----------



## grovesy

Both my Tulips and primroses are nearly all finished or well past their best. My Tomato seedlings are not ready to rpick out yet but cucumbers maybe today. I have some flower seedlings nearly ready to prick out.


----------



## Robin

A question for the experts. Daughter picked up some trays of veg seedlings that were being given away free outside a closed shop. One lot weren’t labelled, but she took some anyway, and sent me a photo, thinking I'd be bound to know what they are.
But I haven’t a clue. Any ideas?


----------



## eggyg

Robin said:


> A question for the experts. Daughter picked up some trays of veg seedlings that were being given away free outside a closed shop. One lot weren’t labelled, but she took some anyway, and sent me a photo, thinking I'd be bound to know what they are.
> But I haven’t a clue. Any ideas?
> View attachment 13898


Spinach? That’s a wild  guess just looking at the leaves but then again the leaves may not be edible so don’t listen to me! Hmm....can you up/down load photo into Google and ask Alexa or whatever! I’m not techy!


----------



## Docb

Broad bean?  You could take one out of its pot and see if it is growing from a bean or a seed.


----------



## Robin

eggyg said:


> Spinach? That’s a wild  guess just looking at the leaves but then again the leaves may not be edible so don’t listen to me! Hmm....can you up/down load photo into Google and ask Alexa or whatever! I’m not techy!


My first thought was a brassica of some sort.


Docb said:


> Broad bean? You could take one out of its pot and see if it is growing from a bean or a seed


Ah, hadn’t thought of that! Good idea!

Plan B is to plant them out and see what they turn into, hoping it’ll become obvious!


----------



## eggyg

I’ve just showed it to Mr Eggy as he grew broad beans last year from seed. He reckons it could be, maybe stake them just incase. We got loads but prepping them is very labour intensive!


----------



## Robin

eggyg said:


> I’ve just showed it to Mr Eggy as he grew broad beans last year from seed. He reckons it could be, maybe stake them just incase. We got loads but prepping them is very labour intensive!


My father used to grow broad beans when I was a child, and I had to help my mother prep them! They weren’t as satisfying as peas to pod. I also remember him grumbling that they always got blackfly!


----------



## Northerner

Jodee said:


> That's a wonderful Camellia Northerner, I never got my pink one past the 1st winter, my white one does well each year though


It was superb - every day I was having to pick up literally hundreds of dead blooms as new ones arrived!


----------



## Northerner

grovesy said:


> Both my Tulips and primroses are nearly all finished or well past their best. My Tomato seedlings are not ready to rpick out yet but cucumbers maybe today. I have some flower seedlings nearly ready to prick out.


My tulips are just blooming now, and the daffodils have also finally decided to open up, although not in the numbers that I had planted them (well short, in fact  )




Daffodils have loads of petals, quite unusual and not what I was expecting


----------



## grovesy

Very nice. 
I am wondering if I have lost my Dahlias none of them seem to be making an appearance.


----------



## trophywench

Can't overwinter dahlias in the garden in the Midlands - think they get too wet and then freeze?  Not certain as never been fond of them anyway.

Broad beans ARE a blackfly magnet, unfortunately the blackfly don't restrict themselves once they find the broad beans …...


----------



## grovesy

trophywench said:


> Can't overwinter dahlias in the garden in the Midlands - think they get too wet and then freeze?  Not certain as never been fond of them anyway.
> 
> Broad beans ARE a blackfly magnet, unfortunately the blackfly don't restrict themselves once they find the broad beans …...


I am in the South East, and have been growing them and overwinter them in the garden for a few years. I originally grew them from seed.


----------



## Jodee

Northerner said:


> My tulips are just blooming now, and the daffodils have also finally decided to open up, although not in the numbers that I had planted them (well short, in fact  )
> 
> View attachment 13904View attachment 13905
> View attachment 13906
> 
> Daffodils have loads of petals, quite unusual and not what I was expecting
> 
> View attachment 13907


Gorgeos


----------



## Ditto

The double flowers aren't so great for bees so I always try for singles, but the doubles are beautiful so I do have some. I luvs your Aubretia, that's another plant I don't do well with!

I thought those plants were cabbages! 

Can't overwinter Dahlias here, oop norf, no chance, but sometimes Fuchsias are okay. 

I miss my photos, it's something to do with wifi, so no chance of me figuring it out. Darned thing. I must have clicked something by mistake.


----------



## grovesy

Ditto said:


> The double flowers aren't so great for bees so I always try for singles, but the doubles are beautiful so I do have some. I luvs your Aubretia, that's another plant I don't do well with!
> 
> I thought those plants were cabbages!
> 
> Can't overwinter Dahlias here, oop norf, no chance, but sometimes Fuchsias are okay.
> 
> I miss my photos, it's something to do with wifi, so no chance of me figuring it out. Darned thing. I must have clicked something by mistake.


I had a Fushia called Riccatonia for a out 25 years, though as old boots but disappeared one year never to be seen again. I have not given up on my Dalhias just yet.


----------



## eggyg

After a chilly start to the day it’s glorious now. So have been for a wander around my garden. Everything is just coming into bud or blossoming. Our Bramley apple espalier is full of blossom. The frost got it last year and we had zilch apples. Fingers crossed for this year.  I actually picked some daffs and tulips, I don’t generally as I like to see flowers in the garden but fancied cheering the house up a bit. I love the spring. New beginnings and all that.


----------



## Jodee

Ditto said:


> The double flowers aren't so great for bees so I always try for singles, but the doubles are beautiful so I do have some. I luvs your Aubretia, that's another plant I don't do well with!
> 
> I thought those plants were cabbages!
> 
> Can't overwinter Dahlias here, oop norf, no chance, but sometimes Fuchsias are okay.
> 
> I miss my photos, it's something to do with wifi, so no chance of me figuring it out. Darned thing. I must have clicked something by mistake.



Fuchsias for you Ditto (from last year)  they are actually coming early this year down south


----------



## Jodee

eggyg said:


> After a chilly start to the day it’s glorious now. So have been for a wander around my garden. Everything is just coming into bud or blossoming. Our Bramley apple espalier is full of blossom. The frost got it last year and we had zilch apples. Fingers crossed for this year.  I actually picked some daffs and tulips, I don’t generally as I like to see flowers in the garden but fancied cheering the house up a bit. I love the spring. New beginnings and all that.



wonderful eggy, love your raised beds, thanks for sharing.


----------



## trophywench

Nick the end bit of a healthy shoot of Ricartoni from someone else because slippings 'take' really easily - it will sprout a flower bud pdq, keep it watered and pinch flower buds out all this summer so it starts to bush and overwinter still in the pot.  Next May-ish plant it out wherever you want it.

Pete cut ours down to about 4ins only last week, last years flowers only finished in February!  Rain finished em.  They flower really late - end June-ish and still going strong well past Xmas.


----------



## grovesy

trophywench said:


> Nick the end bit of a healthy shoot of Ricartoni from someone else because slippings 'take' really easily - it will sprout a flower bud pdq, keep it watered and pinch flower buds out all this summer so it starts to bush and overwinter still in the pot.  Next May-ish plant it out wherever you want it.
> 
> Pete cut ours down to about 4ins only last week, last years flowers only finished in February!  Rain finished em.  They flower really late - end June-ish and still going strong well past Xmas.


No one else around here seems to have one. I was suprised I did not have any cuttings either as I usally take some.


----------



## trophywench

Don't think you live anywhere near me @grovesey, else I'd offer to start you a few off this summer (between Coventry & Nuneaton)


----------



## grovesy

Unfortunate,  I am Essex. It is a few years since I lost it.


----------



## SB2015

Just had the absolute pleasure of shredding stuff after pruning (probably the wrong time but it was necessary) and then emptying one of the compost bins to work  into the new veg area.  Finally the shredded stuff into the now empty compost bin along with some dried out bits taken out of the pond.

So satisfying getting something for nothing, and an enjoyable afternoon in the garden. 
I shall need to do more Pilates tomorrow!!


----------



## Lucylemonpip

Drummer said:


> The accordion player at practice last night showed me a photo of her 'new pet' a huge bumble bee.
> She found it outside in the cold and brought it inside to defrost. It seems to be happily visiting her flowers in the conservatory now, and hopefully will survive until the warmer weather comes - a few hours of warmth must have woken it from hibernation, but the cold night almost finished it off.



I love bumblebees and usually let them climb on my hands to warm up and give them sugared water to revive. I have a small bee house and am awaiting the leaf cutter bees to hatch out. Watching an adult “cut” rose leaves into semi circles and then carry them off, to lay their eggs and secure it with many cut leaves, is fascinating to watch.


----------



## trophywench

Myself and another motorhoming member of this forum are also both on a Moho one, where a certain member jeeps 3,000 bees in hives at home where they have a large flat roofed extension at the back, and his hives are normally kept up there.

I love a big fat furry bee, one flew in the open back door the other day and then couldn't work out where the open bit of the patio at the rear of the living room was, I'd just asked OH to usher him/her safely out please, when they discovered the way! - always relieved when they do.


----------



## Robin

grovesy said:


> I am in the South East, and have been growing them and overwinter them in the garden for a few years. I originally grew them from seed.


Talking about Dahlias, I’ve just committed a grave error, we always lift our dahlias because we can get a lot of frost and low temperatures, but I just went to hang the washing out, saw something thuggish looking at the back of the border and gave it a yank...turned out to be half a dahlia, by the look of the attached tuber! It was mild this winter, and it was in a sheltered spot. I’ve quickly potted up the bit that broke off, and hopefully it will take as a cutting.


----------



## grovesy

Robin said:


> Talking about Dahlias, I’ve just committed a grave error, we always lift our dahlias because we can get a lot of frost and low temperatures, but I just went to hang the washing out, saw something thuggish looking at the back of the border and gave it a yank...turned out to be half a dahlia, by the look of the attached tuber! It was mild this winter, and it was in a sheltered spot. I’ve quickly potted up the bit that broke off, and hopefully it will take as a cutting.


I still look I have not given up on mine yet. I have a couple that are more sheltered spot that are under stuff that is romping away at the moment.


----------



## Ditto

Eggy that's a 'proper' garden.  

Mum's Ornamental Cherry is gorgeous every year.


----------



## Northerner

Here's a better picture of one of my daffodils


----------



## eggyg

Northerner said:


> Here's a better picture of one of my daffodils
> 
> View attachment 13936


I’ve seen quite a few of these this year just in hedgerows on our country side walks. Today though, we saw some creamy/ white ones. I thought they looked amazing. I like the frilly ones, February Gold are so last year!


----------



## eggyg

Ditto said:


> Eggy that's a 'proper' garden.
> 
> Mum's Ornamental Cherry is gorgeous every year.
> View attachment 13935


Thanks. When we moved in 34 years ago, we were absolutely clueless about gardening. I still am TBF! When the kids were young it was mostly lawn, easy to maintain and room for various outdoor toys! We did dabble in veg a few times but not very successful and then life got in the way. When we retired three years ago Mr Eggy was determined to start a veg patch again. Last year it came to fruition. He jokes he did the raised beds so he can still garden if he ever needs a wheelchair! He really enjoys it. I just pull weeds out and chop dead stuff down!


----------



## Ditto

> February Gold are so last year!


  heh! 

Does anybody know what this flower is? Not a great pic of it but it's looking gorgeous this year. I have some in Mum's garden too. Never had a clue what it is. I used to do that garden but my sister swapped with my son and she's chopped down the 'dwarf conifer' that was in a tiddy pot and grew to 50foot! They're going to be doing a lot of gardening this year.


----------



## Docb

Hi Ditto... could it be a periwinkle?


----------



## eggyg

Another plant question. I know these are snakes head fritillary, were here when we moved in in 1986 along with a lone purple one elsewhere in the garden. That just disappeared one year. From what I’ve read they are wild flowers and in decline. What I want to know is has anyone split the bulbs successfully? Can’t find hardly any advice at all, when you google them you just get adverts for buying them. We don’t want to loose them but honestly don’t have a clue how old they are and would like them to survive. We may just have to buy some but apparently they aren’t easy to grow.


----------



## trophywench

@eggyg 


			https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/details%3Fplantid%3D814


----------



## grovesy

Mine have never last more than a couple of years.


----------



## Docb

Eggyg, try changing your default browser from google to something like duckduckgo.  The interesting stuff then appears top of the pile rather than on page 21 after all the paid-for adds.  In this case, the RHS website turns up top on a search for snakes head fritillary.


----------



## Robin

Ditto said:


> heh!
> 
> Does anybody know what this flower is? Not a great pic of it but it's looking gorgeous this year. I have some in Mum's garden too. Never had a clue what it is. I used to do that garden but my sister swapped with my son and she's chopped down the 'dwarf conifer' that was in a tiddy pot and grew to 50foot! They're going to be doing a lot of gardening this year.
> 
> View attachment 13946


I’d go with periwinkle too or Vinca Major if you’re being posh or buying it from a garden centre. It creeps, and layers itself down. Ours comes under the fence from next door.


----------



## Lisa66

Hi @eggyg 

Re your snakes head fritillaries, mine seem to self seed. I give them a little shake once they’ve “gone over” and ruffle the soil a bit. Although, I guess, we are at different ends of the country. The trick is to remember what they are when the new leaves appear in the spring and not pull them out .


----------



## eggyg

Lisa66 said:


> Hi @eggyg
> 
> Re your snakes head fritillaries, mine seem to self seed. I give them a little shake once they’ve “gone over” and ruffle the soil a bit. Although, I guess, we are at different ends of the country. The trick is to remember what they are when the new leaves appear in the spring and not pull them out .


Unfortunately they grow in a small patch of soil at the edge of the garden path! But I will take your advice and see if I can get the seeds to fly over the path to a proper border! Looking at where they naturally grow, meadows and marshes, where mine grow, is dry and very un meadow like!


----------



## eggyg

trophywench said:


> @eggyg
> 
> 
> https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/details%3Fplantid%3D814


It won’t let me access this link TW.


----------



## trophywench

Well just enter RHS plant details into your search engine then - the RHS website surely must be freely accessible to us all?

And then type snakes head fritillary into that - and you're right - that link doesn't work - but the RHS is still going to be there anyway!  It's a flippin Royal Institution - and if those disappear then OMG, the whole Royal family must have been wiped out …..


----------



## Ditto

Those white snakesheads are gorgeous. I only have a few of the purple and I'd lose those if I didn't have them in a tub.


----------



## everydayupsanddowns

eggyg said:


> It won’t let me access this link TW.



Try this @eggyg

https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/11986...is-i-var-i-unicolor-i-subvar-i-alba-i/Details


----------



## Ditto

I'm gonna give these a whirl. My ocd makes me number all my plants. Dunno why, they usually pop off anyways.


----------



## trophywench

My mother used to do flower arranging and was a huge fan of dried heliopsis so aaarrgghh I had more than my lifetimes fill of them back then along with more than enough displays.

They do normally grow very well in the garden without too much attention though @Ditto so that's got to be good news!

Often mis named sunflowers, they are really a type of Ox-eye daisy.


----------



## eggyg

Two garden tales today. I received a tomato plant kit for my birthday. Bucket, compost, seeds. What could go wrong? Follows instructions to the letter. Happy with it all. Had a quick look at the care instructions. See photos! 
Garden tale number 2: I have a very old variegated sage bush. It usually produces leaves all year, unlike my non variegated one which decided to die last year. That was old too.Variegated just looks dead but I noticed some tiny leaves appear, so decided to cut the dead bits off to give the new growth some space. I went a bit mad and cut off the only bit with any growth! Numpty! Is it too late do you think? Pic of gnarled old roots.


----------



## Robin

eggyg said:


> Two garden tales today. I received a tomato plant kit for my birthday. Bucket, compost, seeds. What could go wrong? Follows instructions to the letter. Happy with it all. Had a quick look at the care instructions. See photos!
> Garden tale number 2: I have a very old variegated sage bush. It usually produces leaves all year, unlike my non variegated one which decided to die last year. That was old too.Variegated just looks dead but I noticed some tiny leaves appear, so decided to cut the dead bits off to give the new growth some space. I went a bit mad and cut off the only bit with any growth! Numpty! Is it too late do you think? Pic of gnarled old roots.


I hope you enjoy the strawberries you harvest from your tomato plants!
With the sage, I’ve got an old gnarled one, and it keeps putting up shoots from several feet away, so it must travel underground. I’d wait to see if anything comes up from one of the roots. Then pull it all out when it doesn’t!


----------



## ColinUK

eggyg said:


> Another plant question. I know these are snakes head fritillary, were here when we moved in in 1986 along with a lone purple one elsewhere in the garden. That just disappeared one year. From what I’ve read they are wild flowers and in decline. What I want to know is has anyone split the bulbs successfully? Can’t find hardly any advice at all, when you google them you just get adverts for buying them. We don’t want to loose them but honestly don’t have a clue how old they are and would like them to survive. We may just have to buy some but apparently they aren’t easy to grow.


I used to have lots in one pot and split bulbs very successfully. The courtyard garden I used to have ended up with snakes head frits in every mixed pot we had and they’ve all done really well. 
It’s such a beautiful flower.


----------



## eggyg

ColinUK said:


> I used to have lots in one pot and split bulbs very successfully. The courtyard garden I used to have ended up with snakes head frits in every mixed pot we had and they’ve all done really well.
> It’s such a beautiful flower.


Thanks Colin. I think we’ll have a go. Fingers crossed.


----------



## eggyg

Robin said:


> I hope you enjoy the strawberries you harvest from your tomato plants!
> With the sage, I’ve got an old gnarled one, and it keeps putting up shoots from several feet away, so it must travel underground. I’d wait to see if anything comes up from one of the roots. Then pull it all out when it doesn’t!


I’ll keep out for that. Touch wood. I do use a lot of sage and I begrudge buying dried sage, it’s not as good.


----------



## Ditto

LOL that was funny Eggy. That's the kind of thing I do, cutting off the only green bit.  

I bought another Sage as I planted out the other into Mum's garden and it popped off. It's lasted since last year but always looks wilted. 

Went Aldi this morning, very disappointed to find they'd sold out of potting compost so the BusyLizzies and the Lobelia bedding I bought will have to wait...got some lovely Fuchsias and very impressed with the packaging, like mini greenhouses and the plants were lovely and moist. Only drawback they didn't label individually so I know what Fuchsias they are but not which exact plant. I'll have to wait till they come up.


----------



## eggyg

Ditto said:


> LOL that was funny Eggy. That's the kind of thing I do, cutting off the only green bit.
> 
> I bought another Sage as I planted out the other into Mum's garden and it popped off. It's lasted since last year but always looks wilted.
> 
> Went Aldi this morning, very disappointed to find they'd sold out of potting compost so the BusyLizzies and the Lobelia bedding I bought will have to wait...got some lovely Fuchsias and very impressed with the packaging, like mini greenhouses and the plants were lovely and moist. Only drawback they didn't label individually so I know what Fuchsias they are but not which exact plant. I'll have to wait till they come up.
> View attachment 13986


Oh I was so annoyed with myself then I saw the funny side. That is why Mr Eggy makes the magic and I do the donkey work! Green fingers moi? Non!


----------



## Robin

I just realised our lilac is in flower. Over the years, it’s been overshadowed by trees growing taller, and now it always hangs over next door’s fence, giving them the benefit. I sneakily pulled a branch back over, and cut a few branches off for the house. O bother, I can’t get the image the right way up unless I email it to myself and use the one that’s come through the ether. I'm about to take a cuppa out onto the bench and enjoy the sun. You’ll just have to crane your necks.


----------



## Ditto

I luvs Lilac. I helped myself to some seedlings from the park a couple of years ago and they've taken well but no flowers yet. There's a lovely purple Lilac on the main road, might help myself to a few sprigs for a vase. It's not like May is it? Bad luck? Got loads of that in the garden.  It's not out yet so no chucking all the togs off.


----------



## Jodee

My cucumber is growing very fast, outside during the day inside at night at the moment.


----------



## Ditto

I don't know why this went in the wrong place!!!

That looks super healthy. How come you've only got the one. Did you have just one seed?


----------



## eggyg

Been in the garden all afternoon, lying on my sun lounger watching Mr Eggy cut the grass. The numpty! It was far too hot! @Robin our lilac just beginning to come out. It’s taken some stick over the years lost count of how many times it’s been blown over. It’s a funny old lopsided thing now but still flowers year after year. Also lettuce and broad beans started to come through. No sign of the tatties yet though. Another couple of weeks the Head Gardener reckons!


----------



## Ditto

"How far should you plant a Sycamore away from the house?" 
Alan Titchmarsh "France."


----------



## Northerner

This spring I have decided that rather than going for a grass lawn, I have gone for a dandy-lawn   Also, I have a crop of fresh triffids that should be ready to march on the world in a couple of weeks


----------



## silentsquirrel

Any neighbours with guinea pigs?  They love dandelion leaves.

Tulips and aubretia looking lovely!


----------



## Northerner

silentsquirrel said:


> Any neighbours with guinea pigs?  They love dandelion leaves.
> 
> Tulips and aubretia looking lovely!


Apparently humans can eat dandelions too


----------



## Docb

Dandelion leaves only,  Northerner.  I believe the white sappy stuff in the stem can have interesting effects - they are not called piss-en-lit in France without good reason.  I think some testing is required so get experimenting and let us know the outcome.


----------



## Northerner

Docb said:


> Dandelion leaves only,  Northerner.  I believe the white sappy stuff in the stem can have interesting effects - they are not called piss-en-lit in France without good reason.  I think some testing is required so get experimenting and let us know the outcome.


A friend of mine used to make excellent dandelion wine


----------



## trophywench

I know they are NOT triffids at all, cos I do know what they really are and considering how they naturally propagate, once established in a garden you are more than a tad stuck with em!  Just don't hold your breath waiting for them to flower …...


----------



## silentsquirrel

Northerner said:


> A friend of mine used to make excellent dandelion wine


Wine from the flowers omly, I think.
As for using the leaves as salad, I have not personally tried, but I think you put a clump of youngish leaves under  eg a large plant pot to blanch the leaves, makes them less bitter.


----------



## Northerner

silentsquirrel said:


> Wine from the flowers omly, I think.
> As for using the leaves as salad, I have not personally tried, but I think you put a clump of youngish leaves under  eg a large plant pot to blanch the leaves, makes them less bitter.


Roasting the roots makes a coffee substitute


----------



## SB2015

I love it when the wisteria starts to come out.
Ours virtually ho”da up the pergola now as it has been there for over 15 years now


----------



## silentsquirrel

Northerner said:


> Roasting the roots makes a coffee substitute


If really desperate!!


----------



## Ditto

SB I luvs your lawn, cushiony. I'm jealous. For some reason ours has gone all lumps and bumps, I'm blaming the wettest winter on record and then this hot weather. Any excuse. 

I'm worried about a poor tree on our road, it's leaves are still on but brown and I think it's popped off. It must be really old because the trunk is massive. What a shame.  I wonder what happened?


----------



## everydayupsanddowns

Our apple tree has never borne so much blossom as this year!


----------



## Ditto

Gorgeous, I luvs apple blossom, all blossom, but I wish it was around longer. Mum's pink cherry is over already. 

I picked some Osteos for Mum.


----------



## Robin

Ditto said:


> SB I luvs your lawn, cushiony. I'm jealous. For some reason ours has gone all lumps and bumps, I'm blaming the wettest winter on record and then this hot weather. Any excuse.
> 
> I'm worried about a poor tree on our road, it's leaves are still on but brown and I think it's popped off. It must be really old because the trunk is massive. What a shame.  I wonder what happened?
> View attachment 14020View attachment 14021View attachment 14022View attachment 14023


It isn’t just a copper beech? The leaves on ours come out pale brown.


----------



## Northerner

I have some apple blossom starting to appear also


----------



## Northerner

Self-seeded poppies and cornflowers, and some bluebells in my front garden


----------



## eggyg

Our apple tree’s blossom is gorgeous this year. Pity the apples are awful. My daughter’s horses get them and the birds make short work of the windfalls. We have a lot of bluebells and also pink bluebells.


----------



## Northerner

I have some pink ones as well, but they haven't opened yet


----------



## Pumper_Sue

I have roses in bloom, not just budding but in full bloom.
Raspberry canes have loads of flowers on them as well. Which means I will have to fence them off as Milly my choc lab will be helping herself to them once the fruit has formed


----------



## Ditto

Robin said:


> It isn’t just a copper beech? The leaves on ours come out pale brown.


 I don't think so, I think it's popped off. I have a copper beech outside my window at my flat, it's lovely. I hope you are right however.  

Lovely photos.  I haven't any new ones, but one of my tubbed apples did well last year. The other nearly popped off. No idea why. They need recomposting really but such a huge, hard job, the only time I need a feller.


----------



## grovesy

Managed it I think


----------



## grovesy




----------



## grovesy

Managed another.


----------



## Ditto

I luvs Iris. 

Does anybody know what this is please?

And this tree?


----------



## everydayupsanddowns

We had / have one of those top ones in a planter @Ditto, 
but I can’t remember the name of it

One of those that needs free drainage - we initially put it on the ’green roof‘ of the rabbit hutch

Might the tree be an elder?


----------



## Ditto

I've had it yonks, really neglected for years and now I'm watering it it'll pop off! 

How come 40litres bag of compost from Aldi is so heavy I can't pick it up, but 40litres bag of compost from Quality Save I can pick up with one hand? Mind you, the latter was a nicer compost I think, not so clumpy.

It's either an Ash or an Elder I think. 

I used to have a white Lychnis in 2015 but it disappeared. Got tons of purple ones though. I wish plants would stop popping off, it's very disconcerting.


----------



## Robin

Ditto said:


> It's either an Ash or an Elder I think


The leaves look more like Ash than Elder, to me.


----------



## trophywench

Definitely absolutely no question about it, it's an Ash.  Literally grow like weeds round here but there again it is AKA Ash Green !


----------



## grovesy

Ditto said:


> I've had it yonks, really neglected for years and now I'm watering it it'll pop off!
> 
> How come 40litres bag of compost from Aldi is so heavy I can't pick it up, but 40litres bag of compost from Quality Save I can pick up with one hand? Mind you, the latter was a nicer compost I think, not so clumpy.
> 
> It's either an Ash or an Elder I think.
> 
> I used to have a white Lychnis in 2015 but it disappeared. Got tons of purple ones though. I wish plants would stop popping off, it's very disconcerting.
> View attachment 14073


I have had compost from well known top brand makes that has been rubbish, and cheaper brands that are good. In normal circumstances I try to stick to the makes I like.


----------



## Ditto

Will stick with the Quality Save one then as long as it's available. 

Quite glad it's an Ash Tree then, hope it doesn't get the virus. I got told off for having one for sale on ebay, you're not allowed to sell the seedlings any more. When I lived at my last house and garden, I had a couple of Ash Trees and used to hear this noise in the garden every spring. It got louder by the year, sounded like in the film Zulu when they're coming to get the red coats and the running/marching sounds like a train. I finally figured it out it was caterpillars chomping! Nobody believes me.  The Ash Trees would be denuded, bit it didn't seem to do them any harm in the long run.


----------



## ColinUK

My ‘garden’ pales into insignificance compared to the veritable country estates you lot have but here’s my balcony all planted up (eucalyptus, olive, fatsia planted this morning). I’m in need of something to pop the lavender in but other than that I think it might be done for a while.


----------



## grovesy

Beware Eucalyptus can grow pretty quick.


----------



## ColinUK

ColinUK said:


> My ‘garden’ pales into insignificance compared to the veritable country estates you lot have but here’s my balcony all planted up (eucalyptus, olive, fatsia planted this morning





grovesy said:


> Beware Eucalyptus can grow pretty quick.


 It’s in a pot that’s quite restrictive and the plan is to nip out the top when it’s the height I want. That way I can keep it nice and small. Hopefully


----------



## grovesy

ColinUK said:


> It’s in a pot that’s quite restrictive and the plan is to nip out the top when it’s the height I want. That way I can keep it nice and small. Hopefully


Good luck. I have never had an joy in keeping  them small.


----------



## Ditto

Gorgeous balcony Colin. So neat and precise, our garden is a tip, gonna take me all summer to get it anywhere near right but I'm pleased with one of my fave Clems, Miss Bateman, she finally went up the Hawthorns like I wanted. 


We have a Eucalyptus, this is taken in 2015, it's even bigger now, self-seeded!!


----------



## SB2015

grovesy said:


> Managed another.


It is good to be able to load up photos again with the increased size of files.
I had not been back in this thread for a while as I had given up with the complexity of uploading.
Happy to be able to do this again as spring has most definitely sprung.


----------



## SB2015

ColinUK said:


> My ‘garden’ pales into insignificance compared to the veritable country estates you lot have but here’s my balcony all planted up (eucalyptus, olive, fatsia planted this morning). I’m in need of something to pop the lavender in but other than that I think it might be done for a while.View attachment 14122


Nice balcony @ColinUK 
If things get too big they can be replaced.


----------



## SB2015

I will avoid a close up of our lawn @Ditto.  It is indeed springy, but that is due to a large amount of moss.  We are working on it.


----------



## trophywench

Eucalyptus trees are notoriously unstable in high winds, cos they are not deep rooted however enormous and far reaching the branches have grown.  We were terrified about the one 2 doors away from us, 'in case' cos the branches went across the back garden next door and ours (approx. 60-70 ft away from the trunk) - having at the time recently been to Oz and learning about them from the horses mouth as it were.  One evening I'd just pulled onto our drive after work when neighbour from said house also pulled in, we each got out and he called across that he needed a word.  Came and told me a tree surgeon was coming tomorrow to remove it and he hoped it wouldn't cause any inconvenience.  At this point I silently walked over to him, threw my arms round him and kissed him!

