Awful weather - typical Brits talk

ArbitraryRandom

You are an entirely horrible bunch... I was trying to be good  

Between front and back I've got two apple (plus a crab), two cherry, a pear, quince (tree), medlar and a fig - I'm not going to be short! 

Re cherry plums, I'm considering ‘de Nancy’ and/or Golden Sphere, but my concern would be even on Pixy stock, plum tends to be a grower and I'd not really want anything on that side topping 2m, so I don't think it's sensible. 

Other option would be to get a second pear on dwarf stock that was okay with shade and could pollinate my conference - the spot I'm thinking gets good afternoon sun but not much in the morning. 

Dustyevsky

Farway said:

Weather here, started good but going downhill rapidly with rain any time now, once Dusty has finished with it.

Today's pic, it's Rosa medicus carrus parkii. 

Taken as a cutting and seems to be underway. Nice, prolific, small red flower...

We never 'finished' with the rain!  You must've had some inferior stuff from Dorset, or somewhere like that.

Cracking rose, that one. I remember it.

Bluey's cherry might actually be 'early.' I recall those at my former place of work flowered in May. Big, blowsy double things, they'd be a picture for a week, and then dump themselves on the ground in quantity, soon turning to brown sludge if it rained. Very 1950s, which is when they were planted.

YoungBlueEyes said:
Lovely anemones Dusty. I agree with Farway about the reason for the sign. When I lived in Lincs I was forever seeing those signs, they ended up being replaced with ones in Latvian/Polish/Romanian/all of the above. Didn’t stop them mind.   Good luck at the physio.

I guess you're right, though at the location pictured, it would most likely be holidaymakers, down from the smoke. Well, just to prove our rivers here are more easily accessible, here's a photo taken from Lidl's car park this afternoon. 

Nothing of interest there in the plant line, though! On Monday, I passed a different Lidl; the one on the windy corner. They had small Bougainvillea about 35cm tall being blasted by 40mph winds! That was pushing it for April, even in a 'seaside' location.

 The physio was pleased with me. He got his angle measuring thing, took a reading, and declared I can now bend both knees enough to do his awful exercises. He even said I could choose the time of our next session, so I went for the end of May. By then, it might have stopped raining enough to do some more walks and judge progress.

Dustyevsky

 I'm keeping very quiet about apples, because this has been another winter when we failed to prune ours.   I remember buying Blackberry 'Waldo' in Morries last year at a knock-down price. I found it (alive!) a few days ago, so that's something we'll need to find a home for ASAP. I believe it's a fairly compact variety with large fruit, but unless they're as tasty as Merton Thornless, Mrs Dusty will banish it to the wild area on the edge of the small wood. There, we already have 'Chester' or 'Loch Maree,' I don't recall which. That's nibbled by sheep, but still gives a crop, appreciated by the DDs and DGS.

kiss_me_now9

Bloody pigeons indeed, caught another one on the tree this evening. I've been tidying up our office/study in prep for it becoming our little boys room (he should be in before he turns... 3... maybe...) and had the tree in eye line all day. Not a single one on it until tea time rolled around when I had to drop the spoon of pasta and go chase it away. My little one will think his mum is mad! 

My dahlia tubers have arrived from Amsterdam. Pleased to see that 3 of the 6 have lovely eyes developing already but the other three are sprout-less. I can't remember if I chit them like potatoes or if I just chuck them in the ground and hope? I always do them in pots as I 1) have no luck with keeping the slugs and snails off them in the ground and 2) tend to forget where I've planted them in (you'd think since we only have 2 useable flower beds I'd remember but my mind is akin to a sieve). 

YoungBlueEyes

Farway said:

YoungBlueEyes said:

Plum, label front, label back. I picked it cos it says it’s self fertile, and it doesn’t look like it’ll take much to espalier

If I struggle to get fruit off it (or if  when everyone else eats my share) at least it's a good big size so it'll not be long 'til it's providing a bit of privacy. 

It looks good, and plums will get HUGE if you let them, when they say semi dwarf they mean eighteen footer. Nothing wrong with that if room, except for picking the blighters.

I think I've got a plan sort of sorted, but 18ft plums are throwing a spanner in the works... how am I gonna lift them?! 
Yep that cherry is late, there is another (smaller thinner) one on the other side of the road but that's been and gone weeks ago. They were out at the same time last year so I don't know what's going on there *shrug* 

Plum needs lifting again anyway if it'll be as big as that. The pear that's now in a bucket is all wilty and sad so it was definitely happier where it was. Can you move trees again so quickly or will they die on you from the shock? It's meant to be a sunny and mild and calm day today so I'll have to get some pics.

