Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Farway

Lying weather toads, promised rain, nowt, just dull & gloom. Which I suppose is good in a way 'cos there's a classic car show in town.

Lovely dawg there YBE, sounds like one I could manage, watching it sleep would be my limit.

YoungBlueEyes said:

JapAnes is another thing I'd love to grow but can't. I only seem to buy kamikaze ones... I see them all over in people's gardens so it's deffo user error  

Sorry to hear about your meeting Farway, that's the trouble sometimes when you can't pull rank with people, they don't bladdy listen Any way you could divide the tasks so that yous do some bits, the paid folks do their bits, and then get a watering system paid for out of petty cash...? 

I like the idea of Kamikaze JapAnes, very suitable

I wish, being a local charity there is no Petty Cash to spare, every penny is someone's donation, so we have to be very tight and limit where it goes.

Dusty, rather dull this morning, how about some cheerful osteospermums. 

I'd love some, another plant I fail to get growing here.

They'd go well in dog poo border.

Before I forget, more Free P & P for bank holiday weekend, Mr Fothergills. Hmmm, must check on osty things

Being so gloomy out, only gardening is likely to be a mooch to see what is new, or dead.

What has survived are my courgettes, went out about fortnight back, now has a wee embryo. I have high hopes this year, they are in a sunnier spot then previous years.

pink_poppy

Good morning from a very wet Scotland. Normal service has resumed    

Lovely jolly Osteospermums, Dusty. How do you keep it looking tidy?? I had one a couple of gardens ago, but it ended up looking bedraggled.

What a gorgeous wee dug, YBE. I love the colour of her. Have fun this weekend.

Sorry to hear about the rat, twopenny, I hope you can get rid of it.

Well done on the wee courgette, Farway.

I took the robin pic whilst bending down weeding because I didn't want to stand up and scare it off   He/she was literally at my feet - in the pic you can see my wellies, but I cropped that bit off.

I'm aching like mad this morning, especially my arms. I did too much yesterday, but wanted to get things sorted in the garden before the rain came. The Viburnum will have got a good watering in for sure. We're in Edinburgh tomorrow for the marathon and it's forecast rain and 40+mph winds - not good for the poor runners...

YoungBlueEyes

'Merry' is lovely, I want her. I wouldn't want the vet bills mind  

I forgot to refresh this morning and missed you again, sorry Dusty! I'd have acres of osteocheerfuls if I had room, very jolly   Is walking friend's garden about done now or is there more to do? Interesting to hear the plants that do/don't work in clay soil for that's what I have. 

I know what you mean 2p, its lovely having a dog again but she's making my heart ache.  She's a year younger than my last one - Jack - and they often walked and played together. God but I miss him.  Booo to the rat   

Not even a Heath-Robinson-stuff-yous-had-laying-about-the-place watering system Farway? Just to save it turning into another dead plant society.  (I did nearly put suicidal JapAnes, 'til I realised..)  That courgette looks happy eh  

Hope your aches sod off in time for Edinburgh tomorrow pp. You'll need fully working arms to wrap round yourself agin the cold wind.  

I've text Lovely Neighbour to see if she wants to bring Handsome round for a play. No reply yet but if she does I'll want the sun back out to get some pics... Cloudy and breezy here now. Bit Autumnal actually (secretly smiling inside. Welcome back Autumn, I've missed you!)

Save Draft, refresh... nothing :rolleyes: 

Dustyevsky

YoungBlueEyes said:

Congrats all round on the baby boy Dusty Are mother and baby doing well enough to come home? That's a great pic of swallows swifts swiflows. I can never tell them apart either... is the difference that one of them never lands or is silent or summat? The skies used to be black with them round here, but that's 20+ *eek* years ago, now I get excited if I see 4 or 5

I'm pleased to report Mum and son came home yesterday morning, and both are doing well. The 1/2 term onslaught hasn't begun here yet, so they and Dad will have a couple of days quiet to establish basic routines etc....hopefully.

Swallows call to each other, and swifts screech loudly, so the Martins must be the quiet ones. We sometimes see swallows on the ground, collecting mud for nesting. Their very short legs make them look most ungainly. I'd say we have more swallows and house martins this year than last, but spring 2024 wasn't a great one for insects.

One insect I've seen more of this year is the Orange Tip butterfly. Ladies' Smock is a key wildflower for them, so the increase in those here is probably related.

Merry is a great name for a pet. Maybe not an iguana, but I've known a cat with that name.

YoungBlueEyes said:

 Is walking friend's garden about done now or is there more to do? Interesting to hear the plants that do/don't work in clay soil for that's what I have. 

