Magazine style - all inclusive

[Zenj]

Lovely flowers alp that cat needs to go on a diet , I have the same problem one even eats the dried meal worm bird food and one comes at 11pm at night .

 

[alp]

Thank you, Zenj!

Yes, that cat does look a bit fat. The hedgehog food had never been open as I was scared of attracting rodents and foxes, both I hate with a vengeance and with good reasons!

 

[Oliver Buckle]

The first time I saw our cat I had just spread some meal worms across the patio and looked back to see this tiny cat with no hair on its back legs or tail following me picking them up. I showed the missus who had some cat food left from our old cat. It was a fortnight before it would venture into the house, and only into the kitchen by the back door at first. It is still tiny compared to most cats, but it is now sleek and black all over and curled up fast asleep on the front room sofa. I was putting meal worms out on the bird table the other day and offered her a few, she looked at me in utter disdain.

 

[Perki]

Happy belated birthday wishes zenji looks like you had a good day out.

It keeps raining on me this week

 

[DrCase]

Beautiful pictures alp

 

[alp]

@Oliver Buckle Welcome to our thread! and @DrCase: my photos are not a patch on yours!

My chicken often look impassive when I offer them anything other than mealworms. Now, I don't feel bad any more. I will give them whatever I can get hold of in the glorified cause of BALANCED diet. Hard work feeding this lot. I even grate carrots for them.

Did a lot of direct sowing yesterday: White Daikon radish or Mooli, cosmos cupcakes, more beetroots, a tub of web lettuce. I happened to stumble across a bad of reduced seed compost. I microwaved some and sowed some web lettuce seeds and they germinated. Yesterday was the 2nd round. Boy, I think I have 5000 lettuce seeds or more!

I thought I placed an order on salvia 2 days ago. I changed my mind about some items and emailed Ashwood. Yesterday morning, I couldn't find the order and no money had been taken. After much to- and fro-ing, I ended up with buying more spreading salvias! Leucantha and all that! I wonder where I am going to put them. If you want to buy anything from Ashwood, call instead of placing order online. Apparently, they don't quite know the stock levels. The SITE keep saying Salvia Discolor was out of stock. Talked to the expert. He said it was in stock.

Emailed Barnhaven about some seeds, the lady said it was very difficult and expensive to send seeds over to the UK (I am sure they miss a big market as all Brits are now "gardeners"!) You walk around gcs, you will find there are so many plants or varieties on offer! diy gcs are even worse, usually quite boring. If you have time, do watch Australian Gardening via hdclump. A most fantastic, practical and eye-opening series and jam-packed with gems. Yesterday's Beechgrove was also very good. I really like Cullum! Very useful tips (but he says: I will give you a few tips, BUT NOT ALL!)

It was cold and rainy yesterday. Not a lot of rain, but better than nothing. I quickly put out quite a few plants and seeds. This Saturday's plan to go to the allotment is off! I hope heavens give me BUCKET LOADS OF WATER! I surely can take Perki's bane!

 

[Perki]

Not much to report it hasn't rained today for a change but forecast tomorrow . Mowed the lawn today and emptied quite a lot of pots from round the back of the shed which had dead plants in , most of them were foxgloves I potted up from the garden , they don't like sitting on the concrete floor and plastic stand the water can't drain out properly .

I ordered an acer yesterday or the day before don't know whether it will turn up , they have shocking reviews recently the nursery I've bought from ( seagreaves ) I am hoping they are just a bit over run and they sort it out . Can't be doing with chasing after money , couldn't find the acer anywhere else at a decent size so took a gamble .

Haven't watched any of the gardening programmes recently I must be 3-4 behind on GW , need to catch up with the Carol klein one and they is something on about the new RHS bridgewater on iplayer . They is another one on C4 The great garden revolution and another programme on C5 Kew gardens in bloom I haven't seen either so can't comment on if they are any good. The only one I kept up with is beechgrove and that cause I catch it while I am procrastinating in bed Sunday morning .

The front door pots are starting to fill out , the tulips are still smaller than they should be but they have grow a bit since the monsoon season arrived .

 

[alp]

We didn't have any rain either. It was cold and miserable. Today was supposed to be coop cleaning but as rain is predicted NOW (no rain!), we have to change to a different time or date. No allotment and so it will be gcs time. But probably because of Brexit and bad weather??? nurseries seemed empty and boring,

Thank heavens for hot tea! I feel so much better. Now, that's another addiction of mine!

