Our gardening diaries - from latest toys, flowers to wildlife .. Please upload pics

[Verdun]

Actea Brunette sending up the first of its scented spires. Miscanthus...soon to flower....cannas and salvias

 

[Logan]

@Verdun they look great. Especially those rudbeckias, they do stand out.

 

[alp]

View attachment 26653 Blimey! So hot. Need a break, a banana will do nicely

Love it! I spent the hottest part of the morning waiting for a blood test. I was number 72 and when I started waiting, it was 42. Really cheesed off.

 

[alp]

Hi alp. Yes very tempted with the Nomocharis don't no weather to try the seeds or plants when they are available going on holiday shortly so will place a order when we get back, don't even keep fish in the pond as they eat the wildlife but the grandchildren like looking for frogs snails and all the other odd ball things in the pond ,there is a garden centre near us which they like going to as a big aquarium department as a massive indoor Koi open pool they sell bags of food for the kids to feed them some are over 2ft and that used to people the kids stroke them.

Koi are nice to look at, but they make a lot of noise as we can always hear them splashing in neighbour's pond. Nice that kids can touch the fish. Lovely induction to life. I love it when I see kids looking for stuff in National Trust properties. They play along the lawn, water or going round the maze, all very good induction.

I think I will order the bulbs and scale them straight away. But then, I will have more pots to look after. At one point, I had so many pots that I didn't even know I had a red hibiscus flower!

 

[alp]

View attachment 26663 Actea Brunette sending up the first of its scented spires. Miscanthus...soon to flower....cannas and salvias

Actea look like veronica spike. @Verdun you have such a loooooooooooovely garden. Better than the borders in RHS flagship borders .., How do you keep the weeds away and do you have gaps to traverse along your border. I often step on my plants, killing them in the process.

 

[alp]

Hope everything is OK with you @Logan with the meds etc..Been busy here decorating...Tomorrow hopefully I'll get to make the waterfall..I have all the ingredients...The only thing that can fall over now is the rhubarb leaves which I'm supposed to pick up in the morning...I want them as large as poss...fingers crossed

Was wonderful where you've gone! I must say those rhubarb leaves look stunning. If you lived near me, I would place on order!

 

[alp]

Trying very hard to label my streptocarpus, but they look like none of those named varieties on the internet. In the end, we have to write down the colour and features of the flower instead.

This one is Polka dot blue

This one is nerys

This could be Telma

This is Valor

I keep looking at this webpage and I must take some cuttings even though I'm running out of room. Some of the them are just so pretty.

Feast your eyes on these beauties
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/bc1021/ds-streptocarpusstreptocarpus-hybridized-by-dimetr/?lp=true

 

[Verdun]

Ha ha alp. Size 11 feet do make it difficult to avoid plants. Weeds are controlled early in the season with mulches.
I like to grow plants big ...weeds then dont have much of a chance
Lovely streptocarpus alp.

 

[Logan]

Morning all. @alp they look great.

 

[Logan]

Love it! I spent the hottest part of the morning waiting for a blood test. I was number 72 and when I started waiting, it was 42. Really cheesed off.

@alp it's annoying when we have to wait a long time, how does a blood test help with your arthritis?

 

[alp]

Ha ha alp. Size 11 feet do make it difficult to avoid plants. Weeds are controlled early in the season with mulches.
I like to grow plants big ...weeds then dont have much of a chance
Lovely streptocarpus alp.

Brilliant, I have got tons of woodchips now. Er, no, only 2 wheelbarrow loads as the rest has already gone to various beds. Your niece and nephew are so lucky to have you .. and you them.. Now, who's called Muggins ..

 

[alp]

@alp it's annoying when we have to wait a long time, how does a blood test help with your arthritis?

I had the blood test about 2 months ago. The doctor said to me some results failed to come through, B12 and red blood foliate (er ????) I wonder if the blood test department of my borough (I typed burrow and I am sure it will set @MaryMary cackling heartily!) is poking 2 fingers at the NHS funding... Every time I went, there were tons of people. And I went there 3 times and this was the 4th. Once, the ticketing machine was covered to stop people from queueing.

There were more than 30 people in the room yesterday. I waited for nearly 2 hours for my turn and this nurse made a mess of my blood vein. I now have a reddish patch where she "hit" me.

I massaged my knees and it seemed to help. I just keep massaging the knee areas.

 

[Logan]

@alp Hubby had a blood test for his cholesterol and he had a bad bruise. I used to give blood and they had trouble finding the vein,I don't think I've got any One time it was really painful, I decided not to do it anymore. But they've always had that trouble with me.

 

[Verdun]

Good morning eveyone....hope you all have a great weekend
Re those woodchips alp, fine to use now but in spring you would need to add a fertiliser like sulphate of ammonia with them. Woodchips in spring would, could, temporarily deplete nitrogen available to plants.
Sunny and warm again for today......

 

[alp]

@alp Hubby had a blood test for his cholesterol and he had a bad bruise. I used to give blood and they had trouble finding the vein,I don't think I've got any One time it was really painful, I decided not to do it anymore. But they've always had that trouble with me.

No veins!

It's a shame. Nice to give blood. Ex used to do it quite regularly. I have never done so. But might try. I shuddered when I heard that they allowed some dodgy categories of people to donate blood. A friend needed a lot of blood after child birth, but she was so scared of the dodgy blood stories that she refused and went home to have chicken broths every day! A doctor's wife told me that giving blood did take a lot from you.