3: Gardening Diaries ...

[alp]

Did a lot of tidying up - removed the green gages and Victorian plum branches which are too tall. Now they are like sticks for bird feeders. I also put some of the plants with the pots on the borders. Still a lot to do.

For some strange reason, the left side of the this clump has literally no flowers even though I cleared the overhanging branches.

A cacti dahlia which flowered earlier.

My favorite Rajman Firecracker.

Art Nouveau has become much bigger

a Zannia

Blue Bayou!

 

[Becky]

The Art Nouveau is stunning!

 

[Perki]

It rained some today wet is a understatement , been to the GC this afternoon and got drenched. Picked up some goodys . Couldn't find choyisa Goldfingers it had disappeared from where it was, had a sulk and then found it in the reduced section . Got a nandina D firepower and a Pittospormum Irene patterson, Euphorbia Black pearl which I've been desperate for as well. Went to another Lidl more a less sold out of allium bulbs the hunt continues.

My salvia Uliginosa is quite tall @alp it does seem to have a lax growth habit, it is known as the bog sage that probably why mine doing well at the moment, only problem I've had is the delephinium near it is almost the same colour so it blend in, it not as nice as I hope it would of been. That dahlia art nouveau is lovely especially the first pic.

Can't remember who said their Anemone swan has died but mine done the same dunno why

 

[alp]

It spitted a bit at around 11am and I came in. After lunch, it was pure work, tidying up the fence where loads of honeysuckle had died. Sawn 2 thick branches.

@Perki Must have cost you a bit. I must have a look to find out if my Choysia is still alive at the back. My Wild Swan as lifted up on the border and buried in amongst something else and as the hot summer dragged on, I had totally forgotten it. So, it's no more. I should have put it to the border as I don't think it is invasive. Yes, I know, I might have to dig the uglinosa all out and plant some Salmon Dance instead. I am dreading tonight's winds. So scared that I had to ask son to put 2 pieces of thick wood to block the gaps in the front garage door. I hope the roof is still here tomorrow morning. And then we will have Bronagh, sent to us by @DirtMechanic , perhaps! LOL! Talking about delphinium, I wish I had bought the flowering ones in the market. Now, I don't even know where the two pots have gone. I really like Nandina - good looking plant. Euphorbia can be very pretty, but the sap puts me off! You must have spent a fortune, @Perki !

Hope @Upsy Daisy is OK! Chatterbox is unexceptionally quiet! Goodnight, everybody! I have just woken up from watching Evidence of Evil! Probably not shocking enough! LOL!

 

[Perki]

I had the same opinion of euphorbia alp , I just had a think how nice it would look with my alliums and that changed my mind It cost me including a Garrya for mum £30 not so bad the Euphorbia cost £9 but were buying it online with P+P would of cost more so I class that as saving money .

The anemone WS or any of the swan anemone are not invasive.

 

[Upsy Daisy]

Evening @alp and @Perki
Very strong winds tonight, in fact it's quite scary listening to it blowing through the trees. Loads of damaged plants out in the garden and I can hear things rattling around as I post!! Dread to think what we'll see in the morning.

Hubs has been out doing a grand job of double staking today. The tall Cosmos got flung about and semi uprooted.....replaced it the best we could in such high winds but not sure if it will survive.

Hubs isn't too happy with me as he has spotted absolutely loads of self seeded Ox Eyed Daisies in the lawn....ooops!!! At the weekend I've promised him that I wii get rid of them in the borders, which is a shame as they really looked nice...but agree that they will have to go. We then have to tackle the ones in the lawn and between the block paving!!!

Went for a walk locally this afternoon, just to stretch my legs as I'm not doing much in the garden at the moment due to being a bit off colour. Saw the Dr and am on a course of antibiotics , so hopefully they will kick in soon

Housework and laundry day over at my Dad's tomorrow, so fingers crossed I will feel a bit brighter in the morning.

Keep safe!!

 

[Perki]

Hope the damage isn't to bad upsy and get well soon . A tree in the town centre had split in half looked like it had a bit of rot where water could collect making it vulnerable.

 

[alp]

Good morning to all - Glad that you're on course to better health, @Upsy Daisy ! Ox-eye Daisy loves it here too. They are literally everywhere. I had a patch on the SE facing border and they multiplied as if they owned the border and beyond. It's a nightmare, but when they flower, they are absolutely glorious and uplifting!

Looking at this weather report makes me tear up: Not a drop of rain. In the sky, over in Lakeside, it seems to be heavy with rain. Wish I could have some of Perki's rain!

Last night's dinner with homegrown rosemary! I prefer to buy fresh chickens and marinate them myself. A bit messy and work, but they are far better than those marinated and have to be cooked in a bag. Enough meat for nearly the whole week!

The crackling pork skin looks good, but too hard.

