Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Farway

YoungBlueEyes said:

Eryngium zabelii yep, I'll have to look out for them. Grasses would be good, buddleia I don't fancy. Work in progress.

Jeez that's a beggar taff, but at least now you have plenty to go on with  

I'm not that near a wilkos now, I used to get loads of stuff in there before I moved. Yeah geraniums in pots  Farway are your vine weevils prevalent because of your area or is it a specific plant thing? Or are some shops worse for 'infested' soil?  

I predict that it'll be dry for you for Wisley tomorrow but I'll be flooded out (the opposite of the forecast) 

Vine weevils, I don't think I'm particularly prone, but I do have a lot of plants in pots, the thing is with pots once the grub is there it can only round and round and eat what is in the pot, but in open ground it can travel sideways, maybe get eaten by a bird, beetle, ants even etc and some plants are just yummy for them.

Tuberous begonias, primroses, fuchsia & heuchera are super tasty. I've noticed the dahlias seem to be OK

My guess is I have an infestation, like weeds and one year's seeds etc.

I'm hoping once I get the killer in the pots, it will reduce them. A bit like my keep picking off lily beetles, slowly gets rid

Dustyevsky

-taff said:

I went to Jekkas Herb Farm for an open day and saw dwarf santolina for the first time, so I bought a plant. A week later I went to Costco with my MIL for something, and what do I see edging the car park areas? Bloody great reams of the stuff! So I did as any gardener would, and took some sprigs off them in the hopes they'll propogate...

Santolina is dead easy from cuttings.  We like 'Lemon Queen' more than the usual type, but they're all good.

Any geraniums in pots will be chomped by vine weevil larvae over winter, sure as night follows day. You can treat them with nematodes, but the awful planet-wrecking chemical control stores better. I spend about £20 a year on it, 'cos it's not very ecerlogical to buy plants and then buy them all again, after feeding the weevils! Experience teaches what the grubs like most, but primula, fuchsia, dahlia, cyclamen, and members of the geranium family are all on the list.

Farway's geranium looks like it could be a seedling from 'Mrs Kendall-Clark,' who's a  large specimen in denim blue, whose only failing is the tendency to fall over and need support. Too much Pimms probably!

Dustyevsky

It's easy upkeep if you ignore the pruning and shaping, mowing on a slope and getting at the weeds which do find a foothold. Lots to be said for that style, though, as it's never bare. Great trip back to the 80s, that. Oh, if I had my time again!

twopenny

I don't know. A neighbour has small trees and shrubs. First impression is, oh how lovely because it's classy and neat.
But it's boring. Once you've been there for 5mins that's it. No interest, nothing more to look at.

On the other hand I've been looking at the work in my plot with the new weather conditions and thinking a tiny orchard and shingle.

Still dry and muggy here. Cloudy so it feels cooler till you move 

YoungBlueEyes

Well how do you like that. We swung past a garden centre after dropping mil back, just for a look-see. And didn’t I buy begonias, primulas and a heuchera. I’ve planted them now so *shrug*

That’s a good point 2p, I didn’t think of that. Some would change colour with seasons maybe? But other than that it’d be same old same old… 

Dry cloudy and humid here. Bit of a breeze now though, which makes it feel better. 

ArbitraryRandom

I also think it might be more work than you'd think.

A neighbour a few houses back had a very neatly shaped shrub like that shaped into one of those tidy cones. Yes, sure, not much weeding and the like, but during the spring growing season I swear he was out trimming it every other day - because of its neat shape it didn't take a bit of growth to start looking scruffy. 

If you had a whole garden full of those, compared to a neat and tidy perfect planted garden I'm sure it was less work, but compared to a perfectly nicely put together cottage style garden a lot more I reckon. 

RAS

And, finally, rain. Been promised thunder all afternoon and had just a couple of distant rumbles.

Did eat the ripe strawberries and raspberries before it started.

Dustyevsky

We had some rain around 6pm, before which a thunderstorm travelled slowly north, about 15 miles to the east of us. It reached  2p, if my app is accurate, that is.

Not much hope of anything truly wet before Tuesday now, but the cooler, calm and cloudy weather today allowed me to get on with tidying-up pots and finally working-out what the losses have been. Bad winter+ recent intense sunshine has probably bumped-off about  30% of my stuff..... but I had far too much anyway!

twopenny

Yes, finally we got a quick blast of wind to get the loose rose petals off - then a dose of rain briefly - and the thunder mostly was over the moor so you were about right Dusty. Hope your plants are better than you think.

But so much fresher!
Still need to use the hose on the blackfly that have taken residence on my runners.

Blu primulas? In summer? That's strange. 

-taff

Non stop rain here since seven which was a bit of a blessing because it's refilled two water butts, between me putting buckets under anything that drips and the new guttering pipes on the greenhouse, I got soaked once collecting it all up and pouring in the butts, then I got sensible and put my waterproofs on the next two times. It's eased off now, nearly stopped but it's a lot cooler thank whoever....I'm happpy we're back in the watering from the butts game, I was getting a bit antsy about having to do it from the [metered] outside tap.