5 Gardening Dairy: Happy gardening and happy snapping ..

[alp]

Select "new posts" underneath it it has a box saying "show only unread" click on that to remove the filter

Saw the Gardening, but couldn't see the News thread. I probably don't know how to use the forum.

Thank you so much for the prompt response.

Good morning to all and it's raining now. Feeling very unsettled because of this house moving business. Will clear out the garage and start sowing beans and salad leaves. Double digit temperatures are coming, so feeling very hopeful in this respect.

I can't tell if it's raining now. No, not now, but it rained earlier. I had to let go of 2 butts and hopefully, they are filled up now. I needed water so badly last year and yet now I am under constant pressure to let go of the rain water. Last count revealed that I have 13 butts at least.

Saw Lily yesterday. So pleased.

 

[alp]

This hellebores has a darker edge to the petals. Quite quaint!

Whole day been wet and drizzly. Caught up with Les Misérables. The egout scenes are just too gruesome for words. Don't think they actually filmed with the real stuff! Ewk!

 

[alp]

Another dull day. Will spend the day labelling all my hellebores and starting some salads, beans ..

 

[alp]

Found this gold nugget

A day of drizzle!

Even the hellebores were dripping with it

 

[alp]

Hi Perki Hope you have had a good day.

Just got a message from someone to whom I had sold some of my own alstroemeria seeds

bet you never though you would get an answer , well I done as you said microwaved the compost , soaked the seed, planted them placed in fridge for two months BUT I did not look at them half way through , when I took them out most of them were white, about 1 inch long and as I had them in a container with a lid they were bent over, any way I potted them up as best I could and they seem to be picking up mind you I have a log fire in the greenhouse with six radiators coming off the log fire, and over the last coup-le of months have managed to keep a temperature of 65/70 through the night which I think has helped , as we have had some snow and frost , nothing like you have had in the states, anyway I will let you know how I get on with them later in the year , thank you tiger***

Such a lovely message. It really has made my day. Shame ebay charges so much, including charges on postage.

But messages like these are so heart-warming! Enough to make me cry .. I know I'm a bit too excitable. This person is such a keen gardener! Greenhouse with six radiator coming off the log fire .. This reminds me of my log burner .. I wish I had known how to service it..

 

[Perki]

Not a bad day , all the snow gone now but it rained all afternoon and evening . The front lawn grown quite long I might try and mow it tomorrow . Been looking for another camera I got a little sony wx350 which I like but its not much better if at all better than my phone camera, what camera are you using ? its took a nice shot of the hellebores .

It always nice when somebody get back to you with something especially with plants , I give plants away and planted them, then they will get their kids / themself / other to weed the garden for them and accidently pull them all out I die a little bit inside , my uncle did it last year so no more plants for him last year I try again this year .

wish I had a log burner get loads of logs, I give them away to next door .

 

[alp]

Mowing the lawn? Whoa! That's serious. It's deep winter. Bet must be the good grass seeds you sowed last year and the rain. Grass loves water. My bald patches are still struggling.

Thank you. But it was the same cheap Samsung which can't handle the colour orange. I found it in my son's coat pocket after missing it for about 5 days and thus missed the prime of my pink camellia. It was £99 and definitely a return from Argos. I was amazed the hellebore came out so well with the rain and I was real close. But I think you need to get a Canon or a Nikon. May be best to ask JB or logk. It might be expensive, but it is worth it. You use one for about 10 years. I'm going to invest in one of those.

Perki - Instead of giving plants away, do try to sell them on gumtree. Some lady drove all the way from Chingford to buy my salvias as soon as I put them up on gumtree. She then begged me to sell her the salvia patens which had no roots. Of course not. But she did travel a long way. Not enough to make any money, but good when I can buy some other expensive plants or reduced compost with a hole in the bag. Every little helps.

Your neighbour must love you. Imagine how much money they save. I have the chimney removed, and the burner dismantled when my son was 5 or 6. It's great until you come to shift the ash and cinder, with dust flying everywhere.

It was raining yesterday when I went out at 11pm. Going to have more rain and I need to send the excess rain water somewhere else in the garden. So nice to have rain.

Another grey day! At least it's going to be warm. I was hot last night.

 

[alp]

Now you need to eat TEN-a-day! Adding more fruit and veg to your diet boosts your mood and emotional wellbeing as much as landing a new job, study finds

• Cutting fruit and veg out of our diet has more of an impact than being widowed
• Fresh produce is rich in vitamins that lower inflammation linked to depression
• The study of around 50,000 people was carried out by the University of Leeds

Have to admit having celery, carrot, and green in my diet every day has done me a lot of good.

Hope this study is not paid by the fruit and veg companies.

 

[alp]

Good morning to a very windy day. Could hear the wind Whooosing!

Going to have a viewing at 10am and then off to have a meal in Greenwich. Might pop in to see the latest Ikea which has taken over the old Sainsbury Eco friendly site there.

 

[alp]

Had a busy day yesterday. Went out for a meal and had aromatic duck for dinner. Such lovely weather and the galanthus responded happily to 2 days of sunshine and warmth.

Wendy's Gold

They were doing their pirouette

Snow Fox

My greatest discovery is that these are two different flowers - One with a darker edge and the other other with a lighter inner petals

This above has darker petals with whiter edges whilst the others have paler petals but darker edges. Intriguing and beautiful!

 

[alp]

Weather today might not be so fantastic

Yesterday we went to IKEA opening in Greenwich. It was amazing how many people were there and the place was buzzing with fun. It's so nice to see so many people and quite a lot of them were buying them stuff. Ex paid for the meal and I bought the duck. Had a lovely day and the weather was fantastic. Nice and bright even though a bit windy. The snowdrops did their best to invite bees in. The best was that I actually found out that I had 2 very unique hellebores, as explained above. Took me 2 years to realise that I have had these 2 different beauties. Now I understand what the labels mean! I also discovered a green double

 

[alp]

Good morning to a very mild day and I was thinking of hanging the clothes out to dry. I think the wind the sunshine might help. But changed my mind as trying clothes indoors with radiators can be a long and unreliable process. Have the feeling that I will regret it.

Went to Wilko and got yet ANOTHER Bowl of Beauty. With any luck, I should have flowers this year from previous year's purchase. With peonies, one just never knows. Another constant failure is Astrantia Major and one Orange dahlia with pinkish/whitish tips. But the tubers are tiny - nothing I could do as it was the last one there for £1.50. The other 2 are £2 each.

Forgot to point out, I found the snowdrop Wasp yesterday. Will take a pic. Very frustrating as Trym or Trymster? and Grumpy failed to show up for the party. The slugs had them. Right at the tip.

Now, I'm really grumpy!

Stock from rareplants.co.uk!

 

[alp]

Lost the offer! Grumpy becomes grumpier!

 

[Gemma]

Lost the offer! Grumpy becomes grumpier!

Stay positive and you'll land an even better one!

 

[alp]

Well, I have accepted the £390K offer. I should have asked for £392K. But never mind. I feel so much settled now.

£390K is way better than £375K. Now where is the champagne?!

Trouble is not until the key is changed, nothing is 100% sure.