Magazine style - all inclusive

[Perki]

Morning sun out just mowed the lawn . The fox has returned and stole more fat balls .

I did get the iris small to be fair to them , I bought them online peter nyysen expecting large bare root rhizomes but no 9cm pots and they were in the GH for months growing on. maybe this year i'll get some flowers , if not maybe they get whizzed .
Could do with the GC to open but how many would go ? Maybe some are keen to go to get out of the house and others still worried about leaving the home. Went to B&M last night the plants section had been ransacked just the dead / frost damaged ones left.

 

[alp]

Just come back from allotment. Got asked if we dumped a carpet i.e flying tipping in the allotment. Very annoyed. Last time, we backed the car into the shadier part of the allotment which was a bit of a junk yard. Now they thought we fly tipped a carpet. We had to park there as we had milk and some meat and that's the only part where we could open the doors windows. Not a nice way to start the hard work. What annoyed me most was that my neighbour Peter had already asked my son if he was fly tipping and he saw him got out of the car. Trouble was that we had changed cars and he didn't know it was my son. But he said no. And yet, another person asked the same question again today. They asked my son and I chimed in. Never want to be accused. No prize guessing the trouble maker. Last time, I just ignored him. But of course, him being my neighbour, I didn't want a fall out. So I called him out for his lovely greenhouse. He bathed and slept there sometimes and I bet enjoyed something green there as well

Went there about 12 and finished quarter to 4. Really tired. Last time we went to B&M, only saw the same kind of boring plants. This country is a nation of gardeners or flower lovers. We all know that online went crazy.

B&Q had long queues last time we went. Dithering about whether to buy some pond pots for my snowdrops. I really don't want to waste money.

 

[alp]

Despite working for 4 hours yesterday, still managed to get up at 5am. Watered the border nearest to the house and all the raised beds. At least 1 is ready for harvesting in 2 weeks' time. It's just so cold outside. Too cold and I just kept moving the hose and my body to stop me coming back in to get a top.

8c? More like 6c! The winds from the North Sea are not doing my seedlings in the lean to any favour. I might have to turn on the propagator. Night time temperatures have been disastrous for my seedlings. They all sat there and froze Forgot to put a few slug pellets around my well-prepped sweetcorn seedlings iin the allotment. Have the feeling that they wouldn't be there next time we went. It will be Saturday or after 3pm as online tutoring resumes today.

My Fennel planted from last summer!

The only English Blue Bell in my allotment and garden. The Spanish have come back with a vengeance.

See how small my asparagus Colossals are! 2nd year now. We got the allotment beginning of May last year. My last audit showed I have about 8 stems. Next year, I will be able to harvest if I am still here! So many medics have died. Lamb to the slaughter.

I think this is honeybell!

 

[Perki]

Not done much just spent another couple of hours and the lawn, its all i seem to do these days , just repairing the edges of the lawn from plants damage last year .

I thought I put some of these on but forgot to .

Lawn not looking to bad for the time of year. Garden rather boring need more early spring colour.

 

[alp]

They are lovely - the daffs are in their prime. The camellia is so pretty. Funny thing is that only now have I seen your stone wall. Just love a stone wall. A lovely form of art. The lawn looks lovely on the photo, especially now that you have striped it. Very nice from here. I want to get rid of all my lawns. I don't have enough land for my flowers any way. At the rate my hellebores self seed themselves, I will have no land for anything else.

I will dig more lawn up at the front to put some of my salvias and alstroemerias there before they all die on me. The killer winds that toppled everything in the garden in the past few days have been drying my potted plants. They have been screaming in the cold and dryness and the battering winds. When I picked up the toppled camellia, I suddenly noticed there were THREE different flowers on it - red, pink and red and white striped. Well chuffed. Then I saw a cheap iris from Enfield and it had a stem which was now slightly snapped. I saw it a few days ago and but buried among so many plants, I couldn't locate it. Now that I have, the stem is a bit broken.

I can count the number of times I have bought Romneya Coulteri seeds - more than £20 spent and I could have bought a real PLANT! Now suddenly, there are 2 seedlings. Gee! I hope I am NOT going to kill them!

Should have been harvested yesterday. First decent salad leaves of the year!

Now you know why Tithonia featured so early in the season in the repeat programme GW! Sowed only a few days ago, they have responded so well! So are the teddy bear sunflower but the latter is not half as spectacular as these Tithonia seedlings.

No prize guessing the weather. I hope you folks up north are going to ENJOY THE SUNSHINE - A FEW DAYS OF UNTAINTED SUNSHINE!

 

[Perki]

I grow tithonia last year I wasn't impressed, little flowers with a mass of foliage, the weather was poor to be fair and probably wasn't warm / sunny enough to getting them flowering well.

Lots of stone around here all the older houses / town centres / old mills are built out of stone . The flag stones in Trafalgar square were quarried in Rossendale.

The lawn looks ok but it takes up so much time maintaining it and the cost, I spend for more time tending to the lawn than anything else. I often wonder if I should rip it up and just plant it up but I do like a lawn , its set the garden up .

 

[alp]

Tithonia is too short lived, to be fair and very late in summer. By the time, it comes to full swing, the frost will have them. Also, it takes up so much room and as you pointed out, too much foliage!

But as seeds go, they are very pleasing as they grow fast and germinate readily. Unlike some other seeds I have.

