Awful weather - typical Brits talk

YoungBlueEyes

Morning all, on International Day for Women and Girls in Science 🤓

Dusty I'd have done alright on your quiz, well 2/3. I'd have guessed a very ripe banana, Willow, and Octopus's Garden. Actually I didn't know the 2nd logo so I spose that makes me 50% *sigh * Sounds like it went alright in real life though eh 😊 And yes, that sculpture does have a look of MrsT!

Doesn't sound like that house is a goer 2p. What would you do with a shaded garden 🤔Sounds like crunch time next door, he's either all in or all out 🤞Might be time to try the letter through the door thing if you're not seeing what you want come up? My roses are all ok, possibly. They're at different stages and dong their own thing so I'm letting them. One has flowers, a couple have lots of diddy leaves, and the rest are twigs, but they know themselves better than I do so I'm not interfering #Shawshank 🙃

I love the Winchester pic Farway, that's daddy's old stomping ground and I'm sorry he's not here to show it to him. His sister lived on The Close and loved it, she was a keen gardener now I think it of :) The things next to my cyclamen are the tall orange wosnames that go fluffy like dandelions. Fox+Cubs was it? Fox+something…

Wort I've heard of Peter Beale roses, there's a gc near me that sells them. It's a nice man that runs it, he's very helpful and chatty and good for tips n stuff but I've still never bought one. He's sold them for years so they must be alright :blush:

Findus taff ha haa! We used to call then Findus Crispy Horsecakes 😈

Nice to see you again Pas 😀 I was wondering where you were. How it's all going?

Did you get your new neighbour(ish) gb? Apparently she's moved abroad and the girls have cut them off. Awful state of affairs.

OT back to miserable and damp and yacky out there. It started raining yesterday and hasn't stopped - it gets a bit lighter, the sun comes up and goes down, the mist moves in, and so the world turns. 9'c today, they say. There's no wind to blow it through, that's the problem. Cold and bright at the weekend though, possibly, so I'll get some decent pics of what's going on out there :)

wort

I ordered the rose bare root, I just need to keep it alive till summer when the anniversary is. Plan is buy a nice pot and pot up, hide it when dd1 calls round.

Back to miserable and wet today. I was going to go into town for a walk and pick something up but not unless it bucks up.
Dusty I knew the willow (I used to work in H and B health shop) a quarter of a century ago🫣 yikes where’s that time gone. I also knew the Beatles one. The logo rang a bell but couldn’t pull it.

Bin men just been, glad I half filled the green bin . Ready for next foray in the garden. Less I will deffo take a cutting if I keep it alive long enough. I’m hoping to work out how to take a cutting from verbena bon , heard you can stick in water and it will root.

Dustyevsky

There's plenty of wind where I am Bluey, and I'm not talking of last night's curry! 😏 It's going to blow itself out, apparently, when we'll then have sunshine, instead of this incessant rain. Things must've been drier up taff's way if she's done all that on the allotment, 'cos here I've barely been able to stick a few cuttings in.😐️

If you got 50% on those questions, your team would have been doing well. Bear in mind there's up to 6 in a team, which is why it's so hard to guess the level of difficulty. There's always someone who knows weird things one might include.

I agree that a shady garden is to be avoided 2p, though half and half might be OK with all this global boiling. It's important to consider the sitooterie possibilities for different seasons too.😊 I see plenty of good houses about, but it's usually the garden that's a let-down.

Speaking of let-downs, this is a genuine email we received this morning: "We're sorry to tell you that your oil order has not been delivered as expected because the driver ran out of fuel…"

That's a pair now, except we've had no further email from the log man since, "Sorry, this must've been overlooked." As people who spend up to £800 a year, we're happy enough to excuse the oversight, but not the silence thereafter. 😟Reading between the lines, it looks as if his 'new system' to cope with bad weather hasn't worked, but the old couple who sold him the business never needed one. It's possible he's a victim of the new government rules about firewood which are well-intentioned, but probably impractical to implement rapidly. My guess is that someone measured, found their wood wasn't below 20% moisture, and reported him. Luckily, our own wood pile is still OK.