He was pretty surprised.  What a relief - took 3-4 days and shedloads of skips.  God knows how much it cost.


----------



## Pumper_Sue

SB2015 said:


> I will avoid a close up of our lawn @Ditto.  It is indeed springy, but that is due to a large amount of moss.  We are working on it.


Lawn sand kills moss. Sprinkle it on and leave for 3 days use a rake to remove dead and dying moss. There will be a lot of it and just keep raking every day until it's gone. You will have a very unsightly lawn for a while but well worth the effort in the end.


----------



## SB2015

Pumper_Sue said:


> Lawn sand kills moss. Sprinkle it on and leave for 3 days use a rake to remove dead and dying moss. There will be a lot of it and just keep raking every day until it's gone. You will have a very unsightly lawn for a while but well worth the effort in the end.


Thanks Sue


----------



## ColinUK

SB2015 said:


> Nice balcony @ColinUK
> If things get too big they can be replaced.


They can be coppiced a another option. The olive and the acer will take years to get large enough to warrant that but the eucalyptus may well need a room in a couple of years. The oleander I’m leaving alone to settle but I know how robust they are (and how poisonous they are) because I’ve grown them  in pots many times before. Same goes for the fatsia albeit that’s been in pots that took a minimum of 150ltrs of compost rather than this small one.


----------



## Ditto

Our Eucalyptus is leaning and every time there's a high wind we expect it to come through the roof! The housing association sent the tree surgeon round as we were always worried about it and he lopped off a couple of branches from the bottom that we wanted to keep for privacy the numpty. I'd rather he'd have taken off the top. 

I presume this bee is having a rest?


----------



## grovesy

View attachment 14145


----------



## grovesy

My back garden.


----------



## Ditto

Lovely. Those English Cornflowers were my Dad's favourites. I must get some more, don't have any at the mo. Didn't get that much done in the garden today, hit the wall after getting groceries to my son this morning, £20 round trip in a taxi, worry and stress, I've done a bit though so shan't feel guilty. I'm thinking if I can just get out there once a day it's got to look better eventually surely? It's a wreck. I wish they'd put holes in pots before selling them, such a hassle putting holes in. Wilkos have started putting holes in I think. I will buy from there in future, but they're cheaper at B&M. Cheapskate that's me.


----------



## ColinUK

Ditto said:


> Lovely. Those English Cornflowers were my Dad's favourites. I must get some more, don't have any at the mo. Didn't get that much done in the garden today, hit the wall after getting groceries to my son this morning, £20 round trip in a taxi, worry and stress, I've done a bit though so shan't feel guilty. I'm thinking if I can just get out there once a day it's got to look better eventually surely? It's a wreck. I wish they'd put holes in pots before selling them, such a hassle putting holes in. Wilkos have started putting holes in I think. I will buy from there in future, but they're cheaper at B&M. Cheapskate that's me.



My nursery of choice has started to stock terracotta pots without drainage holes and horrid plastic ones that also don’t have drainage holes. The only ones with holes seem to be the fibrecast ones.


----------



## Ditto

I'll be ruining Mum's cooker again, heating up a bit of metal to prong the pots with! Agh. It's either that or the drill.


----------



## grovesy

Ditto said:


> Lovely. Those English Cornflowers were my Dad's favourites. I must get some more, don't have any at the mo. Didn't get that much done in the garden today, hit the wall after getting groceries to my son this morning, £20 round trip in a taxi, worry and stress, I've done a bit though so shan't feel guilty. I'm thinking if I can just get out there once a day it's got to look better eventually surely? It's a wreck. I wish they'd put holes in pots before selling them, such a hassle putting holes in. Wilkos have started putting holes in I think. I will buy from there in future, but they're cheaper at B&M. Cheapskate that's me.


I started out with one clump now have several as they are easy to propagate from. I also have a couple of different coloured varities but they are not as robust and only seem to flower once, where these blue ones flower later in the year and respond to being cut back.


----------



## Robin

grovesy said:


> I started out with one clump now have several as they are easy to propagate from. I also have a couple of different coloured varities but they are not as robust and only seem to flower once, where these blue ones flower later in the year and respond to being cut back.


Mine are all out at the moment. I didn’t used to have any, now I have loads. I was going to say I don’t know where they came from, but as they are underneath where next door's cherry tree overhangs, I suspect birds dropped the seeds all wrapped up in a neat little parcel of fertiliser.


----------



## Ditto

Those birds are just so thoughtful!  I think that's how we got our Eucalyptus.


----------



## grovesy

*Waited for this to open for days.*


----------



## grovesy

A couple of hours later.


----------



## Jodee

grovesy said:


> View attachment 14169
> A couple of hours later.


 Wonderful


----------



## Jodee

Ditto said:


> I luvs Iris.
> 
> Does anybody know what this is please?
> View attachment 14066



Its a flowering succulent ha ha or could be one of the euphorbias, I have something similar.  definitely they don't want to be over watered, preferring a dry hot arid climate.


----------



## Jodee

Ditto said:


> Our Eucalyptus is leaning and every time there's a high wind we expect it to come through the roof! The housing association sent the tree surgeon round as we were always worried about it and he lopped off a couple of branches from the bottom that we wanted to keep for privacy the numpty. I'd rather he'd have taken off the top.
> 
> I presume this bee is having a rest?
> View attachment 14136
> View attachment 14137



Wonderful


----------



## grovesy

Top a differnt Cornflower.


----------



## grovesy

My front garden.


----------



## Ditto

I like seeing people's gardens and plants.  I'm still struggling trying to tidy Mum's garden at the bungalow, it's definitely an ongoing task. The crimson peony is out in the back now the pink is over in the front.  They remind me of my daughter because there were all these peonies in the ward when I had her. It was this time of year.


----------



## trophywench

I do like peonies!


----------



## grovesy

I don't seem to be able to grow peonies, I bought one a few year ago and it never amounted to much.


----------



## Northerner

Haven't been out at the front of my house for a while, although I can see it from my window as I sit at the computer 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





 I keep thinking that I ought to get out there and do some gardening, but I noticed this morning when putting out the recycling that, actually, it looks gorgeous! Wild, yes, but full of lovely self-seeded, colourful flowers 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 So, I've decided to leave it as it is, I'm sure the bees will thank me, and although it looks very unkempt, it is bright, cheery and colourful! 




I also have peonies!


----------



## Northerner

I also have this at the back - remind me what it called, please!


----------



## trophywench

Gypsophila!


----------



## Northerner

trophywench said:


> Gypsophila!


Ta Jenny!


----------



## eggyg

Been a gorgeous day today, been in the garden all afternoon. Just lying in it and reading my book, but I did take some up to date photos as everything is coming up beautifully. The flag iris and delphiniums are just peeping out, I particularly love the border they are in. Just waiting for the pink stocks to join them. The grape vine is casting much needed dappled shade over our patio, had a delightful lunch under there today. Lettuce just a week off being ready to be eaten! The wild border is full of meconopsis, yellow and a few orange ( just for you @Northerner ), aquailegia is sprouting everywhere courtesy of the birdies, the geum and foxgloves are just waiting to flower, and it all just looks so “cottagey” and as we have a cottage I’m happy with that.


----------



## grovesy

Thought I better update on my Dahlias, some have started to make an appearance.


----------



## Robin

I think my bronze acer got the frost last week. (we had -1 recorded on our neighbour's weather station). As you can see, half of it’s not bronze any more, but pale and desiccated. Luckily I'd taken all the veg seedlings indoors, and pulled the dahlias in pots up against the house wall.


----------



## trophywench

Oww, on behalf of the acer, Robin.  Think you better trim the dead bits off about now when there's still time for new growth from what I remember about them.


----------



## Robin

trophywench said:


> Oww, on behalf of the acer, Robin.  Think you better trim the dead bits off about now when there's still time for new growth from what I remember about them.


The article I read said to crumble them off with your hands, but don’t cut into the stems because they bleed sap in Spring, then give it a gentle prune in the autumn. So I will try that, and put up with it looking a bit odd and twiggy on top this summer.


----------



## eggyg

Robin said:


> I think my bronze acer got the frost last week. (we had -1 recorded on our neighbour's weather station). As you can see, half of it’s not bronze any more, but pale and desiccated. Luckily I'd taken all the veg seedlings indoors, and pulled the dahlias in pots up against the house wall.
> View attachment 14250


I haven’t liked your post because it’s sad. I’ve always wanted an acer, any type, and look at them wistfully in other’s gardens. I must admit I didn’t know they were so delicate so probably a good job I haven’t got one! Hope you manage to rescue it.


----------



## Robin

eggyg said:


> I haven’t liked your post because it’s sad. I’ve always wanted an acer, any type, and look at them wistfully in other’s gardens. I must admit I didn’t know they were so delicate so probably a good job I haven’t got one! Hope you manage to rescue it.


It’s survived 20 years without this happening, it’s fine if we get very low temperatures over the winter (we can get down to -10 here) when it hasn't got its leaves on, but it’s new tender growth was obviously susceptible to the mid-May air frost last week, which doesn’t happen very often.


----------



## Northerner

I have this, can anyone tell me what it is please?


----------



## silentsquirrel

Northerner said:


> I have this, can anyone tell me what it is please?
> 
> View attachment 14253


Chives???


----------



## Robin

silentsquirrel said:


> Chives???


Agree, look like chives to me. Do the leaves taste oniony, @Northerner or, well, like chives? (though best not ingest too many in case it isn’t chives!)
And if they don’t smell or taste at all, maybe you've got Covid


----------



## silentsquirrel

Robin said:


> Agree, look like chives to me. Do the leaves taste oniony, @Northerner or, well, like chives? (though best not ingest too many in case it isn’t chives!)
> And if they don’t smell or taste at all, maybe you've got Covid


I was going to suggest the taste test, but not at all sure, thought best not in case poisonous!


----------



## ColinUK

silentsquirrel said:


> I was going to suggest the taste test, but not at all sure, thought best not in case poisonous!


Try the smell test rather than the taste test. But they do look like chives.


----------



## Contused

Our colourful corner, photographed earlier today…


----------



## trophywench

@Northerner - it's Thrift !  aka Armeria Maritima.


----------



## Robin

trophywench said:


> @Northerner - it's Thrift !  aka Armeria Maritima.


Are you sure? I don’t think the leaves are right for thrift.


----------



## Northerner

I looked at some pictures and it's definitely chives


----------



## trophywench

Probably cos I've never seen a large clump of chives or any when in flower!


----------



## nonethewiser

Patched up back lawn, no sooner did it birds were eating seed.  Knew had some netting tucked away in back of shed so sorted thru it, found it & just had enough for job.  Some of bare patches is with dog pissing, always goes for where washing pole is.


----------



## grovesy

I have given up trying to get on top of our front lawn, as other half's car hardly moves off it at the moment so it has no chance.


----------



## Jodee

Robin said:


> Are you sure? I don’t think the leaves are right for thrift.
> View attachment 14265


This plant is not chives, it is thrift,  Northerners plant definitely is chives.


----------



## Jodee

Wonderful pictures everyone, its a joy to view them all, thank you for sharing.

Here are a couple more from my garden this past week.

Have a wonderful Bank Holiday weekend.


----------



## Jodee

Reading @nonethewiser  and @grovesy 

I've had a devil of a job getting my lettuce seeds to germinate this year, your mention of birds eating the grass seed has made me think, this might be what is going on, although have tried some in the greenhouse and they didn't germinate either, thought maybe it was too hot in there for them with the high temperatures we have been having.  (Could be dud seeds I guess)

The cucumber plant has not been able to cope with the heat in the greenhouse, I am not sure what I am going to do with it.  I guess will have to try it outside later I've started a new plant.

Happy gardening everyone

Keep safe and well.


----------



## Robin

Jodee said:


> This plant is not chives, it is thrift,  Northerners plant definitely is chives.


Yes, it says it’s Thrift in the image. I put it to show the difference between chives and thrift.


----------



## Ditto

Hello all, thanks for sharing pix of gorgeous gardens. 

I thought those plants were Snow-In-Summer and Sea Thrift but what do I know?! I was selling the wrong plant for years on eBay! Good grief. I could have been up!! 

Never known this before. All the pink Peonies are over but now I have another bud! I'm not complaining.


----------



## Contused

> <snip> just tried to upload a photo from my laptop and it is crossed out with a message 'The uploaded file is too large for the server to process' <snip>


I've noticed quite a few comments similar to this and wondered what was happening. When I came to process the photographs of our 'colourful corner' I found that my wife's image files were 14Mb to nearly 16Mb, while mine were around 5Mb to 6Mb. We discovered that my wife's images, photographed on her i-Phone 8, were taken using Apple's HDR process, which vastly increased the size of the image file. I used one of my image processing programs to reduce the file sizes, both hers and mine, and had absolutely no difficulty uploading them to an image hosting website.

My wife has decided to switch off the Apple HDR process in the smartphone's preferences so we can avoid the problem in future. I have no knowledge of Android phones, but imagine something similar may well be possible with them.

I hope this helps those of you who have been suffering this problem.


----------



## silentsquirrel

Ditto said:


> Hello all, thanks for sharing pix of gorgeous gardens.
> 
> I thought those plants were Snow-In-Summer and Sea Thrift but what do I know?! I was selling the wrong plant for years on eBay! Good grief. I could have been up!!
> 
> Never known this before. All the pink Peonies are over but now I have another bud! I'm not complaining.
> View attachment 14271


Ditto, I also thought Snow-in-summer, except I couldn't remember the name until your post reminded me!  We had a big clump of it in a garden 30-40 years ago, and I thought that was called Snow-in-summer, though may have been misinformed at the time.  Been wracking my brain trying to remember the name!  I have looked at pictures of both, but cannot decide.


----------



## grovesy

Another lot of back garden pics,


----------



## eggyg

Our red onions have taken a bit of a battering this weekend but the white ones aren’t as bad. They’re in different beds. Touch wood they are ok. Everything else doesn’t look too bad although the aquilegia has fallen over a bit, as usual, and the peonies.


----------



## Ditto

Lovely Grovesy, that's the look I'm aiming for... eggy I've never grown veg, apart from carrots once. I never get going that early in the year! Must try and be organised from now on... tidy up in Autumn and stuff instead of hibernating. My friend is making her Christmas Cakes this w/e, now that's what I call organised!

I luv my striped Petunia. These are some from 2015. Are these considered a bit naff like Begonias are? I don't have plant snobbery, I luvs everything.


----------



## grovesy

The colours in the last photo are muted to what they are in person. I am gradually plant out bedding plants a bit at a time.


----------



## eggyg

I usually buy my hanging basket the last week in May, hoping the frosts have passed. I’ve tried making my own but they look pathetic. @Ditto I  like petunias too. Nice and colourful, I like my baskets full of colour and they must have lobelia in of course. Not sure I’ll be able to get one this year. My eldest daughter works quite close to the garden centre we use so will ask her to look in. I bet it’ll be heaving.


----------



## grovesy

This a better one for the colour.


----------



## trophywench

I love petunias - another plant like Busy Lizzie that seems to enjoy plenty of water and doesn't seem to thrive well if you ignore them - so probably skating on thin ice to try and live with me for long!


----------



## nonethewiser

Jodee said:


> I've had a devil of a job getting my lettuce seeds to germinate this year, your mention of birds eating the grass seed has made me think, this might be what is going on, although have tried some in the greenhouse and they didn't germinate either, thought maybe it was too hot in there for them with the high temperatures we have been having. (Could be dud seeds I guess)



No Percy Thrower, try pre soaking seeds before planting to help them sproat.


----------



## everydayupsanddowns

Picked up a few plants to pop into some gaps when our local community garden centre reopened recently. Planning a nice Bank Holiday potter in the garden a little later.


----------



## Robin

We have these lovely Oriental poppies, which are glorious every year, but some of them always get attacked by something, which causes the stem just under the bud to turn black and sticky and shear off, as in the bottom photo.


----------



## everydayupsanddowns

Robin said:


> We have these lovely Oriental poppies, which are glorious every year, but some of them always get attacked by something, which causes the stem just under the bud to turn black and sticky and shear off, as in the bottom photo.
> View attachment 14293View attachment 14294View attachment 14295




Seems you are not alone @Robin 

Not sure if you’ll be able to read the photo of the newspaper article in this ‘Gardeners World’ forum thread?









						Oriental poppy problem
					

hi hope someone can throw some light on my problem which is the lovely fat buds on an otherwise healthy appearing oriental poppy get cut marks on their stems which leak black sap and obviously weaken the bud which then shears off!  Cant see any insects on the plant.  has anyone had this happen...




					forum.gardenersworld.com


----------



## Ditto

Eww that looks proper nasty, wonder what the heck that is? Those beautiful poppies.

I'm fed-up because of my black thumb, BusyLizzies and now the Thyme popping off, I should stick to stuff that thrives despite all. The roses are all coming out that gladdens the heart and the perfume is divine. 


I hope I get strawberries this year too, I've put them in hanging baskets now. Let me know if I'm repeating myself, I feel I am lately, worried I'm taking after Mum.


----------



## Robin

everydayupsanddowns said:


> Seems you are not alone @Robin
> 
> Not sure if you’ll be able to read the photo of the newspaper article in this ‘Gardeners World’ forum thread?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Oriental poppy problem
> 
> 
> hi hope someone can throw some light on my problem which is the lovely fat buds on an otherwise healthy appearing oriental poppy get cut marks on their stems which leak black sap and obviously weaken the bud which then shears off!  Cant see any insects on the plant.  has anyone had this happen...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> forum.gardenersworld.com


Thank you for that link. There doesn’t seem to be the problem with the foliage on mine. The only other reference I could find online was someone asking a similar question, and not really getting a definitive answer. A moth larva was suggested, and the results looked the same, but it was a US site, and I've not been able to find any larva on my plants.


----------



## Ditto

> and I've not been able to find any larva on my plants.


 They might hide like them lily beetle buggers! 

Mum's popped wheel wheelbarrow, waste not want not. My fave Osteos, two in here, one thrives one just hanging on!


Thank you Milkie (he comes at midnight!)


----------



## Jodee

nonethewiser said:


> No Percy Thrower, try pre soaking seeds before planting to help them sproat.



I've been doing that with larger seeds but never though to with the tiny lettuce seeds, so I will do that and try again, thanks


----------



## Jodee

Great @Ditto  Jan - what a fab Milk man 

Love that Petunia image, but I don't ever grow them as I find the deadheading gives sticky fingers.  But a joy to behold  x


----------



## Jodee

Contused said:


> I've noticed quite a few comments similar to this and wondered what was happening. When I came to process the photographs of our 'colourful corner' I found that my wife's image files were 14Mb to nearly 16Mb, while mine were around 5Mb to 6Mb. We discovered that my wife's images, photographed on her i-Phone 8, were taken using Apple's HDR process, which vastly increased the size of the image file. I used one of my image processing programs to reduce the file sizes, both hers and mine, and had absolutely no difficulty uploading them to an image hosting website.
> 
> My wife has decided to switch off the Apple HDR process in the smartphone's preferences so we can avoid the problem in future. I have no knowledge of Android phones, but imagine something similar may well be possible with them.
> 
> I hope this helps those of you who have been suffering this problem.



Images under 1MB makes for any easier upload most everywhere.


----------



## eggyg

@Ditto just for you. Bought my hanging basket the other day and if you look closely you’ll see a stripy petunia. 
Also pictured, I was very excited to see our water iris flowering. Only one unfortunately.  We bought it last year when we built the ponds and didn’t have high hopes for it. Water lilies haven’t done anything. Very disappointed.


----------



## Ditto

Lovely. 

My waterlily is silted up, pond (if you can call it that) almost completely mud. The frog likes it. 

Is this the same Iris? We have them in a very dry bed with blue ones. Maybe I should transplant?


----------



## Jodee

Wonderful Jan

I have a yellow and white one (finished now) which grows in a dry bed.  There is a yellow water iris, could be that.


----------



## brisr949

My little project i started last year, took me most of the summer making as could only do an hour..ish at a time. Still got a fair amount to do but really enjoying doing it.


----------



## Ditto

That is gorgeous. So tidy and neat. I'd love to be that kind of gardener, mine's (well Mums) is a tip! It really got away from me this year, the last time I was out there was November and I was loathe to get out there before May as I just hate the cold. I'm all gungho now, running round like a crazy frog, trying to do everything at once.  Doesn't help that the housing association stopped mowing the grass, it's a foot high at the back, I've been doing it with scissors!

edit/
Today I went to all 'my' shops, Tesco, Quality Save, PoundLand and Wilko, not a bag of compost to be had. I didn't have the energy to schlep round to Aldi and even if they'd had any I can't lift it, their 40ltrs weighs more than everybody else's, it's a phenomenon. Which weighs more a pound of lead or a pound of feathers!


----------



## Robin

Our rambling rose has surpasssed itself this year. It’s 'Wedding Day' and we treated ourselves to it for our silver wedding anniversary, to cover a particularly ugly but useful summerhouse at the bottom of our garden. When we first moved here, it was painted what I refer to as 'Beach Hut blue' and stood out like a sore thumb. Fine at the seaside, but not in the Cotswolds, about as far from the sea as you can get in the UK. I repainted it dark green, so it blended into the yew hedge behind it, but that wasn’t enough, it needed covering!
The flowers come out yellow first thing in the morning, and turn white by mid morning, then as they get a few weeks older, especially if they get wet, the petals get a pink tinge. This year, they’ve gone really dark pink, I’ve never seen them this dark before.


----------



## Pumper_Sue

I've just been out to feed the birds and pick the raspberry's for lunch only to find my four legged friend (ex) with a waggy tail  had beaten me to them this morning. I have to say she did look rather pleased with herself


----------



## eggyg

First potatoes yesterday, a small bowl of strawberries and lettuce all picked yesterday. Veg coming on very well after all the rain we have had and still
having.


----------



## Jodee

Wow looking good everyone.  I think raised beds are the way to go but mostly I am growing my veg in pots - some in the ground, some in a veg trug.

My raspberries are on just beginning to ripen, the red currents are well on their way, blueberries still in the green, I gave up on strawberries a few years back as found the blackbirds always beat me to them.  I have light fleeced the blueberries because I saw Mrs Blackbird eyeing them the other day and I know she has a nest nearby so she will be bringing her chicks showing them where its at, as a consolation prize for the birds I leave a few of the red currents un protected for them to enjoy 

Here is a few picks of the edibles at the moment;
Gooseberries not yet ripe;  first flower of the french beans; Mixed leafy greens;  Peas;  Redcurrents;  Sweetheart cabbage;  green tomatoes;


----------



## Jodee

Have a wonderful sun shining day every one  - its a good day to garden


----------



## eggyg

Looking good @Jodee. We cover our strawberries but let the birds eat the redcurrents, we don’t get enough to do anything with them and TBF I can’t stand them. Far too bitter.


----------



## Ditto

You are all just so clever. I'm jealous. I wish I didn't have a black thumb! I've never really grown veg. Some strawberries always and a pea once, with lovely red flowers. Potatoes back in the day with my g'son. I must have another go.


----------



## Jodee

@Ditto Jan - yes do have another go, you can grow in a big tub, spinach, kale and chard are very easy the only thing to watch on the kale is white butterfly eggs on the under side and the slugs, who just seemed to love brand new leafy green shoots of any kind,  I am thank for the birds who help me out byt eating them so I don't mind at all keeping them in seed, fat pellets and berries most of year.    Lettuce is also quite easy to grow Jan.

@eggyg  Here's the thing eggy, mix the fruits with banana or other sweet fruit, with the dessert gooseberries I have which are quite sweet when ripe, add any frozen currents, I give them a twirl in the microwave and press into icecube trays freeze and that way you have vitamin C all year from the real foods that provide it.  I do have a few fresh red current with banana that is overly sweet on my cereal in the morning occasionally too.  + the birds think I'm Ace for providing all the goodies


----------



## Jodee

Ditto said:


> Eww that looks proper nasty, wonder what the heck that is? Those beautiful poppies.
> 
> I'm fed-up because of my black thumb, BusyLizzies and now the Thyme popping off, I should stick to stuff that thrives despite all. The roses are all coming out that gladdens the heart and the perfume is divine.
> View attachment 14297
> 
> I hope I get strawberries this year too, I've put them in hanging baskets now. Let me know if I'm repeating myself, I feel I am lately, worried I'm taking after Mum.
> View attachment 14298


Love this rose Jan and the strawberries are looking good.

I've not noticed you repeating yourself - but I may have forgotten  ha ha


----------



## Ditto

No new pix to post, they are on my mobile but not on Google photos past 21st May. Very frustrating waiting for them to come on there. I don't know how to make it back up or whatever it is supposed to do. 

My latest gardening news is the Sweet William is out on the pet's grave.  It self-seeded from last year. Lovely.


----------



## Northerner

A few more pretties from my garden  I've done virtually no gardening so far this year, just let things grow  I've ordered a garden waste bin though, to persuade me to start doing a bit of weeding - don't want to waste the money it costs!


----------



## trophywench

You've got some cracking plants in the garden Alan! Ranuncula, poppy, dianthus and a rambler - not immediately recognised the white one though, not had one of those!


----------



## Robin

The white one looks like a climbing rose of some sort, from the unopened buds. 
Isn’t the yellow a welsh poppy? We’ve got them all over our garden, they seed freely, put down a long taproot (so withstand a drought), and look pretty.


----------



## eggyg

I wondered about the white one, a dog rose maybe? The yellow ones are meconopsis, Welsh poppy, as you say.  We have loads, in orange too. I love them.


----------



## Robin

OH has looked at the leaves on the white one and overruled me. He suspects it may be a thornless blackberry. Did it have blackberries on it last year?


----------



## grovesy

Robin said:


> OH has looked at the leaves on the white one and overruled me. He suspects it may be a thornless blackberry. Did it have blackberries on it last year?


I thought it looked more like a fruit.


----------



## Ditto

It's a Clematis. Betcha.  

No gardening and you have all those gorgeous plants! I've tried no gardening... did not get the same results. 

I'm on a roll, my mobile has backed up, I have garden pix up to 9th June yay. So can somebody tell me what this little tree is? The one in the pot by the gate. I keep it pruned right down or it would grow to at least six foot. I have no idea what it is. Can I just say Mum's front garden is much tidier than this now, I've been working on it daily. I'm determined to have the whole danged lot tidy by Autumn.


----------



## grovesy

Leave is wrong for a Clematis


----------



## Northerner

trophywench said:


> You've got some cracking plants in the garden Alan! Ranuncula, poppy, dianthus and a rambler - not immediately recognised the white one though, not had one of those!


The white one is actually some blackberries


----------



## Northerner

Robin said:


> OH has looked at the leaves on the white one and overruled me. He suspects it may be a thornless blackberry. Did it have blackberries on it last year?


Yes!


----------



## Northerner

eggyg said:


> The yellow ones are meconopsis, Welsh poppy, as you say.  We have loads, in orange too. I love them.


That group is from the back garden, they have grown there every year I've been here. They've all gone from my front garden, perhaps because it gets more sun through the day


----------



## Robin

Northerner said:


> Yes!


I just called to OH, 'you were right, it’s a blackberry! He answered....'Don't sound so b****y surprised!'
(I must say, he had an advantage, because he is in charge of the soft fruit department in our garden, and we have one)


----------



## Northerner

Robin said:


> I just called to OH, 'you were right, it’s a blackberry! He answered....'Don't sound so b****y surprised!'
> (I must say, he had an advantage, because he is in charge of the soft fruit department in our garden, and we have one)


Interestingly, the flowers have only really appeared on a more shaded section - the ones getting full sunlight look dead -unless I missed them blooming, or that's what they look like before they bloom!   The bees have been all over them, even the 'dead' ones


----------



## Ditto

LOL I want a blackberry now, I didn't realise they could have such pretty flowers. 

I need a close up of my unknown tree in the brown pot.


----------



## Northerner

Ditto said:


> LOL I want a blackberry now, I didn't realise they could have such pretty flowers.
> 
> I need a close up of my unknown tree in the brown pot.
> View attachment 14527
> View attachment 14528


It's a bonsai!


----------



## Ditto

I wish! I'd luv to know how to do that. I do keep all my tub trees as small as possible. I have far too many trees. I've sold a couple on eBay, I likes them to go to a good home.


----------



## trophywench

As soon as I saw the leaves of that blackberry I automatically looked for the thorns, but not finding any, discarded that thought!  So, does the fruit of a thornless one taste of anything more than the ones that hurt to pick them?  If not have to say, I wouldn't want one really.  The other sort don't really taste of anything!  Has it found its way into your garden via a runner from one in another garden Alan?

I knew I'd seen the yellow one before, not what I'd ever call a poppy meself though TBH.


----------



## Northerner

trophywench said:


> As soon as I saw the leaves of that blackberry I automatically looked for the thorns, but not finding any, discarded that thought!  So, does the fruit of a thornless one taste of anything more than the ones that hurt to pick them?  If not have to say, I wouldn't want one really.  The other sort don't really taste of anything!  Has it found its way into your garden via a runner from one in another garden Alan?
> 
> I knew I'd seen the yellow one before, not what I'd ever call a poppy meself though TBH.


It's planted deliberately, there's a whole little corner for it  I'll tell you what the fruit tastes like when I see some!