Things which I had direct sown were already germinating. Forgot what they were. Scattered tons of coriander seeds, beetroot seeds (again), mooli seeds. Now, why have I felt restless knowing there are tons of seeds which I should have sown. Just couldn't get going and power nap for an hour and went out weeding from 5 to 7pm.

Ah, talking about cat! The fat cat next door looked at my hedgehog food with utter disdain and never MOVED from the spot outside neighbour's front door. I was a TOTAL stranger. No rubbing or exposing of tummy! I have to admit, she was making CRUNCHY noise trying to tackle the hedgehog pellets!

I decided I didn't have room for foxglove even though it was smothered with buds. It's a self seeded one and just before I planted something, I found out that the area was flanked by a fig tree, and another bushy salvia. Oh, dear!

I don't just photograph lovely stuff. Look at this horror! How do you guys deal with these flies? They literally killed my seedlings, together with the fibre pots which seemed to attract slugs and little white worms!

Er, hmmm! Back to beauties!

Lavender Madrid Blue?

Funny thing is that the chocolately ones are all gone??? But Where?

Carol Klein's series in C5 are repeated contents and she is trying too hard. One man band shows usually lack diversity of contents, which is what it is suffering. Also, I like her so much that I could repeat her method: let the seeds get into INTIMATE CONTACT with the compost .. wait till the grits change colour and then remove the tray from the water...

ITV Garden revolution is unbearable as it is another AT's commercialisation of gardening. At least, it's honest and starts with a "Product placement" warning. And there's an eye-candy who featured in a boat garden video clip in GW. In AT's Love your garden, you get the tear-jerking stories and you see MONEY IS NO OBJECT attitude .. and plants and furniture some of which with tear-jerking prices being used and you see the subtle "where to buy" right at the end of credits. All very grabby and dirty and it promotes live-beyond-your means expensive gold wallpaper antics!! Because of the largesse of the suppliers, all the human tear jerkings seem totally disingenuous! Well, I'm a cynic!

Yes, I discovered my Magenta echinacea dead. I blame myself for putting too many near one hole. This is what happens when I just dump plants in holes which are suffocating each other. The alstroemerias are everywhere and I had to pull them out to expose my Cornus Controversa V to the sun. This one is £10 cheaper than Summerhill's. I might have 2 cuttings available. So don't buy Cornus C V, guys!

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Thank you for the welcome, Alp. I don't know which part of Essex you are, but if you are near the river and like salvias Great Comp near Sevenoaks is a good garden to visit. The missus and I go most years at least once and never fail to come back with at least one new one for her collection. I don't know how the present restrictions have affected it, but they also have a great tea room with some lovely home made cakes

 

[alp]

Who says romance is dead? Leicester won FA cup! So happy for them!

Good morning to a foggy glass panes morning! Last night was really cold and put on "duvets" to avoid switching on the central heating. I thought it would rain cats and dogs, but no! The whole day was more or less dry. I put out all my plants so that they could be rained on.

It was so cold that we didn't even open the greenhouse windows before we went out!

We gallivanted to Ongar and then Chelmsford and Billericay. It was such an enjoyable day, one which we hadn't had since the lockdown.

Oliver: I wish I lived that side of the world. We must go there when my son's on holiday. We could go to Knole NT and visit there. Dyson won't be cheap. I don't think he does online. I kept looking for his shop when I was desperate. But no. Perhaps I should have phoned. By the way, where roughly do you live? Not in Kent in a gite? LOL! Honestly, you don't have to tell if you don't want to.

I actually live in Greater London, but made the mistake of putting down Essex. I used to live nearer London, but moved when we had our son to East or Greater London.

Rhapsody of love is full of buds

This iris is NOT an Indian Chief. It has darker standards

The delectable Greenbrook nursery in Chelmsford.

There I bought a Spotty Dotty for £7.99

Online order nurseries are asking for £13 to £15 for this odd looking plant!

If I saw this today, I might not buy it. It was glorious in the shop. Calceolaria and I also bought an orange Icelandic poppy and I hope they are not going to germinate everywhere like the Welsh poppies which have long roots and are nearly impossible to get rid of.

