Awful weather - typical Brits talk

YoungBlueEyes

Forgive the mess, it’s my sunny corner. Behind my fence is a path, the flats are over the wall. They’re close. 

Moist but well drained made me chuckle They can’t really do without you Dusty, they’re making do temporarily which is not the same thing 👍🏻

ArbitraryRandom

YoungBlueEyes said:

Pear tree - it’s up to my chin kinda height

That looks like my pear (which is a 2 year old conference on Quince C rootstock) - I was told when I bought it that it would grow to full size at about 3m in around 5-7 years. It was also suggested not to expect any fruit at all for at least 4 years, then for the numbers to increase for a few years until a decent crop at around 7. 

I'm going to give my trees about 5 years to decide which are doing well in the garden, then look at making some changes if needed - but that's because I want the garden to be all sorted in about 15 years when the mortgage will be paid off and I can start to think about early retirement etc  

Dustyevsky

YoungBlueEyes said:

And I didn’t click Dusty’s link cos knowing him it’ll be how well soon all have to eat wichety grubs and chips or summat ha haa! 

You know me well , but in fairness, I didn't write the thing. If the threat to farming as we have known it wasn't so serious, I could laugh at it, instead of seeing the sinister side. And the threat is sinister, otherwise so many farmers across a great swathe of Europe wouldn't be protesting in such desperate ways, much of which you won't see on mainstream TV. They know their way of life is on the line. It's like the Miner's Strike of the '80s, revisited, only in that case there were alternatives to coal that were acceptable. I've yet to experience acceptable alternatives to responsibly grown, real food!

Farway said:

Dusty, I love the name of your quiz group, sounds like one Rambling Syd Rumpo would be in. 

'Moist but well-drained' soil is like that unattainably attractive girl (or man!) that doesn't exist in the normal person's garden/life. However, it's written so often in gardening literature, one could be forgiven for thinking most people have it. Of course, the secret could be an obscure practice from the past, like goolying with a wazzock grindler by the light of a waning moon. That's just the sort of thing Rumpo would do, on the quiet though, naturally.

Moderate things achieved outdoors today by Mrs Dusty and me, dodging in and out between the showers. She was pruning while I was planting. It was still cold for sticking hands in soil, and hands were too sticky for photos. That's a Chelsea standard of dandelion you have there. We all have 15 minutes of wonderfulness, and you caught that one just right!

pink_poppy

I love a magnolia too. My Mum and Dad had a white one (Stellata??) but I'd love a pink one.

I saw two bees today - definitely bees this time. I also found a single lilac crocus in the garden - it was a bit squished though.

The weather today wasn't as nice as yesterday, with some spits and spots of rain.

Dustyevsky

Farway said:

Of course, for speed, height, bees & butterflies, has to be buddleia, possibly Tesco Carparkii or even a posher named one from a GC?

I meant to say, it's worth getting a good one. Sometimes carparkii varieties are easily recognised, like 'Black Knight,' and anyway, if they're not self-seeded, they're bound to be something 'proper.' The one used in Rosemoor's Cool Garden is:

https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/91231/buddleja-davidii-nanho-blue-(-mongo-)/details

Looks nondescript on the RHS website, but it has tidy foliage in winter and we like it a lot.

twopenny

Poppy have you seen the dark red/purple one the colour of good wine?
It's stunning!
I had a Stellata, my dream to have one but it got bugs 2yrs running + 2yrs of heat wave and died on me.
But it was just lovely while it was going.

Actually dry all day here and the temperature dragged itself up to 8c!
So I made a start on cutting back the dead blackberry, dug what was possible in the badger run.
Dug up the blue fescue (don't ever buy one, go brown in a couple of years) and took them round along with my failing, pot bound budliah to the br.

So some important jobs done which feels good. I feel stiff 
Surprising what is budding and blooming. Just been to dark and wet to see.

pink_poppy

A 'good wine' coloured magnolia sounds gorgeous, twopenny. I've seen one in the village that is a dark pink so I must look out for that again this year.

No pics yesterday as we had some sad news while we were out and came straight home.

I think the pussycat has fleas again   I'm guessing they've been hibernating (or whatever they do) in the house somewhere. My skin is crawling at the thought...

YoungBlueEyes

As we're talking about farming, I've picked this week's fact to be on topic. I might go back and read that link too. Although I might not cos it's a shame and disgrace how we treat our farmers. I wish it was more like the France of that Eric Cantona beer advert from a few years ago....

I got as much of the bramble out yesterday as I physically could but time will tell how much I've missed. I went as far down as I could but I didn't find any treasure or Shergar or Trevor Jordache or a Roman villa or nowt *sigh* I now have a big ol' patch of soil to think what to do with. It's lovely light fluffy soil, be a lot easier if my whole garden was like it. 
I'll stick with my pear for now, it's only young and might really be worth it when it gets going. I don't mind not having fruit if I can have privacy cos I have my apple tree for home grown fruits and little rasps and things so I'm not short. We'll see. After I've read that link I might decide to dig up the lot of it and just have a wichety grub farm ha haa! 

OT Cold here, proper frost this morning and still as you like. There's a beautiful gentle dawn out there of the smudgey peachy variety and just the right amount of fog to make it autumnal That wind needs to pick up if anyone can have a word? It's Domestic Nonsense day and I've washing to do... 

ArbitraryRandom

Got a text from my builder late yesterday basically saying the weather was messing up their current job so they're not going to be able to start here this week as intended - new date is the 18th March... which is fine. I'm off for work on Wednesday for two nights, then again next week for two nights. But I was looking forward to having beds to plant in when all the traveling was done. 

OT: sky looks blue and the cat was dry when she was walking on my face just now, so maybe a quick wash? 

Dustyevsky

YoungBlueEyes said:

That wind needs to pick up if anyone can have a word? It's Domestic Nonsense day and I've washing to do... 

Looks like you'll get the wind you want. We'll get more, and lots more rain to go with it too. A shopping day, by the look of it here! After that, it looks as if things will be drier down here, and a little warmer.

pink_poppy said:

No pics yesterday as we had some sad news while we were out and came straight home.

 Communications are almost too good nowadays. Getting out and about, especially after the trials of winter, refreshes the mind and helps us through troubling times. I hope your sad news is something you feel able to cope with. Best wishes.

ArbitraryRandom said:

Got a text from my builder late yesterday...

Still waiting here.