3: Gardening Diaries ...

[Upsy Daisy]

Morning everyone, how are you all on this very nippy day!

Another day of not venturing far and wide, could be in for more snow this morning!

Housework day it is then

Can't wait until the temp rises to go out to the greenhouse and check on things in there.......a tad concerned now,

Keep warm everyone

 

[Logan]

Can't wait until the temp rises to go out to the greenhouse and check on things in there.......a tad concerned now

Can't hubby clear a path for you and put some salt down.?

 

[Upsy Daisy]

Can't hubby clear a path for you and put some salt down.?

Oh no it not that I can't get to it...I can. It's because I went to a lot of trouble ensuring that everything was well and truly wrapped up individually within the inner insulated section inside the greenhouse before the onset of this cold snap. I don't want to go in there and disturb things until the temperature begins to rise a bit...probably will be OK by Wednesday

 

[Logan]

Oh i see.

 

[Perki]

Lovely pics @Perki , beautiful clear ones of the robin and thrush.

The Flying Scotsman is a sight to behold isn't it, it passed through our town 2 yrs ago. The turnout of spectators was amazing!

Yes a special train first to officially break the 100 mph record, its probably the most famous train in the world. It was restored at the other end of this railway line in Bury it had its first outing a couple of years ago but it had a black colour scheme. Big turnout to see it and I think some minor celebrity's come to see as well. I think it returned again when it had been finished and painted green.

I used to love Thomas the tank engine when I was younger, I had little metal trains though. There is a full size Thomas the tank engine on that railway line but I've been told its quite expensive.

Nice sunny day today still cold/windy but its melted lots of snow, i can see the lawn again and some crocus / snowdrops

what are you going to do with your Viburnum Alp ? are you going to plant it in the garden are pot it up ? looks like you got a good haul there. I don't have much success with achillea, the ground to fertile here and they tend to get leggy and flop.

 

[johnny canoe]

Thanks to alp, Mr. Woodpecker is always first to get his suet block treat.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/139842551@N08/40192145804/in/dateposted/

 

[alp]

@Perki I'm going to leave it in the pot, but top up with some fertiliser. I want to move and already I will have a lot of dig. (The air has been killing me today!) I have tons of expensive seeds in the garden - probably £200 worth. I don't even know how to move them with me unless I dig up the soil, you might not believe me, but I will! LOL!

My ex said to me that I had more flowers than RHS Hyde Hall - we went there probably October 3rd and it was a free entry day for him. True, my dahlias were screaming with delight at that point.

I wish I had bought the box cone. £10 and it was big and healthy. Something's not quite right with me.

I love Achillea. You can see if you can plant them in pot and place it in the hottest place in your garden. £1 in poundshop and and it was a lovely red one last year. I hope they do the Gloriosa again. I so love the flowering stages. It's like Bird of Paradise - just magical.

Steam trains do have a bit of magic about them .. You were lucky to see it up close and personal, Perki!

 

[alp]

Thanks to alp, Mr. Woodpecker is always first to get his suet block treat.
View attachment 33701

https://www.flickr.com/photos/139842551@N08/40192145804/in/dateposted/

Bet Mr Woodpecker loves you. Johnny. The fat will really help him in this severe weather. I spent a fortune buying bigger suet lumps. They wouldn't go into the feeder, so I had to grind them. They just got stuck inside the feeder and some loose bits were all over the ground. I bought mealworms, suet pellets, sunflower seeds (not in shell). Trouble is starlings and sparrows make a racket. I always hear the goldfinches calling though, which is so sweet and makes up for the frustrations seeing starlings having a fight round my feeders.

Lovely bird, woodpecker. One of the few birds I have really seen.

 

[alp]

I think I am having trouble with some of my seeds - dampiing off. Leggy and die off. Thank heavens I have some cosmos cupcake seedlings in the propagator which I will turn on tonight. I've turned the thermostat at 19. One side of my body is OK, the other is having a cold draught. LOL!

 

[alp]

Thanks to alp, Mr. Woodpecker is always first to get his suet block treat.
View attachment 33701

https://www.flickr.com/photos/139842551@N08/40192145804/in/dateposted/

Just click the video and it's brilliant as he literally raised his head and looked at the camera quite a few times. Love it, Johnny! Now I know nuthatches love VERY cold weather. Saw it in Ice Cold killers .. So cold that Alaska is depressing. They said the cold and landscape could literally swallow people up!

 

[alp]

Just when you think the cold spell is over

Is Britain facing a WHITE Easter? Ice warning across UK with 'increased risk of accidents' as commuters head home in -6C chill while Met Office forecasts SNOW over holiday weekend

• Commuters warned of snow and ice hazards as a wintry snap dubbed the 'mini beast from the east' continues
• 82 people including a newlywed couple on their wedding night had to sleep in a rest centre near Dartmoor
• GCSE pupils at Brynmawr School in Blaenau Gwent, south Wales will take their lessons in a cinema today
• The seaside resort of Ilfracombe has been 'cut off' after snow closed the M5, A38 and A30 roads overnight

 

[johnny canoe]

Thanks alp,
I keep my seedlings on the dry side even in the house under lights. No damping off problems, I mist water them carefully a few times a day and when they are about to get their true leaves, I start watering them from the bottom but again I let the top of the mix look dry before I mist or water.

The red breasted nuthatches this morning.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/139842551@N08/26033577677/in/dateposted/

 

[alp]

Oh, that's a beautiful little bird. Is it yellow or apricot underside!? I'd love to see one here!

This is so different from the grey one.. Delectable! Like the way you filmed it scampering off! LOL! Was trying to leave a comment on Flr but forgot my yahoo password. Will try again, Johnny.

Thank you for sharing. My seedlings were tiny 1cm and already stooping. Fed up with fussy seedlings like these!

I will get a mister tomorrow. One is still containing the smoke water 2 years ago. Shame, the protea seedling had two leaves and died with the 2 leaves. Sad!

 

[Logan]

Morning all

 

[alp]

Good morning, Logan et al: The ground is wet, so it must have rained. Looks like it's a repeat of yesterday. Need to sort out my dying seedlings. Yesterday, I saw out of nowhere a different hellebore in my garden. Very strange. It has been trodden on, but I could see it is a completely new one. Will take a pic to share. Monty was right, plant irises together or they will be lost. I have lost quite a few.