Yes, it was nice to see Pas. Have you been hibernating up there in the norf? If so, you've not missed much! 🤣

Today's photo, some willy wav willow weaving, RHS style. There's lovely! 😇

Farway

Lumme, you lot have been busy since I was last here. 😶

I had to drop everything & go on Car Rescue, friend had a flat battery and I was the rescue. Having learnt my lesson with my own battery / starting troubles I have a Power Pack thingy, marvellous bit of kit and I recommend them to anyone who will listen

I rescued just in time, it hammered down the rest of the day, and still wet out there now but due a breather and perhaps sun

I got some right answer in Dusty quiz, I knew Willow and sort knew the Garden, logos were a blank. Don't have me on your team!

The Winchester pic was true, as taken, I did use a touch of AI to improve the sky, it was like that but a more wishy washy blue

Peter Beale roses, as said, been going for ages although I've never used them, good reputation though. Hope it grows well for you & DD Wort.

And the BFB will help, used mainly because it's natural and dosing is not critical or harmful to critters, and it's sort of balanced & will just get on with it

Cuttings rooting in water, I've had success, and failures, always worth a go if you have enough to go round..

Taff said One of my rose cuttings has taken [ thanks for reminding me wort, take more cuttings for free ones wort when it's a grown up!] Great news, nothing beats Free 😀

Worn out just looking at your Lotty, good you can get on between the rain.

My watercress trial, growing in a glass, has failed 😢, after initial growth and raising my hopes, it then made a slow dawdle Northwards and finalised it's days as yellow dank mess this morning. RIP

Today it's a tourist trap, more for architecture than horticulture, but worth a visit. The gardens have kinda tropical feel to them, being quite sheltered.

Please sprinkle your own Prison puns 😇 No AI, as taken

Dustyevsky

Wow! That took me back, Farway! In the mists of the late 50s, my Dad had an interview with Clough Williams-Ellis, who was looking for a carpenter/handyman. Dad got the job, but then ummed and ahhed about moving to Wales. In the end, he decided to stay put. It was a lucky escape. We all know what happened to Patrick McGoohan! 🤐

I've always wondered what would have happened if we'd gone there, instead of taking the convoluted route that led here. Would I be greeting people now with "Boro da!"? 🙃

twopenny

Now that would be cheery if we painted our houses bright colours like they do in fishing towns. I've always wanted to go there but it never seems to happen.

Willow looks pretty Dusty. But I look and think what it would be like in a few years time and need replacing. Happy for others to do it 🙂

It's not just the gardens on a slope and shady round here someone's putting black kitchens in the bungalows. And a matching black bathroom in one case. Then there's the one that's been made open plan. Massive modern black kitchen, tiny lounge area in one corner, tiny bathroom and bedroom. Youngsters remodeling for sale don't realise who they are selling to. It's been on the market for a year, over priced. But the move will happen if it's meant to as Blueys " what's for you won't go past you" saying.

It's rained, it's going to rain again but mild so saving on heating. Torn between going out and relaxing with a break in the rain and getting seeds done.

My prunus is getting ready for spring.

Paspatur

Hi everyone, not even going to attempt quoting people

Been reading along but had nothing to say garden wise

September/October tough family stuff so no gardening, think I last cut the grass in early September

And then the weather happened and impossible to garden, it is shaded, cold and windy from October until March

11 days of snow and ice to start the year, more rain than usual since then like most and no sunshine for the longest period in 70 years

Since I am not 70 (state pension next month yay) that means my whole life

Hard to believe it will ever be dry out there but some day it will

It's a mess, nothing tidied at end of season, wet leaves everywhere etc. (free mulch)

But there are hellebores and snowdrops and there will be tulips and daffs for sure

