Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Murphybear

Farway said:

Gorsebush said:

I wonder who amongst us will be the first to report tomato blight? Seems like the perfect weather for it, certainly if it continues damp/muggy. One thing, this year so far, few aphids (touch wood) unless the birds are earning their keep. There's only been three or four lily beetles, too. Very surprising. Last year I found LOADS of them on yellow flag iris leaves, early in the year, of all places to find them. 

I found same with aphids, normally by now my beans are black with the blighters, only had a few so far

Lily beetles, I had loads but managed to spot & squish as they appeared so seem to be clear now

No blight, fingers crossed, but can I be the first to report a blackberry? Just a wild one growing over my shed

That looks nice.  I have some blackberry plants, they were designed to go into hanging baskets but I put them in a large tub and they are coming on a treat.  We were out and about today and I noticed all the wild blackberries were already in fruit,  red at the moment.  I’m sure when I was young they were ready in September.

We went to a PYO farm yesterday and I bought some blackberries.  Today the weather was glorious, warm and sunny, and we ended up in Montacute in Somerset.  They had some apple trees and they let me pick 2 large cooking apples (the lovely NT lady said they weren’t supposed to but she turned a blind eye  ).  So it will be blackberry and apple pie/crumble tomorrow.  Can’t wait 

I’ve just remembered, our GP surgery has a large apple tree in their grounds. Patients can help themselves 

wort

Wow, loads of posts since I last visited, hope you’re all well. 

Dusty the yellow daisy pic is just what I needed as I have that, it sprung up out of nowhere! And I had no idea what it was. 

Thanks also for the hydrangea pic ,as I have that also , I only realized it was a hydrangea when it flowered a couple of years ago. I love hydrangeas so had obviously bought it but as it never had flowers ,I didn’t remember what it was. 

Some lovely pics, sunny but extremely windy today I pegged out a wash when I got home from work at 5.30 hoping it’s nearly dry now, as the forcast is rain all day tomorrow.
I had a dead tree that I let the Virginia creeper grow up, which has succumbed to the weight and rain and is now bent almost to the floor, that’s a job for next week.

twopenny

Ahh, next week.........that's a great phrase Wort.

I had a friend went on a business course and was taught to use A,B&C trays for jobs.

A must be done immediatiately

B can be put off until tomorrow

C can be put off indefinitely......

I think that can apply to gardening too

Same as Dusty, sun predicted. Massive black clouds came over by 9 and it stayed cloudy if warm. But still dry

I was thinking the same as Farway. Where my greengage was stuff can't cope with the dry I think I'll stick in the last of my veg and next year make more room for it.

I had visions of friends coming round for coffee in the garden but it hasn't worked. Post pandemic peeps are keen to get out and about. So more fresh veg. More care for the veg and fruit. I love going out to eat raspberries straight from the plant, beans or fresh veg for dinner so replanning to be done. Less beauty more yummy fruit and veg that tastes good, does you good and doesn't cost an arm or a leg because it came from Kenya and such.

Plums are a mystery. Huge and very green. Rock hard. Lots of apples but I'm going to have to thin them with scissors. The baby/teen tree doesn't seem to know about windfall. Raspberries not ripening. All from a lack of rain I think.

My neighbour kindly said I can put my garden rubbish in her bin if there's room. Her son comes weekends but mostly just cuts grass so I'm hoping to get rid of the mass of blackberry stems accumulating in the badger run to be got rid of 'next week' ...... but out of sight, out of mind

-taff

Nice toms YBL, very healthy looking. I had two of the cherry ones, one in the greenhouse looks really sick and weedy, the one in the ground looks like a triffid. I think next year I'm going to go all toms outside thanks to climate change and save the greenhouse for aubergines and the like. Grow bags are just smaller builder bahs anyway, have at it. I made a compost heap in one before, I used it for all the stuff that fell off the monster tree, had some lovely compost after a few years. Couldn't turn it though. Anf that's a propoer Dad joke...

I'm siting the dark typing by memory of the keyboard because I haven't got any curtains on the window so please excuse mistakes

Dusty, great news about planning.

2p, thanks for heads up about the leaves, I will feed with proper stuff tomorrow and sick some epsom salts in for good measure.

