Magazine style - all inclusive

[alp]

This is quite frightening!

Monday has always been traumatic as son needed to service his Mac and now I have hammer the space bar to get a gap between words. It took me 25 minutes to switch on the laptop. I'm now hot and bothered, but have to leave the central heating on for little emperor as it's cold here

26 years I've been living here, I had never turned on the heating 24 May. Well, I guess there is always the first time.

Went to the allotment and planted out some more sweetcorns, spinach and weeded some thornless blackberries which had wanted to colonise my allotment.

Then we went to Blue Diamond and Langthorns

Langthorns: I wish I had a lake like this! Reminds me of Turner's painting. Shame the Cornus flowering was already over, so it's not in the photo.

Blue Diamond:
The sheer amount of plants here is mind-boggling!

I couldn't believe my eyes: This "weed" was asking for £5.99. I had it growing freely near my water butt in the shade.


Allotment: 2 clematises. Majorie was also flowering. Very pleased to see.

Wasted a lot of petrol, but I have decided not to visit Langthorns until next year. It's simply too far and the plants were on the small side yesterday. This year, the plants were so small that they looked pathetic and some I bought online left me with no chance of taking any cuttings.

I did follow Carol Klein in buying a supermarket basil and I'm going to divide it today.

 

[Zenj]

Never have any luck keeping supermarket basil so grew mine this year from magazine free seed ,still indoors though,

same with tomatoes no chance putting them out yet

 

[alp]

Never have any luck keeping supermarket basil so grew mine this year from magazine free seed ,still indoors though,View attachment 80315View attachment 80316 same with tomatoes no chance putting them out yet

You're amazing! I've only got flowers; well, not exactly. BUDS! I hope you've passed on your skill and knowledge to your grandkids!

It was very sunny and now it's raining heavily, east London mode! Can't compared with NW or NE. All receptacles, butts, pans, pots, plastic tubs have been mobilised to capture the silver liquid! Perhaps, I should call in the army!

Well, I have just divided my comfrey £6.99 into 8 plants.

 

[Zenj]

alp no chance of the grandkids being interested in anything but gaming and Xbox.

 

[alp]

Shame! You're so good!

 

[Zenj]

Well 18c today and the sun is still shining just been in the rear garden and taken these flowers coming at last. First meconopsis getting ready.

 

[alp]

If I had sown the seeds earlier, I might have one of these meconopsis this year! They are out of this world and I can only salivate!

Despite all the heavy rain bands swinging over us like yoyo in weather reports, the fact is that there has been very little rain. Ominous looks and yet not even 1/3 of a butt materialised.

And now Zenj pinched my warmth! 18c in Newcastle and I had 12c. Well, if you have to put up with all that rain and cold, you deserved that bit of glorious sunshine.

Good weather is AROUND the corner and I'm pretty sure that there would be no rain today.

I divided the comfrey into 6 plants plus. Some will go to the allotment; the basil into 16 plants (some with 2 plants)). Sowed some more Apricot Lemonade cosmos. Watched Australian gardening and saw this lady planted herbs and this reminded me of Carol Klein's herb session. Then somehow I woke up to Carol Klein going into a wishy washy garden (tons of nondescript grasses and no centre piece and she acted all excited, which precusored a lot of flowery description. I quickly switched to watching C4 news! Nothing compares to C4 news!

Contrary to what they say, you can actually grow Salvia Night Moth from seeds and I have managed to germinated all 3 of my last year's seeds, but collecting them is nothing short of a feat. They fall down to the dirt in no time.

Cee Jay or Jay Cee - very tall and not easy to capture!

Scotch Bonnet chillis. I will collect the seeds and sow them next year.

 

[alp]

Switched on TV at 10.11 and watched Our Yorkshire Farm in which Clive killed 3 chickens and this really brought back memories. I grew up in 2 different farms and they were about an acre big or more. It was sweet but I didn't know it. We got space whilst most people were crammed in massive blocks of flats. I had to kill chickens and I really hated it. You slitted their throats and they fought and yanked, blood spilling and it was unbearable, but it's a way of life.

Two days ago, vegan activists blockaded MacDonalds and I'm one for balanced diet and am surprised that they didn't know that plants were sentient and that they felt pain, too. An ethos has become a cult and its followers vocal and militants. I feel sorry for those farmers who have been targeted.

Son's primary school classmates are mostly vegan as a teaching assistant screened video showing how cruel it was to eat lamb and of course when you were in Year 2, barely 5 or 6 year olds, you were under pressure, "Awwww, those lamb are so cute! How can you eat them?"

Must be very cold up north! Even I'm being tormented with 5c!

Very little rain yesterday and I was outside extending more planting area.

A most ballerina-like lavender Flaming Purple!

Senlac bearded iris

Thalictrum aquilegiflorium

Thalictrum Nimbua Pink

Scented Lilac of which I have more than 12 flowers in 3 or 4 plants.

 

[Zenj]

Fully out today

 

[Perki]

Mine are nearly out as well Zenji and looking a bit drenched. At least its stopped raining and supposed to be much better over the coming days , it need to stop raining the ground is saturated .

 

[alp]

What an exquisite blue! I wish I had tried PROPERLY again. I did buy the seeds, AGAIN; but I left it very late and they didn't germinate. I will try every year to see if I am lucky. So unusual and elegant.

Perki: I did look at the weather report for you and you might not be so lucky as Zenj. Still a bit whirling rain coming back to your area. For me, it has been dry from yesterday onward. It did drizzle around 5 to 6 and that stopped me weeding. What a bane!

Senlac which has darker standards than Indian Chief.

It's a shame as the light level was not ideal.

Sowed squash, cabbage seeds as it's better late than never.

 

[DrCase]

Zenj ..... that blue is crazy nice

 

[alp]

A heart-warming piece of news

Thalictrums making up lost time

Mount Everest

Camellia still flowering

I think this is a rebloomer

Rhapsody of Love tons of buds

Peony

Yesterday was very hot and my bum was literally burnt by the sun at 5pm. Then at night, I was freezing! I think we all had a glorious day yesterday - 27 May: the first hot day of the year. The first decent day of the season.

I'm very annoyed with myself. I picked up a snowdrop seedpod - a yellow one and was wondering what compost to use to sow it and moved it again and again and then lost it. Then I youtubed and found a method. Went to my 2 plots only to find most of the seed pod disappeared. Any way, pot up 5 pots - Diggory, Rosemary Burnham, ..

My first batch of hellebore seeds

Picking and pricking times!

 

[Zenj]

What a glorious morning here 18c and real feel forecast 21c, alp meconopsis seeds must be fresh a lot of people sow them late autumn leave them outside to get winter chilled should show in spring.Here’s some of mine up now the hard part keeping them going ,Slive Donard and Langholm in flower now.

 

[Zenj]

Such a lovely day been down the coast Blyth