Yes, @Perki, need to dig up the bog sage and plant them somewhere else. They are going to swap positions with hotlips on the lower border. Why didn't I move them all down? I remember seeing them in Hyde Hall and they were taller than me! Ooooppps!

 

[alp]

Hope the damage isn't to bad upsy and get well soon . A tree in the town centre had split in half looked like it had a bit of rot where water could collect making it vulnerable.

A very dangerous combination. Fancy living in an area where it rains constantly and with trees very old. Something bounds to give.

 

[alp]

I had the same opinion of euphorbia alp , I just had a think how nice it would look with my alliums and that changed my mind It cost me including a Garrya for mum £30 not so bad the Euphorbia cost £9 but were buying it online with P+P would of cost more so I class that as saving money .

The anemone WS or any of the swan anemone are not invasive.

I would love to have a Garrya! Saw it in Garden Rescue in which Charlie extolled its virtue! Very impressive plant and one word strikes me that I must have it - tough! She said children would like to pull the tassels down and the plant was tough and would not mind. Wonder how big it would be.

I am sure Euphorbia will look very well with alliums. Here in our 2nd nearest Lidl, I saw tons of allium bulbs but the price of £3.69 really put me off. I like the one planted by Monty with a bit dark red / black in the centre. They are gorgeous. Might buy some when they are reduced.

I have bought some anemone which a whole pots full of babies and yet I managed to kill them all as I left them in pots. Actually two left. But hard breaking. I will scour for some when reduction is going strong. Went to another lovely nursery which was clean and tidy and perched on top of a gentle slope and they have to reduce stuff like £3 for £12. Saw a lot of Blueberries reduced. Very sad as I can feel everybody is tightening up his/her belt and a lot of people have lost their jobs with Homebase and Wyevale branches going!

 

[Upsy Daisy]

Morning!

Hope that everyone had a safe night and that the storm damage is minimal. Haven't yet had a look, hubs is out there now checking it out.
Found it hard to sleep last night as the noise was terrifying. The trees were almost bent double . I got up in the end and closed our big windows and that dulled the noise to a lower sounding roar. I really thought we would have a tree crashing down onto our house last night!! They are still in full leaf which seems to make things worse.
I remember the storm of 87 ....that too was scary!!! I was alone with our eldest who was two at the time, hubs was in hospital. I was 3mths pregnant and that was a bit of a worrying stage for me going by my past history. We had so many trees down that by morning we were completely cut off, and so was our phone line too! Mid morning came and the police arrived to check on us, they had to leave their cars down our lane and clamber over the fallen trees to reach us. My family had alerted them and they said that they were aware of my vulnerable condition and were working to clear the access to our lane and get the phone line fixed.

At that time we had a very tall tree in our garden, it was the tallest tree around and could be seen from a distance, that was so badly damaged that it had to be removed. Thankfully it missed the house!

Off to my Dad's soon, so have a good day everyone.

 

[alp]

That sounds scary. That's why I have promised myself that I won't put trees into ground any more. Yesterday, I had to saw branches of about 2.5' diameter and that was hard work using a hand-saw! Hope your garden hasn't sustained too much damage. Beware, Bronagh is on her way!

Fancying me being woken up by heat before 6am this morning. No laughing matter. We have mown the lawn and the tufts have been reduced gently. Need to really grow a tray of grass seeds to mend the patches and holes. Now that the lawn has been "hoovered", it looks so much more civilised. I went to this lady's garden and she's a very keen gardener. She told me that her garden was so full of roots that the ground couldn't be dug any more.

Just juiced another 3 beetroots, carrots and apples and yet I have only have half the juice. Very disappointing.

 

[Upsy Daisy]

We didn't plant any trees, this area was a densely wooded area way back in time.

It was weird....we were hot too! Had to shut our big widows upstairs last night to try and cut down the noise levels, but it got so hot and stuffy that we ended up opening them again....hate sleeping with windows closed! ( unless it's freezing of course)


Your chicken and pork look very yummy( and I hate pork!!)

 

[alp]

My other neighbour were very mindful of trees being felled. But round here, we do have some very old trees and one as tall as 4 storey high a few doors away. We do need trees to improve on air quality. Once I felled a messy conifer which had not plagued by ants and the root sprouted another tree inside his garden. He has kept the tree and it's still here.

We had out loft door opened the whole of last night - our desperate means to air the house!

Over a new thread, DirtMechanic has a flunky industrial smoker going. Quite hilarious! Wish he could send me some spare ribs... Mine is pale and uninviting compared with his, but a vast improvement over previous attempts. I microwaved my chicken for 10 minutes. Didn't want to tempt fate!

 

[alp]

Did you have any rain last night, Upsy? Enough for the winter or just dry wind? I have just about half an inch and the ground wasn't even wet when I got up. Now it's sunny and glorious!