Awful weather - typical Brits talk

twopenny

They are raspberries but poor shoots. You could feed them and see if they come to something but you'll need more than that.

Garden nurseries sell them at about £10 for 10 so that makes a good bargain as they will grow strong and give you fruit this year. It's one thing not to rely on from supermarkets who charge £2 for one skimpy one.

I grew Autumn Bliss and thanks to some wonderful advice on here have raspberries all summer! You either cut down the old growth as the books say or leave 'this years stem' for a second year, that will fruit in summer and the new stems in autumn.

It gives you slightly less but that's fine by me. I get to eat them all :-)

Or at £10 ea bundle get a couple of varieties and a bit of adventure.

Frost unexpectedly today. Walk and coffee this morning - saw trees full of yellow catkins and some snowdrops - gas man cometh and talked non stop about his divorce and mental health. That's the second to do that. Don't know what it is about me. Seeing that he charges about £90ph I'm thinking of counciling the trades at the same rate.

I'm trying to protect my Thyme plants. Didn't get enough for cooking last year and now cold and wet. So I bought some plastic pretend iron fencing bits £1ea and plan to cover the top with fleece so the air circulates but the air will go through.

I did see some metal chimney toppers that would have fitted them perfectly but they were £££££££

YoungBlueEyes

That's good info, thanks 2p I'll have to look up where my nearest nursery is. We've plenty of garden centres but they're so dear!

I moved my swish roses into the conservatory the other day. I didn't want them dying on me in the bad weather while I'm idling and not actually getting any nearer with the garden. I moved my 2 mystery plants in too, even though they've lived through ice and cold before. But still. Not like it's warm in the conservatory ha haa!

The weather man on the radio there says it's not as cold as yesterday. Must be a Devonian Drunkard, it's a few degrees colder certainly. No sun forecast today though sadly. It was a lovely crisp-but-sunny day yesterday

Farway

Very hard frost overnight, but sunny & bright

Before I forget, 2P, thyme, I buy a fresh growing pot from Asda, 80p now, was 60p a day ago and 50p last year, robbing bu66ers. Cheaper than packet of seeds and I suspect it has loads of plants crammed in the pot if you CBA to split them. I guess it would grow on OK window sill for cooking and then plant out later?

I buy them, and the rosemary flower picture I posted a few days back is on an Asda one I planted out a couple of years ago

Raspberries, as I mooched around Home Bargains I found some raspberry canes and was slightly tempted, but passed on them

However, my gardening today was buying liquid fertiliser, a couple of cascade begonia corms, [for the vine weevils' breakfast] and a single twig, only one left , Black Satin blackberry, not the healthiest of specimens but at least it has what looks like live buds, which I hope will perk up with some TLC

There were roses as well, but tempting as it was I really don't have any room, especially with my recent cuttings coming on nicely

Spotted some catkins caked with heavy frost, maybe worth a photo if frosty again this week

twopenny

Blue, shouldn't be expensive. Do you know anyone with raspberries? They will have some to spare. Gives you time to explore when you have time.
Love mystery gardening! It's exciting.
Farway the guy at the garden centre said the same but I'd forgotten. I buy basil from the spmkts and pot up which is just enough. So I will do that as soon as it's warm enough to lug compost from the far away Otter. Ours are stocking only the eco stuff at enormous prices for small bags - and it's rubbish.
Day dark and freezing, even snow showers. Didn't even check the plants on a visit. 
Think it's time for another viewing of Monty Don in Gardens round the world. A bit of sun and sighing...

YoungBlueEyes

I don't think I know anyone with rasps.... There used to be wild ones where I walked to dogs but I expect they're long gone

The mystery plants are exciting. I used to have a lot of birds in my old garden, and there was a few weeks when they were poo'ing out these seeds - small, roundy/flatish seeds - so I started lifting and planting them in wee pots. Only a couple survived out of about 20 but they're a good foot high now. Only tall skinny stalks but they produce leaves in the spring + summer that turn beautiful shades of reds and orange before they drop. I can finally get them planted this year!  

V cold out there this morning, coldest one yet I think. A sunny day forecast but it didn't appear yesterday so who knows... Beautiful sliver of moon out there at the minute.

TMC has a rival, possibly. There was a godawful racket last night - he was either fighting another cat or depleting the squirrel population. The noise was horrific - it even stopped the neighbours going at each other! 

Farway

Another hard overnight frost, not sunny & bright yet though, on a promise from BBC so must be true

2P, same here with compost, not checked this year, but whispers are it will all be expensive. I have been fairly happy with the Home Bargains stuff, but none in just yet, so unable to say for 2023.

I have enough to pot up my new blackberry and begonias, so no need to panic yet

No gardening today, too cold out there and frozen ground as well, I do have a Shasta daisy & rudbeckia to plant from their pots but that can wait a bit longer

twopenny

So it's still freezing but not rain or snow. Even sunshine eventually today.

The garden is still sodden and very cold so I don't think it's time to try and move anything or trample the lawn. The potted geraniums that got hit before the worst I pruned and put in a dry, sheltered spot but they are turning black anyway. Think they may be a gonner but I'll leave them just in case.

Here are the helebores

Painted Bunting

Shooting Star

Not good photos, I had no inclination to get on the freezing wet ground to do better

The second was planted before a dry cold windy spell winter and struggled through the heatwave to survive.

I still prefer my red/black one I bought on the way to work from a small village shop. But looks like that will come later.

YoungBlueEyes

So that's helebores on my list then Seems like they're quite hardy...?

I had geraniums in my last house but I forgot to bring them when we moved. They were in pretty pots in the garden and I just looked right through them when I locked up and left

Bladdy cold here this morning, not quite as cold as it has been though I don't think. The sun's trying to come out but there's a lot of cloud up there.

Any more heard from wooly? Hopefully he's just battling all that water they got down there, I hope they're all alright. Seems like he's been banned eh. 

Farway

Likewise 2P, too cold and frozen to venture outside right now, but at least the sun's out

Nice pic of the red / black hellebore

My gardening continues to consist of browsing the catalogues, I'm waiting for the inevitable Free P & P offers to appear before I plunge in

Farway

Frosty with blue sky & sunshine again

My first offer of free P & P mail arrived in my in box this morning, from Brown's not checked them yet to see if they have cannas

At last, I managed to get out yesterday afternoon & capture catkins in the sunshine, using my new old camera