Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Farway

YoungBlueEyes said:

Thanks Farway. I’ve squished the bought toms out onto cling film so I might try a couple of seeds but not rely on them. 

Sorry Blue, slight correction to squishing method, squish a trail of seeds onto kitchen roll or paper tissue. [Think dog wiping bum on grass]

Then they dry just fine and fairly well spaced, you should also write type of seed & date on the paper or go to mislabelling hell next year

When sowing, just tear off a bit of paper with seed attached, no need to try & unpick the seeds, sow paper & all 'cos it will rot away, sort of DIY seed tape

Sun came out & I scoffed another fig

RAS

I'm a bit of a sucker for village and agricultural shows. Generally head straight for the cattle lines or the sheep pens. But took a wander in the host's garden on my back into the village. Taken on my phone because the camera battery had died, with no editting.

Sometime you just need masses of one plant to make an impact..

ArbitraryRandom

May I ask - is that montbretia? 

If so, someone told me that it was illegal to plant in the UK (it was growing near an office I worked at and they were removing it), but I see it in supermarket carparks and similar fairly often

 I'm guessing there's another very similar looking plant that's less invasive or something? 

YoungBlueEyes

Wow they certainly make an impact RAS, whether they’re legal or not! I think I’ve seen the red one in a car park round here… 

I’ll do kitchen roll for the ones I save from this year, but my new seeds (2 from each yummy tom) are dried onto cling film now. I didn’t save them all in case I ended up with forest mk 2 II’ll save a few from my crop this year if they taste good. Mind the ones with the funny yellow leaves are producing funny looking toms but I’m not going out in the rain to take pics so we’ll see what tomorrow brings… 

RAS

ArbitraryRandom said:

May I ask - is that montbretia? 

If so, someone told me that it was illegal to plant in the UK (it was growing near an office I worked at and they were removing it), but I see it in supermarket carparks and similar fairly often

 I'm guessing there's another very similar looking plant that's less invasive or something? 

According to the RHS, Common Montbretia can be invasive, so it's "best not to grow it if your garden adjoins open countryside."  And do not compost it. It's not actually illegal.

I'd rather see effort put into Himalayan Balsam, which has moved from invading watercourses to invading every dang ditch locally.

ArbitraryRandom

It's a shame because I really like them. Someone suggested gladioli as an alternative but I don't think they're as nice. 

-taff

They're another things, along with valerian, that seem to go crazy in everyone else's garden but mine, they just die off...A few doors down has tons and tons of valerian, not a sniff of it in my front garden.

Successful weekly freebie update, got some tiger grass which I will split and pot up, some for the front garden, some for pots and will get a hypericum next week or the week after, and some free cooking apples [ I do have to exchange for a crumble but I'll make that tomorrow] . Next new thing to look for will be a perennial sunflower, someone on a local group has got one and I am intrigued, perennial is definitely my way to go for the most part now.

I did see some perseids when I went out the other night to see what the fox commotion was in the street and OH saw some in the back garden. Now that we have unlimited sky from the tree being gone, it's a lot easier. I keep telling people it's like living on a Greek island when it's sunny now, especially when the wind is blowing and the sky is blue blue, I can imagine a sea over the fances...

I'm not sure whether my improvised pond has sprung a leak because the water is going down so it's either that or the local foxes are all using it, I will investigate maybe tomorrow but I'll be visiting my sister in Wales next week so won't be around. I'ts going to be a very sparse posting for the next xouple of months between cat sitting, visiting, holday and MOTs and stuff...Have contacted new gardening friend to got o a not very local garden centre the week after nezt, maybe an hour away, just for a change. I want to visit some nurseries but until I have a plan, I'd best not. I like your little pruners YBL, just the thing for liberating cuttings. Beautiful photo which is no doubt front page worthy Dusty, are you including the phallic tower thing on purpose to see how far you can push it Farway, maybe go for cut price lidl type limes and make some? I've done tangerine a few times with the cheap veg boxes when they've looked like they were going over, or just after christmas type thing, and surprisingly, tangerine is really nice, really refreshing marmalade.

wort

Wow those hydrangeas are amazing🤗lovely pic Farway.

Dustyevsky

I had to clutch something when looking at your figs Farway. It wasn't my pearls! Not a sausage (or a fig) on mine this year, as they're still recovering from last winter. Big re-pot coming, and then into the poly with them!

-taff said:

 Beautiful photo which is no doubt front page worthy Dusty, are you including the phallic tower thing on purpose to see how far you can push it

It was rather difficult to avoid the radar tower. At least I didn't post the picture of my friend balancing it on her hand, taken from the opposite hill!

That first picture RAS took looks like Crocosmia 'Lucifer' in the foreground and a Rudbeckia at the back, maybe lacinata or maxima. I wish all Crocosmia were as prolific as the good old 'Montebretia.' My 'Solfaterre' takes ages to multiply-up. Lots of the wild sort on those cliffs....and also this:

Any ideas? I'm feeling lazy!

YoungBlueEyes

The only thing people seem to get worked up about is JKw but there's so much more out there that needs watching/discouraging/eradicating. I think if these things weren't so attractive looking it'd be easier to convince people. I agree with Arb, they are nicer looking than glads and probably a lot less work to maintain and keep upright.   

Taff sounds like you just need one of those "sound of the sea" apps so you can like back on your Greek island and really imagine it over the fences Oh and maybe a couple of bags of kiddies sandpit sand to scatter round your sunlounger for squiggling your toes about in. I'll have a jar of tangerine marmalade for that when you next make some thank you  And get round them nurseries because FOMO!  


Dusty your plant - I think I have a couple of those..... mine don't have blue flowers but the leaves are the very same I think. I might even nip out and check the label of my ones as I'm the first to guess.

OT no perseids here (too cloudy) and a dreich day in store. Drizzly and cooler than it has been, I'm on the brink of putting socks on!