Awful weather - typical Brits talk

twopenny

Whoo Hoo!

I thought I'd heard a leaking water tap only to find the 'fountain' I put in two days ago was working

A tad of sun got it going.

Stuck hand in to try and adjust it and there was a young frog.

Gingerly put hand back in a couple of times and put it right and she was Ok with that.

Still sounds like a leak but we'll deal with that later

Find the frog

-taff

Thanks Dusty, i just got sucked into the Hardy plants website looking for groups. None especially near, but a couple at 45 mins drive or so. I used to think driving for an hour and half somewhere was quite far, then I had a boyfriend who was in a band, three hours then became just a quick zip there then. The boyfriend is no more but the attitude towards driving is changed Nice retro pic by the way Fingers crossed for leak free. I'm wondering just how big was your old greenhouse now, was it industrial sized by any chance? So now I have greenhouse envy...

I love a herb robert, I've left a few grow on in the back garden, they've got to quite a size, I'm used to seeing them maybe dinner plate size, but these are washing up bowl size now.

YBL, you're alright with the pear drop toms, they don't taste of anything much, get yourself some choclocate cherry or something stead...I like your weather report too

Stick the heucheras in the ground, no wine weevil then

2p, I did like your visiting gardens and realising the time could have been spent on your own..But R&R is necessary otherwise you do the thing where you look and intend to relax but then think, I could just do that and off you go and no relaxing is done.

I'm guilty of not thinking outside the box so much, it's my garden, i can do mostly what I like in it, but I still don't think about different ways to do things, different things to build, different things to organise, categorise, plant etc...Kick up my backside necessary I think. Or more land

Had a not very nice night last night. TLDR, found a baby fox in the garden and had to take it to the vets to be put down because it's spine was broken - . I havent phoned for confirmation, I'm hiding my head in the sand about it now, really shook me up, and still thinking about it now...

twopenny

That was a really kind thing for you to do Taff. Took some courage.

pink_poppy

How sad about the fox cub, poor thing must have been in pain so definitely the kindest thing to do. Try not to dwell on it taff 😕

I’ve been demolishing a rotten wooden compost heap all afternoon. The ‘compost’ actually looks not too bad, considering. I’ll use it somewhere in the garden - I’ve filled six bags so far and probably another two bags worth to go 🥵

I feel bad because I’ve disturbed a wee beastie - hopefully it’ll find somewhere else to live...

Dustyevsky

twopenny said:

That was a really kind thing for you to do Taff. Took some courage.

It was the best decision. Often, I'm for letting nature take its course, but there are exceptions, and that was one, for sure.

And pp shouldn't feel bad about disturbing a centipede. In its world, it shows no mercy to smaller invertebrates. Mind you, from a gardening POV, it's a friend, not a foe. Remember, critters that hurt veggies and fruit don't need to move so fast!

-taff said:

Thanks Dusty, i just got sucked into the Hardy plants website looking for groups. .......Fingers crossed for leak free. I'm wondering just how big was your old greenhouse now, was it industrial sized by any chance? So now I have greenhouse envy...

We were maybe in the group that would take you 45mins to reach. They used to do Plant Fairs at St Margaret's Hall in B on A, but you've just missed the largest annual plant fair in that area, here:

https://greatchalfield.co.uk/index.php?id=tester01a

They're having one again next year.

The old greenhouse was 25' x 10', made from cedar and cost the princely sum of £150, with £20 charged for delivery by a local 'clearance' guy. It was taking up 90% of the garden of a little terraced house, and the new owners wanted it gone. It broke down into 22 panels, so we refurbished them, and they went on for another 20 years. I'm hoping to have another cedar greenhouse one day. They're lovely!

We were promised cloud today, but my walking friend and I found bright sunshine and 18c for a 4 mile wander through many places where wild flowers are abundant. Photo tomorrow. 

YoungBlueEyes

Let's be a rebel and start OT - the drunkards got it right yesterday! All day Same forecast today but a bit breezier, which is fine for washing still to do. They also said there were thunderstorms near me and that was right too, I could hear them rumbling away I'm going to have to get the magnifier out on my phone and write down the temps of each colour on my Galileo bob. It'll be like balancing radiators I just know it - good job you only have to do it the once cos it'll take ages and it's an agony. That might be an occupation for himself today  

Woo hoo for your fountain and frog 2p and is that a lotus flower in with it...? Very pretty and zen And extra woo hoo for your acer etc resistance  

Well done on the vet visit taff, it would have been cruel to leave it there. I agree with Dusty, I'm all for nature sorting stuff out but just occasionally it's right to step in. Don't think of it as A Bad Thing, think what you've stopped from happening if a predator had found it. Poor little sod. 

