Awful weather - typical Brits talk

twopenny

So beautiful Dave and farway. Wisley I'd love to see. Photos please?
Sunny spells and mild. Overnight showers. 
With everything getting overwhelming I tried a complete chill out day largely sitting in the garden I've half created. 
Had to stop reading and dead head, shift the bird table (again) because it's been taken over by field mice.
Nice to enjoy it for a while before the hard work begins again.

Davesnave

twopenny said:

With everything getting overwhelming I tried a complete chill out day largely sitting in the garden I've half created. 
Had to stop reading and dead head, shift the bird table (again) because it's been taken over by field mice.

Sorry to hear of your tooth woes. Chilling-out before the weather breaks seems the right recuperative remedy....but yes, it's very hard to just sit there, isn't it?

I may have more photos of the wedding venue garden eventually, but that was the one place I didn't shoot because I had a role to play.....for a long time! It's a lengthy ceremony and ours was considerably interrupted by the traditional stealing of the bridegroom's shoes, which are then held to ransom. i.e. "You can have him, but only when you've paid for his footwear!" 

However, with a lot of feisty women on the bride's side, no one was surprised when tradition was extended to retaliatory stealing of the groomsmaids' (sorry, don't know correct term) footwear! Much bargaining ensued. They paid £200 and I've no idea what we shelled-out. The bidding started at £10k. 

Anyway, you can imagine, the non-Hindus were fairly confused. Those used to these things went off and bought drinks etc. The priest just took it all in his stride, but I think it was about 2 hours minimum. Good job it was a lovely day!

Farway

Sunny start, and it did rain eventually yesterday so watering was not required, double win already

twopenny said:

So beautiful Dave and farway. Wisley I'd love to see. Photos please?

Will do, maybe try some macro this time round having just read a photo mag including macro Autumn pics, and because I'll be using one of their mobility scooters I'll be able to  more easily carry a photo bag with a lens change in it

Dave, sounds like a good day at the wedding, if confusing at times. I think I'd be a bit like 2p, look around the wedding garden in a quite period & dead head or something equally unfitting for the occasion

Today's gardening is what I would've done yesterday had it not rained, pot on the Shasta daisy seedlings.

I do my potting outside not having such a thing as potting shed, more of a potting step, at least the rain gave me time to stew some of the apple harvest fro freezing

Ganga

Davesnave said:

As some of you know, I was away at a Hindu wedding this week, but with the nuptials complete, it was a case of "Everyone back to our place" on Friday. Many in our new family wished to scope-out Dave's Acres......and anyway, it's traditional.

Imagine the horror and embarrassment when we discovered in our absence we'd been overrun with elephants......

Will we be able to live this down???

No but just think what you can cultivate with the manure 

Davesnave

Ganga said:

Davesnave said:

As some of you know, I was away at a Hindu wedding this week, but with the nuptials complete, it was a case of "Everyone back to our place" on Friday. Many in our new family wished to scope-out Dave's Acres......and anyway, it's traditional.

Imagine the horror and embarrassment when we discovered in our absence we'd been overrun with elephants......

Will we be able to live this down???

No but just think what you can cultivate with the manure 

Happily, the elephants didn't relieve themselves while meeting our guests, but we have a few tonnes of the stuff anyway.That's under those Viburnum tinus forming a hedge along the path, most of which have shot up. There are 25-30 of them, all raised from cuttings here. The flowers are fully out now and they're alive with bees and hoverflies in the sunshine.

Can't resist one more picture of those guys. No one knew they were going to make a rare appearance. The kids loved them and even Grandma  is smiling....

I've seen a few swallows overhead today, all of them high up, heading south. I think ours and the martins are already gone. It's always a sad moment when we realise they're missing.

RAS

A few images from my week.

Red admiral on ceratostigma


Salvias and dahlias




And what happens to a heaviest marrow after the show

Farway

Sunny so far, no swallows though, never seem to see any around here but maybe it's 'cos I'm not really looking for them?

