Magazine style - all inclusive

[alp]

Morning: Yesterday was a funny day. Supposedly, rain would have cleared off by 10am. But no, it rained for half ah hour and we went out after that. Then last night, out of a sudden, it rained heavily for half an hour. In between, it was very humid in the allotment. Harvested a pumpkin and friend took it.

In the shop, saw these and was amazed by how the white framed the red petals. But I prefer Zenj's

My sweetcorns are all a bit slow.

I reckon the toms have very tough skins because of the low night temperature.

My favorite Rosella had the first one sampled by SS! Grrrrrrrrrr!

The biggest marrow went to neighbour who paid £15 for my big pot. Also came home with King Edward potatoes, some beans, a lot of supposedly web lettuces which bolted and some came with quite a few slugs! Yuck! Used tons of water to wash them. Next year, lettuces strictly in pots at home.

Franz Kafka looked very tiny because of the lack of water. A shame. Really like its form and colour!

 

[DrCase]

I sure like that red one

 

[alp]

@DrCase : What other flowers do you like? I am sure lilies and hostas are some of them. Are you going to plant some more flowers please? I am sure you have the weather ie. heat and sunshine for them.

I have had quite a comfortable summer, sleep-wise; however, my plants have suffered. Tomatoes, even indoors are tiny. Yesterday, I plucked about 9 self-seeded toms and potted them up. I will bring them in if it turns cold again.

I know that we need to share our space with a lot of critters, including the dreaded mozzies which often leave me with more than half a year's itches. Yesterday, I discovered some critters had left me with calling cards which attracted horrible flies, a big hole and in the process of this antipodean adventure, killed some of my hellebores.

As for the calling cards, I certainly don't wish to visit the traumas I have had on anybody else! Sooooo GROSS!

I have quite a few of these blousey fuchsias and they really are a joy to behold

Two of these - pure and pristine!

Finally, I have more than one gallardia! This one is undergoing some kind of confusion, a good reflection of my morning trauma after my son has fiddled with my computer. Without fail, he would leave me with the confusion of pin or password or the laptop would just stare back at me with a greybluish glare! The frustration is indescribably and you feel like ............

For once, I could capture my thalictrum properly. What a wonderful unique colour!

2nd flush of my penstemons

I'm so glad that I quartered the Bahamas that I had just bought. Judging from the extent of the matted mass of the roots and the lack of soil at the bottom, I could tell that a lot of heat has been applied to its growth and the plant had exhausted the nutrient and space of the generous pot. Having divided them, the trauma has been minimal, as can be seen in the glorious flowers!

To cheer you up, video attached! I've the feeling that the duck has been in the rehearsal quite a few times. Poor lovely duck!

 

[alp]

Good morning to a very lovely day. Not too hot. Yesterday was actually perfect day for pottering in the garden. Separated quite a few clumps of hellebores.

By the look of it, it's going to be flaming August. It has been such a comfortable August for me until Sunday. 28c! I hope there would be clouds and breeze.

TV licence is coming soon and will cost a packet for all the repeats and scripted reality shows.

Tons of repeats, like what's on TV

Very disappointed with this Green Jewel Echinacea

Best way to take penstemon cuttings.

My favorite alstroemeria this year. From Taylor bulb

 

[alp]

5am and it's very dark outside. Dug up most of my snowdrops yesterday and repotted them. I am totally clueless as to how to encourage them to flower. Now I have 30 pots on the ground. Wonder if the foxes have tried to dig up my ground again!

Need to go to the allotment as the weather has been dry for days. Now I have come to the conclusion that there is no point of me growing vegs there as they were all covered with spots and they all bolted. The 6 "web" lettuces I had harvested cost me a lot of time to hunt for slugs amongst the leaves and a lot of water to wash. After that, I left them on the work top for a day and the leaves went limp. No, no more lettuces in the allotment unless I have a net covering them.

Not bad for pottering in the garden. The Aster Babadoes are throwing up tons of lovely blue gems. Very pretty and I have about 4 plants. Will take photos later. Split the Stipa into 6 plants. Son promised that he would get up early to mow the newly laid lawn. Glad that he still has work to go to every day for a few hours, apart from Saturday. Now he's compiling e music book. Not a lot of money, but it's so nice to see him showing what he's capable of.

This news story is making my eyes well up

 

[Perki]

Its raining again like most of the week rotten August weather continues .