Such a perfect tulip!

Striped camellia - a nice surprise as I didn't expect to have 3 different colour from this one plant.

Some plants have germinated and now I am running out of room as well as pot for new transplanted seedlings. Wonder if you guys have a formula for compost for potting on.

 

[alp]

No prize guessing what I have been up to! Watering for an hour or more.

Sowed some red and yellow sweet onion seeds yesterday. Might be too late as those sown much earlier are still like tiny weed blades.

Also planted out sugar snap called Sugar Bam

Josephine £3

Some lady's gift - lily of the valley

Shiro Kapitan Fuji Wisteria - silky wisteria

Allium Sensation - nothing to beat this sensational colour!

Viburnum Plicatum Mariesii

This ice cream has a very difficult protracted pregnancy!

Have a nice dry day and top up your tan, au naturel!

 

[alp]

Good morning to yet another sunny day! Been watering until the long extension split and I had to stop. Last night some critter flattened one of my salad beds. Very annoying. Lord knows what else it (they) did on my bed!

Been transplanting and the penstemon True Blues wee really pathetic. The seedlings were thin like a thread. Another one tray turned into 4 pots. I have planted out half of my dahlias in the hottest border in my garden. Also planted out some melon seedlings. Next to tackle is the Teddy Bear Sunflower and dahlia collarettes. I had a whole tray of collarettes which died after transplanting. All gone. I really have come to appreciate the joy of sowing just in April. Now it's near the end of April, I am panicky again.

Yesterday, I was posting my son's stuff as he had to teach. Went to town centre, WHSmith closed and as the post office was in it, it was closed too. Then no bus came along and so hopped on another strange route bus which took me round and round. Saw a corner shop post office open and thought to myself: Why not go to the big one! I did only to find it closed! In the end, I just dropped the letters into a big letter box. The biggest you could find. So much for a proof of posting. As I walked along, I found an air of sadness .. All closed, and people's livelihood in jeopardy!

Purple Sensation - very striking colour!

My wet corner!

See the beans - I am counting ...

Lovely Viburnum.

 

[alp]

Just now, read an article about nurseries trying to sell online to shift the stock they are stuck with. One suggested a free newsletter service, I had to refuse. Look at the design.

Which designer created this?

Another company, but the design is so similar.

https://store.bluediamond.gg/ is more inviting, but the prices are stingy - like stinging nettles! LOL!

Very sad that lockdown or no lockdown, people will still die! Blanket lockdown is just suidcidal for the whole country. Feel so sorry for the nursery owners.

 

[alp]

Looks a bit grey this morning. Just as well, can't go out watering the plants until later or the rooster will crow like mad!

Repotted Teddy Bear and now will need to do Collarette Dandy. Planted out about 8 dahlias and harvested a decent crop of salad leaves - mostly rocket leaves. Will need to reseed the colourful carrots as no seedlings emerged. Sowed some pepper seeds and the aubergine seedlings have been staring at me, looking unloved and neglected. Lost the label of some giant seedlings - now have no idea if they are courgettes or cucumbers!

One pf tje giant alliums and the colour is a bit of washed out!

Indian Chief iris is always pretty - would have looked perfect next to allium purple sensation.

 

[DrCase]

I been busy working on my home remodel for so long ,
I haven’t taken many pics this season

 

[Perki]

Just been potting plants up today and basking in the sun , cooler tomorrow and next week with some rain forecast

 

[alp]

DrCase: Would love to see the remodelling of your house. Well, I'm nosy!

Love that peony - thought it was a tulip! That colour is so different. My peonies are soooooo slow. Saw them in flower on another site in Cornwall, and even Scotland and now US. What's wrong with East London?

Cirsium Trevor's Blue Wonder!

Some big alliums with a big label. On examination, it was blank! Hopeless my labelling system.

Cornus Kousa Rubra!

I wonder if I could take cuttings from this beauty. Think it was either a fiver or tenner!

What a loud but pretty tulip!

We lamented what we see was not what we got. How bout this one? I thought this was Salvia Madelaine. The flower is a bit bigger than the two aphids!

I paid £5 for this plant from Middleton Nursery, but paid the price of 4 for 5 plants. After this long wait, it turned out to be something like this. If I had seen the real photo, I would never have bought this, I am dreading those seeds from Chilterns and Plants World might produce flowers of this size!

Perki - what magic compost have you put into that tiny tray please? Whenever I saw Charlie's live plant wall, I thought they would die in no time. Love that daff with peachy crown. So beautiful. It reminds me of the very light lime colour crown showcased by George in The Beechgrove Garden. Lots of repeats, but on the whole, lovely programme. Rather than just watching Rachel fluff around with her herbs for more than 15 minutes. Thank modern technology for fast-forwarding.

 

[Perki]

Afternoon , might be able to id the allium soon but judging of thickness of the stem and colour it looks like it could be Giganteum . cornus kousa rubra out already ? seem early but it is already nearly May . Love the red and white tulip .
Dr case peony is impressive and the colour , they are about 3 weeks away from flowering peonys here.

Which tray of compost are you refering to alp ? I don't use anything special just liquid feed weekly and miricle grow pellets which none of these plants have got in at the moment.

Just mowed the lawn and pulled out more poa annua grass , its a waste of time really but I am finding it frustrating see it and can't help but start pulling it out. Just having a brew now and I am going to go back out with the hoe .