Awful weather - typical Brits talk

twopenny

To me it looks like not enough sand and gravel - I hope it's just that.

Have a gentle dig around the top of the soil and see if it's too wet or too dry.

It may even be too hot. Could you put a bit of shade round it?

I've learned to ignore what they say about herbs. They may grow wild on drought ridden slopes but I've found they don't like the full sun. Perhaps being bred in Britian they can't tollerate the blistering dry/humid heat we have

YoungBlueEyes

Ooh I don’t know Arb, is it a soil ph thing maybe? I’ve got 3 lavenders that I potted up and they’ve gone the same way  

ArbitraryRandom

Farway said:

Arbs, rosemary, can't help because mine is the same. I put mine down to pot bound and neglect. In your case the root bound bit may be the clue.

Did you buy it as a kitchen herb from supermarket?

I intend buying another one for a quid and treat it better this time. One from same source [Asda] is thriving in the dry volunteer border.

It was an eBay jobbie with some other harder to find herbs, so not hugely expensive but I couldn't see it before buying. I just keep hearing about how easy/hardy rosemary is... I just need to get it established first  

twopenny said:

To me it looks like not enough sand and gravel - I hope it's just that.

Have a gentle dig around the top of the soil and see if it's too wet or too dry.

It may even be too hot. Could you put a bit of shade round it?

I've learned to ignore what they say about herbs. They may grow wild on drought ridden slopes but I've found they don't like the full sun. Perhaps being bred in Britian they can't tollerate the blistering dry/humid heat we have

I was actually wondering the opposite as it doesn't get direct sun until about 11:30/this time of day, so that's a bit reassuring. 

It's only been in a week, and what I'm getting from you guys is that there's not something equivalent to vine weevils that I need to pull it out for a proper inspection of the roots or anything. Just keep an eye on it and it'll bounce back or I'll have to get another one. 

-taff

It does look to me [which is not a professional opinion by the way] you're treating it too nicely. I would maybe hoik it out, stick it in a pot with lots of stones or carp soil, not compost, and let it  have a think about what it's done. Or hoik it out, replace some of the compost with some rubbish soil, set it above the ground a bit if you can mound it so it doesn't stay wet.

It looks very supermarkety, lush growth, soft and floppy, as has already been said . Those things are grown in unreal conditions, they're not equipped for the shock of a life outside, if it is soft and not firm [stalk wise], it needs some cossetting before it can be a grown up. ..

Dustyevsky

Rosemary is a pig to transplant, and even when established, it may sometimes expire. You may have been too kind and watered it too much, Arb. There are a few plants I drop in and run away for a time. They're one of them.

Also, that compost is way too 'nice' for it.

Farway

That's the Morries sweetcorn planted out. 

I left most of them in cell clumps, about three or four in cell, plenty of spaces between, so hoping they will sort themselves out.

The variety is Earlibird, which, on checking, is a Good 'Un, F1, sweet & early cropping, RHS awards.

Seems, by accident, I made a good choice, especially having looked at the price of a pack of the seeds, £3.99. Which for an amateur back garden grower, like me, makes buying a six-pack of cell grown plants at £2.50 a better option, without any germination worries.

Blurb says one or two cobs per plant, which is fine for me. Not counted, but I guess there are about two dozen plants. Now I will have to count them, won't I?

Dustyevsky

-taff said:

.Dusty, that is an impressive looking polytunnel in the background there I do like seeing things being made too,. Does that count as a chelasea chop on the comfrey? I'm wondering when to chop mine down for a second flush, but I don't want to disappoint the bees.

The tunnel has taken a long time between other jobs and we made some mistakes. To answer Farway's question as well, we're going to plant up the tomato bed right away. Just need aerial supports for training ropes now.

I was sad about cutting the comfrey early, seeing all the bees on it, but it's only one of two big comfrey hedges. As you say, in a month or so it will be ready to flower again when the other one's tiring.

Clouded-up here, much as expected. Digging holes for courgettes, I don't mind!