I love the resilience of it all and I will enjoy trying to bring it under (some) control once it is dry enough to do so

I would also like to propogate verbena bonariensis but I am guessing my not cut back yet ones which are now finally collapsing to the ground are beyond it 😀

Love them they have stood with no staking through summer, autumn, howling gales, snow, ice and rain until now

Right plant, right place

Will try to join in and maybe even take some photos later in the year but not to the standards of you clever lot

Dustyevsky

Pas, Verbena bonariensis doesn't usually need much help propagating itself, at least 'down sarth.' I introduced it into my friend's new garden in 2021, and she's still trying to get rid of it! 😕 Verbena officinalis 'Bampton' is another very charming member of the family, but again, far too prolific in a warmish climate. My name's mud…actually a bit worse than that! 😦

You might not have the same proliferation 'oop norf,' but I think wort would. Keep your eyes peeled for the seedlings, anyway. 😉

I wondered about the photo Farway! Still, if estate agents can change the skies, why not the rest of us? It was an idyllic scene. 😇

Mrs Dusty is also coming up to the magic pension date, Pas. I still can't quite believe how much better-off we shall be.🤩 Cue collapse of the economy, followed by the issue of government digital Pobble beads. 😰 You heard it here first!

I agree with you about the RHS willow woven edgings 2p. We'll be able to monitor how long they last, eh? I wouldn't have the time, but they're a charity with lots of volunteers. Thinking about that, I consulted another charity to see what they had in the way of hedging whips, but they turned out to be more expensive than our usual commercial supplier. 🙃

I also agree about the black kitchens and strange multi-paned black shower screens etc. And if you're a builder, how much easier it is when you can create a huge void, call it a 'kitchen/living area,' and have punters queueing up for these houses that 'flow seamlessly.' Good stuff!

Thinking of Pas's resilience and 2p's 'prunes,' I was at Lidl's 'windy corner' today, where even the privet loses all its leaves in a mild winter like this….and there were the new buds, just unfurling.Sadly, the sun disappeared again at that point and it was raining again when I emerged, but nature is stirring! 🙂

-taff

And I apologise, it's not even findus peas it's bloody bird's eye innit…I haven't done that much Farway, it's just in between the rain over the last month/s really, one weekend when it wasn't raining here was taken up in wales where it rained but I half emptied a bedroom and made the sally army happy, so one half job jobbed.

Verbena longname might have self seeded itself if you left it over winter anyway, look out for new seedlings when the weather gets better.

Farway, well done on the starter pack, must add to list of to buys for me too. Do you know, I've never been there, to the Welsh place, probably because it's at the top and I'm past the bottom now and a bit west. I think I'd have liked to go when there were bouncing balls everywhere. No AI needed for that :)

I mean, black kitchens? What about limescale? What about dirty fingerprints everywhere? And we're back to whoever designs something should have to clean it first. Having said that, my new kitchen in the extension is almost as long as the original house footprint, minus lean tos and stuff..then again, I spend half my time in there so I'm happy with it.

If you have foxes beware the BFB will be irresistible to them and they will attempt to dig it out…but it's better than digging it in yourself :)

I do like the willow but I've been watching some hedge laying bloke on FB reels, and his twisted tops are much cuter. Still pretty though, but I wouldn't know what to do with them, the willow that is, not the hedges.

Those plums are such a lovely colour.

Didn't do much today, rained pretty much half the day until I got my delivery of a tipper load of wood chip, lots of greenery in it, fine for lotment paths now, but o dear, if I'd known how much a tipper load was to start with, I'd have maybe said, not so much please…It took both of us an hour and a half to bag it and two massive garden bags, the kind I can fit in and the other half too, all full…I didn't realise I had quite so many ex compost bags either, must have been storing them for years…

greenbee

I have black granite worktops in my kitchen and can’t wait to get rid of them. Every bit of limescale, dot of oil, speck of dust shows up… mind you, at least I know when the cats have been illegally entering through the kitchen window…