Magazine style - all inclusive

[alp]

Perki What kind of cream did you put on yours please? I put Salvon cream as there was a swelling with clear liquid inside. Just a tiny one, but the hand was very itchy and it was much worse this morning. I literally could not bend my fingers. I knew that would happen. I was blasee, and bang I got stung again. But this time, I didn't see the stinging pin! Last time, it was sticking up in the air. Now even the gaps in between the fingers are itchy.

Had been to the allotment and my hand could grip the watering can - I used 2 watering cans at the same time. So my left hand has a bit more flexibility. The plaster is where I was bitten by a mozzie! I am really allergic to these bugs as they will itch for more than half a year. My son suggests steroid cream!

Really is cruel as we are not allowed to use hose. So every time it was watering cans and whilst watering the plants, I also tend to water my shoes, skirt or trousers. A downright nuisance.

A lot of these dahlias

A really big courgette in my own garden.

First ripe tomato in the allotment. Son said it was OK. It was a bit raw still.

My white echinacea! Very pleased!

An antler split end biggish dahlia

Really love it!

This is my new headache! Too big. Need to find a taker to share the joy (ooops!) Next to my June edition of RHS magazine! I still have another one the same size!

Apparently, all the blackberries and raspberries are begging to be picked. Had some and they were delicious, apart from some sampled already by stinky bugs! LOL!

Perki Your flowers are so happy. You remember you sent me the Angelica seeds which I failed to sow properly. I can see it is a serious bee magent! Amazing! I have at most 4 bees on one echinops. Yesterday morning, a huge hornet came buzzing and I was so scared. I surely didn't want to be bitten by this yellow big hornet. I remember taking my clothes inside the living room from the garden washing line. A huge buzz came out of the pile. I was so scared.

Do you know if your Allium sphaerocephalon sets seeds please? Stunning photos, Perki! Such a happy composition. My border is full of gaps!

 

[alp]

If you have time, do read this

What's in the news today?

Nope. Not Wrong. Socialists think they are gods.

www.gardening-forums.com

 

[alp]

Well, if it has rained, it's very little as the ground has dried up and even the pipes are not dripping. Very little new rainwater in the butts. Another big disappointment. It's supposed to be raining 50% now, but it's NOT raining. My hope dashed, AGAIN! Very little wind.

Went out to have a meal last night. The restaurants were all very busy and the one we went to was so noisy even though it was nearly 9pm when we went in.

Our council has started charging car parking outside the one we like in Upminster, so we didn't go to our favorite. Couldn't believe that even on a Thursday, it was so busy.

These plants have flowered sporadically - quite distinctive.

Scented Remember me!

Harunite scented beauty - Rosa (Claire Marshall)

The roses biological clocks are chiming - all flowering at the same time.

This flower is really pretty, albeit short-lived.

I have now several pots of Park Choi growing inside my lean-to. I will add the Romaine to them. I know if I planted them outside, I would have nothing but rubbishly spotted leaves and they would be nothing but meals for SS!

 

[Zenj]

alp if you want rain I will send you some, torrential rain here pond overflowing and still pouring down should clear around lunch time than winds and more rain

 

[alp]

alp if you want rain I will send you some, torrential rain here pond overflowing and still pouring down should clear around lunch time than winds and more rain

I know! I want to send you some sunshine and you me rain! The world is so cruel! Even I got depressed looking at your weather reports and mine! But you don't know, you can keep a greenhouse or polytunnel and rain is not so much a problem! Here, I'm surgically attached to two watering cans or metered water hose! It hurts the coffre!

Even the drizzle has stopped! My tears are more powerful than the fine mist called rain! Bah! I'm such a bore!

You know, we are all linguists! Linguists of plants and now I'm becoming a linguist of chickens. My hen would poke her head in her hatching unit and looking at me with begging eyes, as if saying, "You see, I have no food in the feeding tub!" I would feel sorry for her, especially remembering the horror movie she witnessed when her partner was torn headless by the fox who went behind the cage and tore half of the skin of her front. ! Then I would feed her, change her water, all the time thinking that I was a good mama! But then she would go moaning and moaning and I then realised that she wanted mealworms. I've bought quite a few packets and considering what they have been through, I don't really mind. Mortality of mine or theirs!?