Finally, got my Dyson's Joy for under £4. Very happy! And 2 Martagon lilies for £2.49 each. The cheapest I have ever seen. When I placed my order online, it was £7 and that was a tear-jerking experience.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I am in Robertsbridge, East Sussex near the Kent border, about ten miles north of Hastings. It is most of a day out trip to Great Comp, but it is one we look forward to. A friend of mine who was an organic gardener in Cornwall before it became fashionable was brought up in Knowle House.

 

[alp]

Liverpool goalkeeper did a sterling job at the dying second of the match! Very exciting!

Oliver: The first time I went to Knole, I thought the building was massive. Last time I went, I thought it had shrunk considerably. How times change one's perception. Also, I thought it was very grand. Last time, I thought it was boring, sitting on a piece of flat land, quite unlike Tyntfields or Chartwell which sits majestically overlooking some valley with panoramic views!

Funny you should spell the word Knowle like that as I initially spelt it like until I googled. I went to attend lectures in a block named Knowle when I was in uni. Nowadays, people go to attend lecture in some buildings with some Chinese names. How times change!

I would certainly go there if it is near Sissinghurst. I always want to visit the iris place.

Yesterday, we went to Lakeside and it had the hustle bustle of Christmas and gave me headache. Cars everywhere and people were impatient. Very glad that we went as son got some lovely stuff from M&S outlet.

A new one to meJane

Josephine clematis on an obelisk

Could be Lilac scented smell like bubble gum!

Terrestrial orchid

Thank you to my professional gardeners - the chickens - for sparing me this plant. Anyone pin a name to it please?!

Love this vivid colour. Funny it's the red purple that a bee buzzed to yesterday.

 

[Perki]

Well its raining again so work is postponed , it started raining as soon as my foot touched the last stairs step annoying I could've stayed in bed a bit longer.

Yesterday I went galivanting around the GC / nurseries on the bike , Went to 5 in total 4 I've not been to before . First one were relatively close by cheap but didn't have much to pick from just common plants , I did see some Alstroemeria indian summer at a reasonable price which I'll think about . Next place was one called shackletons big place which seem more interested in furniture. Then to another up the road 2 mins ride if that , just a car park with about 5 large polytunnels and loads of plants outside , cheap prices especially bedding plants but nothing caught the eye.

Then went further north I was heading to Holden clough nursery that's where I was originally intending to go the other places were pit stops . Nice nursery with plenty of plants to look through lots of monarda and heleniums astrantia and other bits and bobs but nothing caught my eye . Just down the road from this nursery they is a massive mansion huge like a manor house, I recognised it after seeing it for sale a while back unless I am mistaken , trying to find any info on google is impossible or near enough. You can clearly see it on satellite but if you look at street view its been photoshopped out to reasonable trees , very strange which has got me curious . I wonder if its got something to do with the state are something .

Anyway back on track I headed back home to a GC I usually go to, I few things to look at and pick up in the van next time round , picked up some 50p osteospermums to make my trip worth while .

The plants in the GH were thirsty when I got home .

 

[alp]

Thinking of having a nap as I've been feeling dodgy the whole morning.

50p for osteorspermum??? You should be so lucky. You will get that probably end of July or August here in Essex. We went to Brentwood on Saturday and I picked Dyson's Joy for £4.50, Penstemon Strawberries and Cream around the same price, Amethyst Lips, Blue Notes, and the orange Icelandic poppy. I reckon it will self seed everywhere. My Salvia Discolor, leucantha and others arrived on Saturday as well. All these bulky plants will make my garden seem smaller and smaller, but I just love Leucantha.

Saw a goldfinch this morning. Thrilled! When little emperor was filling up the bird feeders, small birds were already hovering around. My son, an unlikely bird magnet!

Don't you think there are very, very few places which sell unusual plants? Always run of the mill and that's why I was so excited to have found Spotty Dotty in Greenbrook in Chelmsford. A lovely place. The general public just love run of the mill stuff. Last year, I saw dainty boring Busy lizzies and begonias fly out the shelves! I mean, don't even give them to me!

It's cool and wet here! Something is wrong this year! I have been very annoyed with SS snapping my irises and allium (the latter could be human) But you waited one whole year, only to see the bud snapped with the stem. Can't afford to buy nematodes. My front garden is about 30feet and back even longer and then there is the allotment. Off to make a stiff coffee!

 

[DrCase]