Awful weather - typical Brits talk

-taff

Well that was a good dolllop of water yesterday, not enough but a good start. I went to a local walled garden, it has been a bit restored, the fruit trees and trees in general are really good but the planting is limited with four grass quadrants, still an enjoyable walk around though and also I knew nearly all the plants! I was very chuffed with myself. That's not going to last long

PP can't beat a free plant. You know what people are doing if you ever see someone standing in front of something just looking at a plant, they're looking for potential pieces to slip in pocketses...[I don't do that though no guv...] but I did see someone who mentioned that a small plastic bag and a bit of damp kitchen roll might come in handy if it were in your pocketses when you were out and about..:) I'd never even heard of dunnocks before this thread so I'm super impressed! And how nice the parents bring the babbies ot se you! probably... Uiah Heap - :::snort::: love the geum too, one of my favourites [ Dustys too]

greenbee, not surprised you ran out of energy moving allthat lot about...and that's why I copied Farways garden cart [ mine tips too, very handy] good luck getting ready!

2p no pruning for old roses? Well, they are without doubt on the list now...although I'm sure my sister still does the ones my parents put in, do old roses count if they were planted 45 years ago? bloody hell, I'd never even counted their age before...hope your domestic nonsense is over with. 

Dusty congratulations in advance of babies appearing because I'll forget otherwise. I asked about the gardening style thingy because I don't think it's ever actually been a thought for me until the last eight or so years. I've always grown vegetables, never flowers and never an actual garden until we moved here and there was a front garden, so while I might have watched some gardening programs, the history of gardening and contemporary gardening styles didn't really register until the last few years if that makes sense. Bee bum fanstastic as always

ybe it's usually wine vinegar used to preserve homemade stuff in jars, veg and fish type things [ first it's boiled in half vinegar and water or half white wine and water] then preserved under oil] don't know about the south, but apple vinegar is also used on salads in the north. I htink it's just the taste really, whichever one you prefer. I use white wine, red wine and apple vinegar when I cook depending [ never balsamic, too sweet for me and I'm used to dipping my bread with one the first three vinegars and oil - it's my favourite part of having a salad] Sorry your spirea picture lied to you too but thanks for telling me

Farway, yeah, always annoys me when people bang on about lillies being poisonous to cats or whatever. If you haven't found a dead cat in a bunch of lillies it's probably not going to happen. Because they're not as stupid as humans. That's a monster pyracantha! And are you falling out of love with your volunteer garden?

So here are my photos, first one is part of the front garden mish mash, note the geum at the front, it usually flowers largely and profusely but lack of winter water has dried it all out there despite extra compost.

pink_poppy

Oh, they are super cute freebies, taff, lucky you   

The Geum is the one I brought back from the dead, so I'm really pleased with it. I know it's got dandelions in the pot, but one of these days I'll get the plant in the ground, just not sure where yet. Dusty's Rosemoor one is lovely - I wish I could remember what mine is called - I have a memory like a sieve...

Glad everyone got some sleep last night, Dusty - fingers crossed for new baby news later    

It's probably a silly question, but what's the difference between a deep bed and a raised bed (for your strawberries)??

wort, hope work isn't too bad these days. I noticed the website was down. We have rain forecast for the weekend too.

Lovely Allium pic, Farway. Bee spotted   

greenbee, what gravel have you gone for?? I'm still deliberating on what to use for my garden. You're a busy bee, as always.

Another sunny day here - it's going to be a shock to the system when the rain comes back.

-taff

pp, I think your geum is a Koi [ but I could be wrong]

greenbee

PP - I've just got 20mm graded shingle for driveways. It comes from the local quarry. Enough of a difference in colour to the grey paving to lift it a bit, but natural-looking. Someone had suggested grey/white chippings, but I'm trying to lift the grey, not reinforce it 😬

Most of the pots are in place, and the water bowl, but I'm waiting for a delivery of three more pots so I can move the empty ones around and get everything in place before I fill them. Sweet peas are waiting in the wings to go into some, but the pansies and violas I'd expected to be over by now are still going strong. I'll have to see whether I can squeeze the sweet peas and canes in with them. The plan for next year is to do a 'lasagne' planting of bulbs in as many as possible so that they're done in the autumn for the spring, but the pansies etc have been nice and cheerful for the past month or so. 

I've got just over a week off starting tomorrow, so I'm hoping to get a lot of stuff done. I should probably write a list!

twopenny

Enjoy your holiday Greenbee. Don't make it all work and no play .

Picked and ate 7 strawberries yesterday and another today. 🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓
These were the ones that I got from T&M of 4 varieties. I'd like to make a comparison for you but a) the blackbirds dug up the labels and b) frankly they all taste like strawberries.
There's one called Honey something. That was a bit sweeter.

Deadheading, clipping lawn edges on the no mow May front lawn.

YoungBlueEyes

Ooh a new baby Dusty! Congrats to DD2 and Mr DD2. Is everyone doing well? Has an unsniggerable moniker been settled on? (Speaking of names you know, I came across a name the other week doing files - W4nkerer - and that's a woman  

Uriah Heap, perfect name pp. I don't know what your geum is, I think my one's the same but I've no label. Or petals on it now after all that wind, but it was lovely while it lasted  

I'd need about 30 hours in my day to get done what you get done gb, you don't stop! I'd say enjoy your week off but you'll prolly be knakkered at the end of it and need another holiday  

Farway ring your council and tell 'em I'll do it for £249,999 Explosion of aphids here too, I'm at my roses twice a day squidging the beggars off. I'd leave them to the birds but they'd never get through them all. How did your volunteer meeting go? Are there ructions afoot?