But today, I had really had enough! I realise that the language is that if I feed her, all the mealworms will be gone and all the other feeds ON THE FLOOR! And the feeding tub would be empty and I would feel sorry for the poor mite and the thing goes full circle .... I feel like sweeping up the feeds on the floor and let her eat cake, er, no, leftovers!

Another funny thing is that the little yellow/white hen had been looking dead for days. My heart bled! I was with my glove, thinking of burying her to benefit my plants. But no, she budged!! To please her because of her possible short life, I fed her with mealworm swhen she was totally flat on the ground. Suddenly, the near-dead bird did a somersault - head FIRST! I was surprised she didn't break her neck! What a shock I had! Well, a sweet surprise as well and also the epiphany of the power of mealworms! Yesterday, to pretend the 2 other healthier chickens standing on her or eating from her corner, I locked her inside the cage with tons of mealworms and fresh food and today, she perched on the drinking tub! Why do they have such horrible habit - perching on their drinking tub and pool in it! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

 

[alp]

Very cool and with a strong breeze, but very sunny. Lovely for working in the allotment later.Will go to Wilko to have a browse.

Very happy with the forecast!

Very happy. Just 10 minutes of heavy rain and one butt is nearly full, another one, half full. The best is that the ground is wet.

My only hen was telling me something yesterday. As there was so much left over, I picked it up and mixed it with mealworms. Hen protested and looked at me, with the usual moan! I exposed a bit of mealworms and she happily obliged. Next thing I knew when I checked again later, she toppled 2 of the drinking vessels. They are made of ceramic! And the hatchbox was wet with water. My instructions to my son was that NO morre mealworms. This morning the same. I bet she will stop laying egg or eat it. These 2 hens have been pretty nasty.

The Lobela Tupa have been pretty slow

In a bit to deter slugs and snails, I have put a lot of coffee grinds around and underneath the soil. Also a bit of woodash, and lo and behold, some animal excrement was taunting me! The offensive calling card has since been removed. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr! Need to go out to check for slug again. Just checked. No, that wasn't it. Just a piece of stick!

Harunite Claire Marshall has a plummy colour and a wonderful scent

Remember Me is stretching its colour palette!

My first sedum or hylotelephium as explained by Monty last night. Half an hour and even that I drifted into oblivion from time to time.

Always a big fan of alstroemeria

I was startled by the big blue green blob over NE. Hope you all have power!

 

[Zenj]

Rain and more rain Tricolour lillyout today

 

[alp]

Rain and more rain Tricolour lillyout today
View attachment 57268

The lily is glorious, Zenj! So pristine and perfect.

We have sunshine and more sunshine. Not a drop of rain, apart from us departing for the allotment this morning.

Wonder if you saw the tree lilies in Gardeners' World! They were so tall.

Amazing the bog sage or Salvia uliginosa could be propagated so easily. I have a flowering cutting in the allotment.

Finally, I have my first Blue Bayou dahlia! Yeah!

White echinacea

One of the Deer Antler Dahlia collection!

Absolutely thrilled. La Luna Salvia - raised from seed! Wonderful surprise!

Sorry for the blurriness of the La Luna - the wind didn't help!

As you can see, someone's once tall, proud and glorious sunshine is no more! All thanks to the winds!

 

[alp]

Good morning - a very good night's sleep! All thanks to the cooler temperature! Went to Wilko yesterday, but no more further reduction and all the pots in B&M had gone!

Went out to inspect my lettuce planter. Some critters seemed to have been crawling all over the planter and I suspect squirrels burying their peanuts from Tesco. This just confirms my control freak method is better than planting the seedlings outside

Might sow more beans today. Have a nice weekend, everyone!

 

[alp]

A very quiet and dull morning and there is no wind. Did a bit of watering last night. Need to finish it later.

Salvia Solomon's Dance is very happy. I have now about 5 of them.

Have now quite a collection of alstroemerias

Have taken quite a bit of semi-ripe cuttings. Viburnum P Mariesii, and this Chile Lantern (C Hookerian) are my targets

2 of these dahlias - 1 at the front and one back

Fuchsia - not my favorite, but I will keep it.

Gallardia has one of a most striking flowers. Just loud and impressive. I have never had any luck raising them from seeds. £1 or 2 I really don't mind.

