Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Dustyevsky

I'm sure I can see a LIAM in Less's aquilegia Pick n' Mix picture too. Maybe it's a sign, like always waking up at 03.33, or if you have a better model of bladder, at 06.66? 😦 I like the 360 degree cloud picture too. It reminds me of lying in the back garden as a child, before people told me not to look at the sun. 😮

Sorry if I lost you 2p. It was news that Mr Canute may be leaving here shortly, though not if he insists on the price he thinks someone might pay for his property. Nothing is selling here anyway, even at sensible prices, so I'm not too excited. However, it's good to have my suspicions confirmed about nearby interpersonal relationships.☺️

On the weather front, we missed an intense thunderstorm yesterday by about 5 miles. Looking at the radar, rain was at the maximum red level, so perhaps there was some flash flooding. I was glad to have shopped on Thursday, when there was only a little rain. I dropped-in on my coastal friend and snapped this picture of her garden:

That Geum 'Blazing Sunset,' originally from MiL, almost never stops flowering! 😀The Nandina (bottom middle) is happy now, having been moved at least 3 times! 😆 Farway has probably spotted the bronze leaves of the Canna behind the geum. This year it will be joined by a yellow one. And yes, Malus Scarlett needs a little pruning…. Everything is way ahead of us up here at 500'. 😕

Today I'm up at stupid o'clock as it's the plant sale and cake festival at 09.00. It's a chance to give away all the plants we've grown and have no use for. 🙃 By 12.00 it will be all over, so by 13.00 I might get the chain saw out in time for Mr Canute's first viewers….or there again, I might hang around by the gate ad tell them, “Ooh arr, this be a luverly place ter live! Us be all gud friends yer!” 🤣

YoungBlueEyes

Morning all, on World Migratory Bird Day 🐦

PUPPPYYYYY!!! Jeez he's gorgeous 😍 and a fashionable name too. There's all kinds of puppies round here atm, and they've all got names. I talk to a diddy wee tricolour dax on my walk to work, he's such a cheerful wee thing but they've called him Odin. Odin. There's also a smashing little springer, a rich chocolate colour, and they've called her Hera *shrug * Anyway. Woohoo for your LIAM, hopefully that's them in now 🤞 Gawd a grapefruit flower? Reckon it'll fruit..?

Ooh I lurve your aquilegias Less, and look at all the colours too. Agree they have all too short a lease (to almost quote who said something about summer). I think I got maybe 3 weeks out of mine :( Question re your clouds - which ones are the Kelvin Helmholtz ones? Is it the long thing in the first pic? It looks like a series of waves 😊

Hopefully you've got rid of your critter now Dusty? Cat vomit down the radiator sounds a bu99er to get rid of, did you take it in the garden to powerwash it off? And how did you clean the radiator? (ba dum tsch) Your neighbours don't stop do they, endless shenanigans entertainment! Just turned the page - have you or MrsD got a banjo…? 😆

You don't make things easy on yourself 2p, edging the grass with scissors?! You deserve a haven the work you put in to it. Will you get a goodly crop of cherries this year do you think?

OT it's another mild calm morning out there, 8'c currently and it'll get up to 16', possibly. My work stuff is having a rinse+spin then it's going out, and we're off to Kingswood 😣(sprawling out of town retail experience, or summat) for baby stuff. Himself's niece had her baby, and gave him a proper name (unlike his cousin with the truly ridiculous name that's too specific to put on here). I had to go to piggin work yesterday cos the alternating-he-she-but-not-a-they person left in a spat. BBM said something on Thursday (which I sadly missed) and she didn't show up Friday so I got called in. Good job itoday'll be a decent day weather wise cos I've plenty to do - food shop, the place is a midden, and Kingswood 😣and I need to get up to mum+dad too really for I haven't been in a while.

twopenny

Cool but bright morning. Could come to anything. About 13c.

That's a clever design Dusty for the little garden. I'll use that if I'm ever in for another garden. The appeal of no grass to mow. But then nothing for the birds. Hmmmmm?

Just think more money Bluey, towards fun 😉 what is it about so many people today who think the world owes them something? Maybe he/she will find out eventually.

Yes scissors, I have limited standing resources and the thought of getting the extension and strimmer out would have been over the odds. Posh friends yesterday made me pull my socks up. Ordinary friend today who won't care today and she'll talk till 3pm so that rules a lot out. I think it's gutter and window cleaning while I'm upright. And more tidying if I survive.

