Awful weather - typical Brits talk

pink_poppy

I'll leave the gardeners on here to answer your question, bonnet   

I'm up before the birds again this morning...

YBE, it was a family member that soured my DD's move and scammed us out of a chunk of money. Completely in character though and will never change - always been a selfish so and so and always will be.

I thought twopenny's bunny was a wee pig - I must make an optician appointment    

Dusty, I love that 'whatever the heck it is' - what a funny looking thing. Enjoy your time with the grandchildren.

Farway, fingers crossed for the new peas.

Can the amaryllis growers on here tell me if these are flower buds, please...


They're plants from previous years that I rescued from the garage a few weeks ago. I've been feeding them Baby-Bio every couple of weeks. Pic number one I'm hopeful, but pic number two looks a bit dodgy.

This is the one I'm growing for MiL. Definitely flower buds (red), but I'm surprised how short the stem is on them and no sign of a second lot of flowers so far. Not just any amaryllis either (you know the rest)...


OT - looking like a miserable day ahead - grey skies and 4 or 5 degrees.

wort

YBE I think maybe you are thinking of wintersweet, which should smell nice, I always fancied one but didn’t get round to it then had no room. Mine is Viburnum.
I’m with you my sheep would have water pistols to catch the dogs peeing on my garden at the front 😜 the Fish one is fun love his wellies.

My tulips are left out in pots all year they are close to the house on the east side. Mine are shooting up now . I’m in the northwest England. Not sure if yours need a bit more care if they’ve been kept under cover till now. I’m sure the others will be able to help.

The weekends been Baltic here again, 4 layers is a minimum 🥶 out tonight after work ,another birthday meal. Makes a change from uniform or Pjs though. 33 f here at the moment. 

Dustyevsky

diveunderthebonnet said:

Can i ask you gardeners a question ,i planted tulips in pots to hopefully flower in spring ,put the pots in the greenhouse for protection from the winter .
Noticed today they are growing ,stems about 1 inch out of the soil ,do you think it is too early to put them outside yet? We live in the NE of England and still get an occasional frost

If they've been in an unheated greenhouse, they'll probably be fine going out now. You have no frost forecast up there this week, so now seems ideal. If the temperatures in the greenhouse rise too much, they might grow too tall and weak.

Farway

Morning all, it's bright grey this morning, but very cold, Baltic & bitter even

PP Amaryllis question, yes, they are buds, Height seems to vary, two of mine are tall, and one short. Same with flower buds, one has four, others just one or two.

Bonnet, tulips, I'm with Dusty, should be fine to put out now, break them in gradually by leaving them close to the shelter of the greenhouse while they get used to real weather. Then into the final spot once it really warms up & life appears.

Dusty, I did see price of Hilux, but there were some cheaper ones,, and if driving into hedges etc then as you say, looks are not a problem

Talking of prices, I was looking up car insurance & why it cost so much, down to modern cars & cost of repairs it seems. 

They gave an example of the modern wrap round laser burn eyes out headlights, £2500 fitted replacement! Gulp, makes new "old bangers" beyond economical repair, sometimes

They also cited the cost of one accident, A Tesla hit a Ferrari . Eye watering, good job the Ferrari didn't have a star footy player in it with whiplash.

Pea sowing update. Binned the old 2011 ones, the 2012 ones are not looking too well, trying on their horned helmets I think.

The Hurst GS sowing, so far so good

It is only an experiment to see about pea shoots as a green indoor crop, so only using old seed I had loitering about, not buying fresh.

While hunting for the restricted growth dahlias , I found Rocket seeds, I may sow them in a pot later, for a bit of early fresh greens.

Message from my Council, about subsidised nut bush, seems shortage of Filberts, and would I mind a Cob nut instead?

I said I want a Filbert only, because I'm really after the red catkins & foliage, the squirrels will have the nuts anyway

Collecting them on Saturday, see what turns up then, including Apple choices.

pink_poppy

Thanks, Farway   First time I've brought an amaryllis back to life!! I seem to remember the flowers are a bit peely-wally (insipid looking), but I'll still be amazed pleased if they open. I'll post pics if and when the big event happens    

So cold here, with a yellow warning for snow and ice tomorrow. There's already a fair bit of snow on the hills.

A tiny bit of 'gardening' done - picking moss up from the driveway. I also chopped a few heat logs into smaller pieces and brought more logs into the house, anything to keep warm. I noticed the snakes-head fritillaries I bought last year have started to come up - they're still in the pots (of course) so hope they do actually flower again - one was the more traditional purple colour and the other one was white. My yellow crocuses are still flowering too, so maybe the birds (pigeons??) haven't spotted them yet.

twopenny

Sheesh I don't know where this warming up has gone but it's still darn chilly here.

4c, a bit of Easterly but seems to have gone. Mid grey.

Congrats on getting your Amerwhatsit to come into bud.

I could never get orchids to reflower and then suddenly I'm overrun. Seems light is the key.

Farway, what colour are the catkins on the Cob nut? Red would be nice but yellow is still outstanding and cheery on a winters day.

Diver, I know I'm in the SW but yes the tulips are up a bit but they've just sat like that for some time. I have mine under the eves of the house where it's sheltered the most. They;ll stay like that until it gets brighter and warmer. The leaves will be feeding the bulb.

Listened to 4 or 5 episodes of GQT while I did the edges of the kitchen ceiling but not bright enough to see which patches have been missed. It'll keep for another day.

Also cleaned and polished cupboards and appliances and new net curtain.

All clean and tidy - So that should guarantee that no one will call.

Thought about going out for a walk but honestly, leg k******d, it's darn cold and damp and I'm not sure the fight is worth it.

Would fancy putting the heating on and snoozing on the sofa but there's nothing but junk on the telly again.

