Awful weather - typical Brits talk

LessImpecunious

YoungBlueEyes said:

That’s on my list for tomorrow Less, some different compost stuff something. I might even have to splurge on a couple of actual Tomorite (sp?) growbag *sigh* They’re just not having it, I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Probably I had all my luck last year with that forest.

Don't think you're doing anything wrong - it's just dodgy compost

twopenny

Taff you may have missed my post where I said they come best from seed and you're welcome to some later in the season.
There's whole hedges and mounds of them around here. It's just getting them started.

I didn't see Arbs stairs. What are they?
I've always wanted stairs with terracotta pots of geraniums like the med.

Olive trees? I've been looking at them in Morries but not sure if it's too hot for them in my garden.
Blistering heat. What do you think?
Then the cost of more pots of course 

-taff

I'll second that. You could try keeping them damp and feeding them earlier, like now instead of when they flower. ust seems like they don't hold onto moisture and then they get a hard packed pan on the surface...

And yes, your sicilian wotsnmes

-taff

twopenny said:

Taff you may have missed my post where I said they come best from seed and you're welcome to some later in the season.
There's whole hedges and mounds of them around here. It's just getting them started.

I didn't see Arbs stairs. What are they?
I've always wanted stairs with terracotta pots of geraniums like the med.

Olive trees? I've been looking at them in Morries but not sure if it's too hot for them in my garden.
Blistering heat. What do you think?
Then the cost of more pots of course 

I did, sorry! And she posted the stairs on the thread about stairs,garden walls I just got confused as always and replied in the wrong place. Another sorry! Must be one of those days where I keep mixing things up. My erigeron were completely munched by snails and slugs so I've taken them back out of the bed and pu them back in pots to recover. Next time I use the blue sweeties...maybe they just need ot be a bit bigger and tougher.

I got my olive trees a few years ago now from a shop like the Range [but not]. They were about a metre tall and even then they were seventeen quid each but I think they might have been end of season sale. I doubt it could ever be too hot for them, if they can grow in Greece, then... I had mine in the ground for a few years then had to hoik them out because they kept bashing into the windows, one has been in a pot until this morning, about a 14 inches wide and a bit taller, in the eight ish months it's been in there, the roots have grown around the outside of it. I have also not pruned it in height, so they're about eight ish foot now, but quite spindly. I wil leave them to bush out a bit. I too would like a set of steps with geraniums and pretty things.

again, all the detritus of gardening is in view so ignore those bits and you can see my patented method of using bamboo poles to keep them from moving around too much.

twopenny

Wow! Big.
Yes they grow in hot countries but in a pot their roots will be heat treated.

Front is more med looking. The back English garden -
I might buy just one as the smaller ones already have flower buds/fruit..
Anyone want to take bets on the 'just one'.......

And different thread is just fine because something to explore tonight.

Farway

Lovely rose 2p, very jealous now even though there is absolutely no room for one on my estate in my patch. I've noted the name, though, just in case.

YoungBlueEyes said:

That’s on my list for tomorrow Less, some different compost stuff something. I might even have to splurge on a couple of actual Tomorite (sp?) growbag *sigh* They’re just not having it, I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Probably I had all my luck last year with that forest. 

If one near you the Levington's in Home Bargains is good, looks carp but is fibrous, and I've noticed the roots love it

Just potted into final positions more tomatoes, gradually thinning out the forest.

Some going with DD tomorrow, the last half dozen I'll take into the volunteer place tomorrow and leave them in the entrance for a donation. They should go in no time.

You may recall I have DGD who keeps getting horticultural awards from the likes of Lord Mayor of London? 

The other DGD, her sister, has just had an award as well, which is featured on the internet.

Her award is for  "Parking like a !!!!!!".

Looking at the picture, very well deserved. The car is on a corner, miles out from the kerb and blocking a driveway.

She took in good heart & humour

-taff

I did think I was missing something there...it's the pot bit If they start looking a bit worse for the wer, I'll move them, but they have the two chances...they were a bit bushier but I had to cut off quite a lot when I dug them out.

And ll this talk of stairs...I have some stones which are currently doing nothing I'm sure I can fashion into steps. Watch this space...thank you for the idea too!

YoungBlueEyes

Taff you said yes to id for the wosnames but didn’t say to whom Here’s my one anyway in case anyone fancies them - 



..and the actual flowers - 



2p the stairs on are my Garden Wall thread, absolutely worth a look  I’d not bet one ‘just one’ of anything, you prolly need a pair to keep them from being lonely  

Thanks for the recommendation Farway, I’ve got one of them shops near where I go shopping. Aldi, Lidl, a good charity shop, and a B+M/HomeBargains. That’ll be done tomorrow  

twopenny

Farway, it's one of those that can grow just a few big stems but I've found that pruning it back the old fashioned way ie take each stem back to a node or just above a leaf makes it branch out.

The perfume is amazing and the petals can be made into Rose water easily as a sun lotion. Its a toss up whether it goes mouldy or wonderfully fragrant

Here's one for Taff, couldn't resist. What you can do with the daisy plant I can't pronounce

It was behine the hall where I play table tennis, honey bees love it.

ArbitraryRandom

YoungBlueEyes said:

How would you know if a flower is male or female....? Do you get male/female courgettes that produce corresponding flowers..? Serious question. 

As farway has already said, you can see the baby courgette at the base of the female flowers (same for squash/pumpkin etc) and the way you know they're successfully fertilised is a few days after the flowers wilt the fruit quickly starts to grow (if not, they start to brown/rot just as quickly).

Not my picture as I keep forgetting to take my phone with me (possibly subconsciously to avoid looking at work for 10 mins):

   

Today was a hot day that involved a lot of walking and smiling, giving the 'big boss' up from London a tour of the local office... which was a laugh given I've not worked a full day from there since the pandemic and didn't actually know where anything was, plus this being his first ever visit to the office/area after joining the org about 5 years ago! 

I was glad to get home - I feared he'd want to go out for post work drinks, but I think he realised we're a very small team and most people have other commitments/don't normally work from the office so if he insisted there's a good chance it would just be me and him making uncomfortable small talk   

No rain forecast until Thursday, so I gave the garden a quick water and did a bit of weeding. The beds are three blocks deep (aka about 60cm) and I've already had to dig out TWO shoots of bind weed in different beds trying to come up. I dug down as far as I reasonably could and got about 30cm without getting to the bottom of the roots so going to have to keep a close eye as it's defo coming up from the soil below rather than a stray bit of root that's been transferred. 

Hopefully a quiet week upcoming so my 'plan' (things I want to do but won't get around to) is to mulch the beds with straw and earth up the potatoes that need it. It would also be good if I could pot up the thornless raspberry I picked up a while ago and finish putting the woodwork down on the area inside the U to stop it from getting horrible when it's wet.  Not too much more on the cards I think given the forecast.