Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Farway

Another one up at daft o'clock, combination of heat, back, hay fever and male plumbing. I did spot the moon, which is the first for a long while.

Had to prove I was human to log in, passed, even though I'm feeling more zombie right now

Shame about the roses & heat, but I have a rose success to report, the Rosa Car Parkiii, from bits wot stuck to me. I planted it out at the front beginning of this year, and it is about to flower. Looks like it's settled in now.

Photo once it's opened up.

My curly toms, all mystery, some are OK, others deformed. 

Not restricted to conservatory either, outside as well.

Trouble is, I'm a tomato tart and never stick to one variety, so by the time the labels have faded I've no idea which ones are the curly ones

Famous last words, but next year I'm going to buy posh, expensive compost and stick with just a couple of tried varieties, well at least until T & M send me can't resist offer

-taff said:

Farway, my toms have absolutely romped away since changing the compost, they're bigger now in smaller pots than they usually are...If yours are in a consevatory,t hey should be enormous by now, if they aren't, it's got to be down to compost. You could try giving them an all purpose feed to see if that perks them up but I di remember aminopyralid poisoning, and they were obviously curled and rubbish in that stuff. 

I've tried feeding, improves them, but it really is P poor that we have to feed just to bring a bought in compost up to what should already be included.   

Checked the strawbs yesterday, slugs had got the two biggest ones, naturally! But a few left for me to have a taste, which is all i really expect because they are only old runners go native.

One goody, my purple podded manky toots [ex not pea shoots] are excellent taste raw, far better than pea shoots

I bet they'd be great in a salad, colour, and taste

Expect to find them Marks next year, £20 a punnet! You saw them first here folks.

Found another figgy end rot. Had a look online but nothing definite, insect damage or some sort of deficiency. Cut it open, but nothing untoward inside.

So, here’s the good & the bad

-taff

Farway, are you missing wasps for fertilising them? I remember reading something about them before..omv something, can't remember the word. 

It is hot hot hot, I just planted up some bulbs I was given yesterday and some walking onions, watered the greenhouse, and I'm sitting in front of the fan now trying not to sweat my insides out of my face....

Farway

-taff said:

Farway, are you missing wasps for fertilising them? I remember reading something about them before..omv something, can't remember the word. 

I know about the wasps, but UK ones do not need or have wasps, too cold for them

UK grown figs are vegan virgins 

"Common Figs: Most commercial and backyard fig varieties belong to the "common" type (Ficus carica). These are parthenocarpic, meaning they can develop fruit without pollination or wasps. As a result, you will not find wasps inside these figs, and they can produce fruit in regions where the wasp is absent"

pink_poppy

It's hot here too - I didn't last long outside. I did a bit of weeding and a bit of screaming when a wee mouse (I hope that's what it was) jumped out of a half empty dumpy bag I was weeding. The dumpy bag has been sat there for about two years, about a quarter full of topsoil. I didn't dare investigate further, just in case there's a whole family of wee beasties living in there.

YBE, the pears were the fun-size ones and I think they were probably Williams ones. I'd have preferred Conference, but they were free with the Lidl promotion, so I didn't get a choice. I've eaten the last one today and it was like munching on raw turnip.

Gorgeous photos, W_M, I love the delicate colours and the wispy blue sky. It all looks coastal to me.

Your sunrise pic is gorgeous too, Dusty. Worth being awake early for.

I'm guessing your rose is actually on the other side of your gate, twopenny, and it's growing over. It must be a beast of a rose.

What a shame about your figs, Farway

Does anyone on here have a flame-thrower I can borrow?! Well, maybe not a flame-thrower, but one of those things that burns weeds and suchlike. I'm wondering whether to buy one for mass weed destruction, rather than using weedkiller. I'm so fed up with the garden - after a couple of weeks of illness and bad weather, the garden has just erupted with weeds. I was happy with the progress I was making and then the rain and illness came and I'm a few steps back from square one...

OT - the warm weather has definitely arrived and I'm craving ice cream now...

twopenny

Poppy just think of the weeds as your bit to increase insects for the birds, the weeds will also keep the soil shielded from the sun and provide moisture for the air 😉
It will all sort itself out.

