3: Gardening Diaries ...

[Logan]

Good morning to all: Woke up earlier to a darker day. Snow is still there, but it's now snowing.

Yesterday, I sowed some more seeds - sugarsnaps, bamboo, Chrysanthemum Eastern Star, clematis durandii, Echinacea Firebird and some lilac delphinium.

From New Scientists but extracted by Daily Mail, Logan's pet hate

Reality of those green-fingered myths
MYTH: Put coffee grounds in the garden to fertilise your plants and reduce waste.

REALITY: Caffeine and polyphenols in coffee may be toxic to plants and worms. Coffee grounds can be beneficial, but only if they’re composted first to reduce levels of chemicals.

MYTH: Use vinegar to turn your hydrangeas blue by making the soil more acidic.

REALITY: It would take a few bottles of vinegar, which could harm hydrangea roots, so it is better to use aluminium sulphate.

MYTH: Tidy up daffodils by tying up their leaves after the flowers are gone.

REALITY: This may mean an inferior display of daffodils next year, as it damages leaves and hampers photosynthesis.

MYTH: Stake a newly-planted tree or shrub to protect it from wind, which can tear the roots.

REALITY: Wind stress encourages trunk thickening, so staked plants may be thinner and snap or be uprooted.

MYTH: Improve water drainage by covering holes at the bottom of plant pots with pot shards (‘crocks’) or gravel.

REALITY: This can waterlog plants, as water flows more quickly through potting compost.

We staked our apples and plum trees, they're strong and the trunks are thick. The stakes fell down after more than 5 years.

 

[Upsy Daisy]

Morning , loving the new avatars!

No rain here @alp....we are forecasted to have non stop snow today and tomorrow!!!. At the moment we only have a thin coverage......Bring it on!!!!! Sooooooooo love freshly fallen snow., but you can keep the mucky looking stuff once it starts to thaw!
The downside is that apparently this snow is no good for snowballs or snowman making!!......what's that all about?

Have fun!!

 

[alp]

Snow is still falling

England is put on snow red alert - Britain's highest ever weather warning - for the first time as South West faces almost TWO FEET of snow and thousands of travellers in Scotland are stranded

 

[Logan]

I thought I'd change my Avatar and it's still got Logan in it.thanks.

 

[alp]

I've changed mine as it is spring bulb season .. spring and snow and snow and snow ...

 

[Perki]

Well its still snowing, it drifting as well. I normally brush the GH roof off but its getting blown off instead . it about 4 - 6" deep and about 10 -12" deep in other places.

I found the snow no good for making snow balls / sculptures it to soft and fluffy. I made a hand / gargoyle sculptures a few years back, my hands / fingers nearly fell off. never got to finish the gargoyle cause it started to melt

 

[alp]

Perki: Your house enjoys a nice view. I so want a house perching on the top of a hill, overlooking the surrounding valley, like Whipsnade Zoo. Where are you based exactly or roughly?

1 foot of snow is quite something .. Wonder how serious @Zenji's area is?

Prepare another bowl of compost to be sterilised so that I can have my own salad leaves. Bought 2 fabric planter at £2.50 each and hopefully, I can just empty its content when I move!

Next week will see 9c so getting very excited. All the nurseries are gearing up for March. Hopefully, Sunday will be a good start for them.

Cold also blows through high street shops and my favorite Prezzo is not doing well either. That is about the only decent place where we can have a decent sized spaghetti with King Prawn .. sad to see some of the branches go. All very sad, especially with more people losing their jobs.

 

[Perki]

I am not quite at the top of the hill, I am about 750-800 feet up the top about 1000 and the hills across range from around 1000 - 1500 feet.

Looking at the local paper / social media it appears they has been a couple of multi car pile ups 5ft drifts in some areas.

I used to have a off road bike, it was a world of fun in the snow I am missing it now.

These are the snow sculptures I made a few years back, the hand was my 3rd attempt at a snow sculpture and gargoyle 4th, shame I never got to finish the gargoyle.

 

[alp]

I am not quite at the top of the hill, I am about 750-800 feet up the top about 1000 and the hills across range from around 1000 - 1500 feet.

Looking at the local paper / social media it appears they has been a couple of multi car pile ups 5ft drifts in some areas.

I used to have a off road bike, it was a world of fun in the snow I am missing it now.

These are the snow sculptures I made a few years back, the hand was my 3rd attempt at a snow sculpture and gargoyle 4th, shame I never got to finish the gargoyle.View attachment 32936 View attachment 32937 View attachment 32938

Hahahaha! Very good artworks. You surely have a flair! Thank you so much for sharing.

 

[Mark56]

Don't worry folks it wasn't really Egyptian cotton, I don't think I'd still be alive to tell the tale.. you'd probably hear of my demise on the news or the True Crime channel

Camellia E.G. Waterhouse last year:

Today's weather vs. before I'd ventured in to gardening and hadn't dug any of the beds:

 

[alp]

Don't worry folks it wasn't really Egyptian cotton, I don't think I'd still be alive to tell the tale.. you'd probably hear of my demise on the news or the True Crime channel

I'd love to find out who and why and what and how! I'm a blood-thirsty addict. But if it were Egyptian cotton, it would save a LOT of ironing. Not a bad idea.

Oh, yes, I remember this beauty. There must be something wrong with me. I never have had so many flowers. Very pretty. Much better looking than my £1.99 Silver Wedding. Mine really is a bit of a turn-off. It's so white though.

Mine is the same - all covered with a thicker layer of snow. And the hellebores, newly bought, might have died. They looked like TOTALLY STEWED!

 

[Logan]

My wallflowers might not be any good with this snow, they look terrible.

 

[alp]

My wallflowers might not be any good with this snow, they look terrible.

I know. My hellebores haven't even had time to settle into their new home and this cold blast has suddenly taken hold. I hope they are not going to die!

They cost me an arm and a leg. All the plants look like they have been boiled.

 

[Mark56]

Same Logan, the biennial ones especially

 

[alp]

Same Logan, the biennial ones especially

Don't think I should like this. But I feel the pain and foreboding immensely!