Thomas Edison

Wittemans Best

Last Year Annual Rudbeckia Indian Summer survived the winter

Dahlia Art Deco

Ligularia Britt MArie Crawford

The wasps still on the Angelica Gigas

Eupatorium look good , still on the fence about the grass

Dahlia Sylvia

Monarda Scorpion - Veroncastrum Diane

 

[alp]

Perki

I think I need to move. Look at the rain drops on your flowers. Not only that your flowers have a longer flower period. My agapanthus alba are dead and half of the crowns are with seeds.

The Art Deco Dahlia is just so impossibly pretty. I remember seeing them first in Biddulph Grange - the dahlia walk! My mondardas are down to one tired and horrible flower each, with shoots coming out from the bottom.

Apart from moisture which I can't possibly give my plants, what have you been feeding the soil? I even bought the Livingstone enriched soil, but even pot plants don't seem to be happy for me.

Watched Escape to the Country, so wanted to shut that woman up! Blah blah blah... I might have met my doppelganger! LOL!

 

[Perki]

With the rain / damp comes other problems some plants turn to mush like my phlox Lyden flowers one of my meconopsis looks like its crown rotted , difficult to grow very free draining / tender plants, the dahlia have only just got going shorter season here . It does have it bonuses I can't remember the last time I watered the pots except for feeding , perfect conditions for moister loving plants like ligularia - eupatorium and lots of other large herbaceous plants .

I've been after art deco for years has been quite difficult to get hold of, bought tuber in the past but that were just a shrived tuber no good. I've got a thing for apricot -ish colour flowers I have another two dahlias similar colour American Dawn and Labyrinth still waiting for flowers jsut mange to save A-dawn from the slug onslaught and Labyrith has a full broken stem from last week winds but hopeful it may still flower even though the stem has wilted

 

[alp]

Hard one to call. Just come back after 2 whole hours of watering the allotment. Basically, didn't even have time to weed. Had about 12 toms and another dreaded big marrow is forming. I'm now running out of plan B. I think I will not be happy in a sodden area, but every time it says rain here, I don't even get that. This year, my dahlias have been very disappointing. Just discovered yesterday that my Hazy Day was dead because it was confined to a pot and the top bit was soggy. Another one had the top growths constantly gnawed by slugs and even now, I can see a healthy stem.

Think we all have our different sets of problems. I think I will keep an eye out for art deco as it is really beautiful.

 

[alp]

Gardening is really good for our health: I slept till 6.30 instead of 4 or 5.30! Turned on the dishwasher and it was making quite a bit of noise. Yesterday, I picked up an ensata iris for free. I bought some Iris Sibrica before and they all died. I hope this one goes to the pond and will flower for me.

Went to the allotment and picked up some ripe toms. Some had already been sampled by SS and they nodded their heads with satisfaction and some more had been devoured, safe the yellow skin.

The Rosella is still the best and tastiest. The skin colour is funny, but favour unbeatable.

With the night temperature so low, my Patio Deep Blue Patens had trouble setting seeds. I moved one to the hottest area, but the transition might have traumatised the poor thing. Amazing how many flowers they have. And of course, as soon I have planted it, I realised that it was taller then the aster at the back! Grrrrrrrrrrrr!

There is a name for this mutation, can't remember what it is.

Another Deer Antler dahlia cacti, not so pretty as the one in the allotment. But I forgot my camera.

My new turfed area and it's going to be mown. One for memory!

This dahlia is most prolific and it's a screamer! So prolific that the stem snapped (the one in the allotment) Very cruel that the flowers are so heavy that the plant constantly needs support. Remind me of some poorly interbred dogs!

Way to go! Pak Choi in pots.

Apple waiting to be planted in soil. This one from Audi or Lidl. Very prolific and no blemishes on the skin.

Really love this - Babadoes and it throwing up these lovely flowes and it had already been split into 3 or 4 plants.

Finally, managed to capture this tiny elusive Emilia, Irish poet. Don't think she's a major poet. Look how tiny it is! LOL!

Love Gazannia. From last year - overcome the winter and has been flowering its socks off!

This year, I have seen quite a lot of crickets - perhaps an omen of our chance to win!

 

[alp]

Good morning to all: Glad that I took a pic of the Pak Choi as they all were eaten yesterday in my first BBQ for the first time in three or 4 years. Never keen on BBQ - meat burnt, smoke smoked your clothes and face. As soon as we lit the fire, I locked all the doors and windows and stayed inside for half an hour. Still there was still smoke when most of the briquets were ash white. When I was eating the Chilli and Garlic Pork Strip, I was worried it was not cooked enough and yet parts were covered with black stuff.

