Awful weather - typical Brits talk

quirkydeptless

goldfinches said:

Had a thrilling time this afternoon out with local walking group, managed to attract a jay close enough to really see it in detail for the first time ever.

It came quite close to the group of us standing and snapping away which didn't seem to bother it at all but when a magpie turned up it skedaddled across the river pronto.

Good job we aren't in the US where this is banned!

Farway

More lovely photos, very impressed with the Frog PP and a groan for your one QD

Rain arrived as forecast, not thunder or torrential, just rain, with more to follow once it's got it's breath back so I can ease off on watering for a bit at least

The Helenium I bought on offer from Browns & sowed about a week back have germinated, I was a bit fearful because the seeds are the dust like ones, one sneeze & they're gone, plus it seems they prefer surface sowing, uncovered. If they turn out as well as mu coleus which are similar dust sized & sowing method then I've no complaints

Until this week Jacobs Ladder was a plant I'd heard of but never seen, now up it pops on here and unknown to me the other volunteer had planted it in the border and identified it as Jacobs ladder, we have the blue one

Here's it's pic along with Black Lace elder just flowered.

phoebe1989seb

Loving all the pics, especially Kermit, Poppy 😊 Also really pretty white Jacob's ladder which I've never seen before.

When we were doing the garden of our Southsea (Hampshire) house a few years back, I recall buying one that I think was variegated, but it was soon devoured by the slugs we had in abundance there. We never got another 🙄

Closest we have here is vetch of some kind which DH was informed by somebody locally was Jacob's ladder.....this is colonising the lower level of the large rockery, but as this is due to be dismantled next year I'm not too bothered!

No storms here or even heavy rain. It's sunnyish this morning although not particularly warm.

Of the 51 roses we've planted as the garden centrepiece, only the six most recently acquired have no buds. The majority are smothered 😃

Still waiting on the Sarah Bernhardt peonies to open.....

I'm a little annoyed that of the nine Digitalis Pam's Choice we selected specially for the *white bed*, three have turned out pink....

Davesnave

In theory, there's usually a pink or purplish tinge to the reverse leaf veins on foxgloves that will turn out pink Phoebe. I don't think the odd pink one looks bad anyway.

We've had many visitors to the tiny ponds in the developing herb garden, but this one, snapped this morning, is the largest of the birds so far....

I can recommend the golden oregano for edging and covering a variety of sins.

pink_poppy

At least it wasn’t a vulture, Dave 😉 (that would only make sense if you saw the BBC report about a lost vulture the other day)...

I found this on the path earlier. It looks like it’s been taken from a nest and pecked open (there’s still some yolk inside). I haven’t googled what bird the egg is from, if anyone knows??

Davesnave

Looks like blackbird to me,  Poppy.

phoebe1989seb

Ah, that's useful to know about the reverse leaf veins...thanks Dave! Another great pic there too 😃

DH said the same thing about the odd pink one looking ok...it's just rather a pain, having paid extra for the supposedly white ones when we've got loads of pink digis in the rose beds! Think I'm destined never to get that Sissinghurst look, lol!

I did move one of them (into the aforementioned roses 😉) but will leave the other two where they are for now.

Just trawling back through old photos and discovered that the peonies were already open on 2nd June last year! Think they've still got about a week to go. Same with the rambling roses, which - apart from my very disappointing Rambling Rector - are bursting with buds but had already begun flowering in 2020....

RAS

Davesnave said:

In theory, there's usually a pink or purplish tinge to the reverse leaf veins on foxgloves that will turn out pink Phoebe. I don't think the odd pink one looks bad anyway.

Definitely, Phoebe and Dave. I got some random white ones a decade ago which I rather like but loads of self-seeding pink. I eventually learned that if I looked at the inside of the central leaf stem and veins, I could identify pink from white and cull (or give away) the pink ones early in the spring. The leaves are also paler, more or less lime green.



Sorry for the naff photos; taken on the phone in high sun. In the first you can just see, centre right, reddening in the stem of a pink plant. Veins on the white one below look almost golden. It's much more pronounced when you look at the cluster of leaves on young plants, and in winter the cooler weather increases the depth of colour.

Phoebe I don't know with Pam's Choice whether the veins would be pure green or tinged with pink but it might be worth looking closely now and maybe taking a photo or two so you have a reminder. Then let the plants seed and grow on some in a bed. Reckon you should be able to cull/relocate the pink ones quite easily and select white/blotched for the white garden.

There's a reverse trend which means that very dark leaf stems are associated with very dark pink flowers, often with a reddish tinge round the edge of the leaves.

phoebe1989seb

Thanks very much for your detailed explanation, RAS...it's very helpful 😃

twopenny

Not posting so much now due to the new format making it impossible on my tablet. I have to wait until I've powered up my computer.

Loving the photos and news. Mortified at pulling up the white Jacobs Ladder! I'd have snapped that up like a shot. It would look lovely in my plot. But it also look looks lovely in 'the' pot

Still dry and hot here, just a bit of mizzle overnight.

I've been looking at the sucesses and how to move things come autumn.

The sucess turns out to be New Dawn rose which I'd thought a mistake. It s grown like mad all over the fence covered in blooms and glows at dusk. A real sight. Also a cream climber planted this year, that needs moving because it's too dry and covered in blackspot but the first blooms are an incredible perfume.

The failures seem to be the patio cherry bought from a supermarket last year. It finally got fruits this year and I've been waiting hopefully - but it looks like they are ornamental fruits which is not what the label said so it's off to the charity stall at the end of the year.

Also all the fruit tree leaves are carpeted in aphids this year again. There isn't enough movement in this hot and sheltered garden I think.

The Dunster Plum which I was repeatedly assured was a dwarf (it looked too sturdy when I bought it) is reaching for the sky. This is the one with canker. I'll have to post photos because I don't have a clue where to start pruning it. When I did last year I just got even more and bigger growth