Fairway, what a shame about your figs. Hopefully it won't be too bad. Just in case Lidl do soft dried figs. Delicious 😋 

Pheeew it was 30in the sun, still 28c this evening so not a lot done outside other than watering and getting waste to the tip so I can lop of more crisped roses. Neighbours roses are the same.
Lots of domestic nonsense to be done. Don't you think this seems to be growing? There seems no end to it these days because nothing can be done just once.

YoungBlueEyes

Oops. I forgot to refresh and I missed your sunrise Dusty. Isn't that a cracker I remember bug/flower counting with those grid things at school, but we did it on the sports field... The farmers round here must be meaner than down there  

Not a bit wonder your flowers have gone over 2p, how would you water it when it's growing like a rose cloud I'm on the brink of adopting the Quentin Crisp method of Domestic Nonsense - just stop doing it cos after 4 years it doesn't look any worse  

Purple mange tout - want! Are they T+M seeds Farway or a shop packet or what? Jeez that fig doesn't look happy at all. There's a woman at work who's a gardener, I'll call her Denise. I was showing her pics of my wee fig tree and she said she has one and it's huge. It covers the whole back of her house she said, and she doesn't even like figs! She just lets the birds/squirrels have them. I'll ask her what she thinks of yours if you like?  Good of the slugs to leave you a few strawbs ha haa!

Did you manage not to sweat your insides through your face yesterday taff? I can't decide if that's funny or horror-film-ish Be good practise for today and tomorrow. What are your bulbs...? Are they autumn flowering somethings with it being the middle of June already?

Raw turnip is exactly the right descriptor (have I just made up a word..?) for those pears pp. I wonder if the old 'keep them in a paperbag with a ripe nana for the gas' thing would work... You can have my share of conference pears then and I'll take your williams   I don't think those flame-thrower jobbers are while dear to buy you know. I'm almost sure I've seen them in Lidl/Aldi.... The Oracle has one and she loves it. Not enough to lend me it do my front when she's done hers but that's christians for you   I think gardening is like painting the Forth bridge, you're hardly done when you have to start again. But it'll all be out there waiting for you, and having done it once you can do it again That's what I tell myself anyway. 

Funny you should say about Domestic Nonsense 2p cos I'm thinking of abandoning mine today I was watching that thing about the Mitford sisters last night and I've come over all independant + I won't behave just because you asked me . The place is a midden but I'm thinking of taking a drive up the coast to give my car a good run cos it's been sat a while and that's no good for them.

OT warm. Actually it's comparatively cool I spose at 15'c but that'll double today. They say. Mind they can't decide what'll come today, sobers say cloudy and hot while the hiccuppers (love that) say sun sun sun and hot. *sigh*

Bu99er it, I'll finish letting all the humidity in, get closed up and then go 

Ooh I've just remembered something I was forever saying (that granny taught me to say!) that would be good as a new sig.

wort

Pp I advise caution with the flame thing, I nearly set fire to the whole garden , I borrowed one just to try in the gravel path, spotted a weed in my barrel with my palm in the fire caught the wispy hairs on the palm and the whole thing went up 🫣talk about panic 😱 but that’s just me.
Re the wee mouse, I got home yesterday from work 29 degrees thought I’ll sit in the shade with a book. When I heard a crunch, I jumped up the cat was heading across the lawn with wee beastie in his mouth. Cue me running in and locking the door, with him sat the other side meowing to come in . 

