Awful weather - typical Brits talk

twopenny

Sorry to hear about your aches Poppy. Do be careful with pulling ivy. You can really do damage to your back.

May have a few of my own if I ever get into the badger run to chop things.

Dusty that was not good showing us your already getting ripe toms. Mine went in at the right time, are healthy but still under a foot high All of them. Self sown and my sown. I think they have the idea (as we here do) that it's still March!

Bluey I love that photo of umbrellas. What a cheerie idea. We get yarn bombing in the county town which is good too.

Not a great start to this morning. No sign of the promised sun, rat sitting on the bird feeder, pigeon followed and broke the basket off and then a young black and white cat atop my fence watching the birds. And all before breakfast!

Shame as neighbour son has taken her car and gone to Wales so alls back to peace and tranquility here for the weekend.

I think it's a day for going and looking at someone elses garden for a while before coming home with renewed vigour. It's Hydranga time at Greencombe. One of my favourites

ArbitraryRandom

YoungBlueEyes said:

Have you tumbled into a raised bed chasing bindweed roots @ArbitraryRandom? Do we need to send help?  

Help is more than welcome  

But no, after clearing the garden, I was sore for a few days (not like you lot used to hard work ) and been focused on getting indoors in order so parents can visit next week - plus there's not been much to report. Garden is looking much the same day by day at this point with regular courgettes and strawberries being produced, but not much else. 

In terms of runners, mine currently have a lovely showing of red and white flowers (painted lady) but only really in the last week or two and mine went in very early - the peas that went in at the same time flowered much earlier and have been producing a handful or so a week for a while.  

I was coming online today to ask another panicking newbie question... is this early signs of blight, or just normal blemishes/some other benign thing?

 

Dustyevsky

YoungBlueEyes said:

Queer bug. It would’ve fit on a 5p piece - 

pink_poppy said:

No idea what the bug is, but looks a bit shield like?? We still have a fair few bees buzzing around - they love the purple clover that's out at the moment. Distinct lack of wasps though, not that I'm complaining about that...

I think it's a froghopper; the creature that starts out in cuckoo spit.
Yes, that was a cracking garden with the big pond, Bluey, and the owner was a lovely person too. I got a picture of a dragonfly in flight there, but it wasn't a patch on Farway's one.

Oh, and you don't need to have tomato envy. Although they're the tomatoes I grew, I took those pictures in my walking friend's garden yesterday. She cheats, having a warm site on the estuary, so she's beaten me, even though her toms are outdoors and mine are in the polytunnel! Maybe I'll have some of that colour in a week or so.

My sitooterie today is  in a detached garden. The house it belongs to is shown, but it's actually across the village road. The owners haven't made it very private, presumably so they can say hello to whoever's passing by.

Oh, look, I see a Crocosmia 'Lucifer' too!

Farway

Early start today, up & about at the volunteer patch.

Main purpose was check watering situation, probably was OK but gave the pots a soak anyway because it'll be mid-week before I go again.

Plus collected foxglove seeds, and chopped the spikes off

Fed salvia Hot Lips with bonemeal

Planted up one cheapo Morries fuchsia into a gap where foxglove straggled.

-taff said:

Seed sown lavender? That's dedication Farway! I just checked my benas, [stuggling beans] and yes, one of them is ocmpletely covered in blackfly..All the lady birds were out the front munching on the angelica ones and have now flown away so aren't eating it. You remind me, must get some field beans...Your wasp bum is indeed pretty...Any crocosmia tips?

The lavender I only did to see if I could, another seed offer I could not refuse.

Crocosmia, not too deep, but apart from that it seems care free around here, and a sun lover. Lucifer is striking but taller than the bog-standard orange ones.[commonly known as Montbretia].

YBE, no idea on the bug, some type of Shield one? Love the umbrellas, perhaps squeeze a few into Rottery Acres?

Beechgove, on my list. Easy watching is for me.

Dusty, ripe toms, nice. Horticultural DGD has ripe ones in her conservatory, sob , in Aberdeen area. 

Life can be so unfair.

PP, your triffid toms, could do with de arm pitting by the looks of them. 

Who ever asked, it's the removal of side shoots, growing in the "Arm pits" of the leaves.

Keeps one good stem with the fruit, the rest are just hindrance to ripening in our weather. Unless you are growing Bush ones, leave those alone.

I have a bean!

PS Arbs + blight. Doesn't look like blight, normally around the edges. More likely where water has lingered and triggered mould or similar.

twopenny

Bluey, yes it's a Froghopper

https://www.naturespot.org.uk/species/common-froghopper

Abs, blight usually turns the leaves black overnight or in two days. So that's unlikely.

Dusty my friend has a sitooerie by a footpath. It's quite nice greeting friendly people and they don't tend to linger.

Farway congratulations! There should be a MSE cup or something for the first bean/tomato etc.

My day continues to flumox. The eternal sunshine all the sites promise have turned to black skies threatening rain but not delivering - so twice as annoying.

I've just got the first lot of 'heavy' washing out on the line and was planning path cleaning, dead heading etc as there was one brief glimse of cheery brightness for 15mins or so. I have deconstructed the bird feeder and now surplus seed will fall to the ground. Hopefully the pigeon will clear it before the rat

Dustyevsky

twopenny said:

Dusty that was not good showing us your already getting ripe toms. Mine went in at the right time, are healthy but still under a foot high All of them. Self sown and my sown. I think they have the idea (as we here do) that it's still March!