Echinacea Purpurea

Well, this Emilia, Irish poet is a joke. Very small, but the orange just speaks to me. Well, it should have looked like this

The language of marketing is that - These beautiful and unique orange blobs should be admired CLOSE UP! We were googling a Cornus tree yesterday and the blurb said exactly that, ie. very small flowers!

I have now quite a good collection of alstroemerias and hopefully, they will give me seeds.

Watched Beechgrove yesterday and was stunned to see the new lady presenter literally plonk a perennial lobelia in the water. I wonder if Lobelia Tupa should be treated so. Needed to google a bit.

Osteospermums are just so photogenic!

Quite a few lilies on sale yesterday. One red one was completed edged in the fringe with white. On comparison, Zenj's lily is so much prettier! Amazing how people breed all these lovely details to make us part with our money. I also saw a yellow dahlia which looked like a Blue Bayou, but yellow in colour. Most beautiful!

A lot of gallivanting yielded very little result except for a SOUR GRAPES with lots of material to split into several plants. £5 not cheap, but it cheered me up. Another one was a miserable Lysimachia atropurpurea Beaujolais. I really like a cornus Wolf's eye with variegated leaves, but just a penny under a tenner was too much for me!

Just when you think it's not worth looking at the weather report

70% of rain??? I will let you know.

 

[alp]

I was wondering if the squirrel is conversing to something. On closer inspection, it seemed to making two very different distinctive noises.

About 9.30am, about 5 minutes of rain. 1.15pm, decent proper rain for less than 15 minutes. Now it's just very fine spits. Where have all the exciting blue blobs gone? Ah, I know! Gone to torment Zenj! Oooooops!

One butt full and that's my luck! This stupid obsession of mine with rain!

Separated the Penstemon Sour Grapes and got 5 new plants out of it. £11 reduced to £5. Saw the couple in front of us and they had about 5 plants and paid £13. All because of the vouchers. I asked my son to join up straight away!

Going to take a lot of semi-ripe cuttings. I never knew that August is late summer!

The goal post has shifted. 11am instead of 8.

 

[Zenj]

Yes alp torment is the word raining again now ,the lawns are like quagmires cannot walk on them ,will certainly need a long dry spell to dry all this up.

 

[alp]

Zenj I- need to send you a tanker or I need to practise witchcraft. Must be very depressing raining every day or for a prolonged period and you can't dry your clothes properly. That's the humdinger!

Just now extracted about 40 tiny Trollius Chinensis seeds. Hard work and only two flowers set seeds. Just watched a video about how to raise clematis from seeds. Can't believe they said the seeds needed stratification. I never bothered and they just germinated. Seeds are funny things. They either germinate any time of the year or they wait till the right time comes along and then they sprout, like my iris seeds which germinated in Spring. Going to watch Medical Detectives. Very depressing as I have watched most of the episodes at least twice. I think I'm getting old as I now have forgotten the plots. Before, I was quite sharp and could recall the story lines. Just made me think about mortality!

Today, my right hand hurt a nerve when I clipped the secateurs too hard, trying to trim the lower branches of my bamboos so that they could let in more light and enable me to plant more underneath. The secateurs was designed for men and my small hand was no big enough. It hurt so much that I had to use my left hand to help clip the hardened branches. Very therapeutic even though it hurt and the rain stopped play.

 

[alp]

It's very cold last night. I had to shut the windows in the lean to. It's greyish and the sun is trying to come out. At least, I was not shivering. Going to be perfect weather to take cuttings and any pottering in the garden.

Just consulted RHS

Climbers, including ivy, passion flower, Solanum and Trachelospermum, lend themselves to semi-ripe cuttings. Evergreen shrubs such as Artemisia, Berberis, Brachyglottis, Camellia, Ceanothus, Choisya, Cistus, Convolvulus cneorum, Erica, Hebe, Fatsia, Mahonia and Viburnum.

I would do layering for Trachelospermum and I have already done a bit of Viburnum. Today, I will concentrate on Camellia and plant out my peonies or repot them.

To add to the list - rosemary, lavender. penstemons, salvias and fuchsias.

 

[alp]

What a lovely day!

Some of my alstroemerias

See how tall the bag sages are! My camera can't capture the powdery blue beauty! Just a big blurrrrrrr!

Penstemon Mother of Pearl