Magazine style - all inclusive

[Zenj]

Morning all still getting frosts ,but sunshine forecast all day 15c ,not had any rain at all for sometime now very unusual for NE .As a trial left the Dahlias I had in pots outside all winter showing shoots now.

 

[alp]

Well done! Save a lot of hassle digging them up and in my case, losing the labels. What a glorious day! I was so surprised to hear the new presenter of Beechgrove talking about their Scottish gardens being dry! Here, the winds and dry weather are just too much to bear and on top of that, there are hungry intruders - pigeons picking up my young seedlings .. and the garden is like a runway for them to fly into their nest.

 

[Perki]

Hi nice day today and most of the week really yesterday were a tad chilly though. still no rain forecast so I've had the sprinkler out on the lawn , fed up of waiting for the rain so I can feed the lawn . Been busy this week with work with the weather being nice getting plenty done.


Yes the Protea were rather expensive .
Is the Green House at the allotment or home ? I thought it were at the allotment but the fence panel makes me think its at home .

Been busy in the garden this evening other than feeding and watering the lawn / garden I've moved all the perennials out of the GH round to the back of the shed freeing up space . Took a load of trays of seedling in from the house I can see out my windows a bit easier now . Decided dig up and divide the Sanguisorba Lilac Squirrel , by god wish I didn't bother didn't realise they had some a thick root system ended up destroying my dry stone wall getting it out , chopped it in half and replanted and divided the rest into 13 plants . I am running out of pots particular 9cm pots I usually have stacks of them but they seem to of disappeared because someone keep potting plants up . Dug out some Agastache Blue fortune while I was there replacing them with a slightly smaller Variegated Agastache called Crazy fortune but need hardening off first, potted up A.blue fortune because I am waiting for Agastache black adder to grow a bit more so I can move that and replace with blue fortune I am surprised Black adder survived the winter , its all a bit confusing on the Agastache front.

 

[alp]

It had been so dry that I mixed some water retentive gel into some used compost and slapped the wet compost on the flower patches. Had a headcount of compost: 4 buckets of the newly sieved Bord na mona compost, 3 bags of 75L Clover, 2 bags of Jack's magic, a bag of 150L Irish moss. 2 bags of ericaceous compost

13 plants is a good return, Perki!

My sanguisorba seeds are still in a bag. It's like buying medicine and there are a few thousand seeds, so is my Cloth of Gold seeds. I love 9cm pots too. Not too shallow, not too small. Ideal for not using too much compost, and I am always short of them.

It has been so dry that I already used first first full 2 hours of tap water. Out of 12 plus water butts, only 3 have any water in them.

Greenhouses are in the back garden. I don't go to the allotment that often this year as I haven't been able to grow anything there. Too cold and the bugs too hungry. Will go tomorrow. It was so hot in the 2nd greenhouse that I really panicked. I knew that would happen. That's why I didn't really want to have them in the first place. It's hard to say no when helper said I should get them and that they extended his growing season. It's not as if I fancied anybody. I just find it hard to say no.

Peony going to flower!

£7 for 5 tiny plants - clean, well formed roots but boy, oh so tiny!

 

[alp]

FROST on my plants! 23rd April!

 

[LouisFerdinand]

@alp, Your tulips are stupendous!

 

[alp]

@LouisFerdinand Thank you! You are welcome to post yours here! I have been shocked to see how many tulips I have bought.

Do post your pride and joy here!

I was also shocked to see my Toshiba back and it took half an hour to get it going and a sharp attack on the spacebar to separate words. Hard going!

Now the external keyboard is back, so the screen is further back.

Well, the 2nd greenhouse was finished, apart from the window opener and a few holes on various window panes. The 2 greenhouses cost me £150 including 70 for the concrete base, 30 for the shade and 40 to helper. Yesterday, I offered him £50, he refused to take it. I will try again.

These tulips are strange, probably because there hadn't been enough water. Wonderful colour nevertheless!

All the Fritillaria Imperialis crowns have caught the frost, except the pale yellow one which has gone to seeds

Never expected to see this. Very happy to see 2 blooms! But I'm more interested in photographing the hair at the back of the flower!

Anna

This erythroniums has got a pink flush at the back.

