Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Farway

Morning folks, gob smacked to see frosty roofs when I opened the curtains this morning 😮, that is not supposed to happen now, not here. Anyway, nice blue sky & a cold sun now., which will nicely beggar up those frosty camellia flowers 😈

Taff & Dusty asked "what else is in the pot with the beans?"

Wish I knew 🤔, obviously something I planted but have forgotten. I thought they were daffs but not. They should be giant lilies, had some in there, but nope, they went to Norway. Could be Alliums but don't remember putting any in there. It was because I had no idea what they were I bunged the beans in there, at least some good will come of it, and will hide my error.

I was reminded of 2P post showing the spring flower beds, did any see the fine efforts by Bristol Council, mowed down 30,000 newly panted daffs? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpqw01zg7qjo

I know Bristol is not alone, round here the Council did same to newly planted native hedges that volunteers had planted. I suppose it's mostly due to contracting out services and not being in house with Parks & Gardens as was.

A busy life YBE, hope it all turns out well, and as Dusty noted, new leaf, new door opens etc

Less said I did buy some pink daffs maybe 10 years ago or so, and their offspring are still just alive in a pot but have not flowered for years - I'm presuming if the bulbs fatten up enough they might do eventually?

Poor things are starving, now it the time to top dress with FB & B to feed them up for next year. Or plant the lot, without too much root disturbance, into the garden

I see G World 2026 has returned, popped up on my YT feed. Presumably B Grove will not be far behind?

Gardening today is tom seed sowing, I have selected 10 varieties, I only really need one of each, but because some are the result of seed smears onto tissue I may get a few "spares". Most are Bush types, but have a few tall ones, like G Delight & Shirley, just because they are worth the effort IMO

My attempts at getting my own grown Castor Oil seeds to germinate seems to have failed, they smell musty now and I think will be off to the Fiords any day

wort

I’m broken, not as broken as poor Mr blue eyes 😢 hope you both are feeling better soon. Mine is due a full 2 days shifts of lugging flowers and buckets about , I’ve to do it all again tomorrow too! I think it’s Mother’s Day 😉my back and feet are protesting. I’m out tonight too, at a tribute band,I was looking forward to it when we booked. I’ll need a couple of wines to hold me up.

I picked up 2 clematis from Tesco 3 pound 50. 1 of which doesn’t look great but I was seduced by the picture, knowing my luck it was probably in the wrong pot. Put it in the garden and then we got the almighty hail right at school pick up time 🙄 plus this morning was frosty. The sun is out now and it’s been like that all day, but I wouldn’t know.

I seem to recall those pink daffs too, never had them though. Farway are you going to trial the seed snail with your Tom seeds?
YBE hope you find a job soon,it’s not good when you don’t see eye to eye. If I were 10 years younger I would look for something else.

Dusty that’s quite the view your friend has. Are you going to be helping them sort it ?

twopenny

Blimey Bluey 😲 that's some week you've had. Sympathies to both you and Mr B. What a horrible thing to happen. Glad you found some solace in the garden. Simple pleasures with great rewards 🌻

Wort I hope a good sing along and the wine does your heart and mind good. Don't tempt me with clematis! I think my Morrisons £2 ones have gone Norway bound though being cheap and tough they may well sneak up on me.

Yes Farway I wasn't surprised. . Our council raked up a large patch of grass and wild flowers - to seed with wild flowers. N'er a one grew in clay by the sea.

Less love the daffs. They do indeed look remarkably like wild ones so they should spread well. Used to be fields of them round here but no more.

Dusty what a beautiful spot to have a house. Yes I'd go with international pie day too😄 hope you got the sunshine we had today.

Nothing much to report. Good day, met folk in the sunshine but it was chilly. Got stuff done and some photography. Spent ages trying to photograph seed blowing off bullrushes 🙄

Neighbour finally talked to me. Said she would help when I have the op (I'll take that because she really owes me for other stuff) and followed with she'd have her son back to stay if needed again. Fur enough but will keep looking at Rightmove 😏

Dustyevsky

I know what you mean about feeling broken, wort. Just about hobbled in last night after the gloriously sunny day.😵 It seems we and 2p enjoyed very similar weather.😊 From reports here, it's also been sunny oop norf, and to the east. About time! 🤨

The trench for the new hedge is complete, and we've planted a Cotoneaster cornubia to eventually block the view from Mr Canute's caravan, without robbing light, as that wouldn't be fair. It's also a great tree for the birds. However, the latest on the bush telegraph suggests Mr C's house may be on the market soon. 🙂 That doesn't mean the property will sell, of course. 😕

Anyway, I hope the band were good, wort, and your head is OK this morning. 😉

On the Bristol daffs….they'll be back next year. When the council sent our school 1250 daff bulbs, instead of 250, I had children planting them everywhere in the grounds, except the games pitches. The soil was very stony and children found the digging hard, so various nay-sayers predicted the plants wouldn't thrive. They went from strength to strength, even in the places that were mown quite early…..though not this early admittedly!

