Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Farway

Dull & cold, but no gardening outside anyway, exciting [not] shopping delivery later

My seeds arrived, so may get on & sort them out, I was sent three packets of free seeds as well, all good news, Cos type lettuce, bush plum tomato & red Californian poppy, I have uses for all of those

The canna seeds are like bullets, so need attacking to break the coating first, a job for Mole grips & junior hacksaw I think

Yesterday the sun came out for a bit and I did pot on my streptocarpus leaf cuttings, twenty-five of them in the end, all for free . Once growing a bit more I'll probably donate them to my volunteer place, pound a pot should shift them quickly

One outstanding job outside is back garden buddleia prune, needs doing but not in this cold, my nose is already running without additional cold

And, good news, the rose cuttings I took last year when my neighbour sold up, some have taken which is good, it's a lovely rose so glad it seems to be living on. I'll leave them to settle & grow some more in the pot before I find final homes

twopenny

Your ability to root stuff is a real talent Farway 
I could do tough shrubs only but grandmother could grow anything. Really annoying.

I have hope for a couple of cuttings I took from an hotel garden. It has frilly leaves and is the size of an armchair. It also survives winter flowering and goes all year so definitely worth the space.

I'll get some new veg seeds today. After having to put the fire on to warm up after 10mins in the garage sorting gardening otherwise is off other than watering the pots. Just hoping they don't freeze then.

Nice to see you Blackcat. If you live where i think it must be even colder there hope your garden is shaded.

Blue, time to sit and look at your achievements and feel pleased. 

YoungBlueEyes

That rose looks fine and dandy to me 🙂 And having to sort the coating on seeds is a new one on me… I wonder how much I’ve missed out on by just burying/scattering seeds and then blaming the weather/the seeds when they didn’t grow Do you do lessons Farway? I just need teaching enough to not feel like a bumbling amateur… 

Had another buying session for stuff for the shady (I think) side of the garden. The surly boy on the till didn’t scan every barcode so I didn’t tell him - got 2 freebies ha haa! They’ll die on me now obviously, but still. This gardening lark can be a dear gig eh? I’ll see if I can convince himself to dig over the other side tomorrow so I can get the new plants in before the cold/er weather comes next week. Then I’ll sit back, maybe. Not literally like cos my bum cheeks and backs of my thighs are screaming 🙄

Your hotel cutting sounds like a winner 2p, what is it? [Edit- “an hotel” made me smile.]

Cold and windy and grey here. The drunkards told me a few times today that it was snowing (it bladdy wasn’t, sadly!) 

Farway

Very dull, cold & bleugh day outside, I shan't be doing anything in the garden today, including not pruning my Co-op car park donated buddleia, and here's hoping your hotel donated cuttings for armchair sized shrub give as much 2P

YBE, hope the surly till boy freebies thrive & prosper and would taste even better if you can eat them.

The hard seed coating malarkey, it's a PIA but worthwhile to shave a few months, or maybe years, off them germinating.

A bit fiddly & tricky, not difficult but holding a small hard seed with two sausage fingers and trying to knick the seeds with a Stanley knife is not for those easily bled

In yesterday's case I used Mole grips to clench the seeds, only squashed a couple while finding the "just right" amount of pressure, a couple also pinged onto the floor and are lost forever, but the others went well once I had found the right hacksaw pressure to just cut through the hard shell and are now in luke warm water in the airing cupboard to get going

Trying to saw ball bearings would be good practice

Found my small electric propagator which I may need soon, with cost of leccy though t's not something to routinely use these days. I may make a small sowing of Little Gem lettuce, just in a poly bag covered pot on window sill now I have some space

twopenny

How industrious Farway. You two make me feel guilty.
4c again here. The wind has dropped so as long as you don't stop moving it's ok. The gloom of the cloud isnt much fun. Everything looks drab.
But the plants are breaking leaf.
Got some purple sprouting seeds, 89p. They've sold out of kale and tomato seeds already. I think it might be a repeat of lockdown and people growing veg again.  So I'll have to leg it down there on delivery day. Good seeds at that price are not to be missed.
So the forecasts differ wildly but it's supposed to buck up next weekend to a tropical 8c. Can't wait!

