5 Gardening Dairy: Happy gardening and happy snapping ..

[alp]

Fed up with so many estate agents spamming my inbox and clicked on another one and yet this one looks very good. 70 ft garden and yet the camera makes it look like 120! Another downside is that it's too far from the station.

Every morning, there has been a hard frost on the ground. Amazing how warm it is during day time.

Looks like a good day

Why spring in February is a disaster for nature: Yes, it's a joy to see butterflies and blooms burst forth this early in the year... but there may yet be a chilling price to pay, writes JOHN NAISH

• Glorious weekend saw roads rammed with sunseekers heading for the beach
• Parks and gardens clad in golden daffodils with snowdrops in full bloom on lawns
• Unexpected warmth is sowing much confusion in natural world and threatens summer harvests, especially for fruit growers

** I'm dreading this as well

I can see my nectarine in full flowers already. I might take them back into the lean to.

I saw either a tortoiseshell butterfly the day before yesterday.

 

[alp]

Good morning to a foggy day

It's a grey old start, but 16 is on the card. Lovely weather! The light and warmth are just so welcoming and uplifting!

Might go to the zoo in Bedfordshire. Need to get away from the house hunting disappointment. Might get an allotment so that I can let my alstroemerias set seed. A couple want someone to tend to their garden but I am not sure if they want a weeding gardener in return for the favour. And of course, I lost the phone number.

Britain is burning: Wildfires break out across the country after record-breaking 70F hottest winter's day EVER left fields parched

• Moroccan air brings UK's warmest winter day ever for second consecutive day as London hits 21.2C (70.2F)
• Kew Gardens in West London was Tuesday's hotspot - beating 20.6C (68.5F) yesterday in Trawsgoed, Wales
• Today will be slightly cooler but still above average, before heavy showers expected to fall on Thursday
• Friday will mark first day of meteorological spring and is expected to be mostly dry before wet weekend
• Bob Ward, from Grantham Research Institute at LSE, said warmer winters are a result of climate change trend
• Wildfires raged throughout the country yesterday in East Sussex, Saddleworth Moor and North Wales

I can't wait for the rain bands to move over these sorry sights. Must be distressing for the wildlife.

Like this one most

 

[alp]

A most beautiful hibiscus in London Zoo

The marvel of mother-nature!

 

[alp]

I'm posting some of zoo pics here as I couldn't find my virtual tour thread!

Came back from Whipsnade zoo half an hour ago. It was such a lovely day! My favorites are butterflies, lemurs and panda! What a fab day!

 

[alp]

I love patting animals. They were all indoors .. mostly any way.

 

[Zenj]

Great photos alp glad you had a great day ,the butterfly’s are Fantastic.

 

[alp]

Great photos alp glad you had a great day ,the butterfly’s are Fantastic.

Wish there were a London subsidiary zoo in Newcastle! Your grandkids will be thrilled.

 

[alp]

Panda - rare to see it feeding for so long!

 

[alp]

Here are the hyperactives and my ...

Love the bit when one sits like a Buddha!

 

[alp]

Good morning to all and to a grey foggy day. Hopefully , one more day of sunshine later! Ah, no!

Bought the first fragrant iris and went to Hertfordshire Garden centre and Aylett nurseries. Harvington hellebores were cheaper by £2 in Hertfordshire Garden and I wished I had bought a well freckled double one as in Aylett, they were £2 more expensive. A shame. I had never been to an Aylett before and was shocked by the sheer scale of it. VERY, VERY, VERY big. Now that we know where they are, we will visit them en route to the zoo next time.

 

[alp]

Raining and dismal! Thanks for the rain though as it has been a long stretch of warmth and sunshine. Can't complain.

 

[alp]

Think my camellia Brushfield is going to flower for the first time. A lot of daffs have flowered. Really lovely. In the town centre roundabout, there are tons of hellebores, double white, double mauve .. It's so nice to have hellebores as they can be left to their own device and will come up every year. The council has done a very good job.

 

[Perki]

Hello been galavanting around the GC this afternoon looking for anything really but mainly Taylor dahlia tubers , was after spiderwomen and Rajemens firecracker but nope , both GC I went to which supply taylor stuff had little in stock really disappointing . Had a look around for a nice double hellebore but nope all wishy washy pinks and bob standard single whites . Ended up not getting anything just a waste of time , I probably end up buying online now I might end up with tiny dried up tubers I've had in the past , I like to inspect them and get the largest tubers otherwise.

Started another batch of seeds yesterday lots of flowers and my tomatoes / cucumber / melon .

 

[alp]

Good morning to all! Going to be a very busy day.

Hope it's dry all the way. After my holy grails - big garden, through lounge and location with a view.

With your bike, @Perki, you can go to Aylett, but they are dear or Dobbies or Wyevale. They did do some promotion on hellebores when it's a bit later in the season (2 for a certain amount or the 2nd one half price) and on top of that, there is now a £2 voucher off £10 until tomorrow.

I think the promotion of 2 for a better price is a bit later. I found a mauve hellebore with ruffled collar last year in ONE lone b&q, but not any other. That was £6.99 and there was a discount with pensioner's card. Shame I don't have any stock left of my best flowers as some bought cheap have not yet flowered. I think it might be early days yet as GW is not yet on. Wait till GW is on. you might get more. Harvington can be £2 cheaper in one nursery than another, so bear this in mind. Spiderwoman is a mess, like Boogie Woogie, in my humble opinion, but Rajman Firecracker is definitely worth it. One most beautiful deer antler split petals and a vibrant yellow and red mixed in. Should be AGM stuff. Crazy Love can be bought from Wilko for £1.5 (might be wrong). I might buy myself a Honeka black one, like @Zenj' s! Or a Fragile which was showcased by Monty. Can't wait for GW to start. Cafe au lait is also good. I'm forcing my dahlias from last year and some have shown young shots.

 

[alp]

Been out since 8.30. Just come back. Bought a hellebore from an owner of a house we viewed. Beautifully freckled white. Too dark to take picture. I took them any way. The lady had only this type. She refused to take the money £2, but I didn't feel right so I said they were for the dog's treat. That dog was jumping up my trousers like a bee to a magnet.

Worth £2 any time. Big petals and lovely and well freckled. Wish I had dug a bit more, but I didn't really want to snap her lady's fork. Very happy! Saw one lovely house out of about 7!

Is this a daff?

A Jetfire

Saw the 340 foot garden -disappointed as the road was very busy and the garden tapered towards the end. Badly as if someone had stolen the land.