Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Woolsery

Too distracted to post prtoperly right now. For the 3rd day in a row we've had large military jets using the area as a practicing arena. It's not unusual to get them for a short time on Tuesdays, but 3 days in a row is unheard of. 

Good the gout's going, Farway. No Tomorite here; just very smelly comfrey water, but I need something more magical to get these Tumbling Toms to fruit properly!

Woolsery

Well, it was the Olde Fayre yesterday, which is mostly stalls selling cheap Chinese tat and lots of opporunities to look at sheep, so I gave it a miss, but DB and DD2 went. There they saw a breed of sheep that might solve our mowing problems in the chicken and rough orchards. They're called Ouessants and they're tiny.....like 45 cm high!  DB has already signed-up to the breed society, but I'm the voice of reason here.  I remember Farmer Pete's wife's Kune Kunes!

Not sure if I've posted this plant before, but it's very easy to keep and prolific once established. Ours is fighting it out with a hedge, a hydrangea and lots of untamed grasses....and winning!

Farway

Nice looking plant Woolsery, just had a search, thinking it sounds like it would do OK in my volunteer border, most seem yellow, but it was just a quick search, I'll have a thorough search later, and from eye watering prices I saw seed may be the way to go

Up watering the large volunteer pots with hose first thing, the Stargazer lilies have opened and doing as I intended, wafting scent to passers-by. A plan that worked this year. Photos taken & will upload once I get sorted

Grief on my MOT, car cancer underneath, going in for welding assessment next week Shades of my Cortina days when car welding was a stand-alone industry, like tyre fitting

Managed to get the lid off the Tomorite, yay. It's breaking the initial seal that's the problem, so gave apple, figs, beans & plum a feed while I was ahead

Woolsery

Farway said:

Nice looking plant Woolsery, just had a search, thinking it sounds like it would do OK in my volunteer border, most seem yellow, but it was just a quick search, I'll have a thorough search later, and from eye watering prices I saw seed may be the way to g'C

You're right, Coronilla glauca is yellow, especially 'Citrina'......but I mis-labelled the thing. That plant is Coronilla varia. I'll have to alter the picture caption or suffer censure for spreading internet misinformation. Enough of my posts vanish into the ether already! Still, nice, isn't it?  I can send you some seed later. Just PM if you want some. Once it gets its feet under the table it's bombproof.

Tin worm is going to eat my van before it has mechanical issues. A 20 year old Sprinter with a genuine 64k is a rarity and someone will want to save it, I'm sure. Hope so.   However, I've just invested £180 in our 22 year old Miele washing machine. It needed new shock absorbers; it's first ever repair. The chap said "Hang on to this one as long as possible...they're full of xxxxx stuff these days!" I won't say exactly what. In the interests of of accuracy this post must stay.

Picture caption now corrected.

Farway

Sunny & hot day ahead, although my PC tells me it will rain I think it's a liar, anyway having managed to remove Tomorite top and have fed & watered the large pots at the front this morning, my lovely lilies are starting to "go over" now so the feed will be next year's flowers

The castor oil plants I have at the front are performing as I'd hoped, starting to look tropical with huge leaves, the flower is a tad disappointing, not as large / showy as I was gulled into thinking by the catalogue, nice enough just not what I expected

Hose pipe ban starts next week for Southern water customers, which is my lot over Southampton way but not me, different water company supplies me. By coincidence, son & family are in Rome today and report the Trevi fountain is not a fountain, no water there either

I'll be MIA tomorrow, visiting my daughter and also going to GC where a granddaughter [her daughter] is part-time working during college. I think it's a Dobies so I may come home with something on staff discount? A canna? I do want some Perlite for potting on, so may be that will be my opportunity

Thanks for seed offer Woolsery, I will take you up on it because I'm on a propagation roll here having checked my Cape primrose leaf cuttings. I was dubious about trying them because some internet user say it's difficult, rotting etc. But maybe I was lucky, or it was just internet misinformation

Here are the rooted cuttings, leaf cuttings taken on 28 March, photo yesterday, 28 July

liberty_lily

Lovely pics as always everyone 🙂

It's 23° and beautiful blue skies here (hoping it stays that way for the weekend as DH needs to remove more of the existing extension frontage), so I've been outside taking stock of what needs to be done. Loads of soil to shift still before we can start building a retaining wall with all the stone we've accumulated.

After all the rain we had we've only needed to water the pots here. I did notice some of the hornbeam hedging we planted in 2020 has crisped though 🙁

The apricots (all nine of them!) are ripening but still very hard - not sure if I should be picking them yet? They're destined for a tarte tatin...yum (hopefully!)....

Beans are romping away in the courtyard and down in the jungley area the extremely reliable telekias are starting to look lovely....

Woolsery

Something ate my Telekias , but yours look great lily! They emerge late and maybe the weather didn't help. I've decided my jungley area is strictly a spring thing and after that we'll just focus on plants for butterflies, which means mostly buddleias, though I've some Joe Pye struggling through too.

DB has made contact with the miniature sheep woman* who lives almost within a stone's throw of here. We are invited round, anytime. I'm trying to resist, but in the long run I know it's futile!

* That should read "woman with miniature sheep."

Woolsery

We have rain; not very useful rain, but enough to set the weed seeds off. Last year I spent about £80 on a specialist product for driveways that's supposed to inhibit germination, but I put the packet in a 'safe place' and it's proved a little too safe!  I'd hoped to report on it by now.

I've continued to dismantle the polytunnel woodwork and found the upper parts suitable for re-using once the rusted-out nails are angle-ground away. It's time consuming. I'd guess with all the battening and nail plates there's over 1000 nails and the ones supplied didn't do well regarding rusting. I'll be using 'farmer's' ones when we re-erect. I've solved the problem of the huge extra pile of soil. The tunnel people do bespoke extension tubes at a very reasonable price, so we'll add 20 cm to the height of the ground tubes we're re-using and the new one will sit that much higher than originally planned. The heap will make the new floor level.

A plant that does far too well here is Chicory. Originally grown from seed collected from a roadside in Wiltshire, it goes 7' high in the garden and makes more leaf than flower. Nice flowers in an unusual blue, but it really looks best in impoverished soil:

Farway

Back again after a day off with DD and visit to a garden centre where the granddaughter works weekends. Collected a bag of Perlite for my Cape Primrose potting on and reduced to clear small tray of sorry looking Busy Lizzies which I'm hoping will perk up once given TLC and potted on

And I got a discount with GD working there

Made a rod for my back while in GC, DD admiring the Hot Lips salvia when I blurted out how easy cuttings are and Robert is Dad's brother I now will be taking cuttings next time up the volunteer garden, there are suitable donors there

Looking nicely jungley LL

I have to report a self seeded white buddleia, not the usual purple, and it looks like a keeper as well, must be from the white one I have already

And to top it all, first ripe toms, the winner again is Yellow Balcony using own saved seed, grown in wall baskets in my conservatory

liberty_lily

Lol at "miniature sheep woman", Woolsery 😂

Our own miniature sheep  (sadly not real - I'm very envious of your prospective purchase(s) - but resin) is enjoying life amongst the apples...

Which is more than can be said for the rest of us as we've covid in the house, so nothing has happened inside or out over the weekend 🙄🤧☹️

DH has a bit of a temperature, lost sense of taste/smell and feels generally rubbish (plus he fell on our front steps so is covered in bruises!), so has spent the last two days in bed, having tested positive yesterday. I'm ok - slight sore throat and a little achey - but can't demolish an extension frontage alone so have been working on a piece of art instead. It rained lightly yesterday but after a drizzly start, has been sunny today.

Nice toms there, Farway 😁