Awful weather - typical Brits talk

twopenny

No Farway, my garden at back is catproofed! Had to be done.

They use my flower bed and lawn out front. I have a trowel and beach bucket to collect it still in the bed outside.

Very cold but dry here. I'm cutting this short as my heating has broken down despite asking 2 guys to look at it. So early night.

Bonus Wellies!

goldfinches

I don't think I'm mistress material but thanks for the thought YBE. On the other hand Wellies suggestion of her landlord sounds promising, five acres would be enough to have a fruit orchard, a truffle wood and a bluebell wood so introduce me please!

How nice to have such honest neighbours too, I hope the birds enjoy their feast. My favourite cook on YT is Erin Jeanne McDowell who has a series called Bake It Up A Notch which is seriously addictive, you've been warned.

Standard figs sound rather lovely to me, I'm envisaging the fruit being at head height and hanging lushly below a canopy of leaves. That would be a lot of fun.

I'm horrified to hear that your heating has broken down 2p and hope that you're managing to keep warm nonetheless. Good luck with finding someone competent to repair or replace your system.

I took this afternoon off and went for a long stroll round the local Botanic Garden which was lovely. I'm always surprised at this time of year by how many plants are doing interesting things so there was a lot to look at. I took this photo of the hazel in full bloom in the weak sunshine.

 

Farway

Dull & grey with a hint of sun again but at least I did manage to get out in the garden yesterday and catch up a bit

Blackberries, all pruned and sorted into their fruiting positions, I did find a wayward Thorn Free blackberry tip had wormed its way and rooted behind what was my waterfall, now leaking & defunct.

Not a spot where I can get to dig it up, so I'll just have to let it get on with it, at least it's not thorny

Manky Pinova apples chucked out for birds, no drunken magpies yet seen. "My" robin was out giving me a hand though

Chucked very well rotted half bag of left over manure onto Merton Thornless blackberry border, The robin was very happy with that

Found my fig cuttings, still alive, and found one suitable heavy pot for standard fig trial

GF, ref fruit at head height, I did read years back about standard gooseberries, and then trained one, and it works , mine is should high which gives sunshine, easy caterpillar spotting and scratch free picking, one drawback is it's a very convenient bird breakfast bar perch

My grapefruit, outside, grown from pip by my DS millions of years ago, had been tinged by the frosts with dead & blackened leaves. Should survive though. It has to be outside because it's too big for me to lug inside for winter or get it to DS house for him to sort out

Never fruited and only had one small blossom in its entire life. If it weren't for sentimental value and hiding the drain hole, it would be long gone

Just a rambling type, rose and buddleias to hack back carefully prune & I can hang up the loppers for a while

Also found a well chewed pair of heavy-duty builders gloves with a glove in different areas though , foxes I expect. It was trainers last year

twopenny

Still exhausted and dealing with the heating/lack of sleep etc.

But I did finally get out to move the collection of rainwater in buckets and tubs into a watering can and power out some of the crud in the drain bottom of drive.

Once they've dried out I can put them away. They were the essential for the gutter overflowing.

Farway, I bought some Fig and Honey chutney from Morrisons before Christmas. It is super delicious and worth the extra money.

Figs - Bramley Apple - distilled Barley malt vinegar - onion - Honey 5% - spices

Saw a super huge fig tree (really a tree) and lots of squashed figs under. I guess the cold weather made them all drop.

The good news is I think there's a bud on my greengage. Not sure that it's not just wishful thinking.

I looked at new trees but they are expensive. I'll post on the forum with photos of markings on the one I was looking at. Not sure if it's natural or a problem.

Despite the prices they seem to be throwing somewhat poor fruit trees on occasions, you have to be really careful.

Blue, the raspberry canes seem to be potted at £8 for 5...........that's a bit steep and they are usually bare root.

Goldfinches, that is gorgeous. Did you find a loose twig in the ground you could plant

Mine is still only 3 stems and in a pot but I'm very proud. It's a wonderful colour in winter.

