Awful weather - typical Brits talk

-taff

Morning all. six pages to catch up on and my brain has let it all slip through, apart from the lovely photos obviously and the death stare cat..He could be in Star Wars, put a black cape on him, Empire Baddie...wort, my garden is going to do that. I always had plans for a Mediterranean garden [ I have gor clay soil but it goes dry dry dry]  but the collection of things I have to put in it are probably not...YBE I saw that garden, it really was amazing how much she'd got in there, and the landscaping that must have been done. I always admire people who have a mapped out vision and then do that. Can they come and do mine? And su weather es mi weather..Met a lady from the fb gardening group yesterday, she came to pick up three things, left with about ten, which is nice because it empties the greenhouse when I need it for tomatoes. I gave her one of the Burmese Sour Tomatoes which now leaves me with two that had better live. She made a good impression otherwise I wouldn't have given her one of my babies Dusty, yeah the Titanic-a-like doesn't really work..and the other one is far too far away unless you need a pitstop on your ground tour before your legs fall off on the way back through the extensive grounds..2p, beautiful erigeron waterfall there too..

I picked up something from freecycle yesterday, ended up having a long chat with a neighbour who I'd been hoping woud stay out because I wanted to ask him about his white valerian. He wasn't a gardener, told me the lady who lived there before was the gardener but I missed my chance for a cutting. But I'm offsetting that with some verbena bonalongname this afternoon... I have five growing very slowly..I need more

YoungBlueEyes

Farway said:

Honestly, this thread goes from Bees Bums to Bulls Noses

Lovely

Aye this place is like a drum wi' nay sides - you cannae beat it  

twopenny

Morning folks, that bull photo is a stunner! Not many people will have a photo like that in their album

We were supposed to have heavy rain last night - nope. Ground still rock hard.

Did some gardening yesterday, well I never, and started on the lawn edges which due to the 'no mow may' have made the grass root into the beds and plants.

Hands, knees and a pair of scissors. It was way to far in from the plants. Thank goodness no one was around with a camera!

It's also full of rampant 'wild flowers' ie buttercups and stuff that's taking over.

Keeping in mind  that we have huge gardens and a field behind that's full of 'wild flowers' my little plot is barely an also ran.

So still of mind that next year I will mow the back and leave the front where the insects prefer.

Got to take the last of the brambles down to the tip today. May try and plant the tomatoes if I can get the trowel in the ground.

Bowl of raspberries this morning now the baby blackies have moved on, small because it's so dry but welcome. That's supper sorted.

The brassicas look like they may bolt, they aren't growing like they should because it so dry. Runnerbeans are looking distressed too.

I'm going to have to get on this freecycle - not sure it's so wonderful here being rural people either recycle/store or the townies just chuck stuff.

Any ideas for the lady who want's privacy in her garden? The thread is sinking with just 2 answers.

Right off to do the jobs I least want to do.........some days it's as if they're out to try your patience

wort

That shows what I know I thought it was a cows nostril ! Tbf I couldn't see its other end!! 

Been for coffee with Bil and Sis at small GC . Then drove to nursery to look at plants  🪴 got 2 for bedding dianthus pink kisses 💋 which smells lovely and diascia apple blossom ..also a lavetera barnsley baby for 4.25 . Which I've wanted for a while just not wanted to pay GC prices 

wort

These ones 

wort

and this one

-taff

wort, my sister would love those, she's a dianthus freak...That lavatera baby is not so baby is it? I had a bad experience with an everlasting lavatera before but that one looks very pretty. I could definitely get behind a diascia

A friend came round so we hit the GC with my vouchers burning a hole in my pocket and came out with [me] two chocolate foxgloves, a rhodanthemum with peach turning to white flowers and a Mai Tai geum [her] a hydrangea at half price, then stopped at HB to get cat food and came out with two English lavender, [french one got eaten] and a white/pink fuchsia...This is on top of the bulbs she gave me [overbought] and the hollyhocks [ arrived too late to take to her daughter]. There are many many bulbs..Going to need more compost...and the verbena longname I got this afternoon, a little tray full of baby ones, about 15 or more so they have to go somewhere for a perk up before they go out. I am replete with plants [ is that possible, or does it not last long?] .

I mised the bull pic, how fantastic is that!

ArbitraryRandom

Yesterday was a washout. I dutifully did my bindweed patrol (probably much to the bemusement of any overlooking neighbours) and failed to find anything. Made up for it today with a good 6 shoots dug out. It's amazing what a difference not being soggy makes to my ability to garden  

T&M came through with an apologetic email fairly late on Saturday and I had the remaining brassica plugs delivered late this afternoon with the post. Just potted them up in some 9cm pots for now and will prepare the larger tubs this weekend.

Need to get everything currently in a little pot either planted into it's final place or a larger pot incase there's a biblical flood/heatwave/tornado while I'm gone, but other than that think the garden is now in maintenance phase atm. One half decent looking courgette that I'm keeping my eye on between now and the weekend... 

Away Sunday-Tuesday, so getting things sorted for the cats, sorting my bag and thinking about what I want to take with me on the train.

goldfinches

Very peculiar weather here which is definitely getting colder and I took this photo on my morning walk especially to post on here because the clouds were so dramatic, can't compete with bull's noses though, great photo Dusty!



Lovely plants everyone has got hold of or purchased, I found a copper beech seedling when I was weeding at my plot this afternoon but apart from that all I've really got in abundance are thistles, purple sage and oregano. 
My tomatoes are all planted out and looking distinctly unimpressed by the temperature and none of them have flowered yet so at least we're all at the same stage as one another. My sweet peas are still looking very small but the radishes have put on a growth spurt and might be getting towards needing thinning so I'm hopeful. My main worry today is that the sweetcorn I planted out last week is still looking very unhappy despite being given a liquid seaweed feed as a boost on Saturday so I'm wondering what else I can do to cheer it up a bit. Answers on a postcard that don't include making the sun shine would be appreciated, ta muchly.

wort

Taff that’s quite a haul, I was tempted by quite a few myself but know I have no spare patch to put any in.
Arb good news T and M came through before you went off, and your persistence at the bindweed is working.