----------



## eggyg

I love this thread, whatever is happening in the world we know we can spend some time in our gardens and wonder at nature. Had a wander up earlier today after filling the bird feeders AGAIN! It’s amazing what happens when you’ve missed a day or two. Our veggies are going mad. I’ve got my first courgette, the strawberries are going great guns, they’ll be getting picked on Sunday to go with the scones I’m making for Mr Eggy’s Fathers Day/ 60th birthday social distanced afternoon tea. The onions, carrots, broadbeans, shallots are doing really well. Some of the potatoes are ready for picking and the mixed lettuce is amazing. The lollo rosso looks fab doesn’t it.


----------



## Northerner

Another little pretty has appeared  Not sure what it is called  ETA: It's apparently a snapdragon


----------



## grovesy

Northerner said:


> Another little pretty has appeared  Not sure what it is called  ETA: It's apparently a snapdragon
> 
> View attachment 14562


Antirhinium.


----------



## Ditto

Eggy what is the tree in the blue tub? 

Luv Snapdragons, they keep coming back, not just bedding which is what I thought.


----------



## eggyg

Ditto said:


> Eggy what is the tree in the blue tub?
> 
> Luv Snapdragons, they keep coming back, not just bedding which is what I thought.


It’s an olive tree. We got it as a present a couple of years ago, it’s gets little teeny tiny olives on then they drop off. We thought we’d lost it last year, we went on a six week holiday in September and only remembered about two weeks in we should have put it in for the winter. We were in France by this stage. Came back end of October and there had been frost but it’s grown again. Phew!


----------



## trophywench

Friend - in Portugal - had his garden ripped through by a forest fire a few years ago.  His 2 yo olive cutting he'd been nurturing was also blasted.  Now 2 years later it's amazingly healthy.  The elderly Greek ladies always swore by giving the whole family grove of mature trees a damn good beating with heavy besoms every year, to ensure a good crop the following year.  Has worked for centuries!


----------



## nonethewiser

Planted 25 new plants last year & just before lockdown, some are flourishing others not so, couple have died dozen have brown leaves so looked on net which says possible fungus infestation, bought treatment to spray them with.

Annoyed, dont know if it's down to hot humid conditions or what, kept them watered & fed as recommended using Miracle Gro.


----------



## Northerner

nonethewiser said:


> Planted 25 new plants last year & just before lockdown, some are flourishing others not so, couple have died dozen have brown leaves so looked on net which says possible fungus infestation, bought treatment to spray them with.
> 
> Annoyed, dont know if it's down to hot humid conditions or what, kept them watered & fed as recommended using Miracle Gro.


That's disappointing  I was expecting hundreds of daffodils from all the bulbs I planted, but barely any of them grew  Which is a shame, because the ones that did were beautiful.


----------



## Ditto

Good grief re olives, treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen! 

Shame about your daffs, the squirrels didn't make off with them did they? Think I said about my friend who planted tons of Crocus and ended up no Crocus but next door who didn't have Crocus had a beautiful display thanks to the squirrels digging them all up and transplanting them. 

I bought a Wisteria from Aldi yesterday. Can't believe my faith! I'm a tryer if nothing else. A critter came in the night and decimated my newly planted herbs, the mint and the coriander are gonners but they didn't like the origano or the parsley. Picky. 

My friend posted this to my fb page saying Saw this and thought of you. Heh!


----------



## trophywench

I wouldn't choose to plant mint in the garden unless I already owned an ancient bucket that I could cut the bottom out of, to bury in the garden before planting it to prevent the root runners taking over the whole garden.  So your existing plants just had a lucky escape if you ask me!  

We grew wisteria from seed we begged from a gite we stayed at one year.  Nurtured it and overwintered it successfully - then a daughter promised to come and water the garden while we were on holiday - yeah, a day before we came home after 3 weeks away.  Lost 6 utterly glorious hanging baskets, my agapanthus, all 6 baby wisteria  and god knows what else.


----------



## Northerner

Ditto said:


> Good grief re olives, treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen!
> 
> Shame about your daffs, the squirrels didn't make off with them did they? Think I said about my friend who planted tons of Crocus and ended up no Crocus but next door who didn't have Crocus had a beautiful display thanks to the squirrels digging them all up and transplanting them.
> 
> I bought a Wisteria from Aldi yesterday. Can't believe my faith! I'm a tryer if nothing else. A critter came in the night and decimated my newly planted herbs, the mint and the coriander are gonners but they didn't like the origano or the parsley. Picky.
> 
> My friend posted this to my fb page saying Saw this and thought of you. Heh!


Hehe!  I've never seen a squirrel in my garden, too many cats, I suspect  I'd love a wisteria, hope it flourishes!


----------



## Northerner

trophywench said:


> We grew wisteria from seed we begged from a gite we stayed at one year. Nurtured it and overwintered it successfully - then a daughter promised to come and water the garden while we were on holiday - yeah, a day before we came home after 3 weeks away. Lost 6 utterly glorious hanging baskets, my agapanthus, all 6 baby wisteria and god knows what else.


I can't 'like' this post, it's too tragic  What a shame


----------



## grovesy

Ditto said:


> Good grief re olives, treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen!
> 
> Shame about your daffs, the squirrels didn't make off with them did they? Think I said about my friend who planted tons of Crocus and ended up no Crocus but next door who didn't have Crocus had a beautiful display thanks to the squirrels digging them all up and transplanting them.
> 
> I bought a Wisteria from Aldi yesterday. Can't believe my faith! I'm a tryer if nothing else. A critter came in the night and decimated my newly planted herbs, the mint and the coriander are gonners but they didn't like the origano or the parsley. Picky.
> 
> My friend posted this to my fb page saying Saw this and thought of you. Heh!


I have found that if you buy when just had a delivery of plants, Aldi plants can be good value for money.


----------



## Felinia

Northerner said:


> Another little pretty has appeared  Not sure what it is called  ETA: It's apparently a snapdragon
> 
> View attachment 14562


We used to call them bunny rabbit plants!  But yes - snapdragons or antirrhinums


----------



## eggyg

@Ditto we have bought loads of plants from Aldi, probably the most successful is the lavender. Also our grapevine and Bramley apple espalier were both from Aldi and have thrived.

Sorry photos have gone on sideways for some reason.


----------



## Northerner

I have wildlife in my garden!   Froggy was sunbathing and didn't move a muscle for at least 5 minutes before hopping into the grass  No wonder I don't see many slugs in my garden  Not sure where he can have spawned though, unless a near neighbour has a pond, there are no places in my garden where water can accumulate, even after a downpour


----------



## Robin

Having visited one of our favourite gardens yesterday, (Buscot Park,  near Lechlade) and drooled over the herbaceous borders in their walled garden, I thought I'd go out and do some tidying up and deadhading in my own garden before it got too hot. Ha! When I was dripping, I came in and checked the temperature on our neighbours weather station that he puts online, and discovered it was 29. 8 degrees already! That’s enough gardening for one day!
This is what I aspire to, the long border at Buscot, below, but my plants never grow to the right height!


----------



## Northerner

That is lovely @Robin  I gave up on the gardening before I started!


----------



## Ditto

Lovely photos and a tragedy that happened to me every year when I went on holiday. The teenagers were oblivious. I'd come back to dried out baskets and the neighbours kindly informed me they watched them die. Thanks a bunch. 

Sounds like a machine gun is going off in Mum's garden, the sound of the leaves hitting the ground from the Eucalyptus, the drier and hotter it gets the noisier. Too hot to go out till darker. I burnt my feet on the balcony at my flat, going out to water my little tree tubs that are lined up under my windows. I know! I should have been wearing shoes, but how hot is that, and it's shady along that balcony. I was quite shocked. I hates global warming.


----------



## Contused

eggyg said:


> <snip>Sorry photos have gone on sideways for some reason.


Here ya go…


----------



## Robin

This is our actual long border. Nothing’s quite the right height, and bits of it look good at various times, but never all together.


----------



## trophywench

Aha, @Ditto - strappy sandals (flat ones, with a padded heel strap and an ankle strap fastened by Velcro) have been broken out of their usual place of confinement in the motorhome. Barefoot inside the house admittedly, in fact I'm rather like Lucy and in 1976 because I was in the City - I went to work in my Scholls for about 2 months.  In fact, I loved walking up and down the office stairs that summer cos the stairwell got no sunlight whatever on the first 5 floors so the heavy duty Amtico flooring was constantly cool underfoot!


----------



## trophywench

Robin - on the contrary - your long border is an absolute picture!

Stately home etc borders amuse me and have done since I was little.  Fancy having a garden that large and gardeners to match, that you are able to 'house' a border where one hardly notices the revolting Kniphofia and it just merges harmlessly!  (though not usually being offended by practically anything or anyone - they have always offended me, hate em!)


----------



## Robin

trophywench said:


> Robin - on the contrary - your long border is an absolute picture!
> 
> Stately home etc borders amuse me and have done since I was little.  Fancy having a garden that large and gardeners to match, that you are able to 'house' a border where one hardly notices the revolting Kniphofia and it just merges harmlessly!  (though not usually being offended by practically anything or anyone - they have always offended me, hate em!)


Ah yes, red hot pokers, not my favourite either. Fine at a distance. We have some right at the bottom of our long drive, which I tolerate because OH has a soft spot for them, and they were here when we moved in. Less trouble to live with them than dig 'em out.


----------



## eggyg

Robin said:


> Ah yes, red hot pokers, not my favourite either. Fine at a distance. We have some right at the bottom of our long drive, which I tolerate because OH has a soft spot for them, and they were here when we moved in. Less trouble to live with them than dig 'em out.


I don’t like red hot pokers. A bit scary I always think. Remind  me of gardens in the 60s. Some flowers don’t age well!


----------



## trophywench

The mind boggles as to the brain of anyone who says they do like them.  Sorry Mr Robin - just why?  what on earth do you think is remotely nice about the things?


----------



## ColinUK

My balcony has changed a little since the last postings...

Had to move the fatsia back a little as it was getting far too much direct sun so brought the thuja around to hopefully thicken out and give a little shade.
Dwarf fan palm is new and waiting for a pot but fits that space really well I think, and there is more lemon thyme in one of the troughs and some oregano in the pot in front of it. I have basil but am going to separate the seedlings out a bit before planting those up.
There’s also a bunch of cuttings or divisions at mum and dads bidding their time growing roots - twisted willow, dwarf almond, flax, hebe, banana, codyline variegata.

Table and chairs will be along soon together with probably an oversized parasol once I can find one I like the look of at a price I’m willing to pay.
Then it’ll be time to plant up winter flowing bulbs and buy larger pots in the sales to repot things like the olive, which really needs to sit in a tall Ali Baba type container, and the thuja. I’ll get larger troughs as well and keep these small ones for succulents or alpines and use the larger ones for flowers.


----------



## Ditto

I've seen those sandals. I must get some then. I loved my Scholls back in the day, but I ended up with navy leather ones after being clumsy as I am and landing my foot on the back bit of the wooden ones, agh.

That long border is fabulous, I'd give my eyeteeth for that. Mum's longest border is full of groundsel. At least I think it's groundsel. Very pretty though, just hateful long white spaghetti roots.

The balcony is beautiful. Is it in shade because the Fuchsias seems to love it too?

I've only got photos up to 9th June, my mobile gets on my nerves!

One of my Fuchsias. All my plants have a number. This cracks my daughter up. She says you and your files, because I do lever arch files with the labels in.  I take a pic quick before the darned things pop off.


----------



## Northerner

I noticed this in the garden this morning  Is it a type of clover?  The leaves don't look right for that I know there's a couple of dandelions mixed in with it). 

ETA: I'm told they may be 'Mirabilis' or 'four o' clocks'


----------



## ColinUK

@Ditto my balcony? It’s south facing so absolutely zero shade.


----------



## Robin

Northerner said:


> I noticed this in the garden this morning  Is it a type of clover?  The leaves don't look right for that I know there's a couple of dandelions mixed in with it).
> 
> ETA: I'm told they may be 'Mirabilis' or 'four o' clocks'
> 
> 
> View attachment 14609


I suppose the proof of the pudding is....do they open at 4 o'clock? (or late afternoon anyway, they may not be on BST) I must say, having googled a few pictures, I’m not convinced. No idea what they are, though I’m sure I've seen them in a garden somewhere.


----------



## Northerner

Robin said:


> I suppose the proof of the pudding is....do they open at 4 o'clock? (or late afternoon anyway, they may not be on BST) I must say, having googled a few pictures, I’m not convinced. No idea what they are, though I’m sure I've seen them in a garden somewhere.


Facebook friends have identified them as 'self heal' 





__





						Selfheal | The Wildlife Trusts
					

Selfheal is a low-growing, creeping plant that likes the short turf of grasslands, roadside verges or even lawns. Its clusters of violet flowers appear in summer.




					www.wildlifetrusts.org


----------



## Ditto

Lovely, says cures all, even heart disease! 

One of my trees. I always feel the need to post a picture. Colin I nearly lost two of my Fuchsias having them in the sun. It's deadly now is that sun.


----------



## Northerner

Ditto said:


> Lovely, says cures all, even heart disease!
> 
> One of my trees. I always feel the need to post a picture. Colin I nearly lost two of my Fuchsias having them in the sun. It's deadly now is that sun.
> View attachment 14613


My fuschia is in full sunlight most of the day, certainly at this time of the year when the sun is high. It's in my west-facing front garden and it's massive!  I'll post a photo when there is less danger of drowning (currently tipping down!  )


----------



## trophywench

Woodland plants, fuchsias, need to be part shade part sun.  Not as picky as clematis though (roots in shade always)

Selfheal, aka Prunella Vulgaris 'is commonly used to treat cold sores' apparently.  Also spreads like mint so better planted in bottomless pots apparently, according to the Woodland Trust !


----------



## Contused

Here's one of my favourite fuchsias, growing against a south facing wall…







…and complete with two sweet pea trespassers.


----------



## eggyg

Fab fushia @Contused. I have the same one, I bought it for 25p in a Summer Fayre in 1997/8, it was a tiny cutting. This is what it is like today but by the autumn it will be huge. I’m ruthless with it and every February or March I get the electric hedge trimmer to it and basically cut it right back to the ground. BTW, is that an agapanthus in the blue pot? Mine seems to be late this year, plenty of leaves and a few tiny buds low down but hopefully it will be amazing in a week or two.


----------



## Northerner

eggyg said:


> I’m ruthless with it and every February or March I get the electric hedge trimmer to it and basically cut it right back to the ground.


Thanks for the tip @eggyg  Mine looks a real mess currently, but I wasn't sure how or when to prune it


----------



## eggyg

Northerner said:


> Thanks for the tip @eggyg  Mine looks a real mess currently, but I wasn't sure how or when to prune it


I used to use secateurs and it took ages and was hard work. I saw the light about 3/4 years ago. The first year I admit I was worried but it didn’t come to any harm so every spring now those hedge trimmers come out. Disclaimer. I’m not an expert gardener and accept no responsibility if any of you kill your fushia!


----------



## trophywench

Pete was vicious with our fuchsias (and yes they are exactly the same - deepest pink outer and deep purple 'bell') this year and for ages I thought he'd finished them off - but now they're smaller but perfectly formed again.  Don't finish blooming until well after Xmas most years, but are sheltered by the fence at their rear, which is good cos they are a woodland plant, after all.


----------



## grovesy

I usally give my Fuschia's till May and mostly spring back into life by then.


----------



## Contused

eggyg said:


> <snip> BTW, is that an agapanthus in the blue pot? Mine seems to be late this year, plenty of leaves and a few tiny buds low down but hopefully it will be amazing in a week or two.


Yes, it's an agapanthus. My wife commented that it has thrived in a pot that constricts its roots, and pots are preferable to open soil. Here's a photograph she snapped last year…







Your fuchsia looks good too, and thanks for the hedge-trimmer tip. We've used secateurs up to now, which can take an awful lot of time.


----------



## Northerner

Can anyone recommend a hedge trimmer? I have a privet at the front and leylandii at the back. I'd prefer cordless because of the trickiness of trailing wires around. Not sure what stroke length and tooth size is appropriate - I've always just used shears in the past!


----------



## trophywench

One with a chainsaw attachment to fell the hateful CL.


----------



## eggyg

Contused said:


> Yes, it's an agapanthus. My wife commented that it has thrived in a pot that constricts its roots, and pots are preferable to open soil. Here's a photograph she snapped last year…
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Your fuchsia looks good too, and thanks for the hedge-trimmer tip. We've used secateurs up to now, which can take an awful lot of time.


Wow! That’s fantastic, we have had ours about three years and get about 4/5 flowers. Not sure we’ll get more than 2 this year. It’s been in the same pot.


----------



## Ditto

What is CL again?

I have the same Fuchsia grown at my daughters. I was going to take a saw to it come Autumn, it's taking over. 

A young man and lady in visors came round selling broadband, they said "nice garden" I'm reet chuffed. Not finished tidying it yet neither.  

That tree again. Somebody's got to know!


----------



## grovesy

Ditto said:


> What is CL again?
> 
> I have the same Fuchsia grown at my daughters. I was going to take a saw to it come Autumn, it's taking over.
> 
> A young man and lady in visors came round selling broadband, they said "nice garden" I'm reet chuffed. Not finished tidying it yet neither.
> 
> That tree again. Somebody's got to know!
> View attachment 14636


If you are going to chop down but want it to regrow, I would wait to late spring.


----------



## Contused

Northerner said:


> Can anyone recommend a hedge trimmer? I have a privet at the front and leylandii at the back. I'd prefer cordless because of the trickiness of trailing wires around. Not sure what stroke length and tooth size is appropriate - I've always just used shears in the past!


We went for G-tech after buying some of their other cordless products. I can recommend their cordless hedge trimmer, which has quite an appreciable reach…

Cordless hedge trimmers

…which we use on our large pyracantha hedge at the side of the house and the smaller hedges in the front garden. There may possibly be some 'before & after' photographs tomorrow, if the weather permits.


----------



## Ditto

I don't want to lose stuff, I have a black thumb as it is so I think I'll start chopping bits off as I go along, nothing drastic. 

So hungry yesterday trying to do this liquid diet thing so I chomped the lot when passing. Calories grown yourself don't count.


----------



## SB2015

The garden bumble bees are loving our escalonia


----------



## trophywench

Would that be Escalonia Pink Elle?


----------



## SB2015

trophywench said:


> Would that be Escalonia Pink Elle?


Well spotted.
It is just buzzing all the time.


----------



## eggyg

The veggies are coming on great. Just picked these today. Will use everything, except the courgettes, tonight. I have a thing about courgettes, as soon as they start touching  the soil I have to pick them! Daughter number one will take them tomorrow. Tomatoes no where near, flowers on some. Shallots will be ready soon. Still got a couple of potato plants to go at too.  Also got onions, red and white, already drying out and garlic. Lettuce has bolted, planted too many, as usual!  Have had some use of it though.  I love just going in the garden and picking the veg for that day’s meals.


----------



## Ditto

I'm dead impressed at the veggies.


----------



## rebrascora

Harvested my first apricots of the season yesterday.... the tree is trained against my south facing house wall and there are over 20 fruits on it this year. The fruits are at least twice the size of normal apricots and sweet and juicy but they don't keep very well and I can't eat more than a couple a week, so I am trying to pick just a few at a time without letting them become windfalls. Also harvesting courgettes and Swiss chard and sweet peas for my vases on a near daily basis and hopefully I will not need to buy any more cucumbers this summer as they are just starting to develop.


----------



## brisr949

Ditto said:


> I'm dead impressed at the veggies.


Me too x


----------



## trophywench

I'll never forget a good few years back travelling around France in our motorhome when for some of that time one daughter and her family were at a commercial fishing lake also on holiday, so we decided to visit, knowing there was plenty of room to park.  The pegs they were on were in what Michel the owner calls the orchard, guess why   

Anyway Grandma here was sitting shaded from the noonday sun under a handy tree, looking up at said tree I asked grandson if they'd been eating any of the the plums dangling off it?  No he replied - mum says they aren't ripe yet so we shouldn't.  So grandma said Do us a favour Tim and if you can reach, just pick me ONE please.  Mission duly accomplished and handed to me, I squeezed it gently and took a small bite.  Perfectly ripe greengages! - told him it was perfectly OK and gave the rest of that one to him to try and he passed the rest to his little sister.  Having checked with their parents if we were allowed to scrump, we absolutely did, and also later used the Moho cooker to bake a greengage crumble!

'Prunes Reine Claude' - available at a French supermarket near you when in season, at the same approx price as normal yellow or red plums, though never seen in an English greengrocers since approx 1960!


----------



## trophywench

I like a fresh apricot too though ripe ones are hardly ever seen.


----------



## Ditto

I'd heard of greengages but never had one and wasn't sure what they were. Interesting. I hardly ever buy fruit now because it is always rock hard and nasty. 

My sunflower. Agh.


----------



## rebrascora

I was gifted a greengage sapling a few years ago and it has fruit on it for the first time this year.... and a surprisingly large number for such a small sapling. Unfortunately it is seriously prone to some sort of aphid and I don't have the time to keep treating it, so I am not sure how sweet the fruit will be but they should stew for crumble, pie or fool. I have very fond memories of greengage pie at school and as you say, you just can't buy them in the shops so I am really looking forward to harvesting some of my own. 
I was toying with digging it out due to the fact that it suffers so badly with fly strike and looks so unhealthy and I really don't have time to molly coddle plants and trees that don't thrive naturally but I am pretty gobsmacked at how much fruit has developed despite the foliage being so badly ravaged. I guess it has won a reprieve!

My apricot tree was a cheapy Lidl special about 7 years ago. Never dreamed it would fruit (especially this far north ourside) but it has produces a harvest for the past 5 years and I have never seen such huge apricots and unlike those you buy they are juicy. Wish I knew what variety it is as I would buy more. Doesn't suffer from pests, grows easily and produces early fruits. One of my very few gardening successes.


----------



## rebrascora

@Ditto I can't see what the problem is with your sunflower but guessing the stem may have got broken or bent over. If so, don't give up on it as that happened to mine about 10 days ago and it has recovered and is growing strongly now.


----------



## Ditto

That Sunflower was the best of all the seeds sown and was doing great till the rotten critters chomped it! They chomped all the others too in the front garden and all the Salvias. Dastardly fiends. I might have to put out some beer for them.  No I won't, I can't face killing things. I only kill houseflies, bluebottles, mosquitos, fleas and cockroaches. Snails get let off because they are cute with horns.

My daylily is out.


----------



## Ditto

Apologies for the double post. 

What can I do about my snail and slug problem? Do you lot have fauna eating your flora?


----------



## Goldiebrowse

Ditto said:


> Apologies for the double post.
> 
> What can I do about my snail and slug problem? Do you lot have fauna eating your flora?
> View attachment 14888


Beer traps are great for dealing with slugs and snails or if you have a resident hedgehog like us. Beer traps are quick and simple, place small container in the ground near affected plant then top up with beer. Slugs crawl in and die happy


----------



## Goldiebrowse

View of garden, we have gone large and architectural plants to accompany the Koi pond


----------



## Goldiebrowse

Ditto said:


> That Sunflower was the best of all the seeds sown and was doing great till the rotten critters chomped it! They chomped all the others too in the front garden and all the Salvias. Dastardly fiends. I might have to put out some beer for them.  No I won't, I can't face killing things. I only kill houseflies, bluebottles, mosquitos, fleas and cockroaches. Snails get let off because they are cute with horns.
> 
> My daylily is out.
> View attachment 14868


Love hemerocallis.


----------



## chaoticcar

Goldiebrowse said:


> Beer traps are great for dealing with slugs and snails or if you have a resident hedgehog like us. Beer traps are quick and simple, place small container in the ground near affected plant then top up with beer. Slugs crawl in and die happy


I put beer traps out only to watch our resident blackbird feeding beer soaked small slugs to their babies !!
  Carol


----------



## Ditto

Good grief, drunk babies! Would they be okay? They might fall out of the nest.

Wow at the Koi, they are massive and gorgeous. I shall get some when I win the Lotto.


----------



## Goldiebrowse

Ditto said:


> Good grief, drunk babies! Would they be okay? They might fall out of the nest.
> 
> Wow at the Koi, they are massive and gorgeous. I shall get some when I win the Lotto.


@Ditto I’ve not seen any blackbirds feeding the deceased slugs to their young but thank you on the koi, the sturgeon are slightly bigger but very difficult to spot


----------



## Robin

My cyclamen are out! Both pink and white. Good in a way, I love them, but bad in another, because I always think of them as flowering at the end of summer /beginning of autumn!


----------



## grovesy

I have a pink one that has been in flower for a week or two.


----------



## trophywench

You to have a helluva lot of dead leaves under and around them, whereas everything is still a healthy green round about here ......


----------



## Robin

trophywench said:


> You to have a helluva lot of dead leaves under and around them, whereas everything is still a healthy green round about here ......


Ah, not as bad as it looks, the leaves are from our beech hedge. They stay on all winter, and finally drop in spring after the new leaves emerge, so they’ve been there since about April and haven’t rotted down yet. Not this year's, fortunately, we're not that Autumnal yet!


----------



## Ditto

My lillies are out but can't post a pic as my mobile back-up on Google is only up to 30th July. 

I would like some Cyclamen but haven't had any luck with them up to now, will try again at some point. After the slugs ate all that herb I thought sack it and planted a creeping weed in that section of the herbwheel instead. The weed has popped off. Says it all really.


----------



## grovesy

Ditto said:


> My lillies are out but can't post a pic as my mobile back-up on Google is only up to 30th July.
> 
> I would like some Cyclamen but haven't had any luck with them up to now, will try again at some point. After the slugs ate all that herb I thought sack it and planted a creeping weed in that section of the herbwheel instead. The weed has popped off. Says it all really.


Up until last year I had no luck either, a new company took over my Garden Centre this time last year and the cyclemen were one of the first things I bought following the take over. All the ones I bought seem to have survived but not all flowered yet.


----------



## Robin

Cyclamen must like it round here. When we moved, which was just round the corner, we noticed there were loads of white cyclamen in the new garden, so we decided not to bring any of our pink ones from the old house, but some of them must have hitched a ride, because the first year we had a clump of pink, then we had more, and now it’s about half and half. They keep popping up in new areas of the garden.


----------



## trophywench

They propagate either from seed or leaves.

(Relieved to hear the dead leaves aren't 'this years' LOL)


----------



## eggyg

It’s been a bit quiet on here lately. Had a wander up the garden this morning and it’s starting to look very autumnal. Michaelmas daisy starting to flower. The butterflies love it. The tomatoes I grew from seed in the house are covered in little green ones. Goodness knows if they will ever turn red but if not, chutney will be made. Onions, red and white, shallots and garlic all harvested and hung up in the shed/summerhouse.  Courgettes are still growing in front of my eyes! Only one plant this year but still too many. The cookers on the espalier are ready to pick, we didn’t get any at all last year. The turnips are doing better this year and are fabulous roasted. The grapes aren’t as big as they have been at this time of year before. We’ll pick them mid October hopefully and Mr Eggy will make some more undrinkable wine! The sunflower has just self seeded, no doubt from the bird seed, in one of the raised beds. I love it, it’s a horizontal sunflower.


----------



## Robin

Our onions are all drying off in the summerhouse/shed. (it’s not as posh as @eggyg's inside!) I got caught out yesterday, though, I needed an onion to cook with, and had to go down the garden in the pouring rain to retrieve one.
As for courgettes, I’ve managed to hide courgette in every meal I’ve cooked this week, including cake, and they’re still coming out of our ears. I tried to offload some on daughter, but her boss had got in before me and given her some spare from his allotment.They didn’t do well at all last year, so I made the mistake of putting more plants in this year, and there’s a local glut!


----------



## silentsquirrel

eggyg said:


> It’s been a bit quiet on here lately. Had a wander up the garden this morning and it’s starting to look very autumnal. Michaelmas daisy starting to flower. The butterflies love it. The tomatoes I grew from seed in the house are covered in little green ones. Goodness knows if they will ever turn red but if not, chutney will be made. Onions, red and white, shallots and garlic all harvested and hung up in the shed/summerhouse. View attachment 15076View attachment 15077View attachment 15078View attachment 15079View attachment 15080View attachment 15081View attachment 15082View attachment 15083 Courgettes are still growing in front of my eyes! Only one plant this year but still too many. The cookers on the espalier are ready to pick, we didn’t get any at all last year. The turnips are doing better this year and are fabulous roasted. The grapes aren’t as big as they have been at this time of year before. We’ll pick them mid October hopefully and Mr Eggy will make some more undrinkable wine! The sunflower has just self seeded, no doubt from the bird seed, in one of the raised beds. I love it, it’s a horizontal sunflower.


Looking good!
If you have surplus courgettes, especially if they turn into marrows, it's a good ingredient to bulk out your chutney.


----------



## eggyg

silentsquirrel said:


> Looking good!
> If you have surplus courgettes, especially if they turn into marrows, it's a good ingredient to bulk out your chutney.


We made spicy tomato and courgette chutney last year. We’ve still got three jars! I don’t eat chutney and Mr Eggy isn’t a massive courgette fan so he has said he’s not making it this year! He’s presently making ginger, apple and rhubarb chutney. Apples and rhubarb from garden, ginger courtesy of Tesco! He loves that so much he’s making double this year.


----------



## eggyg

Robin said:


> Our onions are all drying off in the summerhouse/shed. (it’s not as posh as @eggyg's inside!) I got caught out yesterday, though, I needed an onion to cook with, and had to go down the garden in the pouring rain to retrieve one.
> As for courgettes, I’ve managed to hide courgette in every meal I’ve cooked this week, including cake, and they’re still coming out of our ears. I tried to offload some on daughter, but her boss had got in before me and given her some spare from his allotment.They didn’t do well at all last year, so I made the mistake of putting more plants in this year, and there’s a local glut!


