3: Gardening Diaries ...

[Zenj]

Another hi up done them twice

 

[alp]

Oh, dear! @Perki Can't say I am unhappy that you know how I feel! Gee, my selfish self appears totally naked! Sorry for your pain. Mine was like instant or near under an hour, All the wrinkles and dry skin on my left hand totally gone. It was swollen by 1/3. Even now it is puffy and plump whilst the other hand is like a dry prune. I had to squeezed that area where I initially saw the blood and it actually has helped. Awful. Apparently, one in 10 people are attractive to mossies or bugs. Unfortunately, you and I could be the victims. Attracting the wrong entities. Hope it gets better.

@Zenj - What is the name of the clematis please? Looks similar to mine. I really like mine. And the magnolia like flower? Very beautiful and different. Would love to see the other side of the petals. What are those architectural plants above the ivory Californian poppy please? I really like the creamy colour of the poppy. They are just so pristine and prim and proper and never a blemish. Stunning flowers which always make you want to immortalise .. I am very pleased with the same cistus that you have. No need to water. Though some cuttings have shrivelled and died.

It is now 28c where I live. Looks like the world is burning. I am worried that with this heat, even watering will kill my plants.

 

[Zenj]

@alp
The clematis is Franziska Maria ,magnolia flower a Anemopsis California a pond plant, and the tall plants are Thalictrum flavum grown from seed as took 2 years to flower.

 

[Upsy Daisy]

A few frazzled pics taken today....hard to choose a half decent looking plant

 

[alp]

Oh, please upload more photos when the Anemopsis California are in full bloom please. I just googled it and they look stunning and full of lovely details. You have so much patience and such success with seeds. I remember my Dentura seeds. Most germinated and grew to be proper plants - about 5 inches tall, but I could not help them overwinter and they ended up in hollow stick form!

Nice green fingers you have, Zenj ! Are you enjoying the sunny weather! I duck like a duck out of water! Ahhhhhh, water! I need to see some blue stuff very soon!

 

[Upsy Daisy]

Here are some of next year's seedlings that I'm trying desperately to save. Moved them to the east patio....fingers crossed.

 

[alp]

You have a LOT of blooms, @Upsy Daisy ! I can't compete with you lot as the heat will kill me if I go out. 4.30pm and the sun is still blaring down on us here in Essex.

Funny that my Echinops are at exactly the same stage of yours. I have about 5 packets of seeds and none came to anything. Suddenly, Fluooom, I have now a whole patch of the stuff blocking my path! See, when you haven't got it, it's an objet de désire. When you have it, it becomes a thug! Same for the Verbena Bonariensis. The stuff self seeded itself in between my paving block in the FRONT garden when all the time, I only have them in the back garden. They have legs .. just like the Verbascums. I think you and I will have a good display of the echinops when the globes turn blue!

Love those blue catanache doubles. Very pretty and they pack a punch, Upsy!

That zinnia is so pretty. I directed sowed them 3 days ago! Oooops! Missed the boat, probably.

The air is full of heat. You probably need a FAN for the seedlings. I just direct sowed some Stipa Gigantea seeds, some echinancea purpurea seeds, some Zinnias. They either SPRING up or die without a whisper!

 

[alp]

Gatwick Airport is hit by EARTHQUAKE as tremors strike Surrey and Sussex – the SEVENTH quake in just three months

• Passengers at Gatwick Airport reported feeling the ground moving under them
• British Geological Survey said a 3.0 magnitude quake struck Surrey and Sussex
• Witnesses who felt the tremours after being urged to shared their experiences

I hope we are spared as the cracks in my garden might take me to Australia! It's very scary to have an earthquake. I experienced it when I was young, squatting around a well. How frightening was that?

Hope all are safe and no more after quakes and people are talking about fracking!

 

[alp]

To share my bit of fun, sorry, just a tiny bit of repeats

The heat has spurred on the double lilies. Not half as pretty as @Zenj 's last year pure beauty. Sorry, folks, that's all I have to offer this lousy year!

View attachment 40137

Took me two years to see these blooms.

Gallardia is getting bigger

not bad for 50p from last week!

 

[Upsy Daisy]

A couple of my Zinnia seedlings that I direct sowed 2 wks ago

 

[alp]

Yes. I noticed that as well. But after that, I raked the soil and put into something else and they were not seen. If you are willing to water, I am sure the agapanthus seeds will come up as well. Just had aromatic duck and my face is full of hoisin sauce, but I must see if I can find my little miracles ..

The last one is a self-seeded verbascum. 2nd one hope not a weed. The first one could be seed from last year zinnia! Now I understand why you bottle fed your tiddlies. A whole swathe of the "nursery bed" is sooo try!

 

[Upsy Daisy]

As you can see I placed cut of plastic bottles around my Zinnia seedlings so that I can easily water them and hopefully ward of the S&S's......early days yet but so far so good

No problem with watering the Agapanthus @alp ....they are being well cared for .....just waiting for them to show their faces

Your dinner sounds yummy...

I hate having to try and identify seedlings that have self sown themselves in the borders.....utterly hopeless at it. Even now I am certain that I am nurturing several ' weeds' but I am waiting for them to bloom before I can happily chuck them!

'Bottle feeding' is the way to go I find,especially in this diabolical weather!!

 

[alp]

Did 40 minutes' of watering and despite driving the volume of water into the soil, the soil was still very dry, as I found out after planting a Deep Black iris onto the ground.

Milk has turned into yoghurt, so tea fix for me. Not a good way to start the day. Several dahlias have shown buds. Literally no new flowers to take photos of today. Having said that I saw a very deep dark sedum outside. Wonder if the heat has turned it black. It was green before.

Last night, there was not a stir of air! Dead and still and warm ..

There was thunderstorm, but not for me!

Flash floods sweep through town centre as storms end day so sweltering a man melted into the road – and it’s going to get HOTTER

• Drought fears raised again after parts of River Teme in Herefordshire are reduced to puddles in a few days
• Water companies have been urging people to save water with short showers and avoid using hosepipes
  
  
  

I so want some of it!

 

[alp]

So I made a mistake. This a double. Not the tree lily

Lobelia - can't wait for the flowers to unfurl

Tomatoes with no flowers

Glorious Oleanders

I saw some buds on the Amistad and today I wanted to check the buds and lo and behold, evil silvery trails everywhere. Removed the pot and sent 6 fat sneaky slugs to meet their makers. Buds gone!

 

[alp]

Britain melting

Bin lorry SINKS into the tarmac as Britain melts on the hottest day of the year with temperatures hitting 91F (and yes, it'll be boiling tomorrow too as millions gather to watch the big match)

What chance do my plants have? On the bus, I told a lady that her shopping bag was leaking water. She said she knew and that it was ice melting. She said she bought it last in her shopping, and that she might have bought an empty bag!

Strange that people buy ice. I would rather make my own. At least, I know the water I use is clean. I never order ice when out dining.