Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Farway

Cooler and a very light sprinkle of rain, enough for me to put a waterproof on when I up the volunteer spot to water first thing

Of course, the rain has now stopped, honestly folk could spit more than the rain that fell here.

Very snazzy fireplace YBE, if you CBA there are pollen free lilies, but I expect they are the plant equivalent of vegetarian bacon.

Go for the pyracantha, as you are aware I have one, very thorny but not in my way so I just enjoy it.

Cat wee flavour flowers or maybe cat wee honey flavour? , which the bees adore, lovely yellow berries which birds also adore. 

Small birds like the thorns so they can hide from predators, all in all an asset IMO.

They can grow tall so choose the spot wisely, or you can trim, stout welders or similar gauntlets, or you'll bleed to death.

I love those bears, bet any kids look out for them

pink_poppy said:

Farway, is your Hibiscus an outdoor plant?? My Dad had one in his conservatory and as far as I know it never flowered - I really like the colour of the one you have.

Yes, outdoors, bear in mid I'm in soft sarf and hibiscus are hardy outdoor shrubs round here, AKA Rose of Sharon, late coming in to flower but exotic when they do

There are two types, one hardy, the other is the tropical indoor one, just have to be careful when buying

I grew mine from seeds as I mentioned, but growing shrubs can be bought, and given the wrong labelling buying in flower, while maybe more expensive, at least you know what you have

They grow quite quickly, so will soon fill a space

PS, flowering, needs bright light, maybe your dad's is shaded?

I've got another tom ripening, label says Sungold, but I have my doubts looking at the colour. It may be a casualty of the Great Upending.

Broad beans have definitely germinated on the kitchen paper potting on later today or tomorrow

Still attempting to get a runner bean pic

Today is carroty carrots, with foxglove second flowering, and, Far Right a shoo fly wot has self sown from last year, I'm going to leave it because it's near the edge and hopefully will not interfer too much with the carrots

pink_poppy

Glad to oblige on the lily popping addiction    I don't think I could try the dandelion trick - they're always wet from the rain here.
How did I miss those animals in the garden - I need glasses. We do have a giant gorilla statue locally - I kid you not. Also, my brother has a dinosaur 'skeleton' in his front window and he quite often hears young kids talking excitedly about it when they go past on their way to school.

Ditto re the glasses, twopenny   And being half asleep as I'd been awake since before 4am...

My Dad's Hibiscus was in a South facing conservatory, Farway. I'm wondering now what happened to it after he passed away - I'm guessing my gardener sister nabbed it - I'll have to ask her and see if it ever did flower. I'm not sure they would survive our climate (inside or outside) but I'll have a look as I'd love to have one.
Btw, I didn't know foxgloves flowered twice - I've pulled mine out   

ArbitraryRandom

Morning all. Apologies in advance, but I'm going to need some help today with confirming the ID of my brassica so I know how to care for them... 

First off, the sauce. It's nothing fancy:

Cook diced onions and leeks in a bit of butter or oil (inc the leek greens as they're the bit that's got the vitamins ) with garlic if you like it (we do). Once they're all translucent and soft, add a couple of spoons of soft cheese, creme fresh or sour cream depending on what you've got in the fridge and like - sour cream or creme fresh can curdle if added to very hot pan so temper or take off the heat for a couple of minutes to let cool before adding. Add a spoon of mustard, and a slug of chicken stock or white wine. Simmer for a couple of minutes to desired consistency and season to taste. Thyme and chives both work well, as does a splash of lemon juice if you have it. 

Now the ask. I bought 20 mixed brassica plugs (Cauliflower ‘Clapton’, Broccoli ‘Monclano’, Cabbage Savoy ‘Cordesa’ and Brussels Sprout ‘Crispus’) but the posti-packet they came in didn't specify which was which. 

Now they've grown on a bit I'm fairly sure I know which is the cabbage, and I'm reasonably confident about the broccoli, but I'd appreciate confirming - and confirming if I'm supposed to cut out the mini head now (if it's what I'm reading in gardening books is a broccoli that should be cut small and often vs a calabrese which should be left to form a large head?) 

Cabbage savoy (99% sure):


Broccoli (which I THINK is a calabrese... but don't know what size it should be when I cut it - currently about 2 inches): 


That means by process of elimination I think must be the cauliflower: 


But the real problem child is telling the difference between the broccoli and the brussels... I think this is sprouts as it's growing more tall than the other one and is purplish - but any advice on what I should be looking for? And should I be removing the bottom leaves (I'm finding mixed advice online). 



Any other brassica growing tips appreciated  

twopenny

I think you've got it right.

Tip. Given many years ago by two different people - walk around them, press down hard (not sure how you do that in raised beds ) because they like very firm soil. I makes them firm up in the middle too and make good hearts.

With those big leaves they tend to blow over in the wind too.

Otherwise I just leave them and they get on with it.

Oh and repeated check for butterfly eggs and caterpillars   

Farway

Arbs, likewise I reckon you have them sussed.

The bottom sprout leaves, remove the manky dead & purple ones, they add nothing now & are just a home for whitefly, which just love Brussels.