We had three plants last year and so decided the one would be enough! I’ve given them to my eldest daughter who gives them to her colleagues! Other two aren’t interested. I made Greek type courgette fritters, sliced and dipped in egg and breadcrumbs and cooked in oven. A bit bland, more salt next time. I have two portions of ratatouille in the freezer and roast them at every opportunity. There’s another three almost ready! Oh dear!


----------



## Ditto

Wow, y'all are proper gardeners, I'm dead impressed.  I must make more effort next year, not be so slapdash. Do things properly. 

I bought a Sedum, going to try Sedums in the herbwheel and put the herbs in clay pots because the Oregano went bonkers and the bees luv it. The empty space is where the critters chomped the Thyme.

The Lillies were nice, not bad for a couple quid from Wilkos.


----------



## eggyg

Ditto said:


> Wow, y'all are proper gardeners, I'm dead impressed.  I must make more effort next year, not be so slapdash. Do things properly.
> 
> I bought a Sedum, going to try Sedums in the herbwheel and put the herbs in clay pots because the Oregano went bonkers and the bees luv it. The empty space is where the critters chomped the Thyme.
> View attachment 15088
> The Lillies were nice, not bad for a couple quid from Wilkos.
> View attachment 15089


I’m not really a gardener, Mr Eggy is the brains, I’m just the brawn! Although TBF I grew the tomatoes, pure luck I think. I do water and feed them. We have loads of sedum, it spreads like mad, it’s just starting to colour now. It’s good to dry too.


----------



## eggyg

Back in June @Contused posted an amazing photo of an agapanthus and I remarked that mine had about 5/6 buds. Fast forward two months and they are eventually flowering. They’ve taken longer to come out than Philip Schofield! It’s taken about six weeks to get to this stage. I’ve just been reading about them and it seems I should have been feeding it! Oops! Watch this space this time next year to see if I can get one like @Contused.


----------



## Contused

eggyg said:


> Back in June @Contused posted an amazing photo of an agapanthus and I remarked that mine had about 5/6 buds. Fast forward two months and they are eventually flowering. They’ve taken longer to come out than Philip Schofield! It’s taken about six weeks to get to this stage. I’ve just been reading about them and it seems I should have been feeding it! Oops! Watch this space this time next year to see if I can get one like @Contused.


Congratulations on a lovely display. I regret ours is over for the year. My wife remarked that the flowers had died by the end of July and she trimmed off the dead growth a few weeks ago. The first two flowers arrived early to mid March, so we've perhaps not got too long to wait for a display early next year.


----------



## Ditto

eggyg said:


> ... taken longer to come out than Philip Schofield! ...


LOL  

Lovely. I'm gonna give one of those a whirl next year. 

I've started using garden bags for my trees, you can get more compost in them than tubs. Up to now it's working. I've bunged bulbs in the top.


----------



## Robin

I’m jealous of your Agapanthus, @eggyg , mine haven’t flowered at all. A friend brought some back from the Scillies last year, and kindly potted them up for me, but she put them in an enormous pot, and I’ve been reading that they like to be a bit pot-bound to flower well. I’ll have to get to grips with them next year.
Meanwhile, my Japanese Anemones are thriving on neglect, that is a 2 metre fence behind them!


----------



## eggyg

Robin said:


> I’m jealous of your Agapanthus, @eggyg , mine haven’t flowered at all. A friend brought some back from the Scillies last year, and kindly potted them up for me, but she put them in an enormous pot, and I’ve been reading that they like to be a bit pot-bound to flower well. I’ll have to get to grips with them next year.
> Meanwhile, my Japanese Anemones are thriving on neglect, that is a 2 metre fence behind them!View attachment 15152


Wow! They look amazing. I only know agapanthus likes to be pot bound because of @Contused post. I was ready for repotting mine! Glad I never.


----------



## Ditto

Monty keeps his really pot bound.  

Wow at the JapAnems, mine are only a foot high! They really like it there obviously.


----------



## eggyg

Oh I’m so excited! Well over a year after planting water lilies in our new ponds, we’ve at last got a flower! We noticed a tiny bud had appeared yesterday ( which coincidentally was exactly a year since we visited Monet’s Gardens and saw the famous ones) and today it’s flowered! Think this is as much as it’ll come out as the sun is moving away now.


----------



## Robin

eggyg said:


> Oh I’m so excited! Well over a year after planting water lilies in our new ponds, we’ve at last got a flower! We noticed a tiny bud had appeared yesterday ( which coincidentally was exactly a year since we visited Monet’s Gardens and saw the famous ones) and today it’s flowered! Think this is as much as it’ll come out as the sun is moving away now.


Ooh, gorgeous! We haven’t got any water lilies. (Probably because we haven’t got a pond).
Having had a respite for a couple of weeks, we are now on a second wave of courgettes. Picked four today, four yesterday, and there are eight more coming! Knew five plants was three too many, but they did so badly last year, I went for safety in numbers this time.


----------



## grovesy

We filled our pond in many years ago , it was not quite in the right place and difficult to get clear water.


----------



## eggyg

Robin said:


> Ooh, gorgeous! We haven’t got any water lilies. (Probably because we haven’t got a pond).
> Having had a respite for a couple of weeks, we are now on a second wave of courgettes. Picked four today, four yesterday, and there are eight more coming! Knew five plants was three too many, but they did so badly last year, I went for safety in numbers this time.


Don’t talk to me about courgettes! Just picked another three today. Left one which is now a marrow, don’t know how I missed it, and there’s another 3/4 on the way!  One plant!


----------



## eggyg

grovesy said:


> We filled our pond in many years ago , it was not quite in the right place and difficult to get clear water.


They are hard to maintain but it’s only our second summer and desperate for frogs! Hopefully next spring.


----------



## rebrascora

@Robin and @eggyg... You are just putting me to shame. I have just 2 plants and they have done abysmally. Other years I have had 3 -5 plants and had huge gluts like you as well as giving them away to any friend or stranger who would take them. I was kidding myself that it must just be a bad year for them. I actually toyed with buying some last week which really galls me when I have them in the poly tunnel. Maybe they are just contrary plants and do best in a larger social group. Cucumber didn't do very well either. Just 4 fruits off it but better than none I suppose and they had good flavour.

I am busy shredding hedge, fruit tree and rose cuttings to compost. Mostly hawthorn from a hedge which got away a few years ago and only just got around to cutting it back this year. Boy are those thorns wicked!


----------



## eggyg

rebrascora said:


> @Robin and @eggyg... You are just putting me to shame. I have just 2 plants and they have done abysmally. Other years I have had 3 -5 plants and had huge gluts like you as well as giving them away to any friend or stranger who would take them. I was kidding myself that it must just be a bad year for them. I actually toyed with buying some last week which really galls me when I have them in the poly tunnel. Maybe they are just contrary plants and do best in a larger social group. Cucumber didn't do very well either. Just 4 fruits off it but better than none I suppose and they had good flavour.
> 
> I am busy shredding hedge, fruit tree and rose cuttings to compost. Mostly hawthorn from a hedge which got away a few years ago and only just got around to cutting it back this year. Boy are those thorns wicked!


Last year seemed to be a bad year for courgettes for everyone but us! We had three plants and had a huge glut hence just having the one plant this year. My friend and next door neighbour had 8 plants and has only had 4 courgettes from them!  We’ve had ratatouille for tea tonight and having a stir fry tomorrow so will use another one. I’ve not tried baking with them, not sure I fancy it.


----------



## rebrascora

I have made courgette cake in the past when I had a glut. It is similar to carrot cake in that it is moist with a slightly chunkier texture and a slightly nutty flavour. It's a shame how you get sick of them when you have a glut and crave them when you don't have enough.... no happy medium. I love ratatouille and at least it freezes. Tried courgette soup once but not impressed with that. 
Can't understand why they are so expensive in the shops unless commercial growers are having a bad year with them too.


----------



## Robin

rebrascora said:


> I have made courgette cake in the past when I had a glut. It is similar to carrot cake in that it is moist with a slightly chunkier texture and a slightly nutty flavour. It's a shame how you get sick of them when you have a glut and crave them when you don't have enough.... no happy medium. I love ratatouille and at least it freezes. Tried courgette soup once but not impressed with that.
> Can't understand why they are so expensive in the shops unless commercial growers are having a bad year with them too.


I have two courgette cakes and numerous pots of ratatouille in the freezer! My local farm shop was selling them for 10p a kilo earlier in the season, and copious numbers were donated to the village produce exchange. I was amazed to see them in the local supermarket at a hefty price!


----------



## grovesy

eggyg said:


> They are hard to maintain but it’s only our second summer and desperate for frogs! Hopefully next spring.


I had frogs in mine, but I got frog spawn from a work colleague to get in mine. I still got them visiting for a few years after we filled the pond in.


----------



## Ditto

Lovely water lily. I managed to get one to flower once, a lovely yellow, in a discarded bath! I do have one here at Mum's but the pond is tiddy so I get huge shiny leaves but never a flower. I do have a huge frog, dunno if it's the same one but it's there every year. Never see any frog spawn however. I did put some in once but not seen it since. 

Next year I shall try a courgette.  I'm going to try as many new things as possible. Has anybody heard anything about Monty Don? My brother says he's poorly again?


----------



## grovesy

Ditto said:


> Lovely water lily. I managed to get one to flower once, a lovely yellow, in a discarded bath! I do have one here at Mum's but the pond is tiddy so I get huge shiny leaves but never a flower. I do have a huge frog, dunno if it's the same one but it's there every year. Never see any frog spawn however. I did put some in once but not seen it since.
> 
> Next year I shall try a courgette.  I'm going to try as many new things as possible. Has anybody heard anything about Monty Don? My brother says he's poorly again?


You need a shallow bit for frogs to get in and out. You can get small breeds of water lillies


----------



## Ditto

I think it is a mini water lily. The pond is miniscule.  Maybe that's why I've only got one frog. No room for more.


----------



## Pumper_Sue

This evening I came across a very large hedgehog ambling down the garden path. I only knew it was there as my Chocolate lab started to bark in panic due to the intruder in her garden  After rescuing her from this ginormous monster we both sat and watched him/her wondering over the garden eating the slugs.
Took ages to persuade Milly to go out for her bedtime wee.


----------



## Ditto

I need a slug-eater in my garden! I did see one passing by ages ago. I should have hijacked it.


----------



## Ditto

Has everybody given up for winter?  I have loads to do but too crook to get out there plus the weather is dire. I am very worried about the Ash Trees.  I have some in tubs, but I don't know if they're English or not, these have more resistance to the die back apparently.


----------



## grovesy

I managed a bit of gardening the last couple of days, but to day we have heavy rain that has not given up yet! 
I still have tomatoe plants and cucumber on the go.


----------



## eggyg

We’ve picked some green tomatoes and made chutney. Still some on the vine, we’re going to pull it up and hang it upside down in the shed. Apparently they MAY go red! We’ll see. Carrots, turnips and leeks still in the ground, they will be fine. I’ve trimmed my lavender, and dead headed the poppies. The lawn might need another cut before the winter. If the weather picks up that’ll get done before we go on holiday next Friday.


----------



## grovesy

eggyg said:


> We’ve picked some green tomatoes and made chutney. Still some on the vine, we’re going to pull it up and hang it upside down in the shed. Apparently they MAY go red! We’ll see. Carrots, turnips and leeks still in the ground, they will be fine. I’ve trimmed my lavender, and dead headed the poppies. The lawn might need another cut before the winter. If the weather picks up that’ll get done before we go on holiday next Friday.


I am not sure mine would this year if I tried that, the varieties I have grown this year have not been keeping very well. My cucumbers are usually finished by now.


----------



## trophywench

Ash trees literally grow like weeds in gardens around here.

Coincidentally we're approx 100 yards from the start of Coventry and a suburb called Ash Green .......

Aren't you better off planting them (deciduous trees generally) where they need to be in the spring as the growth spurt gets going rather than risking restricting the roots and getting pot bound?


----------



## Ditto

Mollycoddle those Ash Trees! They'll be extinct at this rate like the poor Elms. Are there any Elms left?


----------



## grovesy

Ditto said:


> Mollycoddle those Ash Trees! They'll be extinct at this rate like the poor Elms. Are there any Elms left?


You would not say that if they seeded all over your garden.


----------



## trophywench

Ditto said:


> Mollycoddle those Ash Trees! They'll be extinct at this rate like the poor Elms. Are there any Elms left?



You're welcome to them growing between your paving slabs and in every other gap between hard structures with deep foundations around your house Ditto.  Sick of pulling the damn things up.  They do have to fight with next door's self seeded buddleia convolvulus and Virginia Creeper already though so I don't see them stopping growing along with the dandelions etc any time soon.

If ONLY his clematis montana had survived his hand and come to live here instead.


----------



## Pumper_Sue

One hedgehog is/was happily wondering around the garden minding his own business just now. I have just had to persuade one naughty lab to come in as she is now fascinated by our lovely little visitor. Must admit it makes a change from being scared stiff by it the first time she met him.

Any bets as to how often she will wake me up for an urgent call of nature in the middle of the night just so she can see her new friend?


----------



## Ditto

grovesy said:


> You would not say that if they seeded all over your garden.


 They do seed some, I have to pot them up, just got one up from the front but it had sneaked behind a bush and grown to 5feet already! 



> and in every other gap


  I've had the same trouble with Sycamores in the past. They're the humans of the tree world. Amazing about the Virginia Creeper and the Buddleia, I fight to keep these alive, but Montana grows like a weed at Mums. 



> in the middle of the night


 Heh! Is it true hedgepigs are full of fleas? I'm always scared of picking them up.


----------



## grovesy

Ditto said:


> They do seed some, I have to pot them up, just got one up from the front but it had sneaked behind a bush and grown to 5feet already!
> 
> I've had the same trouble with Sycamores in the past. They're the humans of the tree world. Amazing about the Virginia Creeper and the Buddleia, I fight to keep these alive, but Montana grows like a weed at Mums.
> 
> Heh! Is it true hedgepigs are full of fleas? I'm always scared of picking them up.


My Virgina Creeper i trim back.


----------



## rebrascora

Ditto said:


> Mollycoddle those Ash Trees! They'll be extinct at this rate like the poor Elms. Are there any Elms left?



I have quite a few elms on the bankside above my house, probably about 25yrs old, which came away from seeds after the existing elms died, so I think there is hope for the ash longer term but seeing a lot of die back of them here at the moment. Lost quite a few old mature Alder trees in the last couple of years here too. They grow on the swampy ground next to the stream but in recent years it has been drying up in the summer, so I wonder if they are becoming victim to climate change.


----------



## Robin

rebrascora said:


> I have quite a few elms on the bankside above my house, probably about 25yrs old,


Fingers crossed, but we had a small and apparently healthy elm in our last garden, and it got to about 20yrs old, and 20ft high, then suddenly went dead in the top one year, then the next year it died completely. Our tree surgeon said this is a common way for them to go, and we certainly see a lot of dead elms in the copses round here that are a similar height and age.


----------



## Pumper_Sue

Ditto said:


> Heh! Is it true hedgepigs are full of fleas? I'm always scared of picking them up.


They can have fleas and ticks  Milly my Lab is always treated with a preventative so she's fine and I have no intention of picking up hedgehog unless it is unwell and needs a vet and I have thick gardening gloves on


----------



## trophywench

My uncle was head herdsman at a large dairy farm 3 miles from Shrewsbury, they had a Springer Spaniel bitch and Auntie Jean wondered why she kept losing the brushes off her vacuum, hand brushes etc then finding them in Tina's bed and they wondered if she was going broody?  after which the final straw was her howling in pain down the garden and finding her still trying to pick up and kidnap a poor hedgehog despite the pain.

Many years previously when I was little myself and Michael Bentine used to be on TV with The Bumblies, which were ace, there were 3 of them, they flew round the room and slept on the ceiling, and didn't have names, only numbers so Auntie Jean had made her little boy a Bumbly and it along with Rog's teddy still lived on the top shelf of the wardrobe in what was his bedroom - but by this time he was a sound engineer working for the BBC at Pebble Mill - so she rang him up to see which he'd be willing to donate to Tina.  Tina got Bumbly No 1.  (Dunno if he really was No 1 TBH but our Rog always reckoned he was!)

Just a daft but true story about a dog and a hedgehog.


----------



## Ditto

Ha! That is so funny.  I liked Michael Bentine, he seemed like a nice bloke.

I managed to get into the garden today because it wasn't raining, such a change. The bed looks very bare now the ground elder is all pulled up.


----------



## trophywench

Michael Bentine was also the only Peruvian born in Watford! (Very interesting family ....)


----------



## Ditto

Lol, I didn't know that!  S'funny. 

I'm going to try for another hour in the garden today if the mizzle holds off. I did a whole bed yesterday, felt very accomplished. It makes me feel so much better. I need to get out there. I discovered three primulas that have survived the ground elder. I'm on a roll. They're ragged round the edges but might come back nicely. I think my Jacob's Ladder has disappeared though. I need to just grow stuff in pots, leave the beds for the trees.


----------



## grovesy

Ditto said:


> Lol, I didn't know that!  S'funny.
> 
> I'm going to try for another hour in the garden today if the mizzle holds off. I did a whole bed yesterday, felt very accomplished. It makes me feel so much better. I need to get out there. I discovered three primulas that have survived the ground elder. I'm on a roll. They're ragged round the edges but might come back nicely. I think my Jacob's Ladder has disappeared though. I need to just grow stuff in pots, leave the beds for the trees.


Some of my primulas have never stopped flowering . I sorted some of my potted begonias out and moved into the greenhouse for the winter, this morning.  I have also seen some snowdrop and iris shoots popping up.


----------



## Ditto

The Wallflower I planted not long ago is flowering a lovely ruby red. It's too early isn't it?


----------



## grovesy

No they sometimes flower at this time in my garden, but with fewer ones.
I been and put the rest of my Begonia Pots in the greenhouse. Pulled up some of invasive plants that I did not realise were invasive when I planted. Hope I don't suffer any aches and pains afterwards.


----------



## Ditto

I managed to mow the front garden yesterday. Is that the last for the year? I hope so, killer. Agh. Got to do the back today before the deluge comes back for the week. 

Watched the last Beechgrove for the year, sad when they say they won't be back on telly till Easter! Seems ages away. They had Jim on saying hello.


----------



## grovesy

Ditto said:


> I managed to mow the front garden yesterday. Is that the last for the year? I hope so, killer. Agh. Got to do the back today before the deluge comes back for the week.
> 
> Watched the last Beechgrove for the year, sad when they say they won't be back on telly till Easter! Seems ages away. They had Jim on saying hello.


Down here our lawn has been getting cut throughout winter, the local cats think it is their toilet!
Jim is one of my favourite garden presenters.


----------



## trophywench

Wondered what the heck Beechgrove was as I've never heard of it.  Aaaah - Scottish TV !!


----------



## grovesy

trophywench said:


> Wondered what the heck Beechgrove was as I've never heard of it.  Aaaah - Scottish TV !!


Yeah but it is shown on BBC 2 on a Sunday day morning.


----------



## trophywench

I don't usually do 9.30 am on Sundays - did yesterday cos we had a committee meeting!  Otherwise would have stayed asleep.


----------



## grovesy

trophywench said:


> I don't usually do 9.30 am on Sundays - did yesterday cos we had a committee meeting!  Otherwise would have stayed asleep.


I record as I like the programme, I think it is a more down to earth programme than Gardener's World.


----------



## Robin

Anyone who saw Gardener’s World last Friday, Carol Klein was at Hidcote admiring the Red Garden. We went there today, she obviously picked a day when the sun was out, and she was allowed to walk the length of it, whereas the ordinary punters have to crane their necks to admire it from one end.


----------



## grovesy

Love Carol Klein!


----------



## Ditto

So do I, she's so enthusiastic.


----------



## grovesy

Ditto said:


> So do I, she's so enthusiastic.


I also think she is genuine down to earth, I am not keen on Monty!
I have been busy tidying up a bit and planting some of my mature cuttings, in my in the Garden the last couple of days, glad as today we have stormy weather!


----------



## Ditto

It's stormy here too, been black dark most of the day and drizzly. How comes you don't like Monty? I luv most peoples unless they're really out there like Henry VIII, Hitler, PolPot or Ghengis Khan. I'm easygoing but once I don't like a person that's it! 

I think if Monty ever retires, and I hope that's not any time soon, they should ask Christine Walkden to do it or Carol, it's about time we had a lady... or Rachel if she had time with the nippers. 

The Fir tree is going brown. Why? It's supposed to be evergreen. If that pops its' clogs I will give up gardening!


----------



## grovesy

Ditto said:


> It's stormy here too, been black dark most of the day and drizzly. How comes you don't like Monty? I luv most peoples unless they're really out there like Henry VIII, Hitler, PolPot or Ghengis Khan. I'm easygoing but once I don't like a person that's it!
> 
> I think if Monty ever retires, and I hope that's not any time soon, they should ask Christine Walkden to do it or Carol, it's about time we had a lady... or Rachel if she had time with the nippers.
> 
> The Fir tree is going brown. Why? It's supposed to be evergreen. If that pops its' clogs I will give up gardening!
> View attachment 15439


Looks as it could be dying, unfortunaetly!
I don't like Monty as I don't think he has an idea of ordinary folks gardens. I doubt either Christine or Carol would take over as they are older than him. I like Adam i think it is name he is more down to earth, and relatable for me, he is after all an ex trainee of Geoff Hamilton.


----------



## Ditto

I was presuming really that he was in training to take over from Monty. 

You think the Fir is popping off? Wah! In full view of the neighbours too.


----------



## grovesy

Ditto said:


> I was presuming really that he was in training to take over from Monty.
> 
> You think the Fir is popping off? Wah! In full view of the neighbours too.


I would not give up on it  yet but it does look a bit iffy!


----------



## Drummer

This years apples have been picked before the storm came in - at least most of them, as there are so many this year, so large and so juicy and sweet too. I am having to restrain myself from eating too many of them. One a day is pretty much all my carbs but I don't mind having a chicken leg and an apple for dinner these days.


----------



## Ditto

My fave lunch back in the office days was an apple with a quarter of cheese, mmm.

I only have two apples this year. I moved some of the apple trees tho' so they are probably in shock.

It's too horrid to garden so I shall just do garden admin. which means trying to match up my Fuchsias with my photos, should be easy enough... famous last words, I fail at admin. what should have been a Fuchsia hung on the fence was in the darned chimney. Good grief.


----------



## Dave W

It's been a good year for our fruit trees. We've had a bumper crop of plums, got upwards of 200 apples stored in the garage and now have a deluge of pears. The pears don't keep so at present we are cooking a few with apples, a few raisins and a sprinkle of cinnamon and I have a spoonful with my porridge of a morning.
Been a lousy summer in the veg plot though, normally we have more butternut squash than we can use, but have next to non this year due to lack of sunshine and too much rain.


----------



## grovesy

My apple tree no longer produces any apples that to the edible stage, pears I had about a dozen finished them at the end of last week.


----------



## Jo-Jo-T1

A pansy in my allotment


----------



## Ditto

I luvs your garden Dave W, that is my type of garden. I'd have to get my grabber and get up all them windfalls though. 

Lovely pansy, faves, my cheap as chips trays from Wilkos which were all dried out and 50p have come out lovely.


----------



## grovesy

Trouble is windfalls are usally to battered and bruised to eat.


----------



## Ditto

They'd make good compost! 

Very autumnal in the garden lately. Raining again today. I want that red bush that's in my neighbour's garden, it's lovely. No idea what it is. I've got to get round to mowing, but it's never dry enough (is my excuse).


----------



## grovesy

Ditto said:


> They'd make good compost!
> 
> Very autumnal in the garden lately. Raining again today. I want that red bush that's in my neighbour's garden, it's lovely. No idea what it is. I've got to get round to mowing, but it's never dry enough (is my excuse).
> View attachment 15453


I have never been successful at home composting, but I do send my garden waste to be recycled by the council all year round.


----------



## Ditto

I don't bother putting my green bin out. I'm not great at composting, I'm just enthusiastic. I've got seven bins. Oh no, eight. If I ever get to the point of emptying one and using the compost it'll be a red letter day. Fed up of 2020, I've been all year collecting branches and sticks and now we're on lockdown so can't have my bonfire party. I'm relying on nephew to start the fire in my tin bin thingy. I must get some firelighters. The leaves are falling, I need to get out there with a rake but the weather is dire. I'm taking all the pelargoniums and house plants round to my flat bit by bit to save them for next year. I've got more room at the flat and it's airy, Mum has the bungalow like a hothouse. Why can't we keep tomatoes going over winter? Is there a rule?

You see the shocking pink pot above? Well that's a nice cranesbill geranium I got from ebay. I so fail at plants. I put it in new compost and it's just disappearing. Why? I should just give up.


----------



## rebrascora

Ditto said:


> Why can't we keep tomatoes going over winter? Is there a rule?


You need lots of light, so if you can set up appropriate lighting for the tomatoes then no reason why not. A sunny windowsill in winter is not the same as a sunny windowsill in summer and the plants will just grow long and straggly and not have the energy to put into fruit. House plants are usually species which don't need much light to thrive.


----------



## Ditto

Ah right, with you now. Last year I left my two fave begonias out on the balcony at the flat and they were wonderful. I shall leave the tomatoes and see what happens.


----------



## Robin

Ditto said:


> Well that's a nice cranesbill geranium I got from ebay. I so fail at plants. I put it in new compost and it's just disappearing. Why? I should just give up


When did you get it? Ours all flower in late spring, then by mid summer they are all dying down. If I chop them back then, sometimes they put a fresh spurt of leaves on before the winter, but sometimes they wait til the following year, depending on the weather. So don’t give up on it just yet!


----------



## grovesy

Ditto said:


> I don't bother putting my green bin out. I'm not great at composting, I'm just enthusiastic. I've got seven bins. Oh no, eight. If I ever get to the point of emptying one and using the compost it'll be a red letter day. Fed up of 2020, I've been all year collecting branches and sticks and now we're on lockdown so can't have my bonfire party. I'm relying on nephew to start the fire in my tin bin thingy. I must get some firelighters. The leaves are falling, I need to get out there with a rake but the weather is dire. I'm taking all the pelargoniums and house plants round to my flat bit by bit to save them for next year. I've got more room at the flat and it's airy, Mum has the bungalow like a hothouse. Why can't we keep tomatoes going over winter? Is there a rule?
> View attachment 15465
> You see the shocking pink pot above? Well that's a nice cranesbill geranium I got from ebay. I so fail at plants. I put it in new compost and it's just disappearing. Why? I should just give up.


Cranes bill geranium tend to disappear underground and sprout up again in the spring. They grow a bit like weeds in my garden despite my keep pulling up as many as I can.


----------



## Drummer

I am right down on the south coast, Poole in Dorset and I used to overwinter runner beans outside and tomatoes would stay alive in the conservatory in big pots. I have had ripe tomatoes just by leaving the green ones to turn colour, with a drip feed of water to stop them drying out, and then the plants would start to grow and flower again as soon as it warmed up in the spring.


----------



## SB2015

A winter window box seems happy and our nicotiana are enormous.  We have only ever planted them in boxes before.  These were spread in the spaces in the garden, and have grown enormous and have kept going for ages. 
Grrrrr the system doesn’t seem to want to let me post photo again.


----------



## Ditto

The weather is dire, the tomatoes have keeled over.  Must clear them away. Other stuff is hanging on despite inclement conditions ie blowing a flipping gale! Million Bells okay, having recovered from the slugs in summer but one popped off.

Me and one of my pumpkins, I'm the one on the left! 65p from Tesco. It's my dream to grow one so I'll try again next year.


@SB2015 I wonder why you're having trouble. I just click 'attachment' now and upload from my 'documents' on the laptop.


----------



## grovesy

Meant to update on my green tomatoes I picked to try and ripen indoors in a bowl with a banana, surprised and pleased to say most of them did in fact ripen. I had two large bowls of them.


----------



## Robin

My garden’s been a soggy mess for the past month, but it’s crisped up well in the freezing fog!


----------



## Ditto

That's your garden? It's massive!  Loving the teasles.


----------



## Robin

Ditto said:


> That's your garden? It's massive!  Loving the teasles.


I grew them to attract goldfinches. We had some last year, but haven’t seen a single one yet this winter.


----------



## trophywench

..... and a prize cotineaster horizontalis.

Unfortunately the undigested berries stain like hell when they come out of the other end of said dickie birds ....


----------



## Robin

trophywench said:


> ..... and a prize cotineaster horizontalis.
> 
> Unfortunately the undigested berries stain like hell when they come out of the other end of said dickie birds ....


...and with each seed wrapped in its own neat package of guano, they sprout all over the garden.


----------



## trophywench

Bedworth birds are clearly not as well trained as yours, since they mainly evacuate their bowels on anything you'd rather they didn't, especially on white motorhomes and black cloth roofs of sports cars, with an especial affinity for the sheet of corrugated perspex arranged above the back door and any clean washing.


----------



## eggyg

We have a cotoneaster ( or a cotton Easter as we called it when we were young and inexperienced gardeners, 34 years ago!) but all our berries are gone, which is a shame as they put on a lovely display.


----------



## Robin

eggyg said:


> We have a cotoneaster ( or a cotton Easter as we called it when we were young and inexperienced gardeners, 34 years ago!) but all our berries are gone, which is a shame as they put on a lovely display.