Fingers crossed your dark leaved prunus cheers up wort.... any idea what;s up with it?

Thanks for the vinegar info taff, V interesting eh. And you're welcome re the spirea - I can't honestly recommend it, it looks and smells like the cat wee tree and even flowers at the same time. It was dear too :rolleyes:

Mmmm strawberries 2p yummy yum yum  

I've remembered to refresh before posting this time (sorry Dusty, I missed your fab cottage and Bee Bum ) 

Day off today so I'm up early to get the full of it - I've my friend's dog coming round for the weekend cos she's away in Manc. So food shopping and Domestic Nonsense etc to be done by 12. Hopefully Dog settles down nicely cos I've a tom forest to get potted on. 5'c and a bit sunny out there now, with a high of 17' to come. Possibly. No rain though, that's for tomorrow, perhaps, but the wind I could do without actually. 

Dustyevsky

Brief entry this morning, but as we all know, brief entries can still have consequences!

Continuing on a totally unrelated theme , it's a boy!  6lbs something, looking exactly like all the others when a few minutes old. I'm just glad the waiting's over (not as much as Mum! 3 days! ) and everyone's happy & healthy. No name yet. I think we were about a week naming Mum, so no pressure there. 

-taff said:

pp, I think your geum is a Koi [ but I could be wrong]

Could be. Certainly not a carp suggestion!    Sorry, couldn't resist.

Quick update: Deep bed for toms now finished, but needs much soil to fill it. Bluey, I agree, the wind has been horrible, but at least it was going the right way to cool me down in the poly yesterday.

At this time of year, on fine, calm evenings, we get an aerial display. The swallows and house martins come down low to hoover-up the flies. I try to capture this with the camera, but it's usually a fruitless exercise. At best, I get maybe one or two blurred shapes in the pictures. I fired off another dozen pictures a few nights ago, and just for once, the birds were in all the right places.

Hope the meeting sorted things out Farway. If it ain't broke......

Working_Mum

Good morning everyone,
What a gorgeous start to the day here - I had to take my jacket off when walking Romeo in the early morning sunshine. Came home and couldn't find my back door key - it had fallen out of my pocket en route I think - anyway disaster averted as I remembered I left a spare one in the welly (in case the kids every forgot their keys!!). Watered my plants and whilst doing so stumbled across this little beauty having breakfast



I planted 3 Sambuca Nigras in my forest-y bit last year wort - I hadn't realised they got big! I will have to try and coax them into staying at a nice height but bushing out! I noticed one of them has creamy flowers on it so was very happy when I saw that this morning.

My JA's are growing like topsy too Farway - I hadn't been too worried about their lack of flower buds etc as I know they tend to bloom in late summer / early autumn. I saw one was struggling this morning - looked a bit nibbled so have surrounded it with crushed eggshells in case it is being attacked by the slugs grrrrrrr. How did the meeting at the volunteer place go? Trouble at mill?

I adore thrushes Poppy - you are so lucky to have them as regular visitors to your garden - you must be doing something right. I have seen one in my garden a couple of times.

I am coveting those FB finds -taff - I love a bit of rustic concrete which has aged well! You lucky thing. Inspired me to consider getting up early and heading out to the car boot that is on each Sunday - I may venture out and scavenge for pots / containers for my garden.

You always seem so busy GB - I hope you have a good break - a change is as good as a rest and all that. I imagine you'll have your To Do list in order (even if it's in your head!) by the weekend.

CONGRATULATIONS on the safe arrival of your grandson Dusty - such wonderful news all round. I love babies - particularly when they get those scrummy rolls of fat on their thighs! Edible. I love the light on the swifts pic - I imagine it's a sight to behold when they're in full swoop. I remember them from childhood spent in Hampshire but I can't recall seeing it happen so much up here.

I love the idea of growing my breakfast 2P - have made a note for next year. 

OT it's a sunny 15' here at the moment but feels much warmer. 85% chance of rain tomorrow so that'll see me taking my cushions into the garage overnight! I will leave you with a pic of my Christina Aguilera's - the light was gorgeous this morning but they're actually a deep velvety purple. 



Have a smashing long weekend everyone.

((WM))

wort

Still not caught up, but hopefully congratulations are in order now for Dusty ? Is the new GC blue or pink? Hope Dd is doing well.

Farway your Painting the “widows” comment made me giggle , I could do with a spruce up.

YBE I have 3 spirea all different 2 of which have lovely coloured leaves during the year. They take a good cut back if you want to keep it in check.

My white rose is flowering , I think it’s David Austin tranquillity, friends bought when my hubby died , it has a slight scent. I had a small flowering pink rose that was either climbing or rambling it has tiny thorns that catch your clothes. I thought I had dug it up and put in a pot but part of it is still there so I have two 🙄

Green bee hope you moved the gravel etc ok, I couldn’t manage that anymore.

Suns out ,blue sky . Nicer than yesterdays cloud, with chilly wind.

wort

Farway I ended up digging out my pyracantha, it was huge and grew too much I couldn’t keep it under control, I put root killer on the stump, but it’s gone under the fence and grows in the field at the back 😳 I just keep the the top from growing above my fence!!! 

I bought koi geum last year but no sign of it this year, 
WM my sambuca has a pinky wine coloured flower ,they are a worthy plant in my eyes. Hope your keys turn up.
Farway any sign of your Erigeron? 

Dusty I normally have swifts / house Martin / swallows , never sure what they are as they move so quickly ! Not seen them yet though.