5 Gardening Dairy: Happy gardening and happy snapping ..

[alp]

Good morning to all

It drizzly out there and very dark, but not so cold as yesterday or the day before. The candle heater system is going quite well. I get nervous as I don't want to have a fire.

Some of my erythronium bulbs have disappeared, either eaten by some critters or vaporised by the heat!

Taylors had some but they were tiny and I wouldn't buy them again as they all became nothing. Another loss year!

Online is always expensive unless you have a lot from one supplier; otherwise, it's hardly worth the postage. Some companies charge £6 for p&p! When they are finally reduced, they are those leftovers which nobody wants. Thank heavens that I don't have to bother about bulbs. I might buy some snowdrops if the posh gcs have some.

A very miserable day with a dizzy high of 9c!

 

[Perki]

Morning , cars had frost on last night before I went to bed but everything wet through this morning so looks like its been raining.
Got a phone call this morning off the bulb supplier while i was reading a email received from them enquiring about fritillaria pericsa / ivory white, no purple ones in stock but still got 5 ivory white , expensive bulbs cheapest I could find them but they were still £6 per bulb I going to under plant them with the daffodils thalia. I spent so much this year AGAIN on bulbs I weren't supposed to get that many this year other than tulips, I've spent at least £150 on bulbs I don't know where they go cause every year I don't seem to have enough .

 

[alp]

Morning , cars had frost on last night before I went to bed but everything wet through this morning so looks like its been raining.
Got a phone call this morning off the bulb supplier while i was reading a email received from them enquiring about fritillaria pericsa / ivory white, no purple ones in stock but still got 5 ivory white , expensive bulbs cheapest I could find them but they were still £6 per bulb I going to under plant them with the daffodils thalia. I spent so much this year AGAIN on bulbs I weren't supposed to get that many this year other than tulips, I've spent at least £150 on bulbs I don't know where they go cause every year I don't seem to have enough .

We have fritillaria persica black tower in Taylor bulbs. Think either £2.99 or £3.99. You could have gone to Farmer Gracey. Dutch company recommended to me by @Zenj ! Very nice and they might have sales on soon.

Have a google Taylor bulbs stockist near you and you might strike gold. But I have the feeling that you have already placed the order.

Have guest today and will dip in and out. I'm sure you can make money out of them. The lady stopped by and got her Salvia amistad x 2 from the cuttings from the blown down stem. I will have at least 2 viewings and I am dreading my wild, wild west! LOL!

 

[Perki]

We have fritillaria persica black tower in Taylor bulbs. Think either £2.99 or £3.99. You could have gone to Farmer Gracey. Dutch company recommended to me by @Zenj ! Very nice and they might have sales on soon.

Have a google Taylor bulbs stockist near you and you might strike gold. But I have the feeling that you have already placed the order.

Have guest today and will dip in and out. I'm sure you can make money out of them. The lady stopped by and got her Salvia amistad x 2 from the cuttings from the blown down stem. I will have at least 2 viewings and I am dreading my wild, wild west! LOL!

The white ones are much dear than the black ones I've already bought some black ones from the GC about 4-5week ago for £2.50 each cheap ( none left now ), I am a bit obsessive about odd numbers when planting . Where I was going to plant the black fritillaria I have a physocarpus diablo as a background which has dark brown/red leaves I wouldn't be able to seem them well so going to mix them with the white ones

 

[Perki]

Are you selling your cutting on ebay or something alp ? It a good idea really so easy to grow, they are normally around £5 for a little plant anyway

 

[johnny canoe]

Sorry I missed your son on Sunday UpsyDaisy! It was windy here and my sisters were visiting. The one tried to convince me that she was standing at my kitchen window and saw a lizard walking through my backyard. As if! But, well?

 

[marlingardener]

I composted a raised bed and planted garlic this morning. My husband is re-leveling one of our rain harvesting cubes. For some reason the east cube sinks into the soil and gets all cattywampus.
I also picked lettuce and tomorrow I'll side-dress the broccoli.

