Awful weather - typical Brits talk

YoungBlueEyes

Taff have a look in B+M/Home Bargains for water butt. There were some in mine this morning, all kinds of sizes and patterns. 

Ooh pretty hydrangea there Dusty. I could get very in to hydrangeas. Hope you can avoid the hoards and find a nice walk with your friend. I find canes good for support, or lashing to the fence with string/twine if lots of support is needed… 

Glad you’ve found a better spot for the boysenberry Farway, hopefully it’ll be happy there. 

My hebe is flowering now, is that something you’d consider Gorse? Not tall but it’s quite pretty and not a bother  

wort

1. Just ran out to take pic of my lily it was an indoor plant I planted out after it had flowered indoors. Love the Gladi pics, my grass needs a cut but it’s too wet.though it’s blowy again now . I’m with Dusty I dare not comment on care of old people, too much experience in the family of it. Too upsetting.

YoungBlueEyes

Ooh they’re pretty flowers wort, are the bottom ones chives? 

YoungBlueEyes

Just in case any dog people are interested… 

Here’s Jack waiting for his command to eat his bramble, and flip!  

I can’t believe how many years ago this is. 

Edit - forgive the poor quality. I had to take pics with my phone of an old computer screen, I’d no idea how to transfer them 

twopenny

I'm sitting here wondering if I should mow the lawn before it rains or leave it because it's just going to grow again if it rains.

Met says overnight, some showers and sunny intervals - BBC says torrential rain for days.

Who do you lay your bets on?

The garden is still full of sticks with a few leaves on apart from the stalwarts so either will do.

Perhaps stick Gardeners Question Time on repeat on my kindle to listen to as I work inside if it's raining. Funny how you forget the many enjoyable programmes on radio.

Joy is I just looked out and there's pink flush on the plums! No idea what comes next.

Been watching a programme called The Edible Garden. It seems a bit too good to be true but interesting idea.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00sf9d5/the-edible-garden-6-the-winter-larder

Makes a nice change from the increasing 'show gardens' that Gardeners World seems to be about these days.

Gorsebush

Oh good boy Jack! You may be gone - but not forgotten. You deserve your name in bold. Lovely photos, Blue, clever snapping there from dog and camera. Dogs are the best friends. My old collie died in March, miss him so much. I have two dogs still, they're good fun and keep me busy, but not soulmates like the old fella was.

Farway and Arb thank you both for the plant suggestions. Some interesting plants that I'd not particularly have looked into. I forgot to mention that the border is south facing and tends to dry quickly. The sedums are definitely contenders, but would they be somewhat brittle? I ask because the dratted dogs like to race around this border, it being central. Sometimes they leap over (one leaps like a gazelle, the other tries but, well he's a bit clumsy). I have an astilbe elsewhere, the one I "dug up" a few years ago, now back and looking good, this in a damper location, though. Definitely you've given me food for thought. 

I found vine weevil in a large potted hydrangea last summer. Professor Google said to submerge the plant up to the top of the soil in water, and leave it in the water for 48 hours. Apparently almost any plant can take submerging for this long. The weevils and their grubs can't. I did it, the hydrangea seemed none the worse for it, in fact I put a picture up of it a few days ago.
Disclaimer! it's not my fault if you do this and it goes udders up! 

twopenny

Now that's a clever dog!
I'm sure there's one eye on the berry and one eye on you 
Good idea Gorse. I have a huge tub which fills with rain water. It's useful to just drop things in as necessary. Cuttings, dry pits.

wort

YBE beautiful clever dog. 

Loved the blushing hydrangeas Gorse.
Not a chive but at the moment my menopause brain won’t bring the name forward !, pouring rain here this morning as expected though it didn’t materialize yesterday. Off to work this weekend hoping for better weather in 3 days when I’m off. 

Dustyevsky

I think the Knautia in wort's bottom picture might be a good replacement for the day lily. There is a range of colours these days:

Or there's the good old fall back of Echinaceas, or Geranium 'Rozanne' which would be my choice.

NB Not my photos!!!

Dustyevsky

On the subject of care homes, it took me about a year to find one that 'fitted' my Dad and cost an average amount. I must've visited over a dozen, and with some I'd not have put a dog in their tender care. Most were just uninspiring and dull, with puny rooms full of institutional-type furniture.

The place Dad finally went to was run by a couple and their daughter in a grade 2, listed vicarage with huge rooms where residents could have their own furniture. Meals were prepped from scratch and the staff ate with residents. Although in the town with access to shops etc, there was a 1/2 acre garden running down to the river. In short, it was more like the sort of environment most of us aspire to before reaching a great age! Being run on Quaker principles, the owners weren't looking for big profits and found they could manage by charging the LA's going rate.

I kicked myself for not finding this place sooner, because by the time Dad got in he was losing the ability to enjoy it to the full. The last time we saw him well, he was putting on weight, laughing again and even telling a joke or two about his carers. He died a few days after that from a massive heart attack. He was 95.