No April showers for me and I was adding water retentive gel to discarded compost to mulch my garden. Day to go to allotment to water the dry patched plot.

 

[alp]

Good morning to 4c! I put on a thick fleecy top and just refused to switch on the gas central heating.

Yesterday was a very busy day - watered the plants. Son was fiddling with the gas propelled greenhouse window opener and without the window pane, he fixed the autovent to the greenhouse which, amazingly, actually tilted up and down when it's hot and in the evening cold.

The 2nd greenhouse is a typical 6 x 8 and it was so hot. I spent £29 on some scaffold windbreaker which came very quickly, but the shading value is rubbish. In the end, we draped a cheap wilko weed suppressing membrane all around and then went to the allotment. Weeded, weeded and weeded again. At the end, we scraped the barrel to get more woodchips as it was plain stupid to weed and not cover the weeded patches.

After that, 2 rounds to get freegled bricks and by 10pm, I was drifting in and out watching Channel 4 news. Poor India! So overwhelmed with Covid! And before this collapsed response, they had huge crowded celebrations and political rally. Hard time to be a doctor or nurse! Very proud that the UK offered help!

Asparagus ...

fimbriated tulips

Camellia 'E.G. Waterhouse'

Helianthemum

My very first NEW (in this garden!) iris

I counted yesterday that I had 10 new iris buds! Can't wait!

 

[Perki]

Morning nice and sun here today. Don't have any particular plans today so I may drift around the garden having a think or pot on some more plants I've got around 40 begonias that need potting on . Popped into the garden centre yesterday after having a look in some cloths shops didn't buy anything nothing of interest . GC have more a less all the same stuff in now as usual I still like to have a nosy though.

 

[alp]

You were lucky to have the time to go gc hopping,, Perik! We had 4 trips to get brick pavers and 2 trips to get slabs, 2 trips to allotment and one to MacDonald.

Got a lot of reduced vegs for the chickens and I was thrilled as they looked very good - no yellowing and I thought the hens would be thrilled to have something new. Of course, the maternal desire to please soon met with a jolt. They lost interest in no time - IT'S NOT MEALWORMS! These birds can really look impassive and from now on, I must ignore these ingrates. My best is never good enough!

It's very cold this morning. No heating as this is getting ridiculous. End of April and it's freezing. Usually in East London, the soil will have warmed up nicely by now. Not this year.

Don't be fooled by that rain icon on Sat 1 May as it won't rain here in Greater London!

My abutilons from last year are already flowering one red and one red, but I can't find my camera.

********

Camera outside in the freezing cold the whole night

Chick weeds! But they looked so nice!

The plant was really stressed - indoors the whole winter, but hey, they are flowering albeit on horrible looking manky stems and shrivelled leaves. Will feed them today.

 

[alp]

Good morning to another cold morning. In fact, it was cold yesterday as well. The drying winds were damaging to the plants and the ground as there had been no rain.

The rain icons which were predicted yesterday are all but gone! The only source of water is my tears!



This could be a tree or intersectional peony - very big flower

Spotted this lovely moth - very docile and didn't fly off until I blew it away!

This could be a Champagne elegance rebloomer - but where it was was too hot and the stalk snapped off because of bug (aphid) damage!

I will soon plant out my Cardiocrinum giganteum which is spotting 4 leaves. Wish the weather weren't that frosty! My Thalictrum aquilegiifolium was caught by frost a few days ago.

 

[DrCase]

First bloom of the season today

 

[alp]

Striking colour and stunning close up.

Finally, the heat has done some good.

My peony. I must try taking photos with iphone! I can see the difference from DrCase's

Petunia Pirouette

Giant Himalayan Lily

Peppermint tulip

Lavenda Blue Eye

Last night, I succumbed to the cold and switched on the central heating again. Just turned it off. e.on is trying to raise my DD! All these comparison websites are pointless as they never give you a genuine picture. They just pocket their commission.

 

[Zenj]

Well the rain is back, but still cold nights forecast for a while yet.

 

[alp]

Well the rain is back, but still cold nights forecast for a while yet.

Apparently, 2021 has set a record for April frost. I have no rain and don't expect it to materialise. Don't rub it in, Zenj! LOL! When I watered my garden, I smelt chlorine!