Chuckling though at Blue getting the plant addiction 

YoungBlueEyes

Gawd I could get addicted to this gardening malarky I got some nice plants, different heights and colours and fragrances. Nothing whizzy I don't think but they should look lovely when they get established and fill out. 

Not industrious here yesterday. It wasn't cold really but it wasn't warm either. The only gardening was emptying the biggest heaviest lumps of stuff outta the garden bin into some buckets for himself to get rid of at work this morning. It's brown bin day today and they never woulda took for it was that heavy! So there's just carrots  dandelion and tree roots, and a few other bits. Then it was back inside with spicy hot choc and my book (Shuggie Bain)

Gonna be properly cold here with snow and ice forecast tomorrow. They say.  

YoungBlueEyes

Here’s a pic of the newbies 🙂

They’re sat waiting on the rain. 

Farway

Just dull, grey & cold, waiting for the sleet and maybe snow to get this far south if it dares

I was like YBE with gardening yesterday, didn't do any, not even sow the seeds, it was slouching around and YouTube day

2P, purple sprouting is one of the unsung heroes, used to grow it years ago on my allotment. I think I was ahead of my time, now I see it is a costly food item in the supermarket. I found it trouble free but can take up a lot of space, Used to eat the leaves as well, but they will be tough when older

One of the "greens" that are still good next Spring, filling the so-called Hungry Gap. One year I grew white sprouting, dreaming of mini cauliflowers on stalks, nope , if tempted to, don't ! Stick to the purple

Nice haul there YBE, should be nice come summer, and maybe some will be absolute stars in your garden, some plants just love their spot while others hate it, but that's gardening

The squirrels have decided my blue muscari, in a trough, are the next wonder food and have dug most up and presumably eaten them.

The little s0ds have not touched them for over ten years, but this year they've gone for them big time. I never really bothered with them either, they were overcrowded and neglected by me, now of course I want them back like the dog in manger

Just glad I moved a clump around the front a few weeks ago, at least I'll have some left, and they do spread rapidly given half a chance

May just sow some lettuce indoors today, my Little Gem seeds seem to have vanished , so it's cos type sowing if I do any

twopenny

Great collection Blue,  you'll have fun with those. Are you going to protect them from the snow because they'll be quite tender straight from the supplier?
The weather forcast has changed overnight and we have rain for the foreseeable. Just had the washing machine filled. Grrrrr.
Was it me watering the pots?
But atm there is brightness and sun???!!! At least the plants will like it but cold and wet so not me.
I lost yesterdays post about geraniums. I'll try and do itagain on the'puter.

YoungBlueEyes

Aye I'll be protecting them 2P. I got some black material that the woman said would be needed for the bad weather coming so fingers crossed it works  

The woman in the garden centre was very knowledgeable and helpful so I just bought most of the things she pointed out to me. She kept asking where my soil is on the ph scale (not a clue) so it'll be a bit trial and error with some of them but it should be ok I think.

Sorry to hear of your hungry squirrels Farway, they really are a blight. Didn't somebody mention a box of red kites would be in the post.... Funny I did mention squirrels to the woman in the garden centre. She said they'll eat what they want when they want and completely without reason, and all you can really do is stand back and watch, unless you have a gun. Not a bit of help. 

The council rat man came about an hour ago. I asked him how bad is it - they're under the decking - he said "well they've certainly made themselves at home" So now there's blocks of bait on wires poked under there, and box trap things with seeds in them in case they fancy that too. Please god let them work quickly cos it's bladdy dear, and I've got a new addiction to fund! I'm blaming yous two btw. I'd blame wooly too but he's not here to see it. I hope he hasn't gone for good...?