Not much gardening today, I just sorted the compost in one bin, the middle of it was spent grains and had dried while everything else was wet, so I mixed it all up again and chucked it bacl in. Potted on the szechuam pepper and angelica, why I have that I do not know, and the teasel. I can;t put that in the garden until the windows are fninshed but thans to a mock up between the manufacturers and the window company, the wrong ones were sent and I didn't notice until a day later when they'd already  been installed. Not the companys fault though.  Going for coffee with new gardening friend tomorrow in a local gc, it's pretty good for some things, horrendous for others price wise, but I do need a few more large pots. Have to dig up the other olive tree and a n apple tree which became a failed experiment. Did foist some plants on a friend yesterday and got some seeds and an eryngium in return, happy abput that...

Gorsebush

Is everybody looking forward to a very wet few weeks? According to shock/horror click-bait headlines the immediate future is wet, wet, wet! Have to say, the forecast for my area today was dry, sunny with a very slim chance of drizzle for an hour. So I duly cut the grass (good, looks so much better) then decided to lift the shallots, thinking that they'd dry nicely in a day or two. Ha! Out of the blue (literally) came a deluge of rain, long and heavy 🤷 so soggy shallots now indoors. 

Blue, nice lot of toms you have there. Only needs a bit of sun but I think that particular commodity is going to be rarer than hens' teeth. Even so, I prefer this sort of weather over the drought of last year. 

Dusty, glad you got the nod of assent from the powers that be. I've been quite invested in the struggle. Some not quite cryptic hints referencing what, end of days?  Whatever it is, count me in. I'd rather go out with a bang than a whimper...   Better be careful or Coutts will close my account 🤣

Back to hemerocallis, day lilies. I put a few in a new border I'd dug, scented ones. Loved them at first, but now I'm finding their determined and sullen ugliness for eleven months of the year quite annoying. So I'm thinking I'll dig them up in the autumn, give them to my daughter who has plenty of room.
However, I can't decide what to replace them with. Got to be quite floriferous, not much taller than a couple of feet, hopefully not needing a ton of water.
Any ideas, anyone? Already in are aquilegia, heuchera and various bulbs. 

If there was an R in the month I'd be lighting the stove or putting the CH on. Can't give in to it, though (well not all the time!) 

My first sowing of lettuce came to naught. Slug pellets untouched, and netted against wood pigeon, it's got to be mice. Little blighters. Every pea or bean seed sown outside disappears so have had to buy in plants. There's an enormous hazel tree right by my boundary. I could have my own hazel wood if I didn't pull up the multitude of mini saplings. The mice hide the nuts everywhere, easy living for them here. 

Whitefly on the still small purple sprouting. Sprayed with a neem oil solution just before we had the surprise downfall. Better mix up some more...   Rather a lot of cabbage white eggs too. I don't mind them so much because they're easy to scrape off with a thumbnail, though a bit 🤮 

YoungBlueEyes

What do you thinks up with that bit of garden that stuff's dying Farway? Have you got somewhere else for the Boysenberry?

I agree about how early the brambles are out now MurphyBear. Years ago I had a tan working Cocker called Jack, and he'd taught himself to carefully snaffle the berries off the bushes. He ate so many his poo had a purple tinge to it 'Purple poo season' was Sept definitely or v early Oct. In the end I had to teach him that he wasn't to be picking his own, so I could give them to him one by one. He'd balance one on his nose and wait for the command to flip it into his mouth. I'm sure I'll have pictures somewhere... Gawd I loved that boy Anyway, if you've any pie/crumble left me and my big bowl are right here  

If the weather starts behaving will you get apples and rasps at the same time 2p? Looking at the forecasts (drunkards and sobers in agreement!) it seems there's a lot of rain coming so fingers crossed you get a good steady soaking. 

taff yeah 'climate change' might a good thing - we'll all be knee-deep in delicious toms/fruits/veg and beautiful roses and tatties galore. Bring it on!

No sun for a good while I don't think. Himself's BiL (farmer) reckons they'll not be any heat now for about a month, maybe middle of August ish. But I agree Gorse, I can stick this easier than the record breaking heat/drought of last year. The highest temp was recorded a few miles up the road from where I used to live, jeez it was desperate  I don't need any more of that thank you. What we have now is fine by me - cloudy, bit breezy, about 15' and steadily climbing. Although if you're listening St Fiacre, you need to put more effort into the sunrises and sunsets... 