We'll only be giving our friend advice on making her new garden, wort. She's at a distance and has able-bodied children. A digger will be required to grade the land more gently from the house down to the grassed area. The drop is more than it looks in a photo. How to do that for easy maintenance is the choice, and the difficulty. 🤔

2p said: Neighbour finally talked to me. Said she would help when I have the op (I'll take that because she really owes me for other stuff) and followed with she'd have her son back to stay if needed again. Fur enough but will keep looking at Rightmove 😏

It's good you're speaking again; after all, it's the only way to get across your POV. We still speak to most of the numpties down the lane who cost us time and money, all for nothing. And we look at Rightmove too, because no one knows when the need to downsize may occur.😤

I said I'd review the Buckingham Nurseries plants received, so here they are in their packaging. The two sizes of hornbeam were all in good nick, of the correct dimensions, and cheaper than those I saw in the local GC. The Cotoneaster tree mentioned above was supposed to be 1.25 -1.50 m tall, but was actually just over 2m and barely fitted the 2m packing box. Fortunately, the leader was bent but not broken. There was also one Philadelphus (Mock Orange) of huge dimensions for the £3.99 paid, but the roots were dry, and it appeared already Norway-bound. 😐️ I popped it in a pot and will look after it carefully, but I've a feeling I'll be asking for a replacement shortly. So, all in all, a good purchase, but with one blip.

A mixed bag of weather today, with patchy light rain this morning and some sunshine promised later. We will be looking at the hedgehog boxes which I still haven't photographed in their finished form.😶

Farway

Bright start with sun, but from the forecast I have Dusty's pre loved "light rain" coming over later

Hope the broken, or just a bit bent folks, start to improve. I did have to take a back twinging painkiller yesterday once I'd finished sowing the tomato seeds, too much bending does it for my back, and it's hard to sow without bending, I do have the tray etc up higher but it still needs bending, especially if some idiot drops the seed packets on the ground 🙄

Wort asked Farway are you going to trial the seed snail with your Tom seeds? No, I went for one per cell, I try to keep tabs on the varieties, but usually fail & loose labels or knock them flying. However starting by having them mixed in a snail would be admitting defeat at the start.

I'll be sowing a taster of French & Runners in a week or so, maybe try a snail then? Or would the tops just all get entwined and a right mess?

2P said Don't tempt me with clematis! I think my Morrisons £2 ones have gone Norway bound though being cheap and tough they may well sneak up on me

I have bought the Morries Norwegian ones in the past, only one ever came back to life, the rest are but a memory and faded pictures

Good your neighbour offering help, let's hope it remains amicable

My neighbour, with the dogs & kids, out there yesterday PM, slaving away digging a huge hole to put a pre made pond in, the round sort, a few feet deep. Kids are old enough to avoid drowning, bet a dog goes in it, or the pet rabbit. Heard Mum say to DD it was DD's project so she will have to help.

Finished up flooding part of their garden and it's a paddy field this morning 😮

Actually if it works & the DD gets as much pleasure out of the pond as my DD did from ours, then it will be worth their efforts

My early tomato sowing, all are well, except one Paul Robeson is more Stevie Wonder. I'll leave it there 😈

Somewhere I have ornamental gourd seeds, if I find them I'll sow some today, and maybe pop a courgette or two in? Otherwise GW watching will be it for the day

twopenny

Mild day, cold wind, rain and sunnyish.

Haven't really seen the garden. The nearest I got to gardening was taking the waste to the tip!

My yellow tomato seedlings have rotted all but two we've had so much rain. Must look and see if I have more.

Got a docs appointment tomorrow, got to go to Specsavers (can't get anything medical for 5 yrs and now they are all after me ☹️) finally some fun in the afternoon. But I doubt I'll be missing more than cleaning tools because rain is forecast.

At least not frost like Farway 😉 interesting neighbour antics. Better than the TV

At least the soil is good damp condition for your planting Dusty. Lovely growing a hedge. So many animals will be pleased 😀

wort

The band were excellent 🎉 we even had a dance in the aisle. Just enough wine to not cause hangover! Straight back to bed for me , the other stayed out.

Dusty sounds like it’s a good job you’re not nearer or you might have got roped in there. You definitely have enough to do at home, plants look good, let’s hope the weather is favourable for planting .

2p are your toms outside already ? I had clematis cheap from Morries when we had a Morries ours shut around 10 years ago, they used to be ok . I still have a couple.