This one is down the front drive, so with traffic( car, pedestrian or next door's cat) the birds always leave it til they’re desperate.


----------



## SB2015

I seem to be back to not being able to download photos again.
Probably me rather than the forum.

I wanted to post a photo of my winter window box, and also Cosmos which is still in flower!!!
Use your imagination!!


----------



## grovesy

SB2015 said:


> I seem to be back to not being able to download photos again.
> Probably me rather than the forum.
> 
> I wanted to post a photo of my winter window box, and also Cosmos which is still in flower!!!
> Use your imagination!!


Is it your new phone?


----------



## Robin

SB2015 said:


> I seem to be back to not being able to download photos again.
> Probably me rather than the forum.
> 
> I wanted to post a photo of my winter window box, and also Cosmos which is still in flower!!!
> Use your imagination!!


I still have a slight problem, my photos always appear upside down, even if I try rotating them. But if I email them to myself, and save them back to the ipad photo section, they then appear right way up. I’m sure the more techy members would have a 'proper' fix, but my solution works, so why worry!


----------



## trophywench

Hee hee!  We had a massive very long established bush in the front garden when we bought this house.  Got the keys Friday, Saturday morning my friend Pat and I decided to start clearing up the front garden.  The house is on a main road with a bus stop immediately outside the low front wall.  It had been empty a while, so lots of beer cans, polystyrene MaccyD boxes, crisp bags and literally God knows what.  Heavy thick gardening gloves and black sacks at the ready we started.  I dived under the beautiful cotoneaster full of berry to start - and nearly passed out immediately with the ammonia fumes!!!  Had to get Chapman (Demolition Contracting to the Gentry) to come out of the house, swap the sledgehammer for a wood saw and cure that little problem asap.  God alone knows - with a ruddy great lamp post at a similar distance away as the bus stop - HOW and where the hell from, the used condoms were there!


----------



## SB2015

grovesy said:


> Is it your new phone?


Thanks @grovesy .  I think that is the root of the problem.

I did the photos on my iPad, BUT since then I had got my new phone and I hadn’t realised that they all linked up.  I deleted all my photos off my phone after transferring them to my lap top, to save memory space in my icloud.  I think that I have inadvertently deleted all the photos off my iPad too!!!


----------



## Ditto

All my stuff is still in flower but gone very straggly. 

Christine Walkden says you shouldn't work wet soil... any excuse not to go out in the cold!


----------



## rebrascora

Oh wow, they are pretty! @Ditto. They look like they are really thriving. It must be a sheltered sunny spot.


----------



## grovesy

I have marigolds and salvias still flowering.


----------



## SB2015

The winter window box is looking good.  The first time I have done this and it is right by our new patio area, so lovely for a cuppa in the winter sun.  Still amazed at the flowers that have hung on.  They will no doubt suffer when we eventually get the cold weather and frosts, but I shall enjoy them while they last.

Planting my ‘Bulb Lasagne’ today.  Saw it on gardeners world.  I am a bit late but I had a big bag of bulbs for my birthday so want to get them in.  I shall just layer them with their flowering times in mind.  Apparently it doesn’t matter if you go deeper than usual they just make their way up when they are ready.  Also doing one for a friend who is moving house on Thursday.


----------



## grovesy

Many of my Cyclamen have still in bloom. I was never that successful with them till the last couple of years.


----------



## trophywench

I can't keep cyclamen either, never have been able to.  The dear old hardy fuchsia thicket is still in bloom of course, often February before it dumps last years flowers anyway.  In 2020 it didn't finally shed until March - and that's when it gets pruned - so it was nearer July by the time it had leafed up.   Very late this year, and it's never early anyway!


----------



## grovesy

trophywench said:


> I can't keep cyclamen either, never have been able to.  The dear old hardy fuchsia thicket is still in bloom of course, often February before it dumps last years flowers anyway.  In 2020 it didn't finally shed until March - and that's when it gets pruned - so it was nearer July by the time it had leafed up.   Very late this year, and it's never early anyway!


My success I have put down to the take over of the local Garden Centre last summer, the quality of the plants I have bought since the take over.


----------



## Ditto

I've done a lasagne too! Can't wait to see the result.  Also no good with Cyclamen, I have put some in and will check on them later when I pick up the discarded booze bottles. The joy of suburban living. Heh! 

I have finally swept up all the fallen leaves but not got round to putting battery lights on the Yew...


----------



## grovesy

I have grown layered bulbs in pots for years, before the lasagne crazy became a thing.


----------



## trophywench

Well yeah @grovesey - this is the very first time I've heard it referred to as such!   Yet you'd have thought in the past it might have been referred to as the Lancashire Hotpot effect or the Flemish Bond way of planting !!


----------



## grovesy

It seem to have crept in the last couple of years.


----------



## eggyg

Can’t say I’ve heard of the bulb lasagne. Sounds intriguing, I want a pizza of the action!   Sorry, that joke was pasta best.


----------



## Robin

eggyg said:


> Can’t say I’ve heard of the bulb lasagne. Sounds intriguing, I want a pizza of the action!   Sorry, that joke was pasta best.


Several groans...


----------



## grovesy

eggyg said:


> Can’t say I’ve heard of the bulb lasagne. Sounds intriguing, I want a pizza of the action!   Sorry, that joke was pasta best.


I have seen it in gardening magazines and on TV gardening programmes.


----------



## SB2015

grovesy said:


> I have grown layered bulbs in pots for years, before the lasagne crazy became a thing.


Well it prompted me to have a go.  Looking forward to seeing what happens.
We have also done one as a house warming present, for someone who is a very keen cook, so it seemed very appropriate, and it will be something they can just enjoy whilst they will be busy with all the other things they have to do (including looking after a young baby.


----------



## trophywench

If they're keen cook, did you pop some garlic amongst your layers?  And chives?  Both pretty plants, as well as the culinary usefulness.


----------



## Robin

Well, this thread is called 'In the Garden' and this was today! Haven’t seen it in the top bit of the garden since last year, but the lower rough bit of lawn where our fruit trees are is covered with Muntjac poo, and last night we heard the weirdest noises, like a cross between a dog and a wild boar. Having googled 'Muntjac sound' it was definitely him/her! I’m always amazed to see them in our garden, because we are surrounded by well used roads.


----------



## Ditto

How wonderful.  We're always amazed if we see a squirrel!


----------



## trophywench

If that was loud, you want to hear em bonking ...... they mate at ANY opportunity, not like 'proper' deer.


----------



## trophywench

PS we earned this on a rural campsite years ago - fortunately in our moho, not a tent.


----------



## eggyg

Robin said:


> Well, this thread is called 'In the Garden' and this was today! Haven’t seen it in the top bit of the garden since last year, but the lower rough bit of lawn where our fruit trees are is covered with Muntjac poo, and last night we heard the weirdest noises, like a cross between a dog and a wild boar. Having googled 'Muntjac sound' it was definitely him/her! I’m always amazed to see them in our garden, because we are surrounded by well used roads.
> View attachment 16146


Wow! I’m jealous.


----------



## Robin

eggyg said:


> Wow! I’m jealous.


Well I’m jealous of your nuthatch!


----------



## ColinUK

Ditto said:


> How wonderful.  We're always amazed if we see a squirrel!


I live in central London so I’m just delighted when I don’t see a rat!


----------



## ColinUK

Robin said:


> Well I’m jealous of your nuthatch!


Where’s Ted when we need him and his euphemism alarm?!


----------



## Ditto

ColinUK said:


> I live in central London so I’m just delighted when I don’t see a rat!


Lol. Watched a Sopranos this morning, the one where they stuff a rat in that man's mouth, agh, horrid. I quite like rats.


----------



## ColinUK

Ditto said:


> Lol. Watched a Sopranos this morning, the one where they stuff a rat in that man's mouth, agh, horrid. I quite like rats.


Actually I have only seen a real life rat a handful of times and I’ve lived very close to the river and to canals or open land. I’ve seen every single one of the Sopranos though


----------



## Ditto

I've only just started watching but I'm gripped. It's really good. 

I saw a dead rat at the end of summer in the communal garden at my flats. I picked it up with something, forget what, and chucked it in the big bins and then the lady who was waiting for the pest control was miffed. I'm always sticking my oar in! How embarrassing.  The only other wild rat I've seen was running along the side of the motorway in broad daylight. I was worried about it. Why was it out in the day time poor thing.  Right near the cars too.

They are selling plants and garden stuff in the shops and I can't even be bothered looking, it's too cold!


----------



## Ditto

Took me ages to find this thread. Not seen @ColinUK for ages, I hope he's okay. Bit worrying when peoples disappear. 

My new rose.


----------



## Jodee

New Plants   And so the season begins again  Happy Days in the Garden everyone


----------



## Wirrallass

Yes indeed @Jodie let the season begin! No idea how to post my photos on here, things have changed since I was last here but I'll keep trying.
Gorgeous day here hope it's the same for all you gardeners 
WL


----------



## Jodee

Hi WL - below comment box on left, click on attach files, then select file from your PC or device.


----------



## NotPink

Northerner said:


> This was my lacecap hydrangea from my last house  Must get another
> 
> View attachment 13373


So pretty, yes you must get another.


----------



## NotPink

This is todays rainy garden pic. of one of my favourite flowers. Aquilegia. So pretty.


----------



## Wirrallass

Thanks a bunch @ Jodee, mucho appreciated.
First time at growing my own potatoes in a tub.
WL


----------



## Wirrallass

My Red Robin. Its doubled its size in 12 months.
WL


----------



## Wirrallass

This was my lacecap hydrangea from my last house  Must get another 
View

That is absolutely gorgeous @Northerner What beautiful colours. I had a similar shrub, it was white & lime green but lost it to Jack Frost
Good luck in finding another.
WL


----------



## Wirrallass

My garden mint hanging basket. By the end of the summer it will have grown four fold ~ a tasty accompaniment with lamb.
WL


----------



## NotPink

Wirralass said:


> View attachment 17147
> My garden mint hanging basket. By the end of the summer it will have grown four fold ~ a tasty accompaniment with lamb.
> WL





Wirralass said:


> View attachment 17147
> My garden mint hanging basket. By the end of the summer it will have grown four fold ~ a tasty accompaniment with lamb.
> WL


Great idea!


----------



## NotPink

Attempting to grow a clematis through a lilac bush. As they flower roughly the same time it is beginning to look interesting...Hope the clematis does not overweight the lilac but I tend to crop larger plants to keep them and everything else in the garden happy.


----------



## everydayupsanddowns

All our seedlings and tomato plants are itching to get outside, but I daren’t put them out with the frosts, high winds and heavy weather. They were ready to go out weeks ago!


----------



## NotPink

Gosh, with that kind of weather where are you? We've had wind and rain showers, some very heavy. Lost some plants.Need to buy cloches for outdoor sowing.


----------



## Robin

We had to stick everything outside last week as we were away, then they forecast nighttime temperatures of 3 degrees, which can mean frost where we are because we are at the top of a Cotswold. Everything seems to have survived, though,  but it all looks a bit wind battered, and my potatoes in pots had completely dried out because I tucked them against the house wall, and the rain came from a different direction than usual and missed them. They’ve perked up now, though.


----------



## trophywench

EDUAD is in the Bristol area, I'm near Coventry and it's been very similar weather here too.  Hammering it down with rain this very morning - very noisy rain as it bounced off everything and everywhere.  Only just stopped.  But at least the sky is uniformly white cloud now instead of grey.


----------



## eggyg

NotPink said:


> This is todays rainy garden pic. of one of my favourite flowers. Aquilegia. So pretty.


Our aquilegia isn’t quite out yet. But it’s one of my favourite wild flowers that have sprung up all over our equally wild garden. It’s just a shame when we get a windy day and it gets flattened.


----------



## chaoticcar

We started with one pink aquilegia and then bought one called Guinness which was very dark blue with an almost white middle and now we have all colours  including one which is dark red I love them .They are called Grannies Bonnet here in Lancashire which I think suits them best
Carol


----------



## NotPink

Yes, my favourite too. Quite delicate and susceptible to wild weather which is a shame cos they do look pretty.


----------



## Wirrallass

Jodee said:


> Hi WL - below comment box on left, click on attach files, then select file from your PC or device.


Thanks for the tip Jodie 
WL


----------



## Ditto

I was wondering what to do with a spare mint I've got, what a good idea, a basket.  

Lovely pix. Luv Hydrangeas. I've managed to persuade the Clem up the Hawthorns. It was lovely this year.


----------



## Robin

I bought a couple of bright pink daisy type things to brighten up a couple of matching pots I have by the front door. Guess which one came with it’s own personal snail ready installed!


----------



## Robin

I also transferred some of the black grass out of the pots into the flowerbed, and a Muntjac pulled it out!


----------



## NotPink

Naughty Muntjac. Love the pink flowers.


----------



## NotPink

Wirralass said:


> View attachment 17147
> My garden mint hanging basket. By the end of the summer it will have grown four fold ~ a tasty accompaniment with lamb.
> WL


Great idea might copy that one.


----------



## Wirrallass

Birdy said:


> I was wondering what to do with a spare mint I've got, what a good idea, a basket.
> 
> Lovely pix. Luv Hydrangeas. I've managed to persuade the Clem up the Hawthorns. It was lovely this year.
> View attachment 17372


I've made mint hanging baskets for years Birdy. Makes lovely mint sauce to have with lamb. Good luck with yours.
WL


----------



## Wirrallass

My homegrown potatoes are coming along nicely 
WL


----------



## Wirrallass

I think this is a succulent but does anyone know what it's called please? There wasn't a label on it when I bought it.
WL


----------



## grovesy

Wirralass said:


> View attachment 17381
> I think this is a succulent but does anyone know what it's called please? There wasn't a label on it when I bought it.
> WL


I am afraid I don't but I like the colour of the flowers.


----------



## NotPink

Wirralass said:


> View attachment 17381
> I think this is a succulent but does anyone know what it's called please? There wasn't a label on it when I bought it.
> WL



I think it is a Lewisia Cotyledon ...Cliff Maids...a semi evergreen perennial...may lose some leaves in winter but they will regrow. 
If you use a phone or tablet there are two plant identity apps. 
One is called Plantnet and the other is Googlelens. They are not 100% accurate but a great guide.


----------



## NotPink

California poppies are reseeding and multiplying. such a gorgeous uplifting display.


----------



## grovesy

I have about 3 or 4 differnt types, I tend to just leave them to self seed, my next door neighbour has no luck growing. Though I can't grow stuff in my garden she can in hers.


----------



## NotPink

Wirralass said:


> View attachment 17381
> I think this is a succulent but does anyone know what it's called please? There wasn't a label on it when I bought it.
> WL


See my post below I have found out what its called. 'Cliffs Maid.'


----------



## SB2015

My winter window box is still going strong.

glad not to need to be doing the spring summer replacements yet.


----------



## SB2015

NotPink said:


> Great idea might copy that one.


I like the idea of mint hanging baskets. That would keep it in check.


----------



## Wirrallass

NotPink said:


> I think it is a Lewisia Cotyledon ...Cliff Maids...a semi evergreen perennial...may lose some leaves in winter but they will regrow.
> If you use a phone or tablet there are two plant identity apps.
> One is called Plantnet and the other is Googlelens. They are not 100% accurate but a great guide.


Thanks NotPink, grateful ~ will go search those apps.
WL x


----------



## Wirrallass

grovesy said:


> I am afraid I don't but I like the colour of the flowers.


Thanks grovesy ~ yes they're very pretty flowers.
WL


----------



## Wirrallass

I've planted Nasturtiums in a basket this year for a change in the hope they'll trail downwards 
WL


----------



## Wirrallass

NotPink said:


> I think it is a Lewisia Cotyledon ...Cliff Maids...a semi evergreen perennial...may lose some leaves in winter but they will regrow.
> If you use a phone or tablet there are two plant identity apps.
> One is called Plantnet and the other is Googlelens. They are not 100% accurate but a great guide.


You are correct NotPink thank you. It is Lewisia Cotyledon commonly known as Cliffs Maid. Thanks a bunch. What would I do without this forum!
WL


----------



## Robin

Wirralass said:


> View attachment 17380
> My homegrown potatoes are coming along nicely
> WL


We ate some of ours yesterday, I went and rummaged in one of the pots and found enough for a meal.


----------



## Felinia

I think I'm lucky to live in a beautiful part of Devon.  I spent this afternoon lazing.


----------



## Ditto

Some fabulous gardens on here and so neat and tidy! I've got the one here an utter mess, as soon as I do one bed and start another it's not long before the first wants doing again. I can't keep up. Fun doing it though.  

How long does compost take to cook? Did I ask this already? I have a terrible confession to make, as after years, decades really, of having myriad composting bins and being really into composting I've never actually got to the stage where I use any of it! I keep adding to the top so it's never done and then the thought of getting it all out of the bin defeats me.


----------



## Wirrallass

My garden is relatively small in comparison to some forum members lovely gardens. The lawn is a work in progress atm ~ re-seeding in parts. Most of my plants & shrubs are in tubs til I decide permanent spots for them.......
WL


----------



## Wirrallass

......my solar powered water feature ~ lovely to listen to and to watch the birds having a dip!
WL


----------



## NotPink

Wirralass said:


> View attachment 17388
> I've planted Nasturtiums in a basket this year for a change in the hope they'll trail downwards
> WL


What a lovely idea.


----------



## Leadinglights

Wirralass said:


> View attachment 17395
> ......my solar powered water feature ~ lovely to listen to and to watch the birds having a dip!
> WL


I bought a bird bath like that without the water feature but did the birds use it, not a bit of it, so I decided to repurpose it as a planter with some houseleeks in. Where did the birds start to splash about in but my 3 tier trickling bowl feature.
Contrary birds!!!


----------



## Ditto

Lol at the birds.  We have that birdbath and the big woodpigeon likes to drink from it, while keeping an eye out for CheekyCat. 

I want one of those fountains! I have it on my wish list.


----------



## trophywench

Compost needs the air to it - not constantly, but quite regularly - plus worms - in order to 'cook' and if the heap is big enough you can have usable humus within a couple of months.  Otherwise it usually just goes to liquid and rancid liquid at that, at the bottom in an enclosed space with no air.  Dad built a wooden structure out of scrap pallets, threw a knackered old mat over the top,  chucked a few clods of earth with worms into it after the first 6 ish inches and thereafter forked it over every few weeks.  Lift side up, shovel slid into bottom, remove loam and use when planting something.


----------



## Minky

Cut down the trees that had grown on our side. First neighbour way back when the houses were brand new, had planted the leylandii slap bang on the boundary. We suggested he plant within his garden by a couple of feet as the trees would spread. He was quite firm about his idea. So the trees grew into one another. A year or so on, he took out every second tree and planted laurel. Then he sold the house. Next neighbours never cut their side of the trees which, now overcrowded, reached for the skies. They’ve been there 35 years now. Decidedly unkempt though we try to cut as far up and back to boundary as we can. Now approaching our seventies, a younger friend came over to help cut out the trees that had grown on our side of the boundary line. Looking a bit better, once wood is back in the timber yards post covid lockdown and Brexit shortage, a fence will go up.


----------



## Wirrallass

This pretty plant is called Zaluzianskya "Star Balsam" Night scented Phlox. It gives an unsurpassable honey-vanilla scent. The flowers appear crimson-red when closed and white when open.

WL


----------



## grovesy

Wirralass said:


> This pretty plant is called Zaluzianskya "Star Balsam" Night scented Phlox. It gives an unsurpassable honey-vanilla scent. The flowers appear crimson-red when closed and white when open.
> View attachment 17456
> WL


I have just bought  some plug plants of this, I lost  my ones a couple of years ago. Though I wont be able to smell the scent.


----------



## Wirrallass

grovesy said:


> I have just bought  some plug plants of this, I lost  my ones a couple of years ago. Though I wont be able to smell the scent.


Wishing you success with the plugs grovesy, they should grow fairly quickly in your greenhouse. Tell me, do you know if the Zaluzianskya will survive the winter elements?
WL


----------



## grovesy

Wirralass said:


> Wishing you success with the plugs grovesy, they should grow fairly quickly in your greenhouse. Tell me, do you know if the Zaluzianskya will survive the winter elements?
> WL


My last ones did for a number of years.


----------



## Ditto

Thank you @trophywench the problem is I keep adding to the top, I've 7 bins on the go now and keep topping them all up and never using anything from the bottom. I should leave one to cook!

@Minky neat bleach or weedkiller and deny all knowledge. I wouldn't have put up with that over all those years and I'd have got somebody to chainsaw my side, ie the branches. Anything hanging over is yours! The cheek of it. Leylandii are horrid in the wrong place. I'm passive/aggressive all the way! 

My 'sedum' or whatever it is has come over all unnecessary! Where did that spring from?! A Triffid.


----------



## Wirrallass

grovesy said:


> My last ones did for a number of years.


Thank you
WL


----------



## Lisa66

@Wirralass I’ve just realised my “z” plant seems to have disappeared from our garden. The scent is incredible isn’t it? I couldn’t believe it when we first had one in the garden.

The peonies in our garden are a month late blooming, but sadly as usual the week after they do we get heavy rain...they seem to be holding up so far...I love the scent of these too.

I think the pale pink one is Sarah Bernhardt...I’m always fascinated by so many petals.


----------



## trophywench

I love peonies!


----------



## Wirrallass

trophywench said:


> I love peonies!


Here's your mate tw 
WL


----------



## Wirrallass

Lisa66 said:


> @Wirralass I’ve just realised my “z” plant seems to have disappeared from our garden. The scent is incredible isn’t it? I couldn’t believe it when we first had one in the garden.
> 
> The peonies in our garden are a month late blooming, but sadly as usual the week after they do we get heavy rain...they seem to be holding up so far...I love the scent of these too.
> 
> I think the pale pink one is Sarah Bernhardt...I’m always fascinated by so many petals.


What a shame. Whenever my family or friends go in my garden they never fail to exclaim how beautiful the scent is
I had a white peoni, it came back year after year, but when my garden had an overhaul I think my precious peoni ended up in the Council tip
I love your pale pink peoni Lisa, I'll look out for one next time I go to the garden nursery.
WL


----------



## Northerner

in a neighbour's garden, I think it's a Japanese anemone


----------



## Ditto

All beautiful.  I now have to have a white peony! Mum's peonies were over weeks ago, shame they don't last longer. What is a z plant again?

I was rushing hither and thither getting the other lillies round to the back before the lily beetles suss out that they're there! Agh. These were last year, but I don't suppose they'll flower now. Rotten lily beetles, just coz you're beautiful, think you can chomp my plants! I should kill 'em, but I can't kill things except houseflies, bluebottles, cockroaches and fleas.


----------



## Northerner

This is my favourite garden in the neighbourhood  I asked the lady for permission to take the pictures  She claims she's not a gardener!  I think she's an exceptionally good one  Pictures don't really do it justice


----------



## Robin

I love cottage garden style gardens like that. We’ve got foxgloves in ours, and are never sure where they're going to come up from year to year, or what colour or how many they'll be. Adds a sense of the unexpected.


----------



## Northerner

Robin said:


> I love cottage garden style gardens like that. We’ve got foxgloves in ours, and are never sure where they're going to come up from year to year, or what colour or how many they'll be. Adds a sense of the unexpected.


There is just so much to see, everywhere!  The lady said she often wondered what people thought of it, given that so many of the other gardens are very neat and ordered, but to me this is like the contrast between painting-by-numbers (the gardens anyone could reproduce, given time and money) and a work of art  I would love a garden like this - my garden is like a rundown council estate version of this one!


----------



## grovesy

Northerner said:


> There is just so much to see, everywhere!  The lady said she often wondered what people thought of it, given that so many of the other gardens are very neat and ordered, but to me this is like the contrast between painting-by-numbers (the gardens anyone could reproduce, given time and money) and a work of art  I would love a garden like this - my garden is like a rundown council estate version of this one!


I don't like too neat and formal.


----------



## NotPink

Robin said:


> I love cottage garden style gardens like that. We’ve got foxgloves in ours, and are never sure where they're going to come up from year to year, or what colour or how many they'll be. Adds a sense of the unexpected.


Foxgloces are biennials and rely on self seeding. Mine are hit and miss too.


----------



## NotPink

Robin said:


> I love cottage garden style gardens like that. We’ve got foxgloves in ours, and are never sure where they're going to come up from year to year, or what colour or how many they'll be. Adds a sense of the unexpected.





Northerner said:


> This is my favourite garden in the neighbourhood  I asked the lady for permission to take the pictures  She claims she's not a gardener!  I think she's an exceptionally good one  Pictures don't really do it justice
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 17488
> 
> View attachment 17489
> 
> View attachment 17490
> 
> View attachment 17491
> 
> View attachment 17492


What a fabulous garden Love her mix of cottage garden plants ... just lovely, tell her. I am not impressed by neat and tidy gardens...not enough to savour for the bees either.


----------



## Robin

NotPink said:


> Foxgloces are biennials and rely on self seeding. Mine are hit and miss too.


I sometimes try and help the garden along a bit by transplanting some of the seedlings to a place where I would like them to flower next year, not always with success, nature knows best, and they grow where they grow!


----------



## grovesy

I often let things self seed , or scatter seeds around the garden from the seed pods.


----------



## Lisa66

Zaluzianskya, Night scented Plox. I’ve often heard gardeners refer to it as the “z” plant @Birdy , probably for obvious reasons. It’s a lovely neat little plant, (as in @Wirralass ’s picture) which you probably wouldn’t give a second glance to during the day, but from early evening the flowers open and the fragrance hits you. I’d say it’s only semi hardy, it survives winter but sometimes loses a few parts...little trim sorts it out.

Pics are lovely @Northerner , particularly the purple geranium....I do have a bit of a soft spot for those. Although I bought one a few years ago and when it flowered it was a horrible pale salmony pink colour...must have been mislabelled ...kept trying to get rid of it but it kept coming back...I haven’t spotted it yet this year but I’m on  look out with garden fork at the ready


----------



## Northerner

NotPink said:


> What a fabulous garden Love her mix of cottage garden plants ... just lovely, tell her. I am not impressed by neat and tidy gardens...not enough to savour for the bees either.


She told me she only plants things that the bees like


----------



## eggyg

We have a very cottagey ( is that even a word?) garden. Everything just self seeds and it’s pretty wild in a sort of ordered way. Our purple geranium is a riot of colour this year. It’s right under my bird feeders so maybe it’s the bird poo fertilising it! Foxgloves abound in our garden, I do pull a few up every now and again as they do tend to take over.
Formal gardens have their place ie a stately home but I prefer a wilder one.


----------



## Northerner

I've been told this isn't a Japanese anemone, but a tree peony (which was my first thought when I google-imaged it). Friends suggest the leaves are not right for anemone, but they are for peony - plants are so confusing sometimes!  :d


----------



## Ditto

I've hit on a solution as to what to do with all the self-seedlings, I'm transplanting them to land down at the bottom of the road, but early on so less people see me trundling back and forth like the mad baglady that I am. Today I dug in a Leycestria, 2 Laurels to grow into trees not bushes, lots of Foxgloves and yesterday tons more Foxgloves, some purple beestuff (I think it's loosestrife) the bees luv it, a Sycamore and a Rowan tree. Tons more to go in, could do with being up about 4... I think it's council land but a right mess with deadfall, discarded masks, broken bottles etc. Anything has to be an improvement!

I think it's going to be a good year for climbing roses, we have a few of these in the garden, my fave rose maybe... smells divine.


----------



## Robin

Northerner said:


> I've been told this isn't a Japanese anemone, but a tree peony (which was my first thought when I google-imaged it). Friends suggest the leaves are not right for anemone, but they are for peony - plants are so confusing sometimes!  :d
> 
> View attachment 17506


I’d say Peony, most people think of the double petalled blowsy sort of heavy flowers when they think of peony, but there are single ones as well. Also if it’s in flower now. Our Japanese anemones don't flower til late summer into autumn.


----------



## Leadinglights

Birdy said:


> I've hit on a solution as to what to do with all the self-seedlings, I'm transplanting them to land down at the bottom of the road, but early on so less people see me trundling back and forth like the mad baglady that I am. Today I dug in a Leycestria, 2 Laurels to grow into trees not bushes, lots of Foxgloves and yesterday tons more Foxgloves, some purple beestuff (I think it's loosestrife) the bees luv it, a Sycamore and a Rowan tree. Tons more to go in, could do with being up about 4... I think it's council land but a right mess with deadfall, discarded masks, broken bottles etc. Anything has to be an improvement!
> 
> I think it's going to be a good year for climbing roses, we have a few of these in the garden, my fave rose maybe... smells divine.
> View attachment 17510


I have a climbing rose which was in a totally inappropriate place so cut it to below ground, must have been 10 years ago but blow me it survived and grows every year from a crack between paving and a wall. This year it has more blooms than ever before.


----------



## Lisa66

I’d say Peony too @Robin ...the leaves certainly look like peonies...Japanese anemones are later. These reproduce like mad in our garden, you definitely get your monies worth...I pull loads up every year.


----------



## Robin

Lisa66 said:


> I’d say Peony too @Robin ...the leaves certainly look like peonies...Japanese anemones are later. These reproduce like mad in our garden, you definitely get your monies worth...I pull loads up every year.


I've just given a load of our spare Japanese anemones to our son for his garden as 'something he can’t kill'!


----------



## NotPink

Bee happy. Two bees they bee. Red scabious flower.


