Magazine style - all inclusive

[alp]

It hasn't rained one iota since last night and this is today's miserable forecast - exactly that - no rain, but miserable!

Echinops are too happy here, LOL! I dug some up and potted them up, thinking of freegling them. The response was tremendous and I was so overwhelmed that I withdrew the offer. But still, the plant rejuvenated and there is already a big clump. Yesterday, the bees, ants, flies were very happy and hover around the globes

so this is also called Sour Grapes, but Beard Tongue

A lone Pensham Eleanor Young Salvia

Need to water or mist my newly bought orchids.

 

[Perki]

Morning, raining again and they has been a flood warning as well can't see that happening after walking past they river yesterday.

where you get the salvia from alp ?

 

[alp]

How about me? Predicted neon, yellow, exciting glowing blobs and what have I got today? Drizzle for half an hour. Ah, no! Spits!

I know how iresome rain can be though! If men are so clever, why can't they direct the winds and rains and dissipate hurricanes? Why concentrate on killing one another?

You can see the name of the nursery on the last photo. I went onto facebook to vent our discontent. After that i.e. an hour late, about 2pm, I finally got the parcel and the plants were bone dry. I had already watered a bit and I then lifted it up to take the photo. When I wanted to go to facebook again, the medium which charges real money to promote corporate identity and progress stopped me and directed me to private direct message.

I am after Salvia Brilliantasia, but it says £9 on flea and I have spent the dough on yet another Davidii Involucrata! and some more Fritillaria Imperialis rubra and lutea. Fasting and self-restraint are called for.

What irks me more is that all the flower seeds and horticultural stuff had gone before the shops opened their doors this morning. Free horse manure and home-made banana potash liquid feeds must be earnestly harnessed for future use. I am going out to dig up the woodchips from last year and will use them to mulch and mulch and mulch ..

I have taken a lot of cuttings and hopefully and I have more spare plants. I need to have tons of box cuttings. So far, I have done Cotoneaster, salvias, penstemons, rosemary, roses and yet more rosemary (draping one which I like more)!

 

[alp]

! Whoa! Hold the horse! It's already heating up here!

Perki Have you seen the name? Enough said.

I wonder what stuff you guys have been buying or is it trade secrets? Very happy that I have got some green hellebores and some white picotee. Delivery can be so expensive.

@Perki Where did you buy your Veronicastrum please? You could private message me please? Love to have a go.

 

[Logan]

Here's a video on how to attract hedgehogs, I've made one yesterday and the hedgehog found it straight away.

 

[Zenj]

Dull and cloudy today canna just showing and balloon flower.

 

[alp]

Zenj - Nice Panny and nice flowers! Done nothing after 11am. Removed some 7' bamboos and runners and planted them strategically to hide the broken fence. Planted out about 6 trays with no watering holes as I know it is so hot in those areas that the bamboos will survive even with no outlet. People don't understand how hot it is in my house. Some woman insisted that I removed my plants from water. LOL!

I left a runner immersed in water in another area and now there are two green shoots. Putting them in trays will stop them running amok even though they are clumpsters.

It's has been so sunny and humid here. Sweat was streaming down my face this morning before 11am. Dithering about sowing delphinium seeds as I don't know if I can overwinter them successfully. Bought two Piel de Sapo melons at £1.79 each. They were delicious and chucked some seeds last week and they germinated yesterday. Tomorrow, I'm going to plant them out and will sow more Pak Choi!

 

[alp]

I have managed to kill all my cannas this year. GC was selling them reduced £5 and they charged £25 for a 3 foot cannas. Not much hope for me. I might get one in the market when they are reduced. Just sown 3 allium giganteum seeds. The stem snapped quite early on and the seeds are pathetically small.

Not going to be much rain 10% in here means zilch!

Going to mulch the border and dig up some more irises for the allotment.

 

[alp]

After an hour of intensive slaving, my garden has rewarded me with these

I nearly killed this plants. One of those I want to move with me and confined to pot with very little water. Suddenly, I have 2 flowers in one pot and probably one grafted plant. So thrilled as I initially didn't see the blue ones at all. Even the spider loves it.