 

[alp]

Are you selling your cutting on ebay or something alp ? It a good idea really so easy to grow, they are normally around £5 for a little plant anyway

More like giving them away. I had plenty of cuttings and they all took. I had to tidy up the lean to (if that is at all possible), so I moved them to the workshop where there was insufficient light. The branches had been beautiful with flowers, but after the shock of migration, the branches stretched out horizontally to reach for more light and they crossed one another and became anaemic. There were 4 to 5 stems in each pot and I more or less gave them away. I'm so glad that they would be loved and given a new home. I was so touched that the lady made a stop between London and Suffolk to get them. She gave my son a very good feedback.

 

[alp]

I composted a raised bed and planted garlic this morning. My husband is re-leveling one of our rain harvesting cubes. For some reason the east cube sinks into the soil and gets all cattywampus.
I also picked lettuce and tomorrow I'll side-dress the broccoli.

You're so lucky. We are more or less finished for the season! Garlic is a difficult thing and I'm hovering between chucking them or keeping them. Garlic breath is not something nice! But the aroma and flavour on steak are just wonderful.

I have cattywarmpusES here all over my garden. LOL!

 

[alp]

The white ones are much dear than the black ones I've already bought some black ones from the GC about 4-5week ago for £2.50 each cheap ( none left now ), I am a bit obsessive about odd numbers when planting . Where I was going to plant the black fritillaria I have a physocarpus diablo as a background which has dark brown/red leaves I wouldn't be able to seem them well so going to mix them with the white ones

White ones are so useful as they go with everything! physocarpus diabolo is lovely.

 

[Upsy Daisy]

Whoa!!!!! Missed a lot of lovely chatty posts today
Here goes...
Hi @johnny canoe , how are you? Great pics of Mr Woodpecker, out of interest what's the difference between Mr and Mrs??
Gosh that's a machine and a half!!! Had to zoom in to get a closer look....thought at first it was a ' sit and ride '!!!Sorry you missed baby son ( 29) asked him to give you a wave

Hi @Perki , you've been busy! At first I thought that I would attempt ( yet again) to overwinter our Dahlias but so far the ones that I have lifted have been a bit soft, so will now definitely throw the lot I think. For the last couple of years I've persevered with trying to grow bulbs but to be honest...not very successfully as I forget where they are and what they are.....also end up chopping them up when weeding


Evening @alp, glad to hear that your Salvia cuttings have gone to a good home...we do get attached to our cuttings and seedlings so!!
So the candle burning is worth it then, how much extra heat do you think it generates?
Back to bulbs again, I also find that some of mine get dug up by something then they are left to dry out on the surface
Hope the viewings went well

Hello @marlingardener ,Mmmmmm love garlic bread
You must surely get awarded 'Word Of The Day' Had to Google it as I've never heard it before!!

Here's a few more....
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/top-10-funny-sounding-and-interesting-words/bumfuzzle

 

[marlingardener]

Alp, garlic really shouldn't be difficult. You are in zone 9b, and we are in 8b, so we would plant garlic at about the same time. We put ours in now, cloves planted about 2" deep and 3" apart. Little green shoots come up, sit over winter, and then take off growing in early spring (February for us). I bet you could have some grand garlic if you plant now!
Garlic breath? That's why we grow parsley. It kills garlic breath when chewed after eating a garlic infused dish.
UpsyDaisy, feel free to use cattywampus whenever applicable! We also have "cattycorner" to describe a diagonal situation. English is such a rich language!

 

[Upsy Daisy]

Had to Google that one as well.....never too old to learn new things Thanks @marlingardener
https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=catty-corner&qpvt=catty-corner&FORM=IGRE

 

[alp]

Alp, garlic really shouldn't be difficult. You are in zone 9b, and we are in 8b, so we would plant garlic at about the same time. We put ours in now, cloves planted about 2" deep and 3" apart. Little green shoots come up, sit over winter, and then take off growing in early spring (February for us). I bet you could have some grand garlic if you plant now!
Garlic breath? That's why we grow parsley. It kills garlic breath when chewed after eating a garlic infused dish.
UpsyDaisy, feel free to use cattywampus whenever applicable! We also have "cattycorner" to describe a diagonal situation. English is such a rich language!

See, I have learned something from you today! I will do just that. It probably will be a long time before I can sell the house, I might as well crack on. Also, I have learned the word cattywampus! I had to google to find a pic to help me understand the word.

 

[Zenj]

Batteries recharged back in the freezing north east here’s a few photos the cucumber was growing up a telegraph pole at least 25 ft high.