Posh friends bought my invalid trolley. It's immaculate and classy but would be great for trundling things round the garden. Just waiting to hear if they want it back. 😄

Farway

Cool & sunny, warming up though. back to putting plants out to harden up, and added some tomatoes to the toughen up squad today, Tempus Fugit etc, soon be June and getting on to winter 👿

That Geum 'Blazing Sunset,' originally from MiL, almost never stops flowering! There's one in my neighbours, among the weeds, actually it goes well because the weeds are quite nice, blow in, "native wild flowers" IYKWIM

Hopefully you've got rid of your critter now Dusty? Cat vomit down the radiator sounds a bu99er to get rid of, did you take it in the garden to powerwash it off? And how did you clean the radiator? (ba dum tsch) Your neighbours don't stop do they, endless shenanigans entertainment! Just turned the page - have you or MrsD got a banjo…

Had to snigger at the cat wash, and the idea of Mrs D sat on porch strumming banjo, maybe Mr D doing a buck dance jig to the tune? Moonshine in the barn?

Enjoy the cake & plants Dusty, nice looking Coastal Friend garden, and the canna. Bit further on than mine, as always.

Sounds like another new face due at work then YBE? Maybe BBM will realise his good fortune and give you a huge pay rise? Nah, thought not😁

Today I just have to get the runners in, forecast is cooler air coming down from Oop North, but may not be too bad this far south, weather fronts fighting it out over Watford perhaps? Anyway, if I get them in it may tinkle a bit of rain tonight which will all help

This came up on my YT feed, it's recent, by RHS, on peat free compost. More or less confirms what we knew, but this time admits it instead of gaslighting us that we have it all wrong & peat free is really wonderful. Not too long and has some tips, feeding, baby toadstools etc. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hN-E570Dxw

Some roses out at last, will try for pic later, meanwhile, try not to ahhh too much

LessImpecunious

2P Beautiful aquilegia Less. My favourite colours 🙂 don't they look lovely as a bunch. I haven't seen that for years.

Dusty I'm sure I can see a LIAM in Less's aquilegia Pick n' Mix picture too.

YBE Question re your clouds - which ones are the Kelvin Helmholtz ones? Is it the long thing in the first pic? It looks like a series of waves 😊

The aquilegias were all self-sown, impossible to plant there as its on bedrock, so just luck what popped up (seed from self-sown ones in pots adjacent - most of my flower gardening is keeping the self-sowers I like and removing the weeds plants in wrong places).

No LIAM (that I can see anyhow, though I did have one in a nearby pot last year, so fingers crossed). There is a single Erxxxxxn flower though, lurking in the undergrowth, but couldn't get it in the shot…

The K-H clouds are the ones that look like waves 🙂. The other cloud pic not really a 360 degree shot Dusty, just pointed my phone upwards (hence bit of guttering in the corner which I could have edited out if not in a hurry😁)…

-taff

That tree looks like a zombie virus 2p, it is distrubing! Scissors makes sense I suppose in lieu of even more work to get tools…

I don't sell anything anywhere, what lives will either be planted out of regretfully consigned to the compost heap in the sky…I always feel really bad about getting rid of things I've lovingly spent time on and that have grown from tiny seeds..Hopefully your tree is no longer infected. Have a lovely day out, the weather looks good here for it!

I'm a bit late with the AWWW but look at the little belly, so cute! I did laugh at the habits of a puppy v you…That link was really interesting, all the stuff I complain about peat free and now I know why…Maybe I'll give it another go in the future. It's a lot of faff though, I just like to stick them in and let them go by them themselves without all the extra nurturing pfree needs it seems…

Dusty, sounds on a par with ours, chucking up, never pick the tiled floor, always the carpet, or mat by the doors, or on the stairs so you can stand on it first thing in the morning. Mind you, not as bad as one old friends cat who used to leave half-eaten rats in her wellies that she would put on without looking at 3 in the morning before her milk round. The greenhouse only looks tidy for a few weeks, the rest of the time, it's who knows what's happening…Besides, you've been ill, both of you..new knees are all the rage apparently, so you'll be striding aboot the moors in no time [if you have to have one] Millions of flowers on that tree! Your coastal frends garden looks lovely. Happy plant sale day…will you be returning with any more? :)

Lovely clouds Less, well spotted, they're like waves or maybe that's where they had the idea of horses galloping…

Allotment today, panted out some toms, de weeded a bit, mowed grass, the giant scabious I nurtured then ran over with the mower last time has returned so very happy about that. Sunny, warm, no wind, perfect for unstrenuous gardening activites [ I strenned thoug, dopey mare as I am, I also shut my finger in the car door so it's a bit stiff at the moment…doh! ]

twopenny

I'm struggling to scroll past Merlin's gorgeous eyes 😍

My last dog had those eyebrows. It makes them look worried and you want to give them whatever takes the worry away.

Taff - ouch!!! And more ouch 🤕

Interesting video Farway. My question is, why don't the compost makers compost their ingredients properly, or grind it finely?

If you want to find out if it's damp under the top I saw someone using a pale coloured stick to dib in the pot and if it comes out damp it needs no water. If clean it does. Like testing a cake.