Buds on my cherry blossom tree too. Flowers on the new Viburnum and buds on the Daphne. They are all looking like they are still hiding from the cold.

Just wish they'd grow a bit faster. This starting from scratch isn't all it's cracked up to be.

RAS

The first snowdrops are in flower, almost. They are an early double so can see the flower but they not opened yet.

And my little apricot needs a holiday in my mate's polytunnel as the buds are beginning to break. Must finish the vine pruning before the sap rises.

sammy_kaye18

Early Evening to you all.
Still cold and frosty here in South Wales and its starting to really wind me up that I cant spend as much time in my garden as Id like to. 
Also fell over on Thursday in the mud pit that is now a garden so have been a bit delicate the last few days. 
Decided to get out there today though and clear up the path which is along the back of the house so not really used. Have cleared it and pressure washed the path so it looks much better and then moved three big pallets I have round the back before someone sees them and has the same idea.....
I can do the side of the house once bins have gone out on Tuesday and Im hoping to get the hedge at the front cut down a bit tomorrow. I am hoping to have gravel and soil delivered soon so I want the clippings to help fill the beds and the hedge cut down so they can see where to put the bags. Which reminds me I really need to find my shovel. 

YoungBlueEyes

My wee jalopy hasn’t had a good run out for a while so we drove up to Scarborough today for fish+chips and a wander on the beach. The weather was lovely here when we left but hit the rainy drizzle when we got there. Naturally. 

Anyway we ducked into a large garden centre and I couldn’t believe the prices! I don’t really have a frame of reference for these things, but I mentally added up a few bit and bobs and I coulda spent a grand without really trying 😳 That includes a small water feature, pond, paint for fences etc as well as plants/trees…. I may have said “how mucking fuch?!” out loud a few times! 

Did get a couple of nice pics tho. We walked down through St Nicholas’ Garden (tis V steep!) and took a pic from the bottom. The building at the top is council something or other now - bladdy shame cos it’s stunning and they’re just letting it drop to bits. It’s a crying shame. The second pic is an ivy (?) in the garden but I thought the colour was attractive 🙂

twopenny

Lovely photos Blue.
I think what you are looking at is a pitisporum. One of the fancy varieties. Grow easily from cuttings into a big shrub.
Sammy, thats good going on a cold day. Yes, a clean path and a mown lawn can make a garden look really good. Like cleaning the car number plates and lights.

Still cold here but they promise warm tomorrow. Can only hope.

Farway

Another dull & grey morning, I'm hoping for a bit of sun later, so I can nip out and get the surviving Rudbeckia out of it's pot & into the ground. It's siblings never made it due to neglect & drought, but it is a lovely red / purple one, not choice or named, just a nice one

Figs, 2P, that chutney sounds yummy, but can't see me having spare figs, in fact last year was rubbish despite the heat we had. I feel there's something I'm not doing correctly because some figs I see are laden. I'm hoping the one I moved into the conservatory will fruit this year, no signs yet though but early days, no leaf buds either just yet

YBE, horrifying the prices now, but there are some reasonable ones around, looking through my Pomana catalogue some seem reasonable, but of course never having bought from them, I've no idea if they would be decent trees or just twigs

Nice photos, the building looking dramatic, and likewise the pitisporum ident as per 2P

At last, I have potted up the Black Satin bare root blackberry I bought the other week, the bud has a green tinge so fingers crossed.

Also, the rose cuttings from neighbour's, nearly certain some have taken because there are fresh leaves just starting, just in time with an Arctic cold spell on the way for next week, I may have to just lift the pot inside for a few days if that happens. I may try for a photo later

wort

Lovely pics again, I can never get a good one.
Thursday was cold but decent enough to get in the garden, had another clean up cut back dead growth, and topped up some tubs with leaf mulch and top soil level up.
My scillia are sprouting, had to cut a few low lying branches off the hebe and conifer as they were low hanging and covering the bulbs. The heather is in full flower and looking good.
Farway not sure I can get a decent leaf cutting 🤔 I am keeping a beady eye on it though.