YoungBlueEyes said:

Dusty d'ya want us to have a whipround so you can apply for your infill bungalow   I think I'v enough brownie points in my karma to stand it
I'm envious of your tom bed - my toms are romping away now they're in a good compost. I wasn't sure I was gonna be successful this year but if they keep going I might just get to the same state I was in this time last year

It was a joke about the bungalow, but on thinking about it, it might be a goer. We made lots of errors refurbishing the one we have, so maybe the answer is to build another and get the things right that were wrong last time!

I'm sure your toms will catch up. Some of mine have sulked until very recently.

-taff

I am happy to report I made some room in the greenhouse so I can actually walk straight into it now without having to place my feet carefully. Echinops, eryngium, one chocolate foxglove, achillea, statice, nasturtium, persicaria and two pelargoniums planted out in second aed for OH. I am afraid I resorted to blue sweeties on that one. Odd sweet pea and bits put in the other flower bed.Tomatoes, rosemary, aleppo pepper, antirrhinum potted on, burmese sour tomato potted on, last living climbing beans put out, extra pumpkins potted on. Im pooped now, that was a solid few hours in the garden...Oh and the mystery rose stuck in a pretty pot. 

I am eagerly awaiting my order of some strulch. Fingers crossed that stuff makes a difference. I'm well behind with veg, in fact, all I've got out is some beans which are being munched to death, two pumpkin, two courgettes and three tomatoes. I think I' going to have to go with Farways calculations and get some plug plants...I do have three small red celery growing their little hearts out but not very fast.

Oh, hang on, that means another gc visit..Oh no! Can I cope?

twopenny

Well done Taff!

Another lovely sunny morning but I'm running my head around trying to prioritise things and the very dry means watering early, clearing the gutters while the stuff in there is dry and then - car bits? or doing a bit more clearing of brambles that are dried and in a heap  

It doesn't appeal but with the area crowded best to make the house look decent and then it's off galavanting next week.............

I need to plant out some veg but the previous excessive wet and then heat has made the ground dry like concrete so some patience needed.

Went to the garden centre to look for Brussel plugs but they were all suffering from something after only having 2 leaves so not sure where to go from here. May try germinating some seed somehow. It may catch up.

It's odd posting when everyone else is awol and no responses to make a stab at.........hope your having a good time

Here;s the lilac that was poking out of the bottom of the hedge nearby. I may try a cutting come autumn.

Anyone recognise it? Black spots are just dirt from the pavement.

Doouble flower with lovely scent and obviously vigorous. What's not to like.

Farway

Sunny but a bit windy, very pleasant day forecast

-taff said:

 I think I' going to have to go with Farways calculations and get some plug plants...I do have three small red celery growing their little hearts out but not very fast.

Oh, hang on, that means another gc visit..Oh no! Can I cope?

Taff, if one handy check out Morrisons, it's where my plugs were, pot luck of course on what they have.

My, you have been busy but worth it come “real summer”

Saw something yesterday, on YouTube, not TV, no licence. 

Lady sowing in what looked like a Swiss roll made from packing foam strips, ingenious I thought, and one I'll have a bash at.

Ah, good ol' Duck, Seed Snail is the phrase to use. Very clever, space-saving, recycle plastic and all Eco bingo words apply. https://kowalskimountain.com/seed-snail-growing-method/

Dustyevsky said:

Clouded-up here, much as expected. Digging holes for courgettes, I don't mind!

I'm sure your toms will catch up. Some of mine have sulked until very recently.

Hope things catch up, my courgettes, late entry so way behind, have only just germinated. 

However now I have sweet corn, I can go all Mystic Meg and make spurious claims about growing courgettes in with the sweet corn, like the Druids did near Stonehenge before the Romans invaded & built a bypass. Or something like that.

Most of my bedding geraniums are now planted out, one more tray to sort out, and I'm done, but first I need to sort the trough to plant them in, it's weedy at the moment