'Gardens are never done,' is what I tell her. She's starting to pull stuff out that's disliked, or in the wrong place, and the winter inundation removes plants that aren't suited. A couple of years growth on structural shrubs also does wonders. It isn't all built in a day, except on TV!

pink_poppy said:
Lovely jolly Osteospermums, Dusty. How do you keep it looking tidy?? I had one a couple of gardens ago, but it ended up looking bedraggled.
Well done on the wee courgette, Farway.
We're in Edinburgh tomorrow for the marathon and it's forecast rain and 40+mph winds - not good for the poor runners...

I don't find the bog-standard Osteos difficult. If in doubt, cut 'em back is my policy. Eventually, they get woody in the middle, and then they need re-propagating from the younger bits around the edge. I've an old clump like that at present, and it's been invaded by grass, so the lot will need digging-up and sorting-out.   There's a great spread of them on a wall in Barnstaple, where  I can't stop and take a pic, but maybe the Oogle car has snapped them:
https://www.instantstreetview.com/@51.072289,-4.086077,226h,-5.05p,2.44z,ux4N8PZQqT3j1xevMx-edg

Nope. They've gone over, need a refresh and the sun's against a good view anyway.

It looks like we'll have your wind here too today, but otherwise OK. That strong  westerly seems to be with us for days now.

Farway's beaten me with his outdoor courgette. Mine are till debating whether to live or cark it. This wind may make up their minds!

I don't think I posted the white clematis-flowered aquilegia my seed comes from. so here it is. Sometimes it seeds true.....sometimes there are variations, as wort knows!

Osteos looking better in 2009:

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0722237,-4.0860008,3a,48.9y,222.4h,78.4t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sA8TBBJUFO9RZIsaYFCxa_g!2e0!5s20090601T000000!6shttps://streetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com/v1/thumbnail?cb_client=maps_sv.tactile&w=900&h=600&pitch=11.602427374478907&panoid=A8TBBJUFO9RZIsaYFCxa_g&yaw=222.40124307796657!7i13312!8i6656?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDUyMS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw==

PS to the Mods: I don't live anywhere near the location pictured.

YoungBlueEyes

Aww good to hear everyone's home and doing well Dusty  Are they any nearer a name..? Won't be long now 'til you're doing Farway's zombie walk so the parents can get some sleep I reckon    
Oof your Aguileras are beautiful. I'm taken with them in general but the pure whites have an elegance to them that's appealing  
I've always liked Merry as a dog's name. My 'I'll have them some day even if I have to get rid of himself to do it' pair of labs will be Merry and Bramble. I don't know why I'm so struck on having a ...bich... when we only had dogs growing up *shrug* 

Deffo a lovely mild Autumn out there. It's just hoyed it down so heavily that the noise on my connie roof startled the near-deaf dog 13' currently and excessively humid. Oh and now the sun's out.  Really need to get the tom forest potted on today  

twopenny

Early start today and the sun is shining and the garden beds wet with overnight rain.
Can get the compost down and pick the red worms out for my compost heap before the blackies get them. No idea why my compost heap has lost its worms.

Busy times there Dusty. All quiet for a brief time before the baby learns to keep everyone at their beck and call. Get your rest/jobs in while you can.

osteospernums I have, originally unwillingly, as a pot plant from my neighbour. Morrie's special. I put them on a bigger pot because they didn't fit in and they carried on regardless of neglect for a year or more. Eventually I popped them in with the marigolds this spring and now love their cheeriness.
Marigolds not inclined to open this morning. Don't blame them. Ostiowhatsits on the right.


Have fleece over the cherries but high winds keep blowing it off.

Have washed out a small spray bottle to fill with jeyes fluid to spray the fence where the rat comes in. See if it works the same as it does for ants.
The pigeons usually eat the surplus bird food but they,ve gone AWOL today.

Fairway there's a home for older dogs - the oldies club, poppy's rescue etc. I once found a lovely old collie chucked out of a car. Found a lovely older lady who had it. Just wanted to sleep on the doorstep, the dog not the lady.
Hope Poppy's still upright. 

-taff

It very obligingly rained last night and is sunny now. Yetserday was a spot windy so I went to the allotment, cut grass, planted out kale, sweetcorn and chard, weeded [ another ex compost bagful of mostly bindweed - these are piled up down the bottom to get one with turning into compost themselves so at least they're somewhat useful like that] , watered a little bit. The rocket is up but not the parsley yet. Blackfly on the field beans.

pp hat a great robin photo, I've never really seen one up close before, the striations in it's feathers are lovely. And look at it's model legs! hope Edinburgh was less horrible weather..

wort, it did come with a few white pebbles! I put them in the tin bath...

Dusty, yes, I can attest to bays loving clay soil, and sandy soil, and rubbish soil, in fact, in all the locations I have it or grow it, they're all different and they grow like topsy. Osteospermums don't come back for me though...nor nasturtium. Nor salvias, so yours is now on The List...beautiful aquilegia

ybe from what I've seen, the more rubbish soil seems to suit JapAns, maybe try that? I did not realise they were on the front page, shame, I'd have liked the robin instead, or Merry Don't worry about your plants being behind, if you're counting gc plants, mine are only a few inches tall but they'll grow...and what a beautiful girl Merry is, she made me go awwwww a lot....Merry and Bramble sound cool too. I'm babysitting cats tonight called Margot and Babs

Farway omg your courgettes have courgettes! mine don't even have four leaves yet!