Keep checking under the leaves, for whitefly & butterfly eggs, spraying is the only way I've found fro whitefly, and even that is not 100%

Growing in buckets is not ideal, TBH, as 2P says, they will get blown over, top-heavy, a tall & wet plant in a mid-December gale has no chance

Time to get thinking cap on & come up with SOS [Save Our Sprouts].

Once you decide on permanent winter quarters, a hefty stake on the windward side may help

Started summer pruning my apples, but rain came along, not a lot but enough to drive a wimp like me indoors

Loads of ripe Merton blackberries, I'll pick some tomorrow hopefully

My grapes are really swelling now, just sorting out buying some mesh, anti bird & wasp , fruit bags. Not cheap but having waited since 2018 to taste one I think I'm worth it.!

Sampled my Bloody butcher & Veranda red tomatoes. Couldn't wait any longer.

The BB are more my taste, I found V red a bit sharp, but perhaps if I'd left it to fully ripen?

twopenny

What have you found Farway?

I got silly amounts and silly prices apart from an unknown website that looked odd.

Found these witn 20pcs.......

https://!!!!!!.com/ms98eyrz

pink_poppy

Thanks for the recipe, AR, sounds really nice and not too tricky to make. Funny you should mention about sour cream splitting - that's exactly what happened to me last week when I was making creamy mushrooms with some leftover sour cream. I'll know how to avoid it happening next time
And wow to your brassicas - I'm coming to your house for Christmas!!    

One of my unknown variety tomatoes is ready to eat too, Farway. I did ask lovely neighbour (who gave me the two plants) what they were, but he couldn't remember   

Well, SUNday is certainly not living up to it's name... grey and rainy here, with only one hour where there's 0% chance of rain. Even worse tomorrow with a weather warning for heavy rain. Don't you just love August...    

wort

Pleased to see you back Dusty, just in time for the hay pic too! 

Work yesterday so it was lovely and warm with a slight fresh breeze, perfect. Got up this morning to grey and and mizzly rain.

Working mum pretty flower colours together, whenever I try to cut flowers from the garden I end up with all sorts of critters in the house, any tips? 
YBE I also cut the stamens, had too many accidents with clothes and walls stained yellow. But I love the smell and himself doesn’t go near them. I had pyracantha for about 15 years a great evergreen and the birds think they were sparrows loved it 😉 took it out after needing more room and thorns getting bigger, like most things if you’ve the time to keep it to a manageable size it’s a goody.

Not had salmon for a while , may dip in the freezer for some for tea whilst the weather isn’t looking salady.

Dustyevsky

Apologies for disappearing a mere day after returning, but yesterday I spotted the opportunity to venture into 2p's area, with the rare chance to visit 4 NGS gardens for a single entry fee. One is at 950', while the 3 others are in the valley below, made famous by the classic novel,'Lorna Doone.'

My walking friend was sceptical, but she found herself enjoying 'sitoooterie' spotting and chatting with owners, whose soils have similar qualities to her own clay stodge. As for me, I was delighted to see 3/4 of the gardens had worse willowherb infestations than ours!

Here is the highest of about 6 sitooteries in the moorland garden...perhaps a little worse for wear!

And this is the view over the property's fruit garden, with a gap in the hills beyond, where the sea is sometimes glimpsed. Not yesterday, though!

The farmhouse (left) is very old, so the terracing was probably done hundreds of years ago. I think it's fair to say the current owners spend more time on the ornamental gardens below the house, and on mowing the grass paths, hundreds of metres long, joining the various parts.

I'm annoyed with myself for not capturing more of this garden's steepness, but here's a shot that gives some idea. There were 5 levels, the last one being wild with a stream.

A second sitooterie with a very old stone seat.

YoungBlueEyes

2p before you set fire to a dandelion give it a gentle wiggle to give any bugs in there chance to fly off. I don't know if anything lives in them but you never know. Also make sure your lighter's full, once you get started you'll be away  

I've decided the pyracantha can stop if it wants to, but I'll maybe move it. There was a garden where I used to live years ago that had one. It was either massive and they'd trimmed it into the shape of a hedge, or it had grown up all through an existing hedge and taken over. The flowers smelt so creamy and lovely and the whole thing was alive with twittering wee birds, I loved it Your carrotty carrots are coming on eh Farway I'll have to look up Shoo Fly in a minute. You've definitely waited long enough for your grapes, they'd better be delicious!  I'm getting tom envy... my Hanging Baskets of Barbylon ones are in the balance, and my grobag ones are very behind. I might have to do some de-armpitting so they put all their goodness into the toms. They're still flowering! The one in the little tub that has got fruits is the maybe blighty one but it's separate from the others so I'm giving it a chance. I want it to come good cos it was the yellow pear drop shaped one...

Your recipe sounds yummy Arb, I've written it down The only things I can tell you about brassicas are - don't pull your sprouts 'til they've had a good frost on them, it makes them sweet and nutty. And when you're harvesting them just chop the big stem thing and leave the sprouts on it, they'll last a bit longer in storage if they're still attached. That's it, that's all I've got. 

2p your link is showing as a string of !!!!!!'s to me. Have we glitches in the system again...? 

Seems like you're in the same weather system as Cissie then pp. Not a very summery day today, they say, but brighter days are coming, possibly. 

OT Nice and cool here at 15', high of 20' later. Cloudy and a slight breeze all day, which is good cos I've tiles coming today! Yippee!