Not a great start to this morning. No sign of the promised sun

I'd better repeat the admission that they're not 'my' toms. I grew them from seed, but they've been living on the coast in a sheltered place for some weeks, and (I suspect) seeing more real sunshine than their inland relatives.

No sunshine here today either, until late. 

Mrs Dusty and I were heading through your county this morning on the M5, and it was hammering-down for about 5 miles, just west of Taunton. I think those were the 'black skies' that missed you! No rain the rest of the way, but the promised 17 -18c was never achieved.

We had good news and bad news at the hospital. Mrs Dusty's replacement knee joint is text book, but her present difficulties arise from a severely pulled hamstring. She's overdone the digging and chopping-back in the past few weeks! Her leg's now in a full length brace, and she must rest until a return visit at the end of the month.  

As luck would have it, my knees are going through a revival and I'm currently pain-free.

YoungBlueEyes

Mmmm peas Arb I don't know about your poorly leaves, but it doesn't look like blight to me. I had it last year and it looked different to that. So that's something. Don't worry about having nothing to report - I don't know the last time I had something useful to say but I don't let it stop me ha haa!

I like that sitooterie Dusty. I can't decide if I'd be happy with being on display to anyone passing though... always nice to talk to folks, but sometimes I just wanna sit quietly and read. Gawd poor MrsD, hopefully enforced rest will see her right. Is your friend hiring out squares of her garden so we can all send our toms down there for a holiday and get them back ready to harvest? Well if you don't ask...

A froghopper, thanks 2p. I've never (knowingly) seen one before. Please god let me have loads of them, and let them feast on my mare's tails and bindweed.... I love the colour of your hydrangea Fingers crossed your seed is hoovered up by the pigeons first. If not, let me know and I'll send you some of mine - I've dozens of them out there Hurray for neighbour's son going away giving you peace and tranquility  

It was me asking what de-armpitting is, thanks for explaining Farway. You never said you were making a start on gm jiggery pokery - but growing a bean out of a freesia does look good tbf  I was taken with the strung up brollies too, for something so simple it’s very effective. We could have plenty of them at Rottery Acres imo. 

OT It was raining but now it isn't. The apps are getting everything wrong so I've given up on those. Maybe I should go back to CountryFile. Domestic Nonsense today so I'm clear for tomorrow. Need to be all finished for 3pm - come on Alcaraz!

Farway

Sunny start, early clocking on because I am off to DS later, just a visit, nothing untoward. 

At least I can check on the plants I put into his Boot Hill disaster patch, plus the Golden Delicious progress, my tuts will be muted though, just in case a visit to GC café is on offer.

Oh dear Dusty, hope Mrs D is not in too much pain and is able to supervise your work from afar

I've had to add some slug pellets to my sweet corn pots, noticed some were getting a bit nibbled, no sign of ears or tassels yet

The courgettes I planted in same pots are chalk & cheese, same variety and both siblings. One is robust and looking as it should, the other is the puny brother with sand getting kicked in its face.

A reference for older readers there, for younger viewers https://swipefile.com/classic-charles-atlas-comic-ads/

No gardening, except maybe a GC browse if DS insists

Today is my patio blackberry, bought this year when my mobility was looking iffier than normal, and DD was moving house and maybe a nice blackberry in a pot would be ideal.

Not fruited or tasted, if OK then propagation will ensue

twopenny

Ah that's not going to go down well Dusty

But good news that the knee is fine.

No real news here. Wearing sweaters and having the lights on in July you can imagine how grumpy people are getting.

Sun is out so far. Another wash on. 

Waiting for a parking fine. Went out yesterday for a walk and new parking machines (Horizon) installed with cameras but you can't pay cash and I had no card with me so I left. But they will want £80.

Dusty, that is Porlock Weir as you may end up there but probably will have your wallet with you as it would be a day out but beware. Wimbleball also has phone only but no signal to download the app!

Hope to get into the garden and do some work today as nothing more exciting has happened.

Large lavender bush in the way of the washing line. The old badger run maybe will be got around to. Feed these darn tomatoes that are now a foot high only.

One surprise - one of my wild purple poppies has turned red!

-taff

Sunny here, only bruises ish after taking the goth box down, and lots of doings in the garden today for fun, like potting on stuff [ greek basil, some geums, kale] and wandering round thinking about stuff.

So I pinterested the fork out of garden ideas [thanks 2P] and was very much taken with this one,

which is giving me all kinds of ideas about not a traditional wall and adding inset pots. I like all the insect hotel walls too, very useful.

That's poo about her knee, are you having to tie her down to make her rest or will she listen? Good job you're currently intact Dusty.

I liked the umbrellas too, very cheery...a definite winner for colour and they look like giant flowers...

DOn't worry too much about your foliage arb. How long have they been in now?

Sitooteries away from the house? Well, needs must and all that, not sure I'd like it but then if I had to I would..I think it'd make passers by more uncomfortable than whoevers sitting there though, it's like peeking through someone's front window.

Leanred something new again today, didn't realise crocosmia were montbretia too...so many names for one plant..