Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Dustyevsky

Farway said:

Today is Dahlia day, this is one of Bishop's Children from seed. 

Goes into OK category, lots of foliage with flowers on top, would be fine in a big border but a space hog in my small patch.

I forgot the dahlia! I presume the foliage is dark, if it's a Bishop's love child? When Mr Fothergill had his sale on, I bought some BC seeds, so I'll be seeing for myself how they perform. Lots of foliage is welcome here to fill the borders, though in summers like we've had, they'll more likely be slug food.

The canna was worth the wait too!

YoungBlueEyes said:

Where's @taff gone? I bet she'd like the colour of your dahlia, and your canna! Come back taff, you're missing all the orange-y goodness!

How did you get on at the Autumn Show Dusty? I like your leafy butterfly Are those sedums the ones that are a bit firm to the touch..?

Perhaps taff's chilling-out after the build?   There again, it's so stressful, especially after the basics are done, and you're suddenly asked "Do you want this one...or that one? And you aren't sure! Cue visits to DIY places and poring over catalogues well into the night..... Hope it's the first scenario.

Back to the posh house visit, nearly a week ago already , and since we're on dahlias, here's one (un-named) spotted in the walled garden.

The sedums Farway & I posted are the big, fleshy ones that grow to around 40-50 cm, and then fall over. Well, mine do! Good for the insects, and for later interest, but maybe a candidate for Chelsea chopping?  I won't remember to do it anyway!

Farway

YoungBlueEyes said:

Aww Farway, vine weevils   I expect it's an age-old unanswerable question but is there anything you can do? If they're in planters/troughs can you sling everything and start again, painful as that may be? From the other side of the coin, is there anything you can introduce that'd eat them..? 
You might well be right about my rasps being mislabelled, but from my end rather than morries end. I binned the labels after I'd potted them up into big paint pots in the Spring cos I couldn’t work out which way round they went. I thought I’d rather have 3 surprises than 3 things wrongly labelled Looking at those links I think it is Fallgold actually. I wonder which one of the other 2 is Autumn Bliss then? I've that and a Loganberry. Time will tell eh. 
Farway. Have fun whizzing about at Wisley

The possible vine weevils, there are chemicals, or nematodes, both cost arms & legs, over £12 for chemical, twice that for nematodes

TBH for my amateur situation, with nothing unique in the pot it is cheaper to just empty it out & top up with fresh compost, even at 4 quid or so a bag

Or, I may rummage first in among my older concoctions in the shed and see what is there from the Old Days when stuff did what it said on the tin

I have the same berries as you, probably from the same impeccable source. The loganberry is growing a long cane, but not expecting fruit until next year. DD may get that one.

Dustyevsky said:

I forgot the dahlia! I presume the foliage is dark, if it's a Bishop's love child? When Mr Fothergill had his sale on, I bought some BC seeds, so I'll be seeing for myself how they perform. Lots of foliage is welcome here to fill the borders, though in summers like we've had, they'll more likely be slug food.

The canna was worth the wait too! :)n.

The sedums Farway & I posted are the big, fleshy ones that grow to around 40-50 cm, and then fall over. Well, mine do! Good for the insects, and for later interest, but maybe a candidate for Chelsea chopping?  I won't remember to do it anyway!

The BC dahlia has dark foliage, not quite as dark as its dad. I found the BC OK, no problems growing, but nothing show stopping or retiring to Rottery Acres in my lot.

I think they'd do well as border fillers, and you never know, just maybe next year's Show Winner in there?

The sedums, mine also fall over , I Chelsea Chopped some of the ones near my path, and if the sun ever comes back out I'll take a photo to show the effect.

I think I prefer them left intact TBH but where some are they need to be shorter. Ideally, some of those bits of bent coat hangers / welding rods put in place earlier would be the answer

Later interest is frosty in sunshine, very pretty

twopenny

Well none of the gardening got done, again. The promised sun never came out and by the time I'd lounged and shopped (Factory Shop Andrex 18 rolls for £8) blackberried (they are mostly hard due to lack of rain) it was warm if dense cloud so I decided to sit on the sand with the high tide breaking on the shore and read, drink tea. We've had so little chance to do that you have to take ever oportunity

Tomorrow will do for the cutting and such.

BTW Tescos is doing the 18 rolls for £9,95. I reckon I'll have enough to last the winter

Last night this gorgeous moon we've been getting a glimpse of was even bigger. The photo is slightly blurred as I couldn't rest on anything at the kitchen window and it had a lump of light from a cloud so it is what it is.

Gorgeous flowers Dusty and Farway. I've not managed to grow them here but I used to back in the day and earwigs were a thing with them. You never see earwigs now.

The Canna is a smasher, worth waiting for I think. Fingers crossed for a long mild spell so you can enjoy it

Wort that is a lovely sunrise. We get some here but I haven't seen one for yonks, just cloud.

I've read all todays posts but can't turn over the page to remind myself of precisely what everyone said so forgive me please if I've missed anything important. I just know your all going well.

