Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Dustyevsky

YoungBlueEyes said:

 You southerners and your warm weather

António Guterres, the UN secretary-general, has just said, “forget global warming, we're now in a time of global boiling.” Well, I've had my egg out on the patio for 10 minutes now and it's still not cooked, so I think he's fibbing. I trust him as much as that  guy who fronts the WHO. People might usefully explore his background before putting our health responses in his tender care, IMHO.

Anyway, it's 2p and Farway who have all that southern weather. Up here on the hills, it's positively Yorkshire!

Dustyevsky

YoungBlueEyes said:

My last post will make more sense if I put a name to the dug up plant! Ceanothus.  - 
More your league Dusty I think. 

Hoping for good info on paths from 2p 🤞🏻

Ceanothus are fickle things. That used to be my league. Never as many, though. Not this year. Next year I shall return to productivity..... and sensible-sized tomatoes.

 Clay pavers for paths....err about £75- 90 a m2, but you might  well do better in a reclamation yard.

-taff

Give your plant until next year YBL, the leaves are likely to return next year with some tlc. Hopefully. If there's still green under the bark, it may surprise you. And don't be awed by the toms, that set up smacks of serious tomato growing and a lot of experience. And would you look at the size of that polytunnel! I got to use a friends once for a couple of years, I hd 250 tomato plants in there, there was a lot of passata then. And tomato and chilli jam...I miss that, but I don't miss the passing through a mouli by hand

Picked up a bench yesterday from freecycle, so will repair, sand and paint with leftover fence paint over the next few days. One more freebie for the garden.

Farway

Sunny but due to overnight rain it's very damp & soggy at the moment

That is a good price for grapes Dusty like you, I paid more for Lakemont, just looked, it was £11.50 + P & P in 2018 and the darn thing has never given me one decent grape, ever . 

This year, it's gone into Triffid mode and is romping all over the place, and maybe grapes next year? Just hope they're worth it

The Muscat one I had growing in a pot with roots scoffed by vine weevils that I moved is showing fresh growth, so looking like it is recovering. I think I'll plant it in the soil come winter, can't trust another pot

Dustyevsky said:

Ceanothus are fickle things.

Second that, I had a beauty and one year it just fizzled out. But it seems they are fairly short-lived shrubs anyway. I never replaced it

Once it dries out a bit I want to get out & pick my lone runner because I don't want it setting seed just yet, and pick the couple of nearly ripe tomatoes, to remove any slug temptation

And check over the blackberries, I hope with this rain they are not mouldy before I even get to them, that would be a bummer

-taff said:

Yep, roots. Tomatoes can root from any part of the stem. They're originally a trailing plant, it's us that force them to grow upright, they'd be more like a squash or pumpkin naturally.

I have seen where some Commerical glasshouse growers exploit this rooting and lay stems on the ground, then let a side shoot go upright, a per normal tomato. That way one plant has root area of acres, well not quite, but huge feeding root run

Once the UN global boiling gets going, we'll be able to do the same in our back gardens with our new Southern Spanish climate, maybe alongside the grapes & olive trees?

Here's my nature Study, cabbage white eggs + perpetrator on nasturtiums

YoungBlueEyes

Bladdy hell taff 250 plants You’d have a well worn mouli after all them! 

He’s a market something - market gardener or market stall holder. Anyway. Barely a leaf on em, which made me smile. Just seems wrong to cut all the leaves off something that’s growing but it did alright for Ziggy and lovely neighbours brother too so I’ll keep snipping  

I’ll persevere with the ceanothuses. I can’t think what’s occurring as lovely neighbour’s is literally just over the fence. The dead one can stop there and my pot is gonna do or die. If they both want to be fickle they can die where they sit  

Ive seen those sorts of prices for pavers in recco yards. I doubt they’ll come down but I’m not buying any soon. We’ve the patio to finish yet 

Ooh nice colour nasturtiums Farway. I could go for a Spanish climate, save me a fortune in olives. I don’t need all that heat and sun though… 

ArbitraryRandom

After Taff mentioned ants yesterday, the ones in my garden must have heard and hurried up! This morning I swear there were probably 1000 of the creatures being all excited. At least two colonies in different parts of the garden. Spent a while trying to get a picture, but I just can't capture the buzz caused by that many normally silent wings!  

I did get some decent pictures though. Here's a few of my favourites  

YoungBlueEyes

Ants here too A few flying but not enough imo. They should collectively decide to go and just all s0d off overnight! 

I’m not into bugs and critters. I wasn’t gonna put this up cos it’s not entirely in focus - but here’s a something on my (pre-haircut) tom leaves last night

 

It looked right at me before it left  *shudder*

YoungBlueEyes

It’s bug central round here! I was about to decant my drip-catching wheelie bin so I can get it moved in case the gutter man comes this aft and look what’s in it. Is it having babies or being eaten alive? What will I do with them? 

Forgive the poor pic but I couldn’t get a better one 

-taff

YBL, aha! no wonder his tomatoes are so. are so...are big and stuff...

Never thought I'd say this but nice bug pics, I love the bee rolling around in pollen.

I hae discovered I should have divided my heucheras a long time ago and spent half an hour watching various methods on youtube this monring to do that, so now I have two less heucheras in the front garden and about twenty pots of little ones that I hope will live until next year. One of them especially, it's a beautiful red colour, kind of like a muted strawberry that really zings against light green and another one which is more purpley red which I'm less fussed on...I put three under the bay bush and hope they live too, it's really dry there.

ArbitraryRandom

YoungBlueEyes said:

It’s bug central round here! I was about to decant my drip-catching wheelie bin so I can get it moved in case the gutter man comes this aft and look what’s in it. Is it having babies or being eaten alive? What will I do with them? 

Forgive the poor pic but I couldn’t get a better one 

Not entirely sure what's going on, but I think water tension might be the answer. 

[Bad science warning]: The surface of water is like a tight sheet (hence water drops). Then when it comes into contact with something it's 'sticky' - which is why when you look at the surface of water in a small cup it will curve up a little bit right at the edge. These two things combined mean little very light things (like dead/dying flies) float on that membrane and when they come near other little very light things they're 'stuck' together by the water and float as a clump. 

 Or... I think that's how it works anyway