----------



## Lisa66

Can I ask if you have success with transplanting your anemones? I’ve never had much luck...something to do with them having a tap root apparently...or maybe I’m just rubbish at it...perhaps I should take more earth with them? Any tips would be much appreciated


----------



## Lisa66

Great picture @NotPink !


----------



## Robin

Lisa66 said:


> Can I ask if you have success with transplanting your anemones? I’ve never had much luck...something to do with them having a tap root apparently...or maybe I’m just rubbish at it...perhaps I should take more earth with them? Any tips would be much appreciated


Son alleges they’re still alive...I transplanted smaller ones that had self set in the last year or so, and hadn’t had time to establish such a deep root, and told him to keep them well watered til they established, so fingers crossed. I didn’t take much soil with them at all. Things with taproots are tricky, I lost my sea holly a few years ago for that very reason, when I tried to move it to a different part of the garden.


----------



## grovesy

My Japanese Anemones I can't get rid of and they were originally from a friend.


----------



## NotPink

Lisa66 said:


> Great picture @NotPink !


Thank you... it was spontaneous...but seeing two bees drinking from the same flowerhead and totally absorbed was too much to resist.


----------



## NotPink

grovesy said:


> My Japanese Anemones I can't get rid of and they were originally from a friend.


We have had a clump of Japenese anemones for years but they never reproduced as yours seem to. This spring we have just moved them to a pot to see if they survive and they struggled for a bit but are now stable. We will see what happens over the season.


----------



## Ditto

Our Japanese Anemones came in from next door.  No wonder I can never find them on my plant list, I've been calling them Japanese Azaleas! They're not Japanese they're Chinese! 



> Eriocapitella hupehensis, a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, is native to Asia. The specific epithet hupehensis, which means "from Hupeh province, China", refers to a region where the species is known to occur.


----------



## Robin

Birdy said:


> Our Japanese Anemones came in from next door.  No wonder I can never find them on my plant list, I've been calling them Japanese Azaleas! They're not Japanese they're Chinese!


Oh, buttercup family! I never knew that. No wonder they grow like weeds!


----------



## grovesy

Robin said:


> Oh, buttercup family! I never knew that. No wonder they grow like weeds!


That explains alot.


----------



## ColinUK

NotPink said:


> View attachment 17515
> 
> Bee happy. Two bees they bee. Red scabious flower.


Two bees or not two bees!


----------



## ColinUK

Robin said:


> Oh, buttercup family! I never knew that. No wonder they grow like weeds!


Weeds are just plants, any plants, which come up somewhere we don't want them to!


----------



## Northerner

NotPink said:


> Thank you... it was spontaneous...but seeing two bees drinking from the same flowerhead and totally absorbed was too much to resist.


I never have a flipping camera around when stuff like that happens!


----------



## Northerner

Robin said:


> Oh, buttercup family! I never knew that. No wonder they grow like weeds!


I noticed the other day that, despite leaving my garden largely to itself this year so far I have not had ANY buttercups!


----------



## Northerner

Flowers on my blackberry bush


----------



## ColinUK

Northerner said:


> Flowers on my blackberry bush
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 17532


That’s no blackberry bush! I can recognise a euphemism when I see one!


----------



## Ditto

Hee! The neighbour didn't want that tree on his half. Whatever happened to 'it's nice to share'


----------



## trophywench

ColinUK said:


> Weeds are just plants, any plants, which come up somewhere we don't want them to!


to quote Alan Titchmarsh.

Mr & Mrs next door complained of bird poop and bird song.  (I believe blackbirds singing at the dead of night are by far the worst)


----------



## Northerner

I have some roses


----------



## NotPink

Lisa66 said:


> Can I ask if you have success with transplanting your anemones? I’ve never had much luck...something to do with them having a tap root apparently...or maybe I’m just rubbish at it...perhaps I should take more earth with them? Any tips would be much appreciated



Hi
This is my recently potted Japanese Anenomes taken from the garden with just enough soil dug up with them. They struggled for a while but now the new leaves look happy. Generally Japanese anemone don't like being moved. Early days yet. They are in compost and watered every day since potting. Fingers crossed.


----------



## Northerner

Birdy said:


> Hee! The neighbour didn't want that tree on his half. Whatever happened to 'it's nice to share'
> 
> View attachment 17561


Story here, it's in Sheffield 









						Cut-down conifer becomes Sheffield attraction after neighbour dispute
					

Row over roosting birds making noise and mess in drive of bungalow results in tree surgeon job




					www.theguardian.com


----------



## Ditto

It looked nice in that ball shape.  Shame really and they'll have to live in an atmosphere now. I couldn't be doing with it, I'd move. 

When the windowcleaner knocked all our housemartin's nests down because our adjoining neighbour, a friend, complained of the mess we had a full scale street row, my sister and I up in arms, the poor birdies going mad in the sky wheeling about distressed. They stayed though, with half a nest each, looked horrible. That might have been the last time we had our windows cleaned.


----------



## NotPink

Birdy said:


> It looked nice in that ball shape.  Shame really and they'll have to live in an atmosphere now. I couldn't be doing with it, I'd move.
> 
> When the windowcleaner knocked all our housemartin's nests down because our adjoining neighbour, a friend, complained of the mess we had a full scale street row, my sister and I up in arms, the poor birdies going mad in the sky wheeling about distressed. They stayed though, with half a nest each, looked horrible. That might have been the last time we had our windows cleaned.


How sad. It's illegal to disturb birds nests before September there are regulations.


----------



## Northerner

Bees are loving the blackberry flowers


----------



## NotPink

Just looked up Japanese anemones... dividing clumps and potting... online at Gardenersworld.com and the best time to divide is early spring and autumn... apparently they do sulk for a while afterwards but generally recover. And they work well in pots! 
Hopefully that means they won't spread. You can also take root cuttings.
They like mulched soil, slightly shady position.


----------



## NotPink

Been radically chopping down climbing roses cos they got too tall to reach easily and have finished their first flush. Looks bare now but they will grow and it always gives them a new life. So meanwhile here's a pic of some vibrant California, self seeding, poppies and Lavender cotton to go on with. Hope everyone is having a warm sunny Saturday.


----------



## Jodee

Love what you are doing with all the container planting @Wirralass 

Can't get my cucumber seeds to germinate this year temperature keeps changing.  The tomato plants are in flower one with green fruit but not sure how they are coping with the changing weather conditions.

Slugs have chewed the runner beans and kale, at the moment peas and lettuce are doing ok.

Red currents are ripening birds are at them already, I have fleeced one of the bushes but I am thinking the birds will have the rest.  Blue berries are developing nicely but I will have to fleece them too as they start to ripen as Mr and Mrs Blackbird love them as well.


----------



## Lisa66

Some more lovely garden pics, looks like everyone’s been busy. Just wish the weather would decide what it’s doing

I have “fashioned” a cage to protect one of our new blueberry bushes , very Blue Peter style. Radishes have been a bit 50/50...some are perfect, the rest look like they’ve been clawed at beneath the soil.

Thank you for the Japanese Anenome tips...although now thinking about how they spread and are difficult to get rid of I may have second thoughts about transplanting...we’ll see.

This year we have Euphorbias popping up all over...I do like those so that's a plus.

Come on sunshine, where are you?


----------



## Wirrallass

ColinUK said:


> Two bees or not two bees!


Haha!!!
WL


----------



## Robin

I just went outside, it’s cold, but very still and the air is slightly damp. Our mock orange is particularly full of blossom this year, and the scent hanging around in the air was heavenly. It also seems a good year for the penstemons and lavender.


----------



## Northerner

Robin said:


> I just went outside, it’s cold, but very still and the air is slightly damp. Our mock orange is particularly full of blossom this year, and the scent hanging around in the air was heavenly. It also seems a good year for the penstemons and lavender.
> View attachment 17638View attachment 17639


You have such a beautiful garden @Robin


----------



## Robin

Northerner said:


> You have such a beautiful garden @Robin


I feel a fraud, because our predecessors obviously got a local nursery to plant up the long border, and they knew what they were doing (all the shrubs had the same nursery tags on). So the bare bones of it were already there, with shrubs chosen to flower in succession through the spring and summer, and the geranium and penstemons, which flower for ages, although nothing had been pruned for several years. We just tinker with bits here and there as we go, and I stick to adding stuff that you see in other peoples gardens, so obviously does well round here (and if stuff dies, we just hoik it out, and nobody’s ever the wiser.)
Actually, maybe I’m doing myself a disservice, looking at the photo, I can see quite a lot of the small stuff is what we have planted, and all the clematis on the fence are ours, because we had the fence renewed soon after we moved in. It still helped a lot to have the basic structure there, though.


----------



## Northerner

Robin said:


> I feel a fraud, because our predecessors obviously got a local nursery to plant up the long border, and they knew what they were doing (all the shrubs had the same nursery tags on). So the bare bones of it were already there, with shrubs chosen to flower in succession through the spring and summer, and the geranium and penstemons, which flower for ages, although nothing had been pruned for several years. We just tinker with bits here and there as we go, and I stick to adding stuff that you see in other peoples gardens, so obviously does well round here (and if stuff dies, we just hoik it out, and nobody’s ever the wiser.)
> Actually, maybe I’m doing myself a disservice, looking at the photo, I can see quite a lot of the small stuff is what we have planted, and all the clematis on the fence are ours, because we had the fence renewed soon after we moved in. It still helped a lot to have the basic structure there, though.


I should probably get someone to give me a bit of a start. There are a few things from the previous occupant, but they do tend to get a bit overwhelmed and scruffy  My problem is that I can't dig things up if they produce a nice flower or two - it's like the plant equivalent of puppy dog's eyes 

And whilst you may have inherited some things, you've clearly looked after things well, so no, don't do yourself down!


----------



## Robin

Northerner said:


> I should probably get someone to give me a bit of a start. There are a few things from the previous occupant, but they do tend to get a bit overwhelmed and scruffy  My problem is that I can't dig things up if they produce a nice flower or two - it's like the plant equivalent of puppy dog's eyes
> 
> And whilst you may have inherited some things, you've clearly looked after things well, so no, don't do yourself down!


I can never bear to get rid of anything completely, but I do get quite ruthless with pruning. My father was a Yorkshireman. If I have to pay £36 a year for a green waste bin, I’m going to get my money’s worth!


----------



## Jodee

Just love all the garden pictures.  So beautiful.  A few from me to add 
Anthemis, Pansy, azalea

Happy days in the garden


----------



## Northerner

Robin said:


> I can never bear to get rid of anything completely, but I do get quite ruthless with pruning. My father was a Yorkshireman. If I have to pay £36 a year for a green waste bin, I’m going to get my money’s worth!


Hehe! I subscribed to one a couple of months ago to give me exactly that incentive!  £41 here, March-November.


----------



## Robin

Northerner said:


> Hehe! I subscribed to one a couple of months ago to give me exactly that incentive!  £41 here, March-November.


Ours is fortnightly all year round except over Christmas and New Year. What are you meant to do with the winter rose prunings, otherwise?! Ours also takes Christmas trees, cut up into pieces, in the first January collection.(they always have to issue a notice 'Please take the decorations off first!' as if you wouldn’t! But presume some people don't, else they wouldn’t feel the need to comment.)


----------



## Northerner

Robin said:


> Ours is fortnightly all year round except over Christmas and New Year. What are you meant to do with the winter rose prunings, otherwise?! Ours also takes Christmas trees, cut up into pieces, in the first January collection.(they always have to issue a notice 'Please take the decorations off first!' as if you wouldn’t! But presume some people don't, else they wouldn’t feel the need to comment.)


Yes, I did think it was a bit of a rip off, not getting a full year - I did in Southampton. There's not a lot to go in it from my garden over the winter, to be fair...


----------



## runner

Robin said:


> I just went outside, it’s cold, but very still and the air is slightly damp. Our mock orange is particularly full of blossom this year, and the scent hanging around in the air was heavenly. It also seems a good year for the penstemons and lavender.
> View attachment 17638View attachment 17639


Hi, lovely.  My mock orange has only flowered once!  Great crop of asparagus though and since last year I freeze soup made with the ends - great in the winter.


----------



## Ditto

The mock orange I used to have where I lived was desultory until a one armed man came to the door holding pruners asking for work. I was a bit nervous because you just never know with people these days but let him in saying if he could see anything that needed to be done and he quick chopped all over the mock orange, a bit drastic I thought but thanked him anyways.  It bloomed and bloomed after that, he certainly knew what he was doing. The one I've got at Mum is allowed to grow up tall to try and hid the ugly street light.

I had pictures to post but where they've gone gord knows, I hates new things, this new laptop is driving me bonkers. 

edit/
They've gone into OS or something. What the heck, I wanted them to go in documents. Come back Vista or even XP!


----------



## Leadinglights

There was a huge commotion in the garden last night and when I looked out there were baby longtail tits flying about being supervised by the adults. I have already had the baby nuthatches a week or so ago. I just love to see the young finding their wings. 
Sometimes they are stupid enough to fly inside the greenhouse and need rescuing.


----------



## NotPink

Robin said:


> I can never bear to get rid of anything completely, but I do get quite ruthless with pruning. My father was a Yorkshireman. If I have to pay £36 a year for a green waste bin, I’m going to get my money’s worth!


I m a ruthless pruner too. After the first flowering I am happy to cut down (depending on variety) especially roses. I also like things at shoulder height-ish as climbing ladders is too precarious now. They thrive on pruning and look better for it once they pick up again.


----------



## Ditto

Euphorbias! Need to get ruthless with these, on Gardener's World last week it said a weed! I didn't know that. I do luv them but they are like humans and very successful at surviving, ie thugs. 

edited to add/
Utterly fascinating plus a picture of a cute mole.








						Wednesday Weed – Caper Spurge
					

Dear Readers, I am always delighted when I find a ‘real’ weed that I haven’t written about before, and here is a doozy – Caper Spurge (Euphorbia Lathyrus) is a statuesque sp…




					bugwomanlondon.com
				




What is this please, does anybody know? I thought it was groundsel, but that's the little weed that's easy to pull up. This is taking over the whole of Mum's garden.


----------



## Wirrallass

My mint hanging basket has taken off! It obviously likes the position I hung it. Does anyone know if mint leaves can be frozen plz?

I found an opened seagulls egg in the lupin trough, dont know how it came to be there. The seagulls here are so darn noisy 24hrs. Two have nested in my neighbours chimney pot and their young never stop squeaking for food even through the night they can be heard.

WL


----------



## Ellie Jones

I've had enough of morons (I'm being very polite) allowing their dogs to poop on my side garden, or dumping their unwanted waste on it, or filling my wheelie bin (and yes when I find your black bag, I will check if they is any address in it, and if I find an address the rubbish is returned to its owner, normally around midnight and spread across their garden) So I've decided enough is enough, and I'm moving my boundary fence out to the boundary line...  I

Still can't work out, not just why I have only a wooden fence, when everyone else has a brick boundary wall, but said fence is attached to the house to the back fence, putting about 20ft width of my garden outside the fence!  Can only think by the time they got to build mine (one of the last ones) that they were on a money saving exercise.

Only problem is, I've have to clear the border, which so far I've managed to dig out one rambling Rose, various other plants such as iris, fushia's but at the top by my Summer House, a massive Palm thing, that has grown far more than I thought when I brought it!   

This year due to doing this, and other commitments,  I've not done any of my planters used to do around 40 of them here there and everywhere.  So hoping a year sorting, redesigning etc I will weep the rewards next year


----------



## Robin

Ellie Jones said:


> I've had enough of morons (I'm being very polite) allowing their dogs to poop on my side garden, or dumping their unwanted waste on it, or filling my wheelie bin (and yes when I find your black bag, I will check if they is any address in it, and if I find an address the rubbish is returned to its owner, normally around midnight and spread across their garden) So I've decided enough is enough, and I'm moving my boundary fence out to the boundary line...  I
> 
> Still can't work out, not just why I have only a wooden fence, when everyone else has a brick boundary wall, but said fence is attached to the house to the back fence, putting about 20ft width of my garden outside the fence!  Can only think by the time they got to build mine (one of the last ones) that they were on a money saving exercise.
> 
> Only problem is, I've have to clear the border, which so far I've managed to dig out one rambling Rose, various other plants such as iris, fushia's but at the top by my Summer House, a massive Palm thing, that has grown far more than I thought when I brought it!
> 
> This year due to doing this, and other commitments,  I've not done any of my planters used to do around 40 of them here there and everywhere.  So hoping a year sorting, redesigning etc I will weep the rewards next year


Ugh! How horrible for you. I assume if people can let their dogs poo on your side bit, that it runs next to the pavement or road. We had this problem at a previous house. Do be careful of the height of the fence you are going to put up, though. If it’s going to be right next to the pavement, legally you can only erect one up to 1m high without seeking planning permission. (Anything up to 2m high has to be at least 2m from the pavement or road). However, there is no such restriction on hedges, so if you want a high boundary, put a 1m fence up, and grow a taller hedge just inside it.


----------



## trophywench

I sincerely trust that the wewards won't make you weep!
@Birdy, isn't it cow parsley?


----------



## Ellie Jones

Robin said:


> Ugh! How horrible for you. I assume if people can let their dogs poo on your side bit, that it runs next to the pavement or road. We had this problem at a previous house. Do be careful of the height of the fence you are going to put up, though. If it’s going to be right next to the pavement, legally you can only erect one up to 1m high without seeking planning permission. (Anything up to 2m high has to be at least 2m from the pavement or road). However, there is no such restriction on hedges, so if you want a high boundary, put a 1m fence up, and grow a taller hedge just inside it.


All the boundary Walls/fences even if right agains the path are 2m heigh, so the presence is set...  The fence won't be anywhere near the junction to cause any visibility issues, so will ask for respective planning permission if somebody complains..  But due to other walling/fencing on the estate can't see an issue arise. 

Dogs will enjoy the increased size of garden though I'm sure


----------



## NotPink

Birdy said:


> View attachment 17716
> 
> Euphorbias! Need to get ruthless with these, on Gardener's World last week it said a weed! I didn't know that. I do luv them but they are like humans and very successful at surviving, ie thugs.
> 
> edited to add/
> Utterly fascinating plus a picture of a cute mole.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Wednesday Weed – Caper Spurge
> 
> 
> Dear Readers, I am always delighted when I find a ‘real’ weed that I haven’t written about before, and here is a doozy – Caper Spurge (Euphorbia Lathyrus) is a statuesque sp…
> 
> 
> 
> 
> bugwomanlondon.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What is this please, does anybody know? I thought it was groundsel, but that's the little weed that's easy to pull up. This is taking over the whole of Mum's garden.
> View attachment 17717


Hallo my search app Googlelens says it is Ground Elder and invasive. The bigger name is Aegopodium podagraria from the carrot family. Not related to Elder but leaves and flowers resemble it.


----------



## NotPink

After the match celebrations? Pollen drunk....


----------



## ColinUK

Friday I dragged an 11ft sequoia and a hefty palm half way across London to give them a new home in my parents garden.

Played Sid the sequoia in a lovely spot in the wettest part of their garden but then got caught up in putting up obelisks and planting climbing roses and trying to fox proof a new cedar which is planted on a slope so didn’t get around to planting the palm. 
Not worried about that at all though because it’s been sitting in the nursery pot for 8 years and is fine. There are 9 pups in the pot now too so when I do free it I’m going to split off the pups and pot them up individually.
Going to tackle that awful hedge next. Just going to cut back the dogwood and supplement it with field maple, dog rose, hawthorn etc but as dad really does not want to see the neighbour at all I may see if I can introduce something higher up in the garden to obscure the view down the garden.


----------



## Ditto

NotPink said:


> Hallo my search app Googlelens says it is Ground Elder and invasive. The bigger name is Aegopodium podagraria from the carrot family. Not related to Elder but leaves and flowers resemble it.


That's what I always thought! When I googled images it came up with a whole page of that other little weed that's very satisfying to pull up. Must google again then. I'm not that mithered, it's very pretty and the bees luv it. It's also easy to pull off the leaves and I leave the roots alone or they divide and conquer.  It does resemble carrots! 

@trophywench I was thinking that now but seemingly not.  

Today I planted 2 trees and a whole load of selfseeded foxgloves etc, down the bottom in the little wood bordering our main road, it wasn't 6 yet but a fella who obvs hadn't been to bed came carousing down the other side still celebrating our win yay. I was hunkered down so he didn't see me thank goodness. I hates talking to people at the best of times and when they're that kind of mullered it's terrible. Did I post this already, I have dejavu? Cripes I've def got dementia. 

It's still torrential, I've never been so glad to see rain, I want to stay in and vegetate.


----------



## trophywench

OMG - ground elder........


----------



## Leadinglights

At least it's not Japanese Knot Weed!!!!


----------



## Wirrallass

Leadinglights said:


> At least it's not Japanese Knot Weed!!!!


Japanesw Knot Weed! Aarrrggghhhh!


----------



## NotPink

ColinUK said:


> Friday I dragged an 11ft sequoia and a hefty palm half way across London to give them a new home in my parents garden.
> 
> Played Sid the sequoia in a lovely spot in the wettest part of their garden but then got caught up in putting up obelisks and planting climbing roses and trying to fox proof a new cedar which is planted on a slope so didn’t get around to planting the palm.
> Not worried about that at all though because it’s been sitting in the nursery pot for 8 years and is fine. There are 9 pups in the pot now too so when I do free it I’m going to split off the pups and pot them up individually.
> Going to tackle that awful hedge next. Just going to cut back the dogwood and supplement it with field maple, dog rose, hawthorn etc but as dad really does not want to see the neighbour at all I may see if I can introduce something higher up in the garden to obscure the view down the garden.
> 
> View attachment 17734View attachment 17735View attachment 17736





ColinUK said:


> Friday I dragged an 11ft sequoia and a hefty palm half way across London to give them a new home in my parents garden.
> 
> Played Sid the sequoia in a lovely spot in the wettest part of their garden but then got caught up in putting up obelisks and planting climbing roses and trying to fox proof a new cedar which is planted on a slope so didn’t get around to planting the palm.
> Not worried about that at all though because it’s been sitting in the nursery pot for 8 years and is fine. There are 9 pups in the pot now too so when I do free it I’m going to split off the pups and pot them up individually.
> Going to tackle that awful hedge next. Just going to cut back the dogwood and supplement it with field maple, dog rose, hawthorn etc but as dad really does not want to see the neighbour at all I may see if I can introduce something higher up in the garden to obscure the view down the garden.
> 
> View attachment 17734View attachment 17735View attachment 17736


Well done looks wonderful.


----------



## ColinUK

Wirralass said:


> Japanesw Knot Weed! Aarrrggghhhh!


I know some people who bought some of that before it was regarded as evil and planted it in their garden.


----------



## NotPink

Wild flowers are 'in' but some like garden flowers take over depending on their root system and can be hard to remove. I love wildflowers but check they are not going to take over first. 

My hydrangeas are late flowering and the flower heads seem smaller. Any one know why?


----------



## ColinUK

NotPink said:


> Wild flowers are 'in' but some like garden flowers take over depending on their root system and can be hard to remove. I love wildflowers but check they are not going to take over first.
> View attachment 17781
> My hydrangeas are late flowering and the flower heads seem smaller. Any one know why?


Often that’s due to pruning timing being slightly off of ideal.


----------



## NotPink

NotPink said:


> Wild flowers are 'in' but some like garden flowers take over depending on their root system and can be hard to remove. I love wildflowers but check they are not going to take over first.
> View attachment 17781
> My hydrangeas are late flowering and the flower heads seem smaller. Any one know why?


But I haven't pruned it... I only remove the dead blooms when the new flowerhead appear in late April.


----------



## grovesy

Is it because of the late frosts this year.


----------



## adrian1der

Not quite a garden flower but saw this on the walk to our local farm shop the other day. I believe it is a Pyramidal Orchid unless anyone can correct me. There was just the one flower spike and the hoverfly is an added bonus


----------



## ColinUK

NotPink said:


> But I haven't pruned it... I only remove the dead blooms when the new flowerhead appear in late April.


Did they leaf just before the frosts maybe? 
That can really screw them up for a year


----------



## ColinUK

And sometimes plants just don’t behave. Could be nutrient imbalance, late frost, not enough water over autumn/spring. 
They’re very hungry plants and do need a feed regularly.


----------



## NotPink

ColinUK said:


> And sometimes plants just don’t behave. Could be nutrient imbalance, late frost, not enough water over autumn/spring.
> They’re very hungry plants and do need a feed regularly.


Thanks for the tips much appreciated. I think when something delivers year after year and when it doesn't you are bewildered.


----------



## NotPink

adrian1der said:


> Not quite a garden flower but saw this on the walk to our local farm shop the other day. I believe it is a Pyramidal Orchid unless anyone can correct me. There was just the one flower spike and the hoverfly is an added bonus


Think you are right. Its lovely isn't it?


----------



## ColinUK

NotPink said:


> Thanks for the tips much appreciated. I think when something delivers year after year and when it doesn't you are bewildered.


Sometimes plants just decide that they’re not going to play one year. 
I’d always advise cutting it back hard when that happens and seeing if you get new growth and vigour (in the plant!) next year.


----------



## NotPink

ColinUK said:


> Sometimes plants just decide that they’re not going to play one year.
> I’d always advise cutting it back hard when that happens and seeing if you get new growth and vigour (in the plant!) next year.


Might try that. Thanks.


----------



## ColinUK

NotPink said:


> Might try that. Thanks.


Cut back in late autumn or spring after the frosts are done. That’s pretty much the safest bet with most plants. 
If you’ve got the space, take cuttings perhaps.


----------



## Robin

NotPink said:


> Might try that. Thanks.





ColinUK said:


> Cut back in late autumn or spring after the frosts are done. That’s pretty much the safest bet with most plants.
> If you’ve got the space, take cuttings perhaps.


I think most large headed hydrangeas flower on wood produced the prev season, so if you do the late winter/early spring prune, you’ll,lose next years flowers entirely. 
A good rule of thumb is, prune stuff that flowers before midsummer immediately after flowering, to allow time for new shoots to grow, (and prune stuff that flowers in late summer over winter or in early spring, to trigger new seasons growth which will bear the flowers later in the year.)
If I can’t work out which category something falls into, I do the 'thirds' routine. Cut back a third of the branches to the ground, cut back another third by a third of their length, leave the final third as it is. Rinse, repeat, every year, starting with cutting down last years unpruned third next time. It works with my mock orange, which flowers exactly on midsummer day, so can’t work out which side of the rule it belongs in. (Also works with things that tend to repeat flower all season, or produce attractive berries that you want to keep over winter.)


----------



## ColinUK

Third/third/third is a good one I agree. 
Sometimes though I hack everything back to just above ground and forego blooms for one year just to allow a plant to refresh.


----------



## Robin

ColinUK said:


> Third/third/third is a good one I agree.
> Sometimes though I hack everything back to just above ground and forego blooms for one year just to allow a plant to refresh.


Agree, that's a rejuvenation strategy I’ve used in the past, too.


----------



## NotPink

Thanks. I always use the theory that if its an early spring bloomer cut back after flowering and late bloomer cut back in spring...which is probably what you said.
I cut back a Berberi after flowering that goes straggly every 2 years..it always comes back. But I can lose some berries overwinter on the longer branches. I also cut lavenders down just to the hardwood after flowering...they always come back.
I have a white climbing rose that I cut back harshly after first mid spring flush and it always comes back too.


----------



## Robin

This young fox was in our back garden yesterday, exploring, then it sat down as if it was waiting for an adult to come and tell it what to do. Then it tried sitting on our lettuces, (in the trough at the bottom of the photo,) at which point I was unamused and rapped on the window! It’s been around again today, I think it’s getting in under the fence from next door, where there is a patch of woodland. We rarely see them, and usually only at night, but I know we get regular foxes from the pawprints in the snow in winter.


----------



## NotPink

its a beautiful shot but is there food left out or is someone feeding it?


----------



## Robin

NotPink said:


> its a beautiful shot but is there food left out or is someone feeding it?


I’ve no idea, it did cross my mind it was hanging around for food. I hope not, it doesn’t to to get them dependent on humans, in an area where there’s traffic etc. We are rural, so it has access to woodland and countryside, and they have regularly had an earth in the bit of woodland next door. The trouble is, people here are encouraged to put out food and make gaps under their fences for hedgehogs, but foxes will take advantage and it’s not in their best interests.


----------



## NotPink

Thats probably why its hanging around. I agree that its not in their best interests too. Don't know how you can fix it.


----------



## ColinUK

NotPink said:


> Thats probably why its hanging around. I agree that its not in their best interests too. Don't know how you can fix it.


I’d not fret about a fox. They’ll cope just fine with or without human assistance. 
In London they will raid bins and wander into houses to take pet food and anything else which is accessible. 
They’re cute but they’re pests now that the population is way out of control.


----------



## Ditto

He is gorgeous (if you haven't got any rabbits!) 

I'm really getting worried now, as this is the post I thought I did yesterday and it's still here! I never clicked for it to actually go on the forum. I'm addled. 

I'm also lamenting my beautiful climbing hydrangea I left at one of my abodes. If I had my life over again I'd never move, all that moving for no reason was just silly. You're not happy if you're wanting to move all the time. I left some fabulous plants at that house. I will try and find a picture of it but it's that long ago the picture will be on a CD.