My yellow pear drop tom seeds were a packet Farway from... B+Q (I think). I'm glad to hear they aren't worth the bother taff cos they're still showing no signs at all. It's a bu99er really cos I fancied two colours in my Hanging Baskets of Barbylon.  But as the philosopher Jagger sang - you cain't always get whachoo want...  I'm not sure when you're supposed to have your toms planted by but I did some more yesterday. Lidl have picolo toms reduced (actual eating toms, not seeds) so I squidged one out and planted them. Very yummy, I really hope they grow :fingerscrossed: 

That sounds like a good walk Dusty, looking forward to pics.

Today's weather forecast - the deep red one may just be incrementally lower. Possibly.

Dustyevsky

YoungBlueEyes said:

Let's be a rebel and start OT - the drunkards got it right yesterday! 

Not here, they didn't, but that was a bonus. Here's proof of the sunshine they said wouldn't happen!

There's a wee village in the background of that photo. We were headed there, and then beyond the end of the lake. There were no footpath problems until we reached the river which feeds in, when a steep track, still carrying water from the hills, made us take a lower, shorter route back. Maybe that was a good thing. My knees are doing OK, but 4 miles was enough.

Lots of the wild flowers we've mentioned en route. In the left bank here there were buttercups, celandines, bluebells, campion, stitchwort, primroses, (mostly over) and the ubiquitous herb Robert, especially in the woodland. No foxgloves yet, though they won't be long. I also spotted the first Ladies' Smocks, but took a terrible photo, so the willow catkins we saw will have to do instead. Those on female trees turn fluffy, and bits of the 'cotton wool' float off on the breezes carrying the willow's small seeds far and wide.

pink_poppy

I'm a bit achy today after yesterday's compost shenanigans. More to lift today and then I'll have to decide what to do with the space. I'm wanting a compost dalek to put somewhere else in the garden, so will see if the council have them (doubtful). I've never had a compost bin before, but have been thinking about it for ages. The previous owners have put a lot of egg shells and peach kernels in the one that I'm dismantling, plus there are scraps of material that haven't rotted down. Overall though, I think the compost looks pretty decent.

I planted the Saxon baking potato yesterday - looking at it it's very unlikely it will do anything but you gotta try   I also repotted the geum, although I'm not convinced the leaves are actually the geum growing - knowing my luck it'll be more Herb Robert haha.

Looks like a nice day yesterday, Dusty. Our forecast is for light rain today, but it's actually looking quite sunny out there at the moment.

Dustyevsky

Even with bits of eggshell, the odd plastic tea bag, and peach stones, the compost should be fine. Some people seem to make composting a sort of dark art, but it's a natural process that will still go on, if somewhat slower, in non-ideal conditions.

I thought your geum looked like a geum. If it's repotted, and you found no vine weevil grubs, that's good. They love 'em! In the ground outdoors, VW attacks are not usually an issue.

I forgot to post my last photo from yesterday. Nearly missed the sunset and had to race up the hedge bank (who am I kidding?  ) and hold the camera over my head to get it.

Farway

Sun is back after yesterday's more or less continuous rain, I think I had Dusty's share

I've already put the toms out to continue the hardening off, they are rocketing away now, that there Levington seems to be Good Stuff despite it looking Rough Stuff

Once the sun gets up a bit warmer, I can crack on and weed / sort out the large pots for my outside toms, not planting out yet, just prepping

YoungBlueEyes said:

My yellow pear drop tom seeds were a packet Farway from... B+Q (I think). I'm glad to hear they aren't worth the bother taff cos they're still showing no signs at all. It's a bu99er really cos I fancied two colours in my Hanging Baskets of Barbylon.  But as the philosopher Jagger sang - you cain't always get whachoo want...  I'm not sure when you're supposed to have your toms planted by but I did some more yesterday. Lidl have picolo toms reduced (actual eating toms, not seeds) so I squidged one out and planted them. Very yummy, I really hope they grow :fingerscrossed: 

I wonder if the yellow pear drop ones were the same as I had? In which case I agree with Taff, one of life's gimmicks.

But I will have two colours in my wall planters , one old favourite of mine, Balcony Yellow, and a new one, as seen by Dusty at Rosemoor, Veranda Red. They are not yet large enough to plant up but any week now.

I've tasted Piccolo, and thought I had saved some seeds but seem to not have , hopefully yours will grow as they are tasty

FIO, the GW 2024 show where Taff went is on You Tube, not by the Beeb, gives a flavour at least. One I saw was growing in supermarket baskets, another had a large bowl shaped shallow pond, you saw it here first folks, MSE trendsetters R Us

Lost the links, but a search on YT should turn them up.

Dustyevsky said:

 No foxgloves yet, though they won't be long. I also spotted the first Ladies' Smocks, but took a terrible photo, so the willow catkins we saw will have to do instead. Those on female trees turn fluffy, and bits of the 'cotton wool' float off on the breezes carrying the willow's small seeds far and wide.

Good pics of your walk, in sunshine as well.

Expecting the fluffy bits all over my front any day now, a goat willow down the road on council verge