3: Gardening Diaries ...

[alp]

Thank heavens that you don't like broccoli or it will be very expensive. You never know who's behind all these. Loads of articles extolling Aldi in Daily Mail have been paid by Aldi, trying to capture the middle class market and even upper class with their booze..

GW - Love that guy with a pink lily from Japan - a very interesting stand with various unique and interesting plants. I felt asleep during Malvern, so I might watch it again. The Beechgrove are always good. It all very nice to see pristine and perfect flowers in the show; in real life, lilies are covered with lily beetles - a lot of catching and killing whenever lilies are up.

I think @Upsy Daisy can have her knitted flowers in her own stall in Malvern or other shows as there was a knitted garden on show last night. Very cute and I think Upsy's works are much better than those on the show.

 

[alp]

Camassia Quamash

Camassia Quamash

£2 Oceanthus bought this year

My £2.50 planter in fabric

The giant allium - a bit small to be called giant

Probably Mont Blanc in anaemic form

One of the two bearded irises flowering at the moment

Butterfly Anthocharis cardamines

So happy to see it again. A most still butterfly

 

[Logan]

Camassia Quamash

View attachment 36936


Camassia Quamash View attachment 36937
£2 Oceanthus bought this year
View attachment 36938 View attachment 36939 View attachment 36940
My £2.50 planter in fabric
View attachment 36941
The giant allium - a bit small to be called giant
View attachment 36942
Probably Mont Blanc in anaemic form
View attachment 36943
One of the two bearded irises flowering at the moment

View attachment 36944

Butterfly Anthocharis cardamines View attachment 36946

View attachment 36947

So happy to see it again. A most still butterfly

Lovely flowers as always, beautiful.

 

[alp]

@Logan You're so kind. Just mown the lawn and coming to the last stage of tidying up the lean to, the lawn and we are ready to get evaluations.

Planted out 5 courgettes and 2 have already been snapped by slugs!

 

[Logan]

. Just mown the lawn and coming to the last stage of tidying up the lean to, the lawn and we are ready to get evaluations.

That's great, I'd go for the highest one.

Shame about your courgettes, do you always have that trouble with SS?

That's a lovely butterfly on your alliums.

 

[alp]

I have found that I am growing SS!

 

[Logan]

I have found that I am growing SS!

The big snails I put them on the patio and squash them with my foot, then the birds will have them. Or in the front I throw them in the road, hoping that they'll get run over by a car.

 

[MaryMary]

I posted this in a different thread about slugs, but I don't know if you guys have read it, so here ya go... I'll post it to this one, as well.

Slugs love dry cat food. They crawl past all the flowers in the flowerbed to get on the porch for cat food. They will gorge themselves on cat food. I'm not suggesting you feed them as a trade-off, but if you are looking to bait a home-made trap of any sort - dry cat food.


(Last year...) The local paper had an article with a suggestion for sampling a field for the presence of slugs. (There are a lot of corn and soybean fields around me.) If you lay out a board, shingle, or damp newspaper, they will collect under there to hide for the day

The newspaper article also gave the online OSU extension fact-sheet about slugs on field crops. I found some of the info useful, so I'll share. For those who want to read it, here is the website. http://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/ENT-20


If you don't want to read the full article, here are the bits I found helpful. You may have to adjust the time of year to reflect where you live, YMMV.

From the section on scouting:

The following guidelines are to help scout for slug eggs, juvenile slugs, or adults in spring and early summer. Warmer days of April and early May are the time to determine if slugs are present. Sift through previous crop residue and look at the soil surface for slugs. Mostly eggs or adults will probably be found at this time. Care must be taken to search for the small eggs often in clusters that will either be clear and half the size of BBs

Egg and adult sampling should occur until late May/early June when newly hatched juveniles are found. Juvenile slugs are quite small and care should be taken so they are not overlooked

So, if you feel like slug-hunting in the evening, get a small box of cat food, and put it out as bait. They will sniff it out. And, they are not mindlessly stupid. They learn a routine. If I feed the cats later than usual - there will be slugs waiting on the porch along with the cats. They know the food is coming, where it will be, and what time to be there!!

If you feel like slug-hunting in the daytime, lay down a piece of damp newspaper or cardboard the night before, and just collect them the next day.

I recommend doing both, for a two-pronged attack!

 

[alp]

It's raining now. So pleased. By the look of it, I will have a good dose of rain. Thank heavens for looking after me! I need this rain. Son is off with ex for a week's holiday. I can eat the same food, and generally do not need to cook .. Wonderful. And the rain just makes it even better!

 

[alp]

Glad that you're off the job, @MaryMary ! Yes, I remember someone saying wrapping some damp newspaper around the roots and the following morning send the trapped SS to meet their maker. I will do just that. I'm so fed up with the SS as I have ONE bud from my peony (7 or 8 years' chagrin!) and last week, the stem was snapped. ! I mean 7 or 8 years and one came along. I need to dig it up and put it in the HOTTEST AND SUNNIEST PLACE! An agonising lesson to learn.

Can't afford cat food. Newspapers can be picked up anywhere!

Ah, it's raining! I have never love this sound more!

 

[MaryMary]

Glad that you're off the job, @MaryMary !

Took a vacation day! My anniversary of hire is coming up, and if you don't use them, you lose them!

I remember someone saying wrapping some damp newspaper around the roots

Nah, just lay it flat on the ground between your plants. They are looking for a place to hide, that's all. Be easier to pick them up the paper without having to wrap it, and not have to worry about being careful with the roots!

Can't afford cat food. Newspapers can be picked up anywhere!

I'm not talking about a huge amount! I can buy a pound for $1 at a dollar store! You should have the equivalent...isn't a poundstore the same as a dollar store? A small handful a day would last quite a while. Especially if you are killing them before they eat it!!

 

[BigC]

Apologies I haven't been around much this sunny day, spent the day mowing and edging the lawn, planted Nasturtium seeds...Erected the risque Bar Sign..and just in from the watering regime...I went to a garden centre on the coast but needed a big wallet in there..hahaha...The rest of the day was spent trying to recoup the money I spent on a pair of bar stools on the bay of fleas..yes I got scammed ...Speak more tomorrow as I try to enjoy my weekend vino...Sad that a young man was killed at the top of our road last night by a car..big vigil out tonight in the village

 

[alp]

If within reason, buyers are always favoured on fleabay, @BigC ! I hope you can get your money back.

Sad that young people died because of car crash.

Spent most of my time trying to direct rain water to the right place. Very pleased that I have had such a great amount of rain in May. Usually, it's just sunny and hot and dry.

 

[Perki]

Got to keep a eye out on ebay, 10 years ago about by dad got conned out of £1500 on a little motorbike for me , never got any money back. Bit naive really, when something too good to be true, it probably is

It been a relatively nice day, cloudy / sunny. Been planting / weeding all day, done some weeding / planting for 2 customers from this morning to 4 pm. Then back home more planting , got my sedums touch down teak in - nepeta - lysimchia B - gladioli - crocosmia G Davidson. Then round to mums more planting , took some plants with me and planted lots more and dug over a bed ready for more plants. Got back in a 9pm and had a soak in the bath . More plants to be planted / potted on tomorrow. I've got a thing for dark red / maroon flowers this year, I dont know why.

 

[Perki]

nice camasia alp , what variety is the giant allium?