You were right there about the feeding. 😀

Farway

What a difference a day makes, it's blooming freezing out there, wind has changed to NE. I hope your toms will be OK Taff, I chickened out from putting mine out this morning, was just for hardening off, not permanent homes

Too late to spare the runners though, planted them out yesterday afternoon. Only had 3 1/2 after all the struggles with germination. The half may sprout fresh shoots, similar to Taff's scabious, it just broke in my hands Guv!. They are still there this morning, I've lost them overnight to slugs before, so added forbidden blue fruit treats for sluggy pals

2P Interesting video Farway. My question is, why don't the compost makers compost their ingredients properly, or grind it finely? My guess would be money. Most of us are looking for "cheap" [not rip off] and a few pennies shaved off by bagging up & flogging early all goes on the bottom line, along with cutting back on amount of fertilser added. Sort of the compost equivalent of adding Palm Oil & removing one biscuit but leaving package same size

Maybe the super expensive peat free stuff is fantastic, but I doubt many of us will try them

If you want to find out if it's damp under the top I saw someone using a pale coloured stick to dib in the pot and if it comes out damp it needs no water. If clean it does. Like testing a cake.

Set me thinking about the moisture test thingies, poke a probe in to see how moist it is 👿😁. I may look those up, they seem available and under a tenner, some have PH functions as well

Checking cherries yesterday, not a large crop this year despite all the blossom. ☹️

Better news is my Boysenberry is sending up fresh shoots from the base, two so far, about chest high. Tied in, and I'll get training them once a tad longer.

No gardening today, was intending to get pots sorted for dahlias, but yesterday bean bending has given my back twinges, so I don't want to over do it, plus the cold weather

Pic is the Morries clematis plus pink rose from cutting, scrambling in my, sort of, espalier trained pear. Next year I hope they will be joined by Boysenberry

Dustyevsky

2p:That's a clever design Dusty for the little garden. I'll use that if I'm ever in for another garden. The appeal of no grass to mow. But then nothing for the birds. Hmmmmm?

Yes, very few birds spotted there, apart from pigeons, and the blackbird which has 7 households putting plastic bags on their car mirrors! 🤣 But it's an understandable bird choice, as there are two extensive nature areas within100m, plus a shoreline. As for the design, it happened before my time. The only obvious mistake was parking the long pergola so close to the back fence. Had it come 50-75cm closer to the house, there would be room for better planting behind, and it would afford more privacy too. 😏 But there are many wonderful hindsight situations in a lifetime!

-taff: Happy plant sale day…will you be returning with any more? :)

Ha-ha! Yes! 😂 There's always stuff left which no one wants, but I was selective. The best was a pot of Asparagus kale. See this page: https://realseeds.co.uk/kale.html

It was very pleasant just chatting to folks about gardening for a few hours. The experienced organisers said there was much more interest in edibles this time (though not kale! 😥) and we speculated on the reasons for that. There was the usual vague labelling of donations, or no labelling at all, which always adds to the fun. 🙄 No one wanted my well-labelled Jerusalem artichokes, unfortunately…….

Farway, the RHS video confirmed one thing for me: multipurpose compost isn't! 😕 I struggled with the Blue Peter style. Geoff Hamilton could have done it so much better! 😉 One thing that remained unaddressed was why professional growers are still using peat, when we amateurs are supposed to be flocking to the new eco-products? Anyway, it was a good plug for Sylvagrow. 🧐

I did think of slooshing water down the radiator, Bluey, but a long bottle brush thingy did the job, combined with lashings of antibacterial spay. I won't say more…it might be someone's breakfast time.😲

Windy outside and turning cool, apparently. Hope the finger's OK -taff, and your lurgy's gone 2p. Is it on for tomorrow? One elderly lady actually leapt into the air yesterday just to prove to me how well her 'refurbished' bits worked! It was very touching in a random, Pythonesque way! 🤣

Some unsold plants from the sale go to a gentleman in his 80s who maintains the war memorial garden, itself now over 100 years old. Here's some Geranium macrorrhizum Ingwersen's variety (I think!) in there. Maybe people rejected that about 10 years ago. Looks a treat for the insects🦋.

twopenny

Cold winds and grey skies here too so apart from very quick watering it's an indoor day. Add to that that my one quiet relaxing day someone's had an angle grinder or some such going since 9am. Even earlier plugs aren't helping 😬

Farway that rose looks like Cornelia, one of my favourites. Musk rose, old breed. It's straggly but makes up by no disease, wonderful scent and can be lopped at will still coming back quickly.

Dusty that geranium is one I have. Spreads like mad but easy to hack back. The scent of the leaves is what makes it and the flowers come at a useful time. Resists drought and rain deluge.

Thus shows the general style of my gardening 😄 survivors!

Souns like Taffs Scabious would fit right in...…do you have a name for it? I love Scabious but they don't seem to like me. Perhaps this one would be different.

And what do you do with all you grow taff? It seems a lot of produce.