----------



## grovesy

Dxxoo said:


> He is gorgeous (if you haven't got any rabbits!)
> 
> I'm really getting worried now, as this is the post I thought I did yesterday and it's still here! I never clicked for it to actually go on the forum. I'm addled.
> 
> I'm also lamenting my beautiful climbing hydrangea I left at one of my abodes. If I had my life over again I'd never move, all that moving for no reason was just silly. You're not happy if you're wanting to move all the time. I left some fabulous plants at that house. I will try and find a picture of it but it's that long ago the picture will be on a CD.


I have never been able to grow climbing hydrangea,despite trying in various sites in my garden.


----------



## Ditto

I sympathise. Plants I can't grow are Hosta due to slugs and snails everywhere, Salvia same problem, French Marigolds ditto, Chinese Lanterns that grow like a weed for some peoples and at the minute I'm having trouble growing Mesembryanthemums yet once I used to chuck 'em on and they'd come up lovely. I think sometimes it's just outside influences and bad luck. My Uncle Ray who was an expert gardener couldn't grow Alliums and Clematis which I usually don't have any trouble with.  My sister can grow anything, her Wisteria flowered like billyoh in it's first year and now has to be hacked down to the ground yearly and won't back down.


----------



## grovesy

Dxxoo said:


> I sympathise. Plants I can't grow are Hosta due to slugs and snails everywhere, Salvia same problem, French Marigolds ditto, Chinese Lanterns that grow like a weed for some peoples and at the minute I'm having trouble growing Mesembryanthemums yet once I used to chuck 'em on and they'd come up lovely. I think sometimes it's just outside influences and bad luck. My Uncle Ray who was an expert gardener couldn't grow Alliums and Clematis which I usually don't have any trouble with.  My sister can grow anything, her Wisteria flowered like billyoh in it's first year and now has to be hacked down to the ground yearly and won't back down.


I can't grow hostas either for the same reason as you.  Though I can grow Salvias and French marigolds.


----------



## Ditto

Also Lupins! Who can't grow Lupins? They grow all up the railway embankments in Urmston, great swathes of them, lovely. Oh the shame... also Delphiniums and Torch Lillies. I should take early retirement from the garden.


----------



## grovesy

Dxxoo said:


> Also Lupins! Who can't grow Lupins? They grow all up the railway embankments in Urmston, great swathes of them, lovely. Oh the shame... also Delphiniums and Torch Lillies. I should take early retirement from the garden.


I can't grow lupins either though my neighbour can, I can see them through the fence. Though she can't grow Califorian poppies yet they thrive in my garden.


----------



## NotPink

I can't grow lupins which makes me sad cos they were my dads favourite flowers. Every year I try. Then I decided to try them in pots ...they do alright until the end of summer then die so have to replace them. 
With restrictions this year I did not manage to purchase any so no lupins at all. Sorry dad.
I can grow California poppies though.


----------



## Leadinglights

I used to find lupins got infested with blackfly, which incidentally seem to be really bad this year, broad beans wrecked.
Do any of you experts have any ideas on getting rid of spider mite on my polytunnel cucumbers?


----------



## Ditto

I now keep thinking of plants I can't grow. Nepeta! Good grief. I've had to stop myself from buying it, no point. 

Lillies are out, one is so dark a red it looks black. 50p bargain bin at Wilco's.  The others in the front are about to bloom as well, after that one lilybeetle I never saw another, it must have been a scout!


----------



## rebrascora

@Dxxoo You have to focus on the successes not the failures and that lily is definitely a success! My garden is shoulder high with weeds but my apricot tree against the side of the house is my pride and joy. It doesn't seem to suffer with pests and produces amazingly huge juicy apricots! And I got it for under a fiver from Lidl or Aldi or somewhere like that and put it in, fully expecting it not to survive let alone produce fruit. The biggest challenge is the pruning and training. I must be a bit more ruthless this year with the secateurs/loppers, as soon as we get some settled dry weather, as it is growing through my guttering and 2 foot beyond now but only gets fruit on the lower branches, so need the top cut right back. 
I'm not very good with flowers but I like easy to grow veggies, like courgettes which are ridiculously expensive in the shops.


----------



## eggyg

At last our veg is starting to grow. The courgettes are going wild as usual, French beans have shot up more than a foot in this last week. Onions doing well, need a bit longer as not quite big enough but I used one the other day anyways. We’ve had a handful of new potatoes, Arran Pilots, and they are still small but very tasty. Carrot, parsnips and turnips are coming on.  Lettuce forever more, like the courgettes! Leeks need thinned out this week, and a first for us, a sweet pepper under the cloche, a friend gave us it, hopefully we may get one or two. It was touch and go a few weeks ago but a couple of weeks of warm weather and some sunshine has done the trick. Oh and we have a water lily at last, two years after we put the ponds in. It’s not exactly Monet’s gardens in Giverny but we’re happy.


----------



## Ditto

Fabulous, what is that plant in with the waterlily? 

I now want an apricot tree...


----------



## rebrascora

Y


Dxxoo said:


> Fabulous, what is that plant in with the waterlily?
> 
> I now want an apricot tree...


You probably need a large, south facing substantial stone/brick wall if you want it to produce fruits. They need the residual heat from the wall during the cold Feb/March nights to protect the setting blossoms from frost and allow them to develop into fruit. Mine only produces fruit on stems actually touching the wall which unfortunately means that the fruits usually get slightly blemished from rubbing against the wall when the wind blows. Still perfectly edible but rare that I get a "perfect" fruit.


----------



## eggyg

I don’t know @Dxxoo what the plants called, Mr Eggy can’t remember either. What we do know is it’s supposed to be there! It’s spread really well this year.


----------



## trophywench

We nearly killed our hydrangeas because they'd leafed up and had flower buds (tiny ones) when the lat frost struck and boy oh boy, did it strike.  They've perked up since, and now covered in albeit small, blooms which have pinked up during the last week.  We also thought we'd lost the hardy fuchsias for the same reason - but they're in flower too now, just about half the height they were!


----------



## Fergall

I have a garden, or rather, of course, it is difficult to call it a garden. In my backyard there is a large lawn that I take care of, and another tree. The tree is very old, but I like everything. However, there are places with voids on the lawn and I plan to fill them with grass seeds from one website. I have a swimming pool that I made last year. We recently built a treehouse with our son, in which we like to spend time and make all sorts of crafts out of paper. I also plan to plant roses, I have always dreamed of having roses in my garden.





__________________________________

this site https://www.growgardener.com/the-5-best-kentucky-bluegrass-seeds-for-your-lawn/


----------



## NotPink

These were a set of  6 Antirrhinum Cheerio Mixed Plug Plants and only 2 have survived. They don't look brilliantly healthy to me so I will probably have to add these to the plants I can't grow. I will see if they survive the next couple of weeks. They seem droopy.


----------



## Northerner

I know these are blackberries...



But what are these please?


----------



## Contused

Northerner said:


> I know these are blackberries...
> 
> View attachment 17890
> 
> But what are these please?
> 
> View attachment 17891


SWAMBO says, "Raspberries, some of which are poorly formed."


----------



## Robin

Northerner said:


> I know these are blackberries...
> 
> View attachment 17890
> 
> But what are these please?
> 
> View attachment 17891


Deffo raspberries, as @Contused says. 
The plants themselves look healthy, so I doubt they've 'got anything' It could just be the strange weather, cold when they needed pollinating to 'set' the fruit, then excess warm and wet causing what fruit did form to swell up.


----------



## Helzbelz

trophywench said:


> We nearly killed our hydrangeas because they'd leafed up and had flower buds (tiny ones) when the lat frost struck and boy oh boy, did it strike.  They've perked up since, and now covered in albeit small, blooms which have pinked up during the last week.  We also thought we'd lost the hardy fuchsias for the same reason - but they're in flower too now, just about half the height they were!


Hello  to my darling friend of old!  How the hell are you? Still lusting after 46  xxx


----------



## trophywench

Hiya Helzie! - I had wondered if you were one and the same - @Pattidevans is on here too.  Nothing's dropped off or completely stopped functioning so far anyway, thanks for asking.  Can't say everything that's left is in A1 condition these days at 70+ though - but who the heck can?  How the hell are you these days?

(Oh and PS - I do know my memory ain't as good as it once was - but don't actually recall us discussing lust in the past!)


----------



## Helzbelz

Yayy how lovely to bump into you again!!
Life has been hectic and messy as always but I am continuing to smile xx glad to hear you are well!
The lust was most likely on my part  I mentioned 46 because I knew that would trigger a memory of old me!! Xx be great to catch up!


----------



## Pattidevans

Hello from me too Helz.

One of our Hydrengeas is in glorious bloom, but has turned pink instead of blue, anyone know what to put on it to turn it blue again?


----------



## Robin

Pattidevans said:


> Hello from me too Helz.
> 
> One of our Hydrengeas is in glorious bloom, but has turned pink instead of blue, anyone know what to put on it to turn it blue again?


You need an acid soil to produce blue ones. So either fork in some ericacious compost, or water it with left over cold tea, (or you can buy stuff, sequestered iron, I think) This is assuming your soil is chalky or limestone, or something else naturally alkaline. (Can you grow rhododendrons in your area? That’s a good test, they will only grow well in acidic soil). If your soil is already acidic, then I’m stumped!


----------



## chaoticcar

Northerner said:


> I know these are blackberries...
> 
> View attachment 17890
> 
> But what are these please?
> 
> View attachment 17891


We had a wandering chicken visit our "" Garden "" and it enjoyed eating my raspberries !


----------



## Northerner

Robin said:


> Deffo raspberries, as @Contused says.
> The plants themselves look healthy, so I doubt they've 'got anything' It could just be the strange weather, cold when they needed pollinating to 'set' the fruit, then excess warm and wet causing what fruit did form to swell up.


I tasted one - it tasted like a raspberry!  Disappointing if they're not going to grow any bigger!


----------



## grovesy

Northerner said:


> I tasted one - it tasted like a raspberry!  Disappointing if they're not going to grow any bigger!


They don't look as though they are properly formed to me.


----------



## chaoticcar

They  could have been short of water during the dry spell mine are not as juicy as usual (even the ones that chicken left !!!)
Carol


----------



## Pattidevans

Robin said:


> You need an acid soil to produce blue ones. So either fork in some ericacious compost, or water it with left over cold tea, (or you can buy stuff, sequestered iron, I think) This is assuming your soil is chalky or limestone, or something else naturally alkaline. (Can you grow rhododendrons in your area? That’s a good test, they will only grow well in acidic soil). If your soil is already acidic, then I’m stumped!


I can't really fork anything around it as it's in the middle of the front lawn.  I will try watering it with cold tea!  Many thanks for the tip!  The soil is a mystery, underlying clay but topsoil was imported when they built the houses.


----------



## NotPink

Last year I pushed some pumpkin seeds into some pots and forgot about them. Now they have leafed and flowered so maybe they will fruit? Who knows. Still excited though just to get the flowers. Beautiful shape and colour.


----------



## trophywench

That's not a sunflower.  And sunflowers don't fruit.  Look more like courgette/cucumber flowers to me.


----------



## grovesy

trophywench said:


> That's not a sunflower.  And sunflowers don't fruit.  Look more like courgette/cucumber flowers to me.


My thought too!


----------



## Fagor

Some pruning required...
There's an apple tree somewhere behind those plants.


----------



## trophywench

Are you sure?


----------



## Leadinglights

We came back from the allotment yesterday with a bumper crop of peas (no grubs first time ever), French beans, broad beans, courgettes, beetroot, cucumber, redcurrants and tayberries.
It is good to see all the effort rewarded. But the badgers had been at the carrots despite then being under a cage which they pushed out of the way.


----------



## Northerner

Well, I didn't kill it!   

After my savage pruning:



Now:


----------



## Drummer

NotPink said:


> Last year I pushed some sunflower seeds into some pots and forgot about them. Now they have leafed and flowered so maybe they will fruit? Who knows. Still excited though just to get the flowers. Beautiful shape and colour.View attachment 17939View attachment 17940


Ah - courgette or cucumber - those are the male flowers, you want shorter ones with thicker stems for fruits.


----------



## grovesy

I quite often brutally prune shrubs and plants, mostly without disastrous results.


----------



## NotPink

Drummer said:


> Ah - courgette or cucumber - those are the male flowers, you want shorter ones with thicker stems for fruits.


Oh dear I only planted pumpkin seeds so what happened?


----------



## NotPink

grovesy said:


> I quite often brutally prune shrubs and plants, mostly without disastrous results.


Doesn't it make you feel good after a brutal pruning of shrubs?


----------



## NotPink

trophywench said:


> That's not a sunflower.  And sunflowers don't fruit.  Look more like courgette/cucumber flowers to me.


They are... I don't know why I said sunflowers they are pumpkins. I was mentally in another place when I posted that. I was thinking about why sunflowers don't thrive in our garden either in post or garden. Silly me.


----------



## NotPink

trophywench said:


> That's not a sunflower.  And sunflowers don't fruit.  Look more like courgette/cucumber flowers to me.


Corrected...loopy loo these days. Due to staying in too long.


----------



## Drummer

NotPink said:


> Oh dear I only planted pumpkin seeds so what happened?


Ah still the same family - cucurbita, so they share the same flower design, I just thought of things I was likely to grow in the garden here - with my experience of courgettes, I would hesitate to allow pumpkins onto the plot - the heaviest courgette I grew was almost 7lb....but it hid itself away very successfully along with one about 5lb which I found on the same day - they became marrow and ginger jam.


----------



## Leadinglights

Drummer said:


> Ah still the same family - cucurbita, so they share the same flower design, I just thought of things I was likely to grow in the garden here - with my experience of courgettes, I would hesitate to allow pumpkins onto the plot - the heaviest courgette I grew was almost 7lb....but it hid itself away very successfully along with one about 5lb which I found on the same day - they became marrow and ginger jam.


They do have a habit of doing that in you blink your eye. Oversize courgettes usually get turned into soup with added brie.


----------



## NotPink

Drummer said:


> Ah still the same family - cucurbita, so they share the same flower design, I just thought of things I was likely to grow in the garden here - with my experience of courgettes, I would hesitate to allow pumpkins onto the plot - the heaviest courgette I grew was almost 7lb....but it hid itself away very successfully along with one about 5lb which I found on the same day - they became marrow and ginger jam.


thanks...


----------



## eggyg

Our courgettes are doing well, I’m picking them when they’re about 5/6 inches long. We’re having a family BBQ on Sunday and I’m going to experiment BBQing them. Anyone done that? Think I might coat them in something, breadcrumbs maybe, brush with oil? Won’t take long I don’t suppose, or I may just grate them and put them in a cold pasta salad.


----------



## eggyg

Drummer said:


> Ah still the same family - cucurbita, so they share the same flower design, I just thought of things I was likely to grow in the garden here - with my experience of courgettes, I would hesitate to allow pumpkins onto the plot - the heaviest courgette I grew was almost 7lb....but it hid itself away very successfully along with one about 5lb which I found on the same day - they became marrow and ginger jam.


In 2019 we went away for six weeks in September/Oct. Came back to a gigantic courgette/marrow, we hadn’t spotted it before we left. I put it in the compost, too bitter once they get to that size. When my girls were young, we always grew one deliberately that big for their school harvest festival. Made a nice display.


----------



## Drummer

eggyg said:


> Our courgettes are doing well, I’m picking them when they’re about 5/6 inches long. We’re having a family BBQ on Sunday and I’m going to experiment BBQing them. Anyone done that? Think I might coat them in something, breadcrumbs maybe, brush with oil? Won’t take long I don’t suppose, or I may just grate them and put them in a cold pasta salad.


Mine would never see breadcrumbs, but I slice them fairly thick and then place them in a tray, add butter and fry them very gently, turning them over at half time and doing a bit of basting towards the end. They should be soft but only just so. Often mushrooms and sweet peppers join them on the plate, done separately as they don't need so long a time and so low a temperature,


----------



## NotPink

Courgettes do not agree with me so I can't help sorry. Enjoy what ever you do with them.


----------



## NotPink

eggyg said:


> At last our veg is starting to grow. The courgettes are going wild as usual, French beans have shot up more than a foot in this last week. Onions doing well, need a bit longer as not quite big enough but I used one the other day anyways. We’ve had a handful of new potatoes, Arran Pilots, and they are still small but very tasty. Carrot, parsnips and turnips are coming on.  Lettuce forever more, like the courgettes! Leeks need thinned out this week, and a first for us, a sweet pepper under the cloche, a friend gave us it, hopefully we may get one or two. It was touch and go a few weeks ago but a couple of weeks of warm weather and some sunshine has done the trick. Oh and we have a water lily at last, two years after we put the ponds in. It’s not exactly Monet’s gardens in Giverny but we’re happy.


wow what a display well done


----------



## rebrascora

I used to do mixed skewers on the BBQ with whole button mushrooms, chunks of courgette and sweet pepper, cherry tomatoes and chunks of onion. Brushed with oil and balsamic. Absolutely ages since I had a BBQ!


----------



## Ditto

Well, it's certainly the weather for a BBQ!


----------



## eggyg

Following on from my post about picking courgettes when they were small. Oops! Look what’s happened when my back was turned. Still loads more on the way too.
Also the pepper my friend gave me had produced two fruit, we have it under a cloche, pretty chuffed with them.
Our favourite flower is spreading nicely, masterwort. These have self seeded from a plant that was in another border when we moved in 35 years ago.
And finally, I thought the garden looked very summery and welcoming this morning. Feel free to pop in for a cuppa, and maybe a slice of courgette cake!


----------



## Robin

eggyg said:


> Following on from my post about picking courgettes when they were small. Oops! Look what’s happened when my back was turned. Still loads more on the way too.
> Also the pepper my friend gave me had produced two fruit, we have it under a cloche, pretty chuffed with them.
> Our favourite flower is spreading nicely, masterwort. These have self seeded from a plant that was in another border when we moved in 35 years ago.
> And finally, I thought the garden looked very summery and welcoming this morning. Feel free to pop in for a cuppa, and maybe a slice of courgette cake!


Aaargh! Courgette cake! And Ratatouille! Had them coming out of our ears last year. This year, we haven’t had a single courgette we could pick yet. We were away for a week recently, and some formed just before we went, but nothing got watered, of course, and they didn’t develop. Now we are here to chuck the contents of the water butt on them every evening, they have nevertheless gone into a sulk in the hot weather.
Is Masterwort the same as Astrantia? It looks gorgeous. It looks similar, we’ve got a white one that came with the house, and does well, and a red that I bought as a tiny cutting for 20p at a school fete, (and the kids left school years ago) and it has finally formed a decent clump.


----------



## eggyg

Robin said:


> Aaargh! Courgette cake! And Ratatouille! Had them coming out of our ears last year. This year, we haven’t had a single courgette we could pick yet. We were away for a week recently, and some formed just before we went, but nothing got watered, of course, and they didn’t develop. Now we are here to chuck the contents of the water butt on them every evening, they have nevertheless gone into a sulk in the hot weather.
> Is Masterwort the same as Astrantia? It looks gorgeous. It looks similar, we’ve got a white one that came with the house, and does well, and a red that I bought as a tiny cutting for 20p at a school fete, (and the kids left school years ago) and it has finally formed a decent clump.


I’ve just Googled it and yes, one and the same. We’ve always just known them as masterwort. Every day’s a school day.


----------



## Drummer

My courgettes had to wait until the greenhouse was set up for them - the weather has been very rough up here on the top of the ridge, and there were near frosts very late. Ice on the water buts is rare even in mid winter.
Today I opened the door to water and found that they have really taken off, a wall of leaves and flowers in abundance. Protection from the wind seems to be the key to courgette production on hilltops.


----------



## Leadinglights

Friendly trees or extreme companion planting???
Noticed a eclectic mix on our walk today. In one 6 ft space, a horse chestnut, a elderberry, a hawthorn, blackberries and nettles. 
The plants are breathing a sigh of relief today as it is much cooler.


----------



## eggyg

I made a courgette loaf today. It is surprisingly very nice. I’m going to try a chocolate courgette cake tomorrow.

 In an effort to get rid of some courgettes I put some into bags ( 2 in each) and in a box, with a sign to take them, on my front wall. One bag out of four has gone! I can’t even give them away for nowt!


----------



## Leadinglights

eggyg said:


> I made a courgette loaf today. It is surprisingly very nice. I’m going to try a chocolate courgette cake tomorrow.
> 
> In an effort to get rid of some courgettes I put some into bags ( 2 in each) and in a box, with a sign to take them, on my front wall. One bag out of four has gone! I can’t even give them away for nowt!


Make some courgette and brie soup, stick it in the freezer for a rainy day.


----------



## eggyg

Leadinglights said:


> Friendly trees or extreme companion planting???
> Noticed a eclectic mix on our walk today. In one 6 ft space, a horse chestnut, a elderberry, a hawthorn, blackberries and nettles.
> The plants are breathing a sigh of relief today as it is much cooler.


That sounds like you’ve been in our back garden!  The hedge between us and our neighbours consists of very similar except for the bramble with an added sycamore and holly bush!  It’s Mr Eggy’s memesis!


----------



## rebrascora

Picked my first apricots yesterday and ate one today when my BG levels dropped to 4.2. I put it down as 10g carbs but could have been more. They are huge and sweet but also tart and very juicy which is unusual for apricots and they tend to be quite dry. Unfortunately the juiciness means that they don't keep well compared to the small shop bought ones and I can't eat too many. Might stew them and then perhaps make a low carb crumble. There are only 13 fruits on the main tree because the frost and rain hit us at the wrong time and then I have another 7 on my other younger tree but they are a different variety and smaller and not as nice. 
I have also picked and eaten my gooseberries with my breakfast the last week or so. Again, not a great crop but very enjoyable whilst they lasted and just starting to have raspberries from the garden with my morning yoghurt and the odd blueberry, but they are getting old and need replacing and I don't have a fruit cage so I have to share with the birds and they get the lions share!!


----------



## TheClockworkDodo

rebrascora said:


> just starting to have raspberries from the garden with my morning yoghurt and the odd blueberry, but they are getting old and need replacing and I don't have a fruit cage so I have to share with the birds and they get the lions share!!


We had the same problem with our blueberries, so we got a pop-up fruit cage (got it from Garden Organic, who don't have it any more, but it looks something like this ).  It comes with spikes to anchor it to the ground so wouldn't be any use on a patio, and we've also found it tends to pop itself inwards when it's very windy unless we put some bamboo canes inside in the corners, but other than that it's very useful, we now get to eat all our blueberries and after they've finished fruiting we remove the cage and fold it up and put it in the garage so we don't have to look at it all year.


----------



## Northerner

I gave this fuchsia a savage pruning with the hedge clippers (as recommended by @eggyg  ) as it had grown far too large over the previous year. I wondered if I might have killed it - but now it's even bigger than before!  

Before:



Now!


----------



## grovesy

It looks lovely though.


----------



## eggyg

Northerner said:


> I gave this fuchsia a savage pruning with the hedge clippers (as recommended by @eggyg  ) as it had grown far too large over the previous year. I wondered in I might have killed it - but now it's even bigger than before!
> 
> Before:
> 
> View attachment 18303
> 
> Now!
> 
> View attachment 18304


Fab Alan. I thought I’d killed ours this year but no, it was a bit late because of the cold spell we had. Phew!


----------



## Northerner

Has anyone grown any of these? A neighbour puts a box of excess stuff they have grown out to help yourself, and I picked up one of these yesterday as I was so intrigued by them!  Will have to look for a recipe!


----------



## Robin

Northerner said:


> I gave this fuchsia a savage pruning with the hedge clippers (as recommended by @eggyg  ) as it had grown far too large over the previous year. I wondered if I might have killed it - but now it's even bigger than before!
> 
> Before:
> 
> View attachment 18303
> 
> Now!
> 
> View attachment 18304


The phrase 'What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger' applies just as much in the plant world.


----------



## Northerner

eggyg said:


> Fab Alan. I thought I’d killed ours this year but no, it was a bit late because of the cold spell we had. Phew!


Yes, I was looking for the picture when I pruned it - and it was on 1st June! That was when the frosts were finally over!


----------



## Robin

Northerner said:


> Has anyone grown any of these? A neighbour puts a box of excess stuff they have grown out to help yourself, and I picked up one of these yesterday as I was so intrigued by them!  Will have to look for a recipe!
> 
> View attachment 18305


Ooh, a patty pan squash! Never grown any, (I tried but the plants didn’t come up) I think the easiest and most hassle free way to cook them is to chop them up, toss them in oil and seasoning, and roast them in the oven in a baking tin.


----------



## Leadinglights

Northerner said:


> Has anyone grown any of these? A neighbour puts a box of excess stuff they have grown out to help yourself, and I picked up one of these yesterday as I was so intrigued by them!  Will have to look for a recipe!
> 
> View attachment 18305


I think they are called Pattipans, a bit like a courgette in texture.


----------



## Robin

Leadinglights said:


> I think they are called Pattipans, a bit like a courgette in texture.


But not as soggy as a courgette when you try roasting them.


----------



## eggyg

Leadinglights said:


> Make some courgette and brie soup, stick it in the freezer for a rainy day.


I made some on Monday. Absolutely delicious. I didn’t tell Mr Eggy what it was, supposedly a courgette hater, and he loved it. Got two tubs in the freezer now. Thanks for the idea.
Edited to say I used the really strong Brie, you know the one that makes your fridge smell like there’s something dead in it! I thought I’d overpowered it at first but once it all totally melted it was fab. Didn’t have to use a lot.


----------



## Leadinglights

Northerner said:


> Yes, I was looking for the picture when I pruned it - and it was on 1st June! That was when the frosts were finally over!


It always amazed me that hedges in the most exposed places in Ireland were fuchsias. I absolutely love them but I always seem to get vine weevils in the pots which just love to munch the roots away. They do better in the ground where the natural nematodes keep the evil creatures at bay.


----------



## Leadinglights

Robin said:


> Ooh, a patty pan squash! Never grown any, (I tried but the plants didn’t come up) I think the easiest and most hassle free way to cook them is to chop them up, toss them in oil and seasoning, and roast them in the oven in a baking tin.


I grow a whole variety of squashes and love the surprise at just what texture any particular one will be, from dry like pumpkin to quite wet or like the vegetable spaghetti all stringy. A couple of new ones this year, mashed potato and baked potato (T &M), not yet tried them. I usually never put them near water when cooking unless making soup of course.
Pleased your OH liked the soup.@eggyg


----------



## Leadinglights

eggyg said:


> I made some on Monday. Absolutely delicious. I didn’t tell Mr Eggy what it was, supposedly a courgette hater, and he loved it. Got two tubs in the freezer now. Thanks for the idea.
> Edited to say I used the really strong Brie, you know the one that makes your fridge smell like there’s something dead in it! I thought I’d overpowered it at first but once it all totally melted it was fab. Didn’t have to use a lot.


Get Mr Eggy to read the story of the Kreplach in the book The Thousand Deaths of Mr Small. 
My O H hates ratatouille no matter what modifications I make. It is still KREPLACH in his eyes.


----------



## eggyg

And here they are again!  Picked these yesterday and counted another 10 on the way! I am  all courgetted out.


----------



## TheClockworkDodo

I wish I were!  Mine keep getting blossom end rot, thanks to the weird weather we've been having.  Growing them in pots probably doesn't help though.


----------



## Bloden

TheClockworkDodo said:


> I wish I were!  Mine keep getting blossom end rot, thanks to the weird weather we've been having.  Growing them in pots probably doesn't help though.


Is that why my tomato flowers keep dropping off? At this rate, I’m only going to get 3 tomatoes from 2 plants, boo hoo.

Anyway, saw this is the garden earlier - is it big for a caterpillar (it was the length of my thumb and almost as wide)?


----------



## Robin

We are having problems with our courgettes this year too, I suspect the plants aren’t producing male and female flowers at the same time, so they're not getting pollinated.


----------



## Leadinglights

Robin said:


> We are having problems with our courgettes this year too, I suspect the plants aren’t producing male and female flowers at the same time, so they're not getting pollinated.


There seems to have been problems with pollination this year, my fruit trees have a very poor crop but I just dug 4 potato plants, an afterthought with some sprouting charlottes from last years crop as I wasn't going to grow any at all, and the yield was amazing 10kg from just the four plants.


----------



## Bloden

Robin said:


> We are having problems with our courgettes this year too, I suspect the plants aren’t producing male and female flowers at the same time, so they're not getting pollinated.


That’ll be it then. We had the same problem with our apple trees - lotsa flowers, then a mass shedding...and zero apples.


----------



## Robin

Bloden said:


> That’ll be it then. We had the same problem with our apple trees - lotsa flowers, then a mass shedding...and zero apples.


We’ve got hardly any apples, though the pear tree is laden and the plum has got a few. They flower at different times, so the pear obviously timed it right. We had a very late frost which accounted for the apples, I think. The pear and the plum were earlier, they are the ones that usually succumb to frost.
In contrast, I usually reckon that either the french or the runner beans do well, but not both, but this year, after a slow start, they are both suddenly producing loads.


----------



## eggyg

We haven’t as many apples this year either but the French beans, although very late starting, are doing great.


----------



## Northerner

Robin said:


> But not as soggy as a courgette when you try roasting them.


You are right - I stuffed and roasted it last night!


----------



## SB2015

We have glut of french beans.  My week to cook and every meal is based round the french beans.
Good bit of colour and still liking them.


----------



## eggyg

SB2015 said:


> We have glut of french beans.  My week to cook and every meal is based round the french beans.
> Good bit of colour and still liking them.


Ours too Sue! I made chicken and chorizo risotto, with French beans. Lamb chops, with French beans. Salmon fillets with stir fried vegetables, mostly French beans. Tonight  is savoury mince pie, with French beans! 
The courgettes have also had a starring role on this week’s menu. Courgette, potato and Brie soup and roast chicken and ratatouille.