-taff

Sorry, wasn't 2p with the leaves, it was Farway, that's the perils of reading when my brain is not in gear. Thanks anyway

Been for my obligatory orning check of my manse, it's still there, and it's sunny so it's quite nice wandering with a cup of tea like a swishy lady with nothing else to do..My next mission is to find a nice looking small waterbutt for the space in between the porch and the window so I forsee googling in my future.

Dustyevsky

No time today. I'm on a tight timetable to get lots of shopping done and somehow fit in a walk with my friend, who needs particularly strong support just now. Not sure where we'll go, but with it being that weekend, I think the coast is out.

Not sure what photo to include today. Hydrangeas have been mentioned, so here's one given to me as  a carrier bag full of random cuttings taken on a walk with John Phillips, who recreated a 'Himalayan Valley' at his Wiltshire home. Lucky chap, he had 30 acres, much of it on neutral greensand. He did like to share, but there was no way to write all the names down!

Farway

Another one with deluge forecast for the weekend, in a way I hope so because it'll save me having to go and water the volunteer pots tomorrow

Early start, it was Vine Weevil killer booster day, job done, but it's like pouring gold dust onto plants , given the cost & it doesn't go far at all, restricted it to the few pots that have nice plants in, and also have VW bites out of the leaves

Feast day, I have two runners of edible size, which I'll pick for dinner. The flat, yellow French climbers I planted as backstop have flowers on. Only sown because bargain packet was near Sow By date and I needed to ensure seed for next year

twopenny said:

I was thinking the same as Farway. Where my greengage was stuff can't cope with the dry I think I'll stick in the last of my veg and next year make more room for it.

I had visions of friends coming round for coffee in the garden but it hasn't worked. Post pandemic peeps are keen to get out and about. So more fresh veg. More care for the veg and fruit. I love going out to eat raspberries straight from the plant, beans or fresh veg for dinner so replanning to be done. Less beauty more yummy fruit and veg that tastes good, does you good and doesn't cost an arm or a leg because it came from Kenya and such.

Plums are a mystery. Huge and very green. Rock hard. Lots of apples but I'm going to have to thin them with scissors. The baby/teen tree doesn't seem to know about windfall. Raspberries not ripening. All from a lack of rain I think.

God idea 2P, I'm trying to combine it, with blossom that become fruit etc. Plums, at least you have some, zero here due to weather at blossom time. Thinning apples certainly helps I found, tempting to think more is better, I have a tree that just hangs on to the fruit as well, very odd, mind you it only has two on it this year, so I'll forgive it

YoungBlueEyes said:

What do you thinks up with that bit of garden that stuff's dying Farway? Have you got somewhere else for the Boysenberry?

No idea what's up with it, the odd thing is right next to the dying gooseberry is one that is healthy & doing will, most odd. The dead one was fine as well, had a nice crumble etc, then it just shrivelled & died. It is dry there but like I say other plants in the same area are fine. In fact, my Lakemont grape is Triffid V2 this year. Fingers crossed is all I can do

Space found for the Boysenberry, I think in hindsight it may turn out to better than my first choice

Gorsebush said:

Back to hemerocallis, day lilies. I put a few in a new border I'd dug, scented ones. Loved them at first, but now I'm finding their determined and sullen ugliness for eleven months of the year quite annoying. So I'm thinking I'll dig them up in the autumn, give them to my daughter who has plenty of room.
However, I can't decide what to replace them with. Got to be quite floriferous, not much taller than a couple of feet, hopefully not needing a ton of water.
Any ideas, anyone? Already in are aquilegia, heuchera and various bulbs. 


My first sowing of lettuce came to naught. Slug pellets untouched, and netted against wood pigeon, it's got to be mice. Little blighters. Every pea or bean seed sown outside disappears so have had to buy in plants. There's an enormous hazel tree right by my boundary. I could have my own hazel wood if I didn't pull up the multitude of mini saplings. The mice hide the nuts everywhere, easy living for them here. 

How about sedums, the tall ones, to replace the day lilies? Come in all sorts of heights and types, tough, look after themselves, easy to propagate, butterflies & bees love them, seed heads even look nice with frost on them

Hope you got your walk in Dusty

ArbitraryRandom

I think the 'traditional' alternative to day lilies is hosta... but if you're looking for something that likes the same kind of conditions, my votes would go to:

Bergenia: https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/bergenia
Bleeding Heart: https://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/lamprocapnos-spectabilis/ 
Hellebore: https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/hellebore
Astilbe: https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/astilbe