2: Our gardening diaries - from latest toys, flowers to wildlife .. Please upload pics

[Verdun]

Yes I do alp.....about 6 miles or so from National Dahlia Collection. Saw hundreds in flower if not thousands

 

[Logan]

Morning all

 

[Zenj]

Morning to all
A rainy night but at least no frost defo not gardening weather!

 

[alp]

Whooohoooo! @Zenji is up already. Must have been a good boy last night. Wife must be pleased!

Gooooood morning! Turned down the heating to 19c and got up the room was cold. Now up to 21.5! Incidentally, how much have you turned the thermostat at?

Apparently, if you turn it up to 22c, it's news. Geee! I spent 6 units a day whilst in summer 1 unit in 3 days.

Very lucky of you, @Verdun to live near such an important place. Do you get to buy the latest cultivar?

Logan - I will see if I can get some more soft fruits.. Wont get them from catalogue any more.

 

[alp]

Logan: The trees have not yet arrived. I asked them not to send them before 1 December as the roads are already gridlocked with deliveries. They do have stock for twinned apricot and nectarine trees, so they asked me if I mind their grafting one into another tree and posting them to me. I said no as I was not too sure this was a good idea. In the end, she suggested sending 2 apricot and two nectarine as I ordered 2 twins trees. Then out of a sudden, she sent me a new invoice asking for £19 and increased the carriage to £17.50. So I emailed and asked them to send only 2 trees instead of 4. i.e. 1 nectarine and 1 apricot. I still havent' heard from them. I've phoned so many times that I am a bit fed up.

 

[Logan]

OH dear Alp, You have to be careful with these places. DT, brown would just charge £4.95 for all the order of fruit trees or bushes. But you've ordered from a nursery and that's different. hope things will turn out alright in the end. Perhaps you can cancel the order.

 

[Verdun]

I went in early autumn when National Dahlia Collection had a sale on alp. Got some named sorts......gave some away and kept some. They were in flower but small. Did this last year too to get some bargains. Have quite a few now, mostly pretty big if not huge and take up quite a lot of room, and may buy a couple if really tempted.....some of those you had recently look good

 

[alp]

You lucky devil! Sooo envious of you. I seldom went to this gc as the prices are just beyond my budget. But Wyevale is now even more ridiculous. A paper bag of ordinary daffs or narcissus such as Minnows had the asking price of £20. It's only a paper bag with a handle. Went there after Summerhill and ran for the door. Even 50% is £10. Apart from the 50p end of season sale, I see no point of going to Wyevale.

I have to say the dahlia bulbs are not that big, but I paid £4.99 for a packet of bulb when I ordered them online. I am very happy that I've some good ones at Wilko for £1... I need to write them a flattering letter. It's so nice to go there, see the illustration and feel the bulbs..

This Summerhill has a good range of stock Camassis with 3 different types, erythroniums which I couldn't even find in Wyevale, I can't wait for the weather to warm up next week and put things outside. Can't wait for spring to come. ..

 

[Logan]

Morning all

 

[alp]

Good morning - cold but still air. Trying to burn off something, but the stillness of the air made it impossible. Ground some banana peels, egg shells for my compost bins and after that I am all hot.

 

[Zenj]

Morning to all another very cold night all the cars are white with frost have a great weekend everyone.

 

[alp]

We are all sunny here. I reckon it's the same in the NE, @Zenji. Hope you can get to see your mam next week when the weather is calmer and warmer. We could expect double digits temperature here! Hurrah!

 

[Verdun]

Morning folks
Blue sky, no wind, sunshine and feeling a lot warmer. Some higher temps to come over the next few days....sounds good to me . The end of winter perhaps !

 

[alp]

Yes, we have unbroken blue sky, but the warmth hasn't travelled this way yet. Apparently, it will be warmer and cloudy next week. Whatever it is, I prefer sunny/ or warmth ..

 

[alp]

Watched the Headhunter and The Cider House Rules. I really enjoyed the latter. I wish Toby Mcguire and Paul Rudd swapped roles or someone else played Paul Rudd's role. Mcguire couldn't really act. The twist right at the end is so touching and hilarious..