Awful weather - typical Brits talk

LessImpecunious

Congrats on germination success Dusty 🙂

On willows dying I have big self-seeders here (several years old) with brown and shrivelled leaves; hazels, etc, are dropping leaves and (unripe) nuts - can't believe Wales is drier than Devon…

Dustyevsky

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82075866#Comment_82075866

The willow I was cutting back a little looked unstressed, but it's about 25' tall. It has overwhelmed a Rowan that was there first, but that may have planted itself too.

The new dead/dying trees in the verge are Himalayan birch, about 3 cm in diameter at the base, so young and vulnerable. Planting those into rough grass and not assisting them in drought, is potentially enough to kill them. However, there's honey fungus there, feeding on the roots of poplars, cut down about 8 years ago, so it's anyone's guess as to the exact cause of death. 🤔

I've not seen our big willows close-up recently, but I'd expect them to be dropping leaves, like trees within our garden. The hazels you mention, and an Italian alder are defoliating to survive. The only tree we've 'helped,' other than the heavily loaded plum, is a newly planted damson, which has the chickens' water emptied by it every evening when we re-fill. There's also the new hornbeam hedge, under a metre tall down in our wildlife area. I water that about once a week, and it's doing OK. 😁

One happy effect of the hot weather is the formation of seed on our Euphorbia 'John Phillips.' The original plant, given to us by John before it had a name, got so out of hand Mrs Dusty insisted I move one of its progeny to the Secret Garden, which became far too shady. The original plant was destroyed, being by then about 8' in all directions and still expanding! 😰 Now, we may get a chance to grow one in a sunnier spot, where it won't be such a thug, so far as other plants are concerned!

OT: Sunshine and occasional cloud, with variable light winds. Hot again, at up to 27c. A possibility of rain at the weekend, but not much of it forecast. I predict a few more water supply problems.

Farway

Last night was much cooler & I managed a proper kip at last, but still up & about early, needed to get to post box with my ISA nonsense, some things still require black pen signature, at least no longer needs to be in blood & sealed under oath.

Had intended to finish off the summer pruning while still cool, but by time I returned I CBA to get my long loppers out.

I wish the goat willows on the verge here would keel over, there is nothing to commend them, except sucking up water I suppose, which may be their purpose of course. There is a large Swamp Cypress which is for that, it was a duck pond in 1800s according to old maps

Meanwhile I continue watering, I def have embryo runners, visible to naked eyes now. Not many but they could be all I have this year. very healthy plants, just not setting beans since Bluey turned them into Lezzbeans 😁

Similar weather and forecast to Dusty, All Northern rain gives up by the time it reaches the Midlands

Little Miss Figgy is loving the move to the front, perked up no end with a good watering and sunshine. She was poked in a corner, oops, let me rephrase that, 🤭She was neglected and hidden by foliage besides a garden path.

Tomatoes are weird this year, the outdoor ones are cracking on, all fruiting, with none yet ripe, but the failsafe in the conservatory are just not setting much fruit, very sparse, despite plenty of blossom. Only exceptions are Sungold setting every truss on a lanky spindly plant & Tumbling Tom, TT is tumbling and loads of tiny unripe toms. All very odd.

No gardening planned, maybe emergency watering if any droopy ones spotted

Dustyevsky

Farway, you reminded me about the figs, sitting in big pots outdoors. I picked the first two last night, put them on a breeze block to collect later, and then forgot.

Today, the least ripe one is intact. The plump, juicy one has been pecked to death.☹️ I suspect blackbirds. Suddenly we have loads of those. They've done well, as have the swallows and martins.🙂

twopenny

Had trouble posting today and this has taken a few goes. 😬

Been a bit cooler today 🙂 and I went out early to photograph a Little Owl that happily turned up as required 😃

After the days jobs I set to and started dead heading the lavender. I always do it so it's easier for the bees to find the flowers but I then continued with trying to cut back all the dead stuff and tidy up because it's so dire and depressing all crispy brown and burnt.

Surprisingly while sorting photos I found it's only been a month since the last but of rain and it seems like 3!

Can't find a positive as you'll see from the pictures - the geraniums have been watered and fed but still gone crispy 😢

twopenny

Looks like the site has gone to pot again today.

wort

Mrs Dusty deserves her own page for the Moth photos, love the feathery looking one. Less too,the photo of the hummingbird moth is fab 👏🏻 Well done your dd Dusty ,I don’t envy that labour in this heat. So many congratulations 🎉 Your friend certainly has a brilliant flower show.

Fig leaves and Rhubarb, interesting combination. No sign of my cafe au lait getting buds ,update just checked and one tiny one 👏🏻Farway.

2p I would definitely be leaving windows given any excuse, you really seem to be doing well.