2p is it too dry or too hot for them? I had to pour lots of water on mine when I turned it because it's dry as a bone. Damn rats. And that's why I can't watch rescue things, it just makes me cry...If the cats decide to move on I'll be getting a dog again I think..OH has decreed no more animals [ for the now] And look at your chives!! Mine disappeared...

Farway

Weather is undecided, sun, then clouds, wish it would decide, so I can decide on tinkering outside or a bit inside

Quite windy, can't see much coming from my grapefruit flowers, which are now well opened waiting for pollen from non-existent local grapefruits.

twopenny said:

Have fleece over the cherries but high winds keep blowing it off.

Have washed out a small spray bottle to fill with jeyes fluid to spray the fence where the rat comes in. See if it works the same as it does for ants.
The pigeons usually eat the surplus bird food but they,ve gone AWOL today.

Fairway there's a home for older dogs - the oldies club, poppy's rescue etc. I once found a lovely old collie chucked out of a car. Found a lovely older lady who had it. Just wanted to sleep on the doorstep, the dog not the lady.

Use clothes pegs for the fleece, just peg to branches, like horizontal washing.

By coincidence, I covered what cherries I could yesterday, my tree is a bit of awkward shape to cover, I have to do a bit here & a bit there, so always gaps for sneaky critters to get in

Hope the JF works, in theory it should because rats are very scent wise, can sniff humans on traps for instance

But even if JF just disorientates them, it's a plus. 

Did the JF work OK on your ants, BTW?

I like the idea of an older dog, but common sense says no

I can just see me tripping over a sleeping dog, or it's lead, and then being found half-eaten by them. 

OK, exaggerated a bit for dramatic effect, but you get the idea.

YoungBlueEyes said:

 Won't be long now 'til you're doing Farway's zombie walk so the parents can get some sleep I reckon    

It was Dusty zombie walking, but I have done similar. 

I used to Zombie feed, baby cradled in crook of arm, bottle plugged in its mouth, me zonked out.

By accident this method did stop them waking up for feeds in the middle of the night, guess even the young minds realised it was never as comforting as they thought it should be

Like the white clematis-flowered aquilegia Dusty, makes my midget purple one look very dismal, but after the trouble I had even getting one to grow I'll settle on that, and stick to courgettes this season

Actually I'm surprised at it, normally my courgette attempts rot away, maybe better weather at the critical time?

And my cucumber, outdoor, has flowers so hopes there as well

Very tempted to pull some rhubarb later, just to sample it

I have two plants, in large pots, one from neighbour last year, one from T & M this year, on offer.

Both have done very well & I think a couple of sticks from each will at least give me a taste without setting plants back much

Jobs to be done, plick out chilli copse, drill holes in base of large grey pots, confirm if it is AWOL sweet pea I spotted at the front, gift from neighbour, planted then "lost"

twopenny

Taff if you mean the marigolds it was too gloomy and cold. Out a treat now I don't want a picture!
Chives have succumbed to blackfly of some sort on previous years. Never known that happen before. So I've grown some out front.
Think could be the black ones that infected the cherry. I've managed to free the cherry by spray, 2yrs and alertness this year. Must check when I go out to peg the fleece (thanks for the reminder Farway) and so far the chives are okay.

Research suggests it's from the rapeseed that's everywhere. It's stopped flowering now so wether the bugs will be looking for a new home again or gone with harvest we'll find out.

For osteowhatsits do check Morrisons. Maybe Tesco's. They don't seem to have anything useful this year but the ones I was given made it through neglect and 2 winters so must be tough ones.

Indeed that is a beautiful white flower Dusty both in shape and colour.

Farway yes, by chance JF did make a difference to the ants. I chucked a load down a drain neat in the heat and none been around that wide area since.
I thought I'd put it along the edge of the house because I worry about the powder stuff affecting the birds. They seem to have more sense though.

Dustyevsky

twopenny said:
For osteowhatsits do check Morrisons. Maybe Tesco's. They don't seem to have anything useful this year but the ones I was given made it through neglect and 2 winters so must be tough ones.
Indeed that is a beautiful white flower Dusty both in shape and colour.

It's only the white, pink and your one, (looks like 'Tresco Purple') that successfully overwinter. The flimsy yellows, oranges and exotic browns etc sold in supermarkets, usually die reliably at the onset of cold, wet weather.

This windy and cool weather seems to be suiting the outdoor courgettes, two of which now look reasonably happy. They're sheltered by the yew and other hedges, otherwise I doubt they'd still be in the ground!