Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Eenymeeny

PS I forgot to mention that I usually Chelsea chop the lambs ears because I don't like them when they go floppy (and a bit mouldy sometimes)

YoungBlueEyes

Lamb’s ears - that’s the perfect name that is

Chelsea chop… eeny?

Baby Goldcrest on your windowsill It really is the little things eh (no pun intended) 
Your posh dahlia is a beautiful colour, such good photos too! 

I’ve braved the inferno for another pic. The cocoon is now standing on it’s face 

Thanks 2p, long arms and woody at the base is bang on. I’ll see about looking for roots etc next week.

OT it’s pure melting out there. Breeze has dropped and it’s 29’ 🥵

Murphybear

YoungBlueEyes said:

Where I used to live, a group of us used to go walk the dogs round the fields (farmer's fields with a RoW, so we were careful to walk round the edge). One year there was a load of ragwort started appearing from somewhere, and the farmer treated it by slinging buckets of cinnabar moth caterpillars into the fields. Took a while but it worked a treat. The moths really are strikingly pretty  

Thanks for the copy+paste tip Farway, simple and effective It's a beggar your thornless being exactly not that eh. There should be some comeback for mislabelling I think. And plants that just won't grow/die on you for absolutely no reason whatsoever. 

I'm not any nearer to eating my strawbs -something is carefully nibbling them overnight. I would guess mice but my traps aren't producing anything. Another mystery for the list.

I have another plant to add to my faves list. I'll have to go out to read the label, I can't remember what it's called. Fat velvety leaves and tiny wee flowers, it's really lovely and the bees agree Whats not lovely is that somebody's eating perfect circles out of the young rose that lovely neighbour bought me. They're not munching anything else, just this roses leaves... hmmm.

OT bright and warm here, 20' now. Think I might start house-hunting in Lerwick or somewhere Not a cloud up there but desperate thunderstorms and lashing rain due mid aft say the drunkards and the sobers.... 

I hate the heat and keep telling my husband I’d be happier living in the Shetlands.   . He thinks I must have Scottish blood as I’m one of the only English people he knows who likes the bagpipes.  

Farway

Blue - Chelsea Chop, is when some plants are cut back before they flower, they then make more shoots and more, but later & shorter stalks / flowers

Named because it is done around the time of Chelsea show. Not all plants are suitable, so take care before you go rushing round beheading plants. Sedums are good, and I expect a quick Duck Duck search would reveal loads more, here's some I found

https://www.rhs.org.uk/pruning/chelsea-chop

Talking of ducks, 2p, third one for the pot, at Wisley last week

pink_poppy

YoungBlueEyes said:

Is it only me that thinks YBE's bug looks like Nick Robinson, the BBC reporter??...

Dustyevsky

pink_poppy said:

YoungBlueEyes said:

Is it only me that thinks YBE's bug looks like Nick Robinson, the BBC reporter??...

More like C3PO 

Dustyevsky

YoungBlueEyes said:

Jeez Dusty, they've barely left you anything Will it survive? 

Yes, the Solomon's Seal have been in that situation since about 2012. Sometimes the damage is less, sometimes more. This is a 'more' year! I take the grubs away in the vain hope they might die out in this area, but I expect there are other host plants and I've no idea how far the flies travel.

Eenymeeny said:

Sorry about the Solomon's Seal Dusty. I've had the same problem. The first time I saw it, I was so horrified that I cut it all back and sent it to the council tip, complete with sawfly! I hope that I'm not tempting fate but this year I've been spraying it with garlic spray since they first appeared. (I do the same with hostas with good results, about once a fortnight)
 Now I'm scared to go and look at mine in case I've broken the spell...

Hope you found yours are OK, Eeny.
  Farway, your dahlia looks like David Howard. It's an old favourite of ours.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/57111/dahlia-david-howard-(d)/details

It came close to raining here several times today, but it didn't. At one stage I could see it hammering down on the hill opposite, while we stayed in sunshine. There are more butterflies about now. We don't often see a Comma, but one visited the herb garden today:

-taff

Soaringly hot today up until about four ish when it started to get windy, threatened to rain with big dark clouds which were whipped away and cooler weather restored with no rain.I potted up a new aloe or two, the old ones were definitely on their way out and those, along with a reluctant monstera are what remain of my mothers indoor plants. Neither of them are particularly thriving but hopefully I can keep them alive a while longer. The monstera was a two leaf wonder for over a year until I got fed up, snapped off a leaf and watched a new one grow almost immediately. It now has three new leaves this year so I'm hoping it's making a comeback.

Potted up a few more plants I have acquired, even though I have no space or the right conditions for them, so I will be doing the plant in and out of the front garden shuffle tomorrow. Blackcurrant bush = out, white lychnis in [ there are aleady a couple of pink ones so more wont hurt.]And all scabious and daisy type things are either out or coming out because they don't like it either.

YoungBlueEyes

Bagpipes make my heart glad Murphybear. Moving to Scotland - did you see the complete wreck doer-upper on the 'Have a Look at This' thread? I'll see if I can find the link...

Such good pics, I've seen worse in calendars! Would either of you enter competitions..? CountryFile have their calendar comp running now - the Wildlife of Britain (or similar)  
Think I'm gonna have to look up some quick photography tips or summat, my point+shoot pics aren't up to scratch... 

Chelsea chop, thanks Farway. Sounds like something I could easily make a hash of. Too late now so it doesn't matter but I'll bear it in mind for next year. More Lamb's Ears would do me rightly  

I'm not complaining about the heat this morning because there isn't any :applause: The thunderstorm rattled over last night as we were eating dinner and it left cool clear air behind it I love a good storm but it wasn't up to much. Clouds thickened and darkened, bit of thunder, bit of rain, then it persisted it down, and then it was gone. 20 mins start to finish. But it blew the heat out to sea so I'm happy. They reckon we got to 30' yesterday aft but himself's car said 32. Either way I'm glad it's gone and I don't want any more of it.

Bit of destruction in my garden too - I've lost a lot of flowers off my toms (even though I tucked them all under the Cat Wee tree for shelter, my Black Scallop is now yellowy, and the tall thing with pretty purple flowers is now stalks. And Nick/C3PO has gone. I don't mind the destruction if it's a good storm but it wasn't. Not a good swop imo.

I hope anybody else that got the storms survived ok?

YoungBlueEyes

Here you go. Needs a bit more than a lick of paint, but I’d have it in a heartbeat  

https://www.auctionhouse.co.uk/scotland/auction/lot/121596