And this must be raised from seed. One beautifully tender delicate pink macrophylla

 

[alp]

Angry clouds are just angry clouds and howling winds are just empty spins! Not even an inch of rain for me. It's is that SAD!

Upside is that it is civilised and cool and I can turn a blind eye and not water the plants.

agapanthus alba are very happy

The echinops flower has such beautiful flower spikes at the bottom. They are so popular with bugs - flies, ants and bees and yet their flowers and leaves are so prickly.

Fuchsias are just so blousy .. really make lovely lanterns!

Someone's old and spotty hand really ruins the photos. LOL!

 

[alp]

Beechgrove is back on

BBC Scotland - Beechgrove Garden, 2019, Episode 8

George reviews progress in the fruit house, while Carole appreciates the crop of cherries.

www.bbc.co.uk

Ooops! Not in HD! Blah Humbug! Thought I was in 1960s!

 

[alp]

Having my organic bread for lunch now. Shocking to see so much rain dumped in Yorkshire whilst I'm pining for some! Sooooo sorry for those afflicted.

What happened to summer? Bridge collapses, homes are wrecked and a town is 'cut off' after 'extreme' storms dump a month's rain in an HOUR (and there's more misery on the way today)

Always dreaming of having a house by a river. Suddenly, it doesn't seem to be such a good idea!

The stuff nightmare is made of!

 

[alp]

Did 2 hours of watering and will go to the allotment later. The heat must have brought on these. Flowering non stop

Moved the saliva uliginosa from the raised bed to the centre patch. The plants were 4 foot tall and towered above the dwarf raised bed. They seemed to have suffered very little stress after tons of water being poured on them. I think this is one of the tallest salvias.

 

[Zenj]

Another dull damp day ,watched Andy and Jamie Murray last night on the IPad great match ,doubles USA .been shopping today Wilco’s all there own seeds 10p Johnson’s 30p they had loads.

 

[alp]

You lucky thing! Ours were all gone last week. Not a packet of seeds in sight. I bought 1L of tom concentrate with seaweeds and magnesium for £1.50. The 3L for £3 totally emptied. I remember how Wilko reduced their stuff to 10p and this year, I haven't even seen any pots, labels reduced to 50p, let alone 10p.

I went to the allotment at 8.30 and came back 11.30am. Totally exhausted. Just finished watching a decking video as I was too late to go out to the garden i.e. the sun is OUT!

Another thing I want to cry about is there is a house with 200 foot garden for sale at the back and the bus will take me one journey to the allotment. Or perhaps, I don't need any allotment. But my house is not on the market. Yesterday I watched Escape to the country and the country in Ireland live totally off grid - no utility bills to pay! Amazing and 16 acres for £400K, but the couple lost out. What is the point of me moving to the back for 200 foot garden with no view!?

My allotment which I took over from the last day of April Some bits are still messy, but considering I have to duck the sun and was seldom there, I count it a success! LOL!

Tall bits in the centre is the squash x 2 or pumpkin given to me by Peter. The tendrils want to go onto M4 or M25!
Have 2 pumkins and one squash so far!

My sweetcorn next to Mary's grapes!

My compost bins, climbing beans, dahlias, box and aster x 3

My Phygelius, cape fuchsia, crocosmias which escaped my culling, evidently, a standard rose. Some 3 alstroemerias which do not set seeds!

tons of hellebores and this is the messest corners as I am usually exhausted after 3 hours of intense work mostly watering!

Some hydrangea paniculata, Vim, agapanthus and the blue one has started to set seeds!

Fig tree has got loads of little figs! Another patch of direct sown sweetcorn.

As you can see, I am too lazy to upright the plants. Just in a hurry, as usual.

Sweet Sultan

My tomatoes in a fabric planter

OK. It's a bit of a mess, but considering 3 months of work and weeks of weeding and turning of soil. I don't feel too bad!