I also made use of the lovely chunky big fat spring onions I planted in the garden, my own toms, a bit of very tender lettuce leaves. Very strange that during day time, it was so hot and yet at 6pm, it was very chilly.

Yesterday, the fox had taken another one of my chickens. He literally fell through the green plastic network and she disappeared without a trace. Now, I'm now to my last 3 year.

Yesterday, Monty was extolling his Rothesay Reveller, I think mine is even better

Much more tidier than his! LOL!

Had seen Clematis Princess Kate for £9, but they were sold last time we went. Gutted.

Really love this Crinodendron hookerianum, a tiny cutting and yet every single stem is adorned with lanterns, making it impossible to take cuttings. Talking about cuttings, I have more tears than success. But I will still take them. The most successful ones were the penstemons with roots or hints of roots.

Must go to Wyevale to see if they have finally reduced their flower seeds. Veg seeds I don't need. Have a lovely bargain hunt day!

This one is a hard one to call. Would you cancel too? When my son was about 3, I was actively encouraged to send him to a special unit where he could learn to talk. I saw a very mature man looking after him and a mute even young baby in an OUTHOUSE (a unit couldn't be seen from the Principal's office), alarm bell rang up a din. I pulled him out straight away. Whilst he was there, I found out that he wasn't stupid: When he was told to pick up his photo, he picked out one of a very handsome boy instead of his. LOL!

 

[DrCase]

@DrCase : What other flowers do you like? I am sure lilies and hostas are some of them. Are you going to plant some more flowers please? I am sure you have the weather ie. heat and sunshine for them.



Well alp .... I’m into easy annuals that bloom good .
Periwinkle being one of my favorite for color , begonias and impatience come in second
I like big leaves that grow good and bold

 

[alp]

@DrCase

Truly big and bold and you have the space for them. So many lovely mature trees! I wouldn't dare to put one down. My last lesson was a painful one - one pear tree only 3 years old and produced only deformed ONE fruit a year and it was hard work to get rid of the trunk. I can understand American optimism where land is vast and used to be free. It's entirely different kind of beast and scale.

Love that beautifully layered tree next to the statue. I hope to have a Cornus Controversa Variegata as it has variegated leaves, beautifully tiered structure and masses of white flowers. Begonia flowers are so big and yet so charming.

I bought tons of plants yesterday and it cost me a princely sum of £20 for 11 plants. I have a Salvia Amante. Don't think much of it, but I will take tons of cuttings, Alstroemeria for seeds, a wonderful Viburnum Kilimanjaro, quite a few Nandinas, a Convolvulus, one with silvery leaves.

The outside air is wonderfully cool. Yesterday, even with windows right down, the air was hot. Glad that the whole country, including Lancashire and NE will be sunny today. Hurrah!

So I thought with a bit of shingle, the slugs will stay. Er, no. I removed the pots on top of the shingles and found out the reason for the slivery trail on the top of the pots. 7 giant slugs, with with band like a monster stared at me. With a shiver down my spine, I skewered every single one of them and they were still moving. Even typing it is disturbing. Any way, they were buried in the cool bbq ashes. Heavens forgive me.

From allotment

Another pink salvia raised from seeds.

Penstemon very happy in the allotment

another potential headache

My favorite Deer Antler split petal dahlia - big as well!

Blue Bayou is a bit deformed. Hopefully, it will be better next year!

Free gift from Mother Nature. Picked from near Wyevale. And the seed packets still half price! Hard work! And the rest was ridiculously expensive.

 

[Zenj]

A beautiful day today a few from the garden today

 

[alp]

Gosh! Such lovely Astilbe flowers. Mine never flowers for me. I think I saw a hint of pink and it went south. The last one a salvia? Better keep the seeds or literally dig it up and put it indoors as they can be very tender. It would be a shame to lose such a happy plant. My Amistad only had leaves showing 2 weeks ago and even now no flowering stems whilst friend kept my cuttings in greenhouse and it flowered nearly 2 months ago. I also had to buy Black and Blue. I have taken some cuttings, but the colours of the flowers never failed to amaze me. One could be a Mirage Deep Purple. Nice to have many more.

Very hot here. Went to get a gate and I hadn't bothered about the measurements. When I saw the gate, I was surprised by how tall it was. Nearly 7 foot and I thought it was only 4 foot. The kind gentleman helped us load the gate into my battered Nissan Note. We collected some house moving boxes and some gardening tray to put my snowdrops in. I'm not bothered putting them in soil. Any way, the slugs have been proved fearless. Shouldn't really have done this in this hot weather, but nobody can predict such extreme heat.