Farway I’ve no idea on beans in a snail, would they not be ready for potting on before they get too big? I hope the back twinge is better, you reminded me to add some more painkillers to my work bag. Only had lower strength ones left yesterday. At least the flowers should be less today.
My days off start tomorrow hoping for some nice weather. Pie day is certainly apt up here 😉

Dustyevsky

2p said: Mild day, cold wind, rain and sunnyish.

Lovely growing a hedge….. So many animals will be pleased 😀

It may have been mild in the shelter of Exmoor, but here that wind was cutting!😧 I potted-up some lettuce seedlings for planting out later, and bought more cheap seeds from T&M with free P&P. I'm expecting a need to grow more in the next 18 months, so having extra seeds of what we normally eat, makes sense. That's my excuse. 😉

Yes, I like making hedges. There's less chance of them being cut for firewood in the future than individual trees, especially when they're appreciated for giving shelter from the winds. All the trees we're cutting now were grown as support for the trees we're keeping, like the oaks and beeches. It's a pity a few have grown so fast they're now too large for us to deal with safely ourselves. 😕

Today doesn't seem to be any special one in the MSM, except if you drive a more modern Honda Civic, where a recall begins to fix an issue of the wheels falling off. Only 46 000 cars might be affected, so it's hardly worth calling this 'Wheels Fall Off Day.' 🙃 Anyway, some of us think that's already taken by 23rd March 2020. 😈

If our wheels stay on, we'll be collecting GS from a certain Lidl car park at 08.00. Not sure if we'll get any gardening done.😄 According to the drunkards, that's the precise time we exchange the sunshine for thick cloud, but rain should be slight, and winds somewhat reduced. In 2 days, they're promising 18c! I predict that won't happen, but then I'd never have predicted a certain head of state would have 6 fingers on each hand, so what do I know? 🤡

One thing I'm not predicting is when the remaining Wych Elm trunk above will fall. It's alive, but there's only one way it can go! 😮 There's a chance it might hit our new hedge, the tree we've just planted, or Mr C's caravan, but as Mr New has taken control of it, we are no longer bothered. Hopefully not for many years.

Farway

Dull but bright grey, very cold wind still, but supposed to be getting tropical later this week

My MSM says it's Search Gardening Tips day, very apt. Top Tip, the amber liquid in the fizzy pop bottle in the allotment shed is not Tizer or Ir'n Bru 😂

Dusty said bought more cheap seeds from T&M with free P&P. I'm expecting a need to grow more in the next 18 months, so having extra seeds of what we normally eat, makes sense

I had a look, but couldn't spot the free P & P, with Easter coming along I expect more offers will turn up. My "needs" are perennial cabbage or broccoli, something like that, and maybe some spring onions. Oh, and 2p needs some Yellow tom seeds 😁

Talking of yellow, a quick segue there, I sowed a couple of Yellow courgettes yesterday, not only yellow, but round as well. The ornamental gourd seeds I wanted to sow have vanished 🤨

Found some dwarf dahlia seeds during gourd seed hunt, but decided not to sow those, last year I lost the lot to slugs, so if I want some this year I think just be buying a strip from Morries would be easier option

Watched GW yesterday, bit of a waste IMO. Adam Frost has yet another new garden, seems every year he moves house, is he footloose or come into money?

Just asked AI, he was getting "burnt out" so moved to smaller garden. Then, as you do, decided he wanted more space & nature, so moved again. For those not seen it, it is a blank canvas jobby, old farmyard sloping down to a river, ground full of broken bricks and floods from river. Like Dusty he is busy planting trees.

Back to my gardening, the peas I sowed in a pot, as Control, are just poking green above the compost. The Spring onions sown 5 March, in cells, are also just showing green above soil

And, whisper, I think I spy some baby figs 😍

Dustyevsky

Farway said: I had a look, but couldn't spot the free P & P, with Easter coming along I expect more offers will turn up. My "needs" are perennial cabbage or broccoli, something like that, and maybe some spring onions. Oh, and 2p needs some Yellow tom seeds 😁

I found the free P&P was only activated if I entered via the link in their email. Apparently, I'm a member, which entitles me to these extra bonuses, ☺️ and to being spammed at least once, every day of the week. 🤬

Adam Frost maybe doesn't know it, but just as the Norwegian Blue pines for the fjords, so he is missing his homeland. Like me, he came to North Devon as a young person, grew up here, and then he was lured away with promises of fame and riches. Eventually, he'll return, kicking and screaming. After all, it took me 40 years. 🤐

Weather here not bad, but I'm on partial GC duty, and my only means of escape at present is taking Henry Hoover for a spin around the house!😐️