That makes me feel very lazy but maybe I'm saving myself for when the brighter weather comes?

Working_Mum

Hello everyone,
All of this talk of propagators has made me wonder whether I need one - I'm not thinking for this year but maybe towards the end of the year ready for next growing season!

I have spent the weekend sorting out my garage and installing galvanised shelving - it has also meant that other jobs have appeared on my list; mainly selling furniture on the Bay of ee from my garage that I had been using as storage! I'm pleased with the results so far as it'll mean I have incorporated all the shizz from my green metal shed into the garage and I will have a working area (old tall science tables I've had for about 18 years!!). I'm slightly embarrassed about how excited I am to be having a work area!

Second shout up for a paint sprayer here 2P - I love mine - which was great as I had loads of lovely flat new plaster to prep and paint a few years ago. Easy work with a sprayer (and now safely stored on a shelf in my garage so I know where to find it!!).

I'm sorry your daughter has been let down by a family member PP - thank goodness you can choose your friends eh? I find that amaryllis are a bit patchy height-wise after the first year  - you've got flower buds coming through so it shouldn't be too long until you're seeing gorgeous flowers!

You're very good putting your tulips into your greenhouse dub - I have dug mine straight into the ground or they're in pots which have been outside since the autumn! I feel sure yours will be fine but the advice about going gently is solid I think.

Dusty I hope you're enjoying some quality time with your family. I'm stayed at Mum's last night so early morning walk with the dog was lovely. You get a lot of sky for your money out here. The sun was definitely peeping through 



I think something must be turning as the crows were cawing so loudly it was fab. I took a pic to share - I was on the phone and my friend asked me "what the heck is going on, that racket is crazy!"



Sorry the pea experiment has fallen at the first hurdle Farway - I feel sure you'll get success soon enough. My new garage set up means I will be able to store my seeds etc correctly - I haven't bought too many packets of seeds recently but I did find three packs of Erigeron (Mexican fleabane) which I want to get into the cracks of my York stone wall and gabion seat which i made last year. I think they'll look good peeping through the stonework. 

Wishing everyone a productive week - I've been super busy again this morning but things quietened down this afty so I've had some lovely sourdough toast for lunch.

OT it is bright and cool here - forecast was for cloud but I've seen several spots of clear sky today - reason to celebrate!

((WM))

Farway

Working_Mum said:

Hello everyone,
All of this talk of propagators has made me wonder whether I need one - I'm not thinking for this year but maybe towards the end of the year ready for next growing season!

Sorry the pea experiment has fallen at the first hurdle Farway - I feel sure you'll get success soon enough. My new garage set up means I will be able to store my seeds etc correctly - I haven't bought too many packets of seeds recently but I did find three packs of Erigeron (Mexican fleabane) which I want to get into the cracks of my York stone wall and gabion seat which i made last year. I think they'll look good peeping through the stonework. 

((WM))

Propagators, I have two, one biggie with a thermostat, so old I bought it from Boots, about £20, when they sold garden stuff

The other is a small, just heated base one, which came from somewhere like Morries when they were clearing out at the end of season. This, as you mention, would be a good time for you to start mooching for one.

It was about £2 down from around a tenner

Peas, hope remains, and like you, just waiting on perfect time & decent weather to get my Fleabane into its cracks.

I bought the seeds last year, same as you, I guess, when there was much chat on here about them

 I''m going to try & mix with compost and dribble it into the cracks in my front steps and path

Dustyevsky

Can we not say dwarf dahlias on here, then? Oh, apparently we can, so maybe I've missed a joke somewhere along the way. I also thought 2p's rabbit was a pig, pp.... and I have been to Specsavers!

Not much change here yet vis-à-vis vis improved weather. .Managed to get the eldest grandchild out this morning for a couple of hours, splitting logs as I cut them. The smaller one watched from a distance and then went indoors, saying it was too cold. He was right, but with SiL helping, we half-filled the space in the woodshed.

I think a Hi-Lux is overkill for us. A plastic 4x4 , similar to the one we had previously, means we'd keep our creature-comforts. I agree about newer 'bangers' being likely to depreciate fast, as people realise the cost of after-market parts. Luckily, there is often an oriental alternative for older cars.  

I agree, pp has buds, and we had a really short Amaryllis, at about 20cm! Did something unhelpful to it beforehand, but can't recall what.

Sadly, I didn't take any photos today while we worked, so it's back to sculptural animals. This one identifies as a deer and hails from the same stable as the last.

Dustyevsky

wort said:

YBE I think maybe you are thinking of wintersweet, which should smell nice, I always fancied one but didn’t get round to it then had no room. Mine is Viburnum.
I’m with you my sheep would have water pistols to catch the dogs peeing on my garden at the front 😜 the Fish one is fun love his wellies.

The viburnum's much cheaper than wintersweet too, meaning it's much easier to propagate. We turned one or two into 25m of hedge!

A low electric fence might be just the thing! Spine, or something(!) tingling! 

Working_Mum said:

Hello everyone,
All of this talk of propagators has made me wonder whether I need one - I'm not thinking for this year but maybe towards the end of the year ready for next growing season!
.....I did find three packs of Erigeron (Mexican fleabane) which I want to get into the cracks of my York stone wall and gabion seat which i made last year. I think they'll look good peeping through the stonework.

We inherited MiL's thermostatic propagator and the controllability is worthwhile. MiL's still very much alive, but she's not looking for the work of seed raising nowadays. A thermometer is a good accessory to have too. When we were selling plants, I made a heated sand bed about 1m x 0.7m using gravel boards and old secondary glazing. It was filled with about 50kg of sand. The thermostatic cable was rated at 40w and it was economical to run.....in those days!

That idea for the Erigeron sounds interesting. I'll look forward to seeing the results.