That's a beautiful little waterfall Dusty, just the place to sit on hot summer days (Keep Out Ferners signs permitting). Good news on your knees too  

ArbitraryRandom said:

You are an entirely horrible bunch... I was trying to be good  

You're preaching to the choir, sister When will you get another pear do you think? (You're better looking at it than for it;) )

I don't know about dahlias kmn, could you start them inside 'til they've got a bit of strength about them to deter slugs'n'snails..? 

kiss_me_now9

@YoungBlueEyes I do tend to have them inside until they're pretty hefty. Any that I've planted out though, even though they've been started inside, get munched in a matter of hours. Perhaps no-one in my area grows dahlias and so the slugs and snails act like I've put an all you can eat buffet on for them XD

I went to a gardening talk a little while back about defensive gardening without using pesticides etc., and the chap was basically saying that you can't get rid of pests really and the best bet is to make something else more attractive to them, whether that's by companion planting or convincing your neighbour to grow the same thing but with less defence! 

Dustyevsky

YoungBlueEyes said:

That's a beautiful little waterfall Dusty, just the place to sit on hot summer days (Keep Out Ferners signs permitting). Good news on your knees too  

I don't know about dahlias kmn, could you start them inside 'til they've got a bit of strength about them to deter slugs'n'snails..? 

No farms there, Bluey; it's the middle of town, and somewhat inaccessible, but no signs saying “Keep Out!”  The water's too high at present, but back in the day, we kids would have been into places like that with our fishing rods. No one from the supermarkets or the council that own much of the land would be likely to care. Indeed, one of my favourite spots as a child was the local sewage works. The guy who ran it didn't mind, so long as we behaved and were quiet.....well, you are, when you're fishing!

I always start dahlias in a pot of new compost, examining them first for vine weevil grubs, if they're last years. Quite often, it's possible to split them too, once they get going.

Back to the anemones now, and a closer look:

Oops! I've given the location away! (Mods, I don't live anywhere near there! )

Also, thinking about bluebells too, I spotted some pink ones on the way home yesterday. We have some of these, but this person's garden had better ones than ours!

Farway

Started misty & damp, but promised sunshine later, hope so because I'd like to pot on some of my toms and avoiding the intermediate knock on floor stage.

YBE & Arbs, plum need not get to 18 feet; they can be kept smaller by pruning or training. 

Somewhere I saw a bush one, deliberately kept low & small, but I don't suppose there was much of a jam or pie making crop.

When I have my Parkland, post Premium Bond win, I'm going to have a Mirabelle, a yellow one, then cook can make my pies & jam from it.

YoungBlueEyes said:

ArbitraryRandom said:

You are an entirely horrible bunch... I was trying to be good  

You're preaching to the choir, sister When will you get another pear do you think? (You're better looking at it than for it;) )

Ooh, another pear, get it quick because they take a while to fruit.

If you spot the “right sized” one, Concorde is tasty right off the tree, I always wanted Doyenne du Comice but have been plagued by mislabelling so can't comment on taste, but it's supposed to be superb.

KMN, dahlias, I start inside in pots, keeps the slugs off for a bit longer, and if you CBA gives a supply of cuttings to increase your haul

Which reminds me to sow my self saved dahlia seeds, even though they look a bit thin and not bursting with vigour.

Nice stream there Dusty, and good physio news as well. I remember you buying Waldo blackberry, I went looking in my Morries after but no luck.

Today it is the annual Money tree [Crassula] flower, not as prolific as last year, but it's probably reflecting the Cost of Living crisis

 

LessImpecunious

impressed by your money tree flower Farway! Mine (numerous, as they, somewhat annoyingly, multiply very well!) have never produced one - what's the secret?

YoungBlueEyes

Pests kmn, I was looking up about my ants and the party line seems to be all pests are just being viewed wrong, you’ve got to look at their positives and learn to live with them 🙄 I’m doing slug patrols at dawn+dusk and slinging them in a pot of salty water. They mostly live under the soil anyway (apparently) so I’m not sure I’m making much of a difference, but they’re eating me out of house and home and I don’t want to learn to live with them! 

I’ll not tell you that my morries has/had a cheapo Doyenne du Comice then Farway I left it cos the bark was scratched to buggery along a lot of it and it didn’t have many branches. 

Speaking of trees, am I alright hoiking the plum out and putting my pear back there? Or do you have to wait a bit so it’s not shocked? 

Edit - they’ve only been in their new spots since yesterday