I have five mini tomatoes now ,so have taken off more leaves to hopefully ripen them. Lots of flowers , and fruit flies 🙄

Friday after tea spent a few hours cutting back up the ladder, came in around 9pm, much easier in the cool. Saturday had visitors due for tea so prepared in the morning, then out in the front garden to cut back there. We had a small downpour of rain early evening, but not enough to wet the soil .
Yesterday much cooler now, and painted the conservatory. I have rain that comes down the cavity if the wind is in the “wrong” direction, which comes into the conservatory and ruins the plaster work. So now it looks decent again for a while at least.

Cool and overcast again today, washing needs to go out now. Rain due Saturday, 40% chance. Unfortunately we are due to the city to the theatre then of course.🙄

Dustyevsky

wort: Mrs Dusty deserves her own page for the Moth photos, love the feathery
looking one. Less too,the photo of the hummingbird moth is fab 👏🏻

Mrs Dusty's photo has now had about 1800 views, posted on a lepidopterist forum! I think we're posting in the wrong place! 🤣

DD wasn't in labour long, compared with last time. With her first child still needing to be lifted, she was determined not to have a C section. 😉 Baby was small, which helped.

Farway Tomatoes are weird this year, the outdoor ones are cracking on, all fruiting, with none yet ripe, but the failsafe in the conservatory are just not setting much fruit, very sparse, despite plenty of blossom. … All very odd

I can relate to some of this. All ours are undercover in the poly, but they're not as robust as usual, except for Cherry Falls. There are enough toms for our needs, but there won't be such a large surplus as there usually is.🤔

Yesterday was hot, stuffy and busy. The haylage was turned by 09.00, and baled by lunchtime. We had 4 round bales, instead of the usual 19 to 26. That was mainly because the sheep left here too late for the grass to recover, but the hot, dry spells didn't help. We're not concerned, as there's no income involved. It's far more important we have fencing reinforced, and the hedges cut at the end of summer. We have assurances about that, so those fears have been allayed. ☺️

With the baling done, we were able to pop over to DD's and I got to meet DGD at last! Mrs Dusty beat me to that by 24hrs, by visiting DD in hospital. With all the bad press about midwifery, I must add the service at the RD&E Exeter was first-rate. 😇

You don't need more pictures of tractors and balers, so for a bit of variation, here's a visitor to the Self-heal in the front garden Mrs D spotted a few days ago:

We think it's a Linnet….unless someone thinks otherwise! 😛

2p: Looks like the site has gone to pot again today.

No comment ….but they may have been fixing something, 'cos posting pictures is less glitchy for me now.

Oh, and I've made contact with an entity from the other side, but await further details. Apparently, the line from Purgatory is still on dial-up, much as you'd expect.😩

Farway

Cooler but still sunny and pleasant. No sign of rain of course.

I like the before & after pics 2P, amazing how quickly things dry out, and how quickly the grass returns to green when the rain arrives. Shame about crispy geraniums, I'd have thought they would be OK.

This year I have bedding begonias, from Morries, the 3 for 2 offer. I've got them on my baking front steps, much like your geraniums, and they are doing fine in the heat. They're the sort councils make clocks out of on the Prom. I'll get a photo to show, although they are not unusual or anything, at least it's a colour that is not brown. In my case, although not hardy they will snuff it anyway once the vine weevils return. I guess cheap & cheerful would summarise them

Wort No sign of my cafe au lait getting buds ,update just checked and one tiny one 👏🏻Farway. Mine are well ahead now, except it looks like another mis label from ??. I ordered one Cafe and one red sort. From the colour I can see so far it looks like I have two Cafe ones. Be nice enough but not quite what I wanted.

I think next year, if I'm still upright 😉, I'll just buy dahlia tubers from the racks in Morries etc, at least I can pick out the plump and intact ones

While on dahlias, you may recall how I snapped off shoots and new ones were growing? I have to report that particular dahlia is jinxed. While pruning the apples I knocked over the pot the recovering dahlia was in, and broke off the new shoot, and the pot as well 🤬. Some words were muttered. I've given up on that one, it's on a suicide mission, a Norwegian lemming.

Better news, checked on the Lakemont grape, looking good so far. Just one bunch but that's 100% more than previously

twopenny

Something more cheerful. I have lots of tomatoes 😃

I've been picking the yellow that came from saved seed. Honey crunch or some such.

And there's Cherry Falls coming up on the inside

With Gardeners Delight trying to overtake

Been very cool this morning to chilly over in Devon where I been. Got back to Somerset and it's hot again. 25c.

Farway that looks promising. What are you going to call your wine? 🙂

Dusty I'd forgotten how bad the Devon roads were! Somerset is poor but not like that. 😲