YoungBlueEyes

With all these pictures of dahlias I'm wondering if that's what my antisocial wosnames are. I've four out now and they're all looking outwards with a thousand yard stare I'll go take a pic. That's a beautiful deep lilac colour on your one Dusty, Beloved Cousin would love that (she's into purple). I'm starting to see why people get so into dahlias. 

Posh Friend has a plant like yous call sedums but she called it an ice plant - I did get a pic. It was quite pretty looking but it was very firm to the touch. 

Farway I think you've just sorted the ID's for the other 2 plants cos one has a long arm shooting ahead of the rest, so thanks very much "Impeccable source" - <wry snigger> How was Wisley? Nice and empty now the kids have gone back or full of proper people now the kids have gone back? 

That's a beautifully atmospheric pic of the moon 2p :lovely: It reminds me of those ever 'hilarious' ones you used to get where a screaming something jumps out at you after a few seconds Sitting reading on the beach with tea to hand - that'd do rightly If my beach was easier to get to I'd never be off it.

Autumn mists and mellow fruitfulness here this morning. Cool and damp, mist lifting now, sunshine to come. Well they say that. Yesterday they said it was to be nice in the morning, showers passing over around lunch time, and then a lovely evening. The sun disappeared about 0900, it was raining within the hour and had just stopped when I rang Cissie after dinner. They don't care, really they don't.

greenbee

My one and only dahlia - donated by my neighbour. The first flowers were just pale pink - now they’re bicoloured.

YoungBlueEyes

1000 yard stares (taken yesterday morning) - 



Posh Friend’s ice plant - 

The outside of my windows were sopping this morning, so here’s a ‘framed’ pic of the not-quite-dawn 

YoungBlueEyes

Ooh bluddy 'ell, my dawn looks a bit unfocused! Love your dahlia gb  

Dustyevsky

Very atmospheric moon shot 2p. Possibly Stephen King-ish, or perhaps more Kubrick? He was good with moon stuff. Seemed very friendly with NASA, as I recall....

Dahlias? I can do more of them. Not mine, mind, and not photographically tweaked, but you're welcome. I'd not grow these myself, but I was impressed with them at the Show. The flawless attention to detail isn't in me!

Despite the imebriates saying it would rain later yesterday, and in the night, not a drop fell here. I took the opportunity to sort out the lawns grass. The growth has definitely slowed, but I'm not fooled. I remember mowing back in February when I'd thought there might be a month or two's respite. When I get to Rottery Acres, that's one thing that's going on the 'outsourced' list!

Not much else to report, Bonkers neighbour has responded to my digging a channel in the stream to concentrate the expected flow by creating a small bridge of stones with a 10cm square gap for the water to pass through! As we appear to be having fine weather for the next week or so, this won't be tested in the near future. Seeing what happens will be something to look forward to in the darker days ahead.

EDIT: Getting your dahlias to face all points of the compass like that is impressive,  Bluey.   Greenbee's bicoloured flower is totally random, and that's what I like about 'breeding' them. You never know what will turn up!

Farway

Blue sky again, but it was same yesterday then it went manky cloud

YBE Odd how your 1000 yd dahlias are looking everywhere, and greenbees St George one, plus the ones at Dusty show, such a wide variety. I once grew one of the Dinner Plate type, you know, flower the size of your head, just to see if I could.

Now I grow from [bought] seed, like Dusty says, never know what will turn up. Next year it's dwarf ones, seeds already bought in one of the clearance sales.

Eery moon 2P, I'll try to remember & take my camera with me when I go to bed, so it's to hand for moon shots when I toddle off to the loo tonight

Now sun's out, I can try for a Chelsea Chopped sedum pic later. Not much else to photograph at the moment, it's all a bit dull & not yet autumn colours.

I caught up with GW yesterday, and noted a tip about putting figs inside plastic zip lock bags on the tree, like mini greenhouses. I think that could work, so next year I'll give it a go.At least the squirrels will be able to see how their dinner is doing, like a glass door on an oven.

YoungBlueEyes said:

Farway I think you've just sorted the ID's for the other 2 plants cos one has a long arm shooting ahead of the rest, so thanks very much "Impeccable source" - <wry snigger> How was Wisley? Nice and empty now the kids have gone back or full of proper people now the kids have gone back? 

That's good now you know what one the loganberry by the sound of it

I wasn't clear, just booked a wheelchair for Wisley tomorrow, so hopefully weather will hold and I can get a few pics. Will call into Morries on the way for a Meal Deal, found that option gives more choice and much cheaper than the on site cafés

Today it's Honesty, from seed sown 2023 & overwintered. Unsure if I'll bother for 2025, but it's quite a pretty purple flower.

pink_poppy

The Aurora is expected tonight, Farway, so you could look out for that too when you're up in the middle of the night. The bright moon might scupper it a bit though. I've been thinking about where I could go to get some decent pics - there are a couple of possibilities, but there's one particular mountain that might get in the way.

We're forecast some lovely sunny days this week