Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Dustyevsky

There was no red moon here that I saw 2p, but the fiery sunset through clouds made me comment, "All we need now is the Fighting Termeraire!" Mind you, if it had shown up, it would have been out of its comfort zone at 500'. 

We've had some rain to dampen the surface, but now I'm being lulled into a false sense of security by a bright spell which isn't destined to last into the afternoon, so cliff walking's out. I'm not sorry; yesterday's exertions with the brush cutter and mower have left me with a few aches, and we didn't have dinner until 22.00 there was so much to do ahead of the wet stuff.

Here's our jolly family of Goldfinches; you wouldn't believe the amount of niger seed they get through in a week!

No wonder they look so chubby!

Farway

Dull start for the day, still warm though

All the red moon & sunsets, that's the Canadian forest fires in the upper atmosphere jet stream apparently

I've been out feeding & watering the pots at the front, rain may arrive, or may not, so did it regardless, can't rely on forecasts can we

YBE the house in the background of rose arches, is the original house when it was private owned and before expansion, used as laboratory for decades, all the gurus on GQT etc will have spent Wisley time slaving away in there. They do guided tours and students are still slaving away in there.

Sounds like good news on the rose cuttings Blue, like you say, only need a couple to take to count as a success, not all mine take, but it's always worth a go for free with a nice rose

A teaser, watch this space for news on the cuttings I took last year of ex neighbour's lovely rose

Dusty I think if Wisley has the edge on Rosemoor it may be because of age & what seems like hundreds of helpers, yesterday for instance there was a team of students dead heading the hundreds of roses, which was needed due to the rain "balling" the buds

I was pleased to spot that bindweed had managed to creep in and up the back of a hedge & flower, so nothing is perfect

And now, something to ponder for next year 2P, mixed annuals at Wisley. These borders are in the Trials area.

We were chatting to someone who had a label around his neck, in last photo, blue shirt, and knew lots about it, chose & mixed their own, not a ready mix, unfortunately no labels around telling us what the mix consisted of, which we did point out was a bit of let down considering it's all supposed to be sort of educational

Anyway, enjoy & dream of next year

PS, on left is sweet pea trials

twopenny

Oh I love that!
I'm watching the poppies growing outside garden walls for some free seed.
I like the idea of mixing a selection.

Raiin this morning for about 15min, barely knew it was there and everything dry 20mins later   

YoungBlueEyes

Jeez that’s some bird feeder! Such pretty birds goldfinches 😃 Are you still out there @goldfinches …? 

Those are some lucky students, going to work there every day eh. I wonder where the family went…. 

-taff

Dusty, yes, they have a very weird smell, very medicinal in a formaldehyde type medicinal way...Much prefer the choisya [ got my first one this year, love it!] Those birds look very intimidating, are you sure you're feeding them enough? They may break in and hold you to ransom

Beautiful flowers. I always thought I like editerranean type things but I see I am now a cottage garden wildflowery person too. Looks lovely there, I am jealous, but not of roses, I like them, but I'm not a massive fan of them. But the big question Farway is...did you sneak any seeds or cuttings back home with you?

twopenny

It's drizzled a tad but not enough so you'd notice.

A wind blows every now and then.

The sea was an amazing colour of torquoise, charcoal grey and grey cloud. Really weird, just like the moon that was briefly red at midnight.

So absoloutely nothing useful.

I was going to post the shocking photos of my garden as it struggles but spent the day fighting with EDF and it's a feet up, try and forget sort of day.

I'll go back and look at the roses and birds and 'meditate'

Tomorrow is another day...............

Dustyevsky

Farway said:

Dusty I think if Wisley has the edge on Rosemoor it may be because of age & what seems like hundreds of helpers, yesterday for instance there was a team of students dead heading the hundreds of roses, which was needed due to the rain "balling" the buds

I was pleased to spot that bindweed had managed to creep in and up the back of a hedge & flower, so nothing is perfect

And now, something to ponder for next year 2P, mixed annuals at Wisley. These borders are in the Trials area.

We were chatting to someone who had a label around his neck, in last photo, blue shirt, and knew lots about it, chose & mixed their own, not a ready mix, unfortunately no labels around telling us what the mix consisted of, which we did point out was a bit of let down considering it's all supposed to be sort of educational

Anyway, enjoy & dream of next year

Yes, I think Rosemoor's  more 'relaxed.' It hasn't the population in its hinterland to draw upon for volunteer labour. I saw plenty of our locally most common willowherb weed, which made me feel better about my own shortcomings in controlling it.

As regards the trial mix above, it has impact galore, but I find it overpowering and I wonder how long it will look good. I also wonder if they will retain the space to see what regenerates naturally, or if they'll just move on to something else.

I haven't introduced many annuals in my wild area, but the biennial self-seeders are showing some inclination to return. It's all early days and the grass dominates, but I'm scared to introduce Yellow Rattle in case it spreads and affects our hay crop negatively.

The rain for us was more than 2p reports, both here and on the Atlantic coast, so we cancelled our walk today. It's still drizzling now, but at the bottom of the hedgerows it remains bone dry.

YoungBlueEyes

Did you get EDF sorted 2p? Having to deal with those kinda things makes your heart sink. 

I love the wildflower pictures. I used to buy the boxes of readymix and sling them on the soil, they were lovely but short-lived. Seems like a lot of people caught onto them cos they're dear now! 

No gardening or moon news to report. Nor sunrises or sunsets either. The Bottomless Pit is getting fuller :applause: so it's sand and something else next. Then choosing paving slabs (which we have differing ideas on...) Hmmm. 

Lovely and mild and breezy here, high white cloud and no sun. My washer's on for it's a grand drying day  

wort

Thanks Dusty I think that ilex looks right, might have to sniff it to check😉😂 it’s on a north facing wall too, so maybe why I bought it.
YBE I could probably do with David Attenborough to identify a few things for me !

It turned out fine if a bit breezy at times on Thursday for our walk. Back to work and wet rain the drizzly sort on Friday.
today is overcast with the drunkards forcast of brightening later, so may put my towels and bedding in to wash. Due to go out for a few drinks later this afternoon so hopeful of rain staying away though there’s a stiff breeze at the moment.
Lovely pic of the birds 🐦 and I can only dream of an arch of roses like that , though I have been bought an arch for my birthday, just need to find a spot to put it.

Farway

Poo, just about to post when it all vanished & now CBA to type it all again , so just a pruned version

Rose update, some may recall my neighbour moved late last year & we were both concerned about the fate of her unknown but lovely rose

As it turned out we were right to worry, the builder binned it during a massive clear-out and rip up landscaping of her garden

Hardwood cuttings were taken, as many as possible and a couple did survive, rest died but the rose lives on

And now it has flowered over the last few days, and here it is, gorgeous scent and a nice rose. Two flowers so far

Come Autumn I will take more cuttings from it, a belt & braces fall back option just in case

PS, sorry about the aphids