Dusty that sunrise was worth an early start to the day. Hope the hydrangea survives.
Farway that’s a shame your figgy is mouldy I may need to try the purple peas .
I see on pears some say firm and crispy on the pack, not what I want from a pear.

pink_poppy

I'm glad the pears are finally gone, YBE, I was sick of seeing them in the fruit bowl   
I'll look out for the flame-throwers in Lidl/Aldi - funny about the Oracle being precious about hers. I was reading that they are good for weedy gravel and actually quite a satisfying thing to use.
Enjoy your day at the coast - will you have a paddle?? And an ice cream??

wort, I'm just glad the mouse jumped in the opposite direction to me. They're so bloomin' fast. I can just picture your pussycat sat there meowing to be let in   
Your poor palm plant - did it recover or was it burnt to a crisp?? I was googling the flame-throwers last night and apparently there are electric burners that should be safer, so I'll probably look at those as I don't trust myself with a naked flame.

twopenny, the weeds are out of control and look a mess. I pulled out a few spiky weeds yesterday - they were huge - I just wish they didn't grow so fast.

It's a lovely sunny morning here, but no breeze whatsoever. I think it's going to be a sticky one, but only in the 20s. I feel for those with 30+ degrees today.

Dustyevsky

YoungBlueEyes said:

So only another couple of weeks ish and you'll be sans yoofs then Dusty. That'll fly by. That's a bu99er about your hydrangeas but hopefully the root bits will be happy to be rescued   Do you ever hear from your neighbours then? Have they settled ok in their new place?  

Yup. They're happier in the new place, which is good, though sad in the sense they gave much to this community.   
However, Karma's, struck. I won't explain how, in case the thread's being followed by a silent local reader, (it's happened before! ) but be assured the scales are now well & truly balanced.  

Farway said:

Farway, my toms have absolutely romped away since changing the compost, they're bigger now in smaller pots than they usually are...If yours are in a consevatory,t hey should be enormous by now, if they aren't, it's got to be down to compost. You could try giving them an all purpose feed to see if that perks them up but I di remember aminopyralid poisoning, and they were obviously curled and rubbish in that stuff. 

I've tried feeding, improves them, but it really is P poor that we have to feed just to bring a bought in compost up to what should already be included.   

The withdrawal of effective slug controls and the dire nature of many compost brands have combined to reduce gardening pleasure for many. No, it hasn't stopped old-school, persistent people like us, but those on the fringes, having their first crack at growing something, may well be put off by lack of success. I've a feeling those at the top of the decision-making chain have no great love of gardens and gardeners. We're 'inefficient' as one US university study pointed-out last year. Far better we give up dabbling with nature and leave it to the 'experts.' We can have a much easier time, staying inside, scrolling until our brains seize-up. That would be handy, wouldn't it? 

YoungBlueEyes said:

 I was watching that thing about the Mitford sisters last night and I've come over all independant + I won't behave just because you asked me . 

Well, there you go! A typical gardener, farmer, Jack-of-all-trades person who won't be told what to do, or use the rearview mirror to see what others are doing!   Mind you, the ladies you quote had the wherewithal for true independence! 

wort said:
I see on pears some say firm and crispy on the pack, not what I want from a pear.

Oh, I like them crunchy, but the ones I grow would break teeth!

Rambling on here, so I'd better post a picture. There wasn't an Iris Mitford, but if there had been, this flower would perhaps have been named after her. Very posh. I've no idea what the real name is, and its owner couldn't say.
Cloudy at present, but the quaffing burghers down at Honiton Road say a soupçon of a shower for an hour or so, and then searing sunshine accompanied by strong wind from the south east. I can't wait! 

Dustyevsky

pink_poppy said:

Does anyone on here have a flame-thrower I can borrow?! Well, maybe not a flame-thrower, but one of those things that burns weeds and suchlike. I'm wondering whether to buy one for mass weed destruction, rather than using weedkiller. I'm so fed up with the garden - after a couple of weeks of illness and bad weather, the garden has just erupted with weeds. I was happy with the progress I was making and then the rain and illness came and I'm a few steps back from square one....

I have one. It's great for lighting the barbecue!   With the large areas here, I found it too slow, compared with a scuffle hoe.

There is a more powerful sort:

https://www.sheenflamegun.co.uk/index.htm

With an ordinary garden, I doubt the expense could be justified. Although results might look impressive for a time, it still wouldn't wipe out persistent weds like dandelion. And what about it possibly killing wanted plants/insects? 

EDIT: Sorry, I forgot to say how well your black greenhouse looks, taff! Great improvement.