Dave the kids' faces show what a hit the elephants were

RAS, love the butterfly photo, very evocative. I assume cutting the marrows is to ensure you haven't slipped a brick inside as make weight?

Years back when I actually won with a pair of marrows they never cut or sliced them hence me wondering if the weight is why, or was my win so far back that all gardeners were considered honest in those days?

At last the Shasta daisies have been potted on, about 15 so should make a nice show over non gardener son's front garden next year.

I have some Heleniums to pot up but not many, a lot rotted off. I suspect it's the peat free compost muck which is all I could buy last year, I did hear that some the peat free stuff is notorious for poor drainage, may have to buy pearlite or summat similar to mix in next time

Spotted one of the garlic chives in flower yesterday, I sowed some umpteen years ago and they keep on coming up even though I loath garlic. Nice flower though and hopefully will add a garlic tang to someones honey

Garlic chive flower

Davesnave

RAS thanks for reminding me I still haven't replaced the Ceratostigma we lost when we moved here. It's a great autumn plant....as are garlic chives, Farway. We eat a few of ours, but mostly we grow them for the flowers and the insect-attracting properties. Dearly Beloved is making an edging with them.

The wedding meant we missed the biennial Village Show this year. It also meant some lack of attention and courgettes that turned into marrows!

As some of you know, I've been takn to task for saying supposedly downbeat, scary things on this site, so it was with some interest I saw this headline in the Metro...*

https://metro.co.uk/2021/09/20/martin-lewis-says-people-will-be-forced-to-choose-between-food-and-heating-15287413/

Gosh!

On a lighter note, I remember someone saying asters.....err.....symphotrichiums...are a pain in the bum because they get mildew before they flower. Well, ours don't. However, while about to take a photo this morning I was joined  by two hornets and quickly snapped one before they had a barney with each other and flew off.

The camera was still set up for night shooting, so I was lucky to get anything at all!

* I don't usually read that awful rag; someone sent me the link.

RAS

Farway said:

RAS, love the butterfly photo, very evocative. I assume cutting the marrows is to ensure you haven't slipped a brick inside as make weight?

Years back when I actually won with a pair of marrows they never cut or sliced them hence me wondering if the weight is why, or was my win so far back that all gardeners were considered honest in those days?

Actually, once you've had all the hassle of transporting your giant offering to the Show, you don't want the hassle of transporting the thing back home. It's completely inedible and you need a hacksaw to gut it. Everyone is after their seed. Not only to grow next year's winner but also to prevent your competitors making use of your breeding strain.

There was at least one incident of genetic theft elsewhere.

Dave, those heffalumps were cracking; a real mix of cultural references. 

And I'm hoping those hornets were the boring European sort? We don't really get them up here.

Farway

Sunny again, up to volunteer garden & watering the large pots, still a bit of life in them with the white cosmos looking especially nice and I keep dead heading whenever I go

The Rosa Rugosa hips are colouring up nicely, soon be time for their photo shoot

RAS said:

Farway said:

RAS, love the butterfly photo, very evocative. I assume cutting the marrows is to ensure you haven't slipped a brick inside as make weight?

Years back when I actually won with a pair of marrows they never cut or sliced them hence me wondering if the weight is why, or was my win so far back that all gardeners were considered honest in those days?

Actually, once you've had all the hassle of transporting your giant offering to the Show, you don't want the hassle of transporting the thing back home. It's completely inedible and you need a hacksaw to gut it. Everyone is after their seed. Not only to grow next year's winner but also to prevent your competitors making use of your breeding strain.

There was at least one incident of genetic theft elsewhere.

Saving or Nicking the seeds never occurred to me as the reason but now you've mentioned it it is so bl00dy obvious.The world of showing at that level is beyond my aspirations, but I can appreciate how much work & effort goes into growing for showing

Dave, I wonder if it's because your asters are white or maybe that variety is resistant, I know the bog standard purple round here get mildew annually. That hornet looks vicious, not seen any round here but I expect they are here somewhere

This pic is a of very pretty "weed" [weed because it just popped up, an unplanned germination] purple flowers which I should've snapped before they went over.

Any way here's a something clock