----------



## freesia

Nothing really grows in our garden as the soil is almost pure clay and i'm not very good at keeping plants alive. We have lots of trees which are ideal for the birds. 

Over the last couple of years i've managed to keep two fuschias alive in pots so this year i decided to try others. I've planted sweet peas, another fuschia and some sort of bushy plant in pots and they've all done well. But the thing i'm most proud of is my two tomato plants (given to me by a friend, i've never grown anything before). I have loads of cherry tomatoes on them which are just now starting to turn red (just in time for us going away for a week). I'm so excited about these tomatoes. I think i'm getting the bug for growing!


----------



## Drummer

I am cutting off any blemished apples as the crop is so large this year - but the trees can almost see Poole Harbour and the Purbecks, so there are very few problems with frost - though the bees have to yomp from blossom to blossom in order to stick on the tree, otherwise they'd be half way down the avenue three seconds after take off.
The bees which visit my garden do not make a contented droning as they potter from flower to flower, only bees from hives with retired Olympic sprinter quality queens make it here by achieving new personal bests coming up from the valley against the wind.


----------



## Leadinglights

Drummer said:


> I am cutting off any blemished apples as the crop is so large this year - but the trees can almost see Poole Harbour and the Purbecks, so there are very few problems with frost - though the bees have to yomp from blossom to blossom in order to stick on the tree, otherwise they'd be half way down the avenue three seconds after take off.
> The bees which visit my garden do not make a contented droning as they potter from flower to flower, only bees from hives with retired Olympic sprinter quality queens make it here by achieving new personal bests coming up from the valley against the wind.


You should be so lucky with your apples, we have very few of our favourites Rosemary Russet, not bad with Charles Ross. but 1 pear even though it looked as if quite a few had set fruit. The badgers had been at my carrots again, they managed to move a heavy cage, so I have now put 2 over them. I will not be beaten.


----------



## TheClockworkDodo

All our trees are unhappy this year.  We have three apples on one tree, no apples at all on the other two.  No pears or plums at all, and not only have we no cherries, we also had to cut several dead branches out of the cherry tree (it's only a few years old).

The runner beans are fine, though I don't think we have as big a crop as usual; and we definitely have fewer tomatoes than usual.

The bindweed in the borders seems to be thriving though ...


----------



## TheClockworkDodo

@freesia - roses do well on clay soil, there are quite a few other things which do as well, if you are getting the gardening bug and want to try planting some things out - here are a few more ideas:  https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=305


----------



## freesia

TheClockworkDodo said:


> @freesia - roses do well on clay soil, there are quite a few other things which do as well, if you are getting the gardening bug and want to try planting some things out - here are a few more ideas:  https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=305


Oooh thank you! I shall take a look at that. I can't believe i'm excited about a few tomatoes! Actually, 41 to be precise   , well,at the last count anyway.


----------



## nonethewiser

Need to get out later to tidy up & deadhead flowers, hedge is starting to turn already bit unusual for this time of year.


----------



## SB2015

freesia said:


> Nothing really grows in our garden as the soil is almost pure clay and i'm not very good at keeping plants alive. We have lots of trees which are ideal for the birds.


We have clay soil too.  We used to battle with it but now go with what will grow in it.  
Flowers that are very happy are: geraniums, sedums, grasses, crocosmias, …
Veg we are growing: green beans, corn, salad crops
We also have plenty of shrubs that are happy, and they definitely don’t get a lot of attention so they have to get on with it on their own.  We also put in a very big pond, to break up the garden and because it only requires attention twice a year, when I get in and remove loads of the oxygen atoms.


----------



## chaoticcar

Slightly off subject but the butterflies are back we had only seen whites and orange tips until yesterday when we saw Peacock ,Red admiral, comma ,tortoise shell ,and a small unidentified one which sat on the buddlia and wouldn't open its wings .We have 4 different buddlias but these were all on a very dark purple one 
Carol


----------



## eggyg

I really don’t know where they keep appearing from. We only have one plant! 
I’ve just looked back on the photo I posted the other day and there were 9 too! There’s about four growing, that I can see, watch this space. What the heck am I to do with them?


----------



## TheClockworkDodo

You could always freeze some, @eggyg - though they are not as nice after freezing, they go soggy so only good for things like spag bol or ratatouille.



chaoticcar said:


> Slightly off subject but the butterflies are back we had only seen whites and orange tips until yesterday when we saw Peacock ,Red admiral, comma ,tortoise shell ,and a small unidentified one which sat on the buddlia and wouldn't open its wings .We have 4 different buddlias but these were all on a very dark purple one
> Carol



Shame it is a bit late for the big butterfly count - we did ours at the end of July.  I can't find our list now, but I'm pretty sure we had small and large white, peacock, red admiral, comma, gatekeeper, and meadow brown, there may have been one or two others.  Friends have said they are seeing fewer butterflies than usual so far this year though, so maybe they are later than usual.


----------



## eggyg

I made a delicious courgette, ginger and lime cake yesterday, that’s used 2! Only 16 left! Im going to thickly slice some and freeze them as suggested. I can’t do them all unfortunately as my freezer is quite full, it’s only a small one, so will squeeze in as many as I can along side the two tuns of ratatouille and two tubs of courgette and Brie soup already in there!


----------



## Docb

I've been eating them, fresh picked, chopped and raw in salads. That way they have a subtle flavour and a really nice crunch!


----------



## adrian1der

Bloden said:


> Is that why my tomato flowers keep dropping off? At this rate, I’m only going to get 3 tomatoes from 2 plants, boo hoo.
> 
> Anyway, saw this is the garden earlier - is it big for a caterpillar (it was the length of my thumb and almost as wide)? View attachment 18314


Looks like an elephant hawk moth caterpillar to me 

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/moths/elephant-hawk-moth. Do you have rosebay willowherb nearby? It is there food plant


----------



## Bloden

adrian1der said:


> Looks like an elephant hawk moth caterpillar to me
> 
> https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/moths/elephant-hawk-moth. Do you have rosebay willowherb nearby? It is there food plant


How interesting! Thanks @adrian1der. There’s no rosebay willow herb in the garden or nearby, but our first house (20-odd years ago) was surrounded by the stuff. I found the caterpillar trying to climb a low wall to reach the safety of a patch of lawn, before a bird had a chance to grab it (I suppose). I just hope I get to see the moth - beautiful.


----------



## Leadinglights

An amazing bracket fungi growing on a tree stump in the cemetery behind the house, I believe this is a turkey tail. Not particularly edible I believe, it would make a hell of a lot of mushroom soup. It is massive.


----------



## Robin

Ooh, that’s beautiful, @Leadinglights , I can see why it got its name.


----------



## Ditto

I luv a 
Fungus.


----------



## eggyg

Just had a morning in the garden. First time for quite a while. It’s a lovely sunny autumnal day. The plan was to harvest the cookers from the espalier, and tidy up the raised beds. Got a few apples, most will be stored until we can get some green tomatoes, we didn’t grow any this year, to make chutney. The ones that aren’t perfect will be diced and stewed for apple sauce and /or pies and crumbles.
 Got the last five courgettes from our single plant and I’ve dug it up and it’s in the compost heap, it was huge!  I also dug up bolted lettuce and cauliflower, absolute waste of time and space growing the cauli. I also proceeded to dig up what I thought was bolted cabbage. Luckily Mr Eggy caught me in time, it was broccoli and it’s harvested in October! Oops! 
And finally did a bit weeding in the borders, and then I was done in! Enjoyed it though, nice to be out without going out, if you know what I mean. I’m going for a well earned relaxing bath now and hope I can get the soil out from under my nails!


----------



## Bloden

This is all the produce we’ve had this year, boo hoo. I’m keeping them in a bag in a drawer until they go red.   They’re meant to be beef tomatoes!


----------



## eggyg

Bloden said:


> This is all the produce we’ve had this year, boo hoo. I’m keeping them in a bag in a drawer until they go red.   They’re meant to be beef tomatoes!View attachment 18615


That’s exactly why we didn’t bother with tomatoes this year. I don’t think any turned red the last few times. We need a greenhouse to achieve that or live in Spain!


----------



## Bloden

eggyg said:


> That’s exactly why we didn’t bother with tomatoes this year. I don’t think any turned red! We need a greenhouse to achieve that or live in Spain!


I have a plan! I’m looking for one of those mini greenhouses (they look more like a cupboard in size and shape) to plonk up against the garden shed. Growing tomatoes outside just doesn’t work in this climate, as you say.


----------



## Leadinglights

Bloden said:


> I have a plan! I’m looking for one of those mini greenhouses (they look more like a cupboard in size and shape) to plonk up against the garden shed. Growing tomatoes outside just doesn’t work in this climate, as you say.


I'm afraid once you have grown tomatoes, the bought ones just don't taste any good. I do have an allotment with 2 polytunnels, they never do well outside.
I normally grow loads of different varieties so we have a range of sizes and colours. I made a tomato, red pepper and squash (variety called Turks Turban) soup yesterday. 
I have had some super aubergines this year as well.


----------



## ColinUK

I'm going to plant Tumbling Toms in balcony planters next year. They'll cascade over the first floor balcony and drop very ripe tomatoes onto the unsuspecting passersby below!


----------



## TheClockworkDodo

I've been growing tomatoes outside in the UK (originally near Cambridge, now Cotswolds) for about 15 years, I think, and have never had any problems getting them to ripen.  They ripen later than ones grown under cover though, we usually start picking around the end of the first week of September and keep going until the first hint of frost, at which point we pick the rest to ripen on a tray in the house.  They've not done as well this year - I think in an average year we have at least 120 tomatoes from 10-12 plants, this year we have about 40 tomatoes from 12 plants.  Not sure whether that's the weather we've had or the new planters we're trying out, which are a lot shallower than the old ones.


----------



## Lisa66

Broad beans. I know people either love them or hate them. My husband is very much in the crinkle up his nose, second group. I love them.

This is the first time I have attempted to grow them and am pretty pleased with how they’re going…so far. I’ve just pinched out the tops after too much dithering. 

Anyway I thought I’d share a pic…hopefully there’ll be at least one person who will appreciate them here…as himself doesn’t.


----------



## Robin

Lisa66 said:


> Broad beans. I know people either love them or hate them. My husband is very much in the crinkle up his nose, second group. I love them.
> 
> This is the first time I have attempted to grow them and am pretty pleased with how they’re going…so far. I’ve just pinched out the tops after too much dithering.
> 
> Anyway I thought I’d share a pic…hopefully there’ll be at least one person who will appreciate them here…as himself doesn’t.


I love broad beans. I never normally grow them because I’m the only one in the family that likes them, but in 2020 when all the garden centres were closed and I was having difficulty getting veg seeds etc, my daughter picked up some spare seedlings that a neighbour had put out for people to help themselves, knowing that I'd use them. They’d lost their labels so she wasn't sure what she was bringing me, but I identified the various trays as broad and french beans. I'm always afraid boad beans will get blackfly, because I remember from childhood when my father and uncle grew them that they were prone, but I managed to avoid an infestation by pinching the tops out. Good luck with yours! We have a fruit and veg bring and take scheme in the village, people take spare produce for others to help themselves, so I shall be keeping an eye out for a glut.


----------



## eggyg

We grew broad beans a couple of years ago and got so many I didn’t know what to do with them. I like them but I feel there’s  a lot of work before you get to eat them! Same with peas. Last year we just grew French beans, pick, cook, eat! 

In  other veg news. Mr Eggy found a couple of courgette seeds left over from two years ago, put them in a pot in the mini greenhouse and then neglected them  ie never watered them when it was hot, never opened the window for them. Of course they’ve germinated and are growing at a rate of knots! They’ll be outgrowing their present home soon and it’s far too early to plant them out up north!


----------



## Leadinglights

Lisa66 said:


> Broad beans. I know people either love them or hate them. My husband is very much in the crinkle up his nose, second group. I love them.
> 
> This is the first time I have attempted to grow them and am pretty pleased with how they’re going…so far. I’ve just pinched out the tops after too much dithering.
> 
> Anyway I thought I’d share a pic…hopefully there’ll be at least one person who will appreciate them here…as himself doesn’t.


Interesting you have them under environmesh and enviously they are much taller than mine. I use that mesh for onions and leeks  as we get onion leaf miner and over carrots but not usually over things that need pollination to form the pods as I have always thought it may exclude the insects so use normal netting to protect against pigeons which demolish everything given half a chance. We use cages much like the ones you have.
I think the secret is picking them young so they don't get the tough skins which can put people off.


----------



## Lisa66

Ooh good point @Leadinglights. I originally made that cover last year to cover the black kale that was doing well, until the pesky white butterflies spied it. I just put it over the beans when I planted them out,  as it was handy to keep the pigeons off. I shall rectify that tomorrow. I do have a lower one I made which is over the carrots and onions.

Quite new to all this proper veg gardening malarkey…other than bits n bobs in pots previously. ….and helping my dad when I was younger.

We now  have a greenhouse to go with the raised beds we started last year….and so far, I’m really enjoying it. Radishes doing well as is the garlic I put in before Christmas…2 more things I’ve just realised that my husband doesn’t like …oops. 

@eggyg isnt that just the way it goes sometimes. Something that you invest lots of time, energy and emotion in comes to nothing and something neglected positively thrives


----------



## Leadinglights

Lisa66 said:


> Ooh good point @Leadinglights. I originally made that cover last year to cover the black kale that was doing well, until the pesky white butterflies spied it. I just put it over the beans when I planted them out,  as it was handy to keep the pigeons off. I shall rectify that tomorrow. I do have a lower one I made which is over the carrots and onions.
> 
> Quite new to all this proper veg gardening malarkey…other than bits n bobs in pots previously. ….and helping my dad when I was younger.
> 
> We now  have a greenhouse to go with the raised beds we started last year….and so far, I’m really enjoying it. Radishes doing well as is the garlic I put in before Christmas…2 more things I’ve just realised that my husband doesn’t like …oops.
> 
> @eggyg isnt that just the way it goes sometimes. Something that you invest lots of time, energy and emotion in comes to nothing and something neglected positively thrives


We have an allotment so try lots of different things, I am annoyed that the mice have eaten my peas that were just coming up, nibbles off the green bit and ate the pea. They clearly could get under the cage.
My other half just admitted he didn't like Kale but he likes cabbage, chard, broccoli, sprouts so it seems odd.
Let us hope it will be a good season for the veg.


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## eggyg

Lisa66 said:


> Ooh good point @Leadinglights. I originally made that cover last year to cover the black kale that was doing well, until the pesky white butterflies spied it. I just put it over the beans when I planted them out,  as it was handy to keep the pigeons off. I shall rectify that tomorrow. I do have a lower one I made which is over the carrots and onions.
> 
> Quite new to all this proper veg gardening malarkey…other than bits n bobs in pots previously. ….and helping my dad when I was younger.
> 
> We now  have a greenhouse to go with the raised beds we started last year….and so far, I’m really enjoying it. Radishes doing well as is the garlic I put in before Christmas…2 more things I’ve just realised that my husband doesn’t like …oops.
> 
> @eggyg isnt that just the way it goes sometimes. Something that you invest lots of time, energy and emotion in comes to nothing and something neglected positively thrives


He thought the seeds would be “off” but tried anyways. I’m pleased as courgettes are one of my favourite vegetables, which is just as well as they are very prolific! Hubby pretends he doesn’t like them but he does really.


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## Jodee

Have an abundance of apples, would really love to preserve some for winter so looking for ways to preserve them  that leans more toward diabetic friendly (not dehydrating)  any suggestions?


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## Leadinglights

Jodee said:


> Have an abundance of apples, would really love to preserve some for winter so looking for ways to preserve them  that leans more toward diabetic friendly (not dehydrating)  any suggestions?


Are they eating or cooking apples.
My eating apples, Charles Ross and Russets store Ok in the shed, they keep better if picked under ripe and not damaged.
The cooking ones I cook and store frozen but again they will store for a while in the shed.


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## Jodee

I have both cooking and eating, most are with worm but I usually cut that off and eat or cook.  I don't have a big freezer otherwise I would.  I have some stored in the shed but they won't last very long because most have damage.  the trees are huge, cant reach most of them select decent windfalls mostly.


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## Leadinglights

Jodee said:


> I have both cooking and eating, most are with worm but I usually cut that off and eat or cook.  I don't have a big freezer otherwise I would.  I have some stored in the shed but they won't last very long because most have damage.  the trees are huge, cant reach most of them select decent windfalls mostly.


It is that extra protein that's a b----r with home grown apples. It makes you realise how much commercial ones are sprayed with who knows what. I put codling moth traps up but it doesn't help much.


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## Jodee

I actually think apples from old trees are much more flavourful than shop bought, you can taste the wood in the apples.  Love the flavour.


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## Jodee

Perhaps I will freeze just a couple of zip lock bags full if I can accommodate.


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## Jodee

TheClockworkDodo said:


> I've been growing tomatoes outside in the UK (originally near Cambridge, now Cotswolds) for about 15 years, I think, and have never had any problems getting them to ripen.  They ripen later than ones grown under cover though, we usually start picking around the end of the first week of September and keep going until the first hint of frost, at which point we pick the rest to ripen on a tray in the house.  They've not done as well this year - I think in an average year we have at least 120 tomatoes from 10-12 plants, this year we have about 40 tomatoes from 12 plants.  Not sure whether that's the weather we've had or the new planters we're trying out, which are a lot shallower than the old ones.


I think they grow better outside and have more flavour than ones grown in the greenhouse.  Any unripe ones now are fine to eat cooked, fried green tomatoes etc.  I've just made a sauce that keeps in the fridge for 5 months with some of mine, olive oil, garlic, tomatoes, salt and pepper a little sugar....


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## Jodee

Runner Beans have done well this year and still going....


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## TheClockworkDodo

Our runner beans are really poor this year, I had thought it was the weather but if yours are doing really well maybe there is something wrong with mine - we usually get loads.  We have got loads of tomatoes this year though, they are much happier than they were last year.  And we are struggling to keep up with all the blueberries again!


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## Leadinglights

TheClockworkDodo said:


> Our runner beans are really poor this year, I had thought it was the weather but if yours are doing really well maybe there is something wrong with mine - we usually get loads.  We have got loads of tomatoes this year though, they are much happier than they were last year.  And we are struggling to keep up with all the blueberries again!


I freeze any excess blueberries and they are fine when thawed. My runner beans also haven't done very well but are suddenly after some wet weather starting to spring into life. Tomatoes coming out of my ears. Sweet corn rubbish as it was trashed by badgers.


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## TheClockworkDodo

Leadinglights said:


> I freeze any excess blueberries and they are fine when thawed.


Thanks @Leadinglights - I'll bear that in mind if we can't manage to eat them all fresh.  They usually ripen more gradually, this year they've suddenly all ripened at once!


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## Robin

TheClockworkDodo said:


> Our runner beans are really poor this year, I had thought it was the weather but if yours are doing really well maybe there is something wrong with mine - we usually get loads


I grow runner and french beans, and I usually find that one or other of them does well, but not both. This year, the french beans have been really prolific, but the runners have struggled. I don’t think they set well in really dry weather, and although we tried to keep them watered, a few watering cans worth is no substitute for some decent rain showers.


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## eggyg

Our French beans have done really well this year. Had the last stragglers off the plant the other night. I also froze loads and have two big bags of them in the freezer. We have green tomatoes coming out of our ears, we’ve made chutney, got some in a drawer with a ripe banana and tomorrow I’m making spicy fried green tomatoes, and courgette pakoras for tea both using gram ( chickpea) flour, will serve them with raita and mango chutney.Any other suggestions for recipes?


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## everydayupsanddowns

Almost time to put the garden to bed for the winter.

Another scoop or two out of the pond, cut back the flagging plants, give the grass a final (?) trim, and try to find somewhere to overwinter a few pots.


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## Robin

everydayupsanddowns said:


> Almost time to put the garden to bed for the winter.
> 
> Another scoop or two out of the pond, cut back the flagging plants, give the grass a final (?) trim, and try to find somewhere to overwinter a few pots.


I keep trying to put the garden to bed, but it’s got other ideas. I have loads of Calendula out, just where I need the space to plant some bulbs I bought the other day, and I went to cut back the honeysuckle this afternoon and decided to leave it because it was full of flower buds! I can never bear to pull things out or cut things off that are still flowering!


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## travellor

All my chilli plants have come in.
This year I'm going to try to overwinter them inside after talking to the local community garden people.


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## Barrowman

I've usually potted up all my Geranium plants from their summer border before now, looked at them again today and they all have new flower stems and are looking really healthy.

It's been suggested that I leave them in the ground, cut them right back to ground level, cover them with bubble wrap and cover that with straw or grass cuttings - don't know if that works for me, I would have thought the roots would have gone rotten over winter. Any comments are appreciated.


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## travellor

Barrowman said:


> I've usually potted up all my Geranium plants from their summer border before now, looked at them again today and they all have new flower stems and are looking really healthy.
> 
> It's been suggested that I leave them in the ground, cut them right back to ground level, cover them with bubble wrap and cover that with straw or grass cuttings - don't know if that works for me, I would have thought the roots would have gone rotten over winter. Any comments are appreciated.



I'd go for it.
What can you lose?
Or try a few, and pot the rest?


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## grovesy

Well I only got rid of my tomatoes in mid week, both greenhouse and outdoor ones.


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## everydayupsanddowns

Barrowman said:


> It's been suggested that I leave them in the ground, cut them right back to ground level, cover them with bubble wrap and cover that with straw or grass cuttings - don't know if that works for me, I would have thought the roots would have gone rotten over winter. Any comments are appreciated.



I left an agapanthus in the ground last winter with bubble wrap around it, and that was happy enough. 

We’ve had a pelargonium in a wall pot on the front of the house which has managed to survive for about 4 years now! It has good drainage, and doesn‘t get too wet.


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## ColinUK

I’m amazed you all live in places with real winter weather! Down here nothing needs to be protected over winter. Even the banana survives just fine outside without any protection.


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## eggyg

We sort of put our garden to bed yesterday. Last grass cut, tomatoes and courgette plants pulled up. Weeded raised beds, picked up apples, and just give it a good tidy. Still got swedes, leeks, parsnips and sprouts growing. I only bring the olive tree in. Agapanthus just stays uncovered. It’s still very green and hadn’t started to die back yet. Fuchsia still blooming, that gets chopped in spring. And my coral rose is still flowering. Won’t be doing much more until spring now. That seems a long way off.


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## grovesy

For the last few years our grass has needed cutting all year round.


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## Barrowman

travellor said:


> I'd go for it.
> What can you lose?
> Or try a few, and pot the rest?


I think I will take your advice @travellor and pot half of them up, leave the rest outside covered up and I might just leave one plant uncovered and see what happens to it over winter.


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## Barrowman

everydayupsanddowns said:


> I left an agapanthus in the ground last winter with bubble wrap around it, and that was happy enough.


I've had agapanthus in the ground for around 22 years now, @everydayupsanddowns I never cover it up I just cut it back to ground level when the flowers have all died back and that's it - it may be one of the hardy varieties I can't remember now but it always provides lots of blooms.


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## Leadinglights

Anybody know anything about figs. Below is the pic of our fig tree, we had about 15 ripe figs and these are what are left. A mixture of the bigger ones about the size of a lime and the smaller ones the size of a grape. No hope of the bigger ones ripening this year but do we remove them just leaving the small ones for next year's crop.
In hindsight we should probably have removed some of the fruit to allow the others to grow bigger.


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## everydayupsanddowns

Barrowman said:


> I've had agapanthus in the ground for around 22 years now, @everydayupsanddowns I never cover it up I just cut it back to ground level when the flowers have all died back and that's it - it may be one of the hardy varieties I can't remember now but it always provides lots of blooms.



I looked ours up last year (it was a bulb that went in).

Apparently the ones that stay in the green all year round are happier left alone with perhaps a bit of bubble wrap around them. I got the impression the ones that died back were a bit less frost hardy and may benefit from being brought under cover if in a pot.

Ours is yet to flower though, so I don’t rank my expertise highly!


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## everydayupsanddowns

Don’t figs grow one year and ripen the next @Leadinglights ?


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## everydayupsanddowns

Leadinglights said:


> but do we remove them just leaving the small ones for next year's crop.



Anything useful here?


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## Leadinglights

everydayupsanddowns said:


> Anything useful here?
> 
> View attachment 22825


Very useful thank you, that is about the clearest description of what to do that I have seen. Better get to it and take off those bigger fruits.


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## everydayupsanddowns

Leadinglights said:


> Very useful thank you, that is about the clearest description of what to do that I have seen. Better get to it and take off those bigger fruits.



Ah the trusty ‘garden expert’ RHS paperbacks (Fruit Expert this one)

That Hessayon bloke knows his onions. And figs.


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## travellor

I just collected some windfall pears.
Now in the wine making bucket


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## eggyg

everydayupsanddowns said:


> Ah the trusty ‘garden expert’ RHS paperbacks (Fruit Expert this one)
> 
> That Hessayon bloke knows his onions. And figs.


Mr Eggy swears by his trusty, over 35 year old, Vegetable Expert by the same fella. He certainly does know his alliums!


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## Robin

I keep trying to put our garden to bed, but it keeps fighting back. I picked some autumn fruiting raspberries today, having thought I picked the last of them a few days ago.


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## grovesy

Robin said:


> I keep trying to put our garden to bed, but it keeps fighting back. I picked some autumn fruiting raspberries today, having thought I picked the last of them a few days ago.
> View attachment 22838


No longer have them in my garden but when I did I have had right up until Xmas.


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## Barrowman

This would be the second ‘last’ time I have cut the lawns for the last time this year, I cleaned, oiled the mower and put to bed three weeks ago, and now it wants cleaning again.


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## Ditto

I had one raspberry and now there's tons, haven't a clue what to do with them. That garden is far too big, I never completely get on top of it. It feels too wet to garden at the mo. If I could just do an hour a day I would be happy.


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## nonethewiser

Back garden is like mudbath with all this rain, dare not go out as it chews up grass, first few days of dry weather need to get  out there & do some tidying up.


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## Robin

Just had the fright of my life! Decided it was safe to cut back the honeysuckle in the back, because the nearby wasps nest has been inactive for over a week, when I suddenly heard a very loud buzzing! Fortunately, before I shinned down the steps and ran for cover, I noticed a very large bumblebee pottering along quite happily, so calmed down and carried on.
Found a Spring primrose in flower. We also have summer roses and penstemons out, and the Acer is looking nicely Autumnal. Oh, and the winter jasmine is out. Definitely a four seasons garden at the mo.


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## TheClockworkDodo

I ordered some bare root strawberries a few weeks ago in Garden Organic sale ... got email on Monday to say they were en route - and they arrived today!  Late afternoon when it was already too dark to go out and plant them in pots and too cold to put the bare roots outside, especially as they needed water.

Spent half the afternoon dashing about trying to work out what to do with them - they are now in the shower in the downstairs bedroom as that's the coolest place in the house!  Looking at the weather forecast they are likely to be there for some time.  Good job we have a bath upstairs!

Why on earth did they send them out this week, of all weeks?! - they must have seen the forecast!


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## Ditto

I'm not buying any more plants. That's me done. I bought a black Elder and put the pot when it came on the window ledge in the kitchen, plants seem to like it there. Never looked at it, didn't breathe on it, just made sure it was moist enough and then it keeled over. So disheartened I never even moved the plantpot, I just stuck it in a Christmas pot and left it. I think it might have sent up more shoots, unless it's weeds. I'm ignoring it while quietly praying. I really want a black Elder, they're beautiful.  

Our ground is solid, never get a strawberry in there!


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## Leadinglights

My winter flowering jasmine seems to love this weather and is in full flower, better than I have ever seen before. I gather part of the secret is to cut back hard in spring.


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## rebrascora

Leadinglights said:


> My winter flowering jasmine seems to love this weather and is in full flower, better than I have ever seen before. I gather part of the secret is to cut back hard in spring.


That is useful to know thanks as mine needs a massive overhaul and I have not got around to researching when is the best time. Must remember to do it this spring.


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## Robin

My Jasmine has been doing well too. But until this week, I had penstemon and calendula out, and even a few osteospermum, now all sadly caught by the frosts this week. I picked the last rosebuds and brought them into the house a few days ago, to save them.


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## TheClockworkDodo

Ditto said:


> I'm not buying any more plants. That's me done. I bought a black Elder and put the pot when it came on the window ledge in the kitchen, plants seem to like it there. Never looked at it, didn't breathe on it, just made sure it was moist enough and then it keeled over. So disheartened I never even moved the plantpot, I just stuck it in a Christmas pot and left it. I think it might have sent up more shoots, unless it's weeds. I'm ignoring it while quietly praying. I really want a black Elder, they're beautiful.
> 
> Our ground is solid, never get a strawberry in there!


I wouldn't put strawberries in the ground, was going to grow them in hanging baskets to keep them off the soil and keep the slugs off them.  But I've had to temporarily plant them in small pots as no idea how long it will be before I can put them outside.  They are now back in the shower in their pots and I'll have to give the shower a good clean when I can finally get them outside!

Elder is fully hardy, down to about -20 - it may have been a bit too warm for it on an inside window ledge.  Or it may have needed a bit more space for its roots.  Or it may have had Verticicillium wilt, likely if it got too hot - in which case it may recover if put outside, though I'm not sure I'd put it straight from a warm kitchen into the current outside temperature, I'd want to acclimatise it gradually!


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