Magazine style - all inclusive

[Perki]

I did get quite a few bags of compost last week ( sixteen 50 litre bags ) thankfully think this may come and the GC will be shut . Its not very clear who can go to work and can't

What are you going to do now alp , I would assume you can't even go to your allotment ?

I scarified the lawn the other day and speak hours about 7 hours just weeding out rogue grass out of the lawn cause I haven't got much else better to do at weekends now. Dug up my old delphinium which I didn't thin were going to come up this year but surprise it did make a appearance, it has been slowly degrading over the past couple of year so I re planted it on the garage site and replacedd with Digitalis Stewartii I grow from seed last year.

No excuse not to get round to any jobs in the garden now for everybody, even next door cut the grass today must of been it 3rd or 4th cut in about 18 month.

 

[alp]

Yes, when we went to Gallows Corner B&Q, we had to queue up and maintain our distance. But all the goodies were gone!

It was very cold at night and now I understand why people say plant out after all risks of frost is gone, preferably end of April. I'm not even end of March and it was 2c outside last night. Because of the lockdown, very few cars passes by, so my heating source i.e. exhaust fumes, for my plants - echinaceas, alstroemerias, gypso.. was gone. I had to apologise to mes plants.

My perennial border plant is here!


Sorry for the orientation! Just to let you see I have another stem coming up with very healthy buds.

Been looking for these erythroniums since last month and suddenly whilst replanting my non-flowering snowdrops, I saw the three together or was it two.

Then I saw a clump of erythronium with NO buds and tubers exposed, so I removed it to replant it. Strangely enough I could separate it into 6 new plants. Well chuffed.

Need to make new raised beds and glad that today is the last day son needs to go to work. He could make one or two for me. Better post this before his mac runs out of charge. Trouble when son is home is that he always fiddles with my laptop as it has a much bigger memory capacity and now I can even see the sign in bar! Very annoyed.

 

[alp]

I did get quite a few bags of compost last week ( sixteen 50 litre bags ) thankfully think this may come and the GC will be shut . Its not very clear who can go to work and can't

What are you going to do now alp , I would assume you can't even go to your allotment ?

I scarified the lawn the other day and speak hours about 7 hours just weeding out rogue grass out of the lawn cause I haven't got much else better to do at weekends now. Dug up my old delphinium which I didn't thin were going to come up this year but surprise it did make a appearance, it has been slowly degrading over the past couple of year so I re planted it on the garage site and replacedd with Digitalis Stewartii I grow from seed last year.

No excuse not to get round to any jobs in the garden now for everybody, even next door cut the grass today must of been it 3rd or 4th cut in about 18 month.

Yes, well chuffed that Zenj mentioned Clover and I googled. Turned out that the young lady's Fenland nursery had tons and it's not that far. They were much better value £13 for 3 and they were not imbued with water. Son and I had to hold onto 4 corners of the Jack's Magic just to get the 2 into the car. A gentleman loaded the Clover for us. Son was precious until he saw a schoolmate working in the nursery and SHE loaded the compost for him. So he said, I could load them myself as the girl from the Academy could. My failure - I have spoilt my little emperor! LOL! Have to say, her nursery is an Aladdin's Cave - she has everything! Tons of Edgeworthias. Magnolia going for £20. I'm after an orange or deep yellow one! Now I have seen mags with very BIG blooms! Amazing sights everywhere and now I'm in the game.

Do you like Digitalis, Perki? I have tons of seeds from RHS and I didn't get round to sow them. I just don't have that kind of shade for digitalis. Taken up by snowdrops, erythroniums and hepatics. Gee, I wish I had spent money on one beautiful and expensive hepatics instead of 3 essential textbook ones. I so regret that. When I saw hepatics in another forum, I soooo regret mine.

Went to allotment to see my Stellata magnolia last Sunday and one allotmenteer looked like a wrongly tanned or bronzed toms - he's a sunlover and he must have spent the whole day on his plot. He has a whole plot and he stays there in summer overnight. Storing and heating his water for his bath and had his meal there. Another lady would come early when her partner was still alive and it was sad that she could no longer do the same. She would have breakfast there and her plot was beautiful.

Just got a pop up notice from ex that Apparently going to allotment is permitted in the lockdown! Yeah! Well, I have checked and don't seem to see that. I haven't really started on the allotment yet as it's imperative to grow food. Actually, I need to sow more toms. Ouch! So many things to do.

I watered my plants the first time yesterday. My potted hellebores are now dying from thirst. I have now tons of pots of seedlings to transplant. I hope they don't die before I can come round to transplanting them to bigger pots, like my gypso white Covent Garden seedlings. They all have now perished.

 

[Perki]

Well been out to work, its a grey area you can go to work if you can't work from home but also telling you to stay at home.

I like digitalis, Stewart ii supposed to be a true perennial and one of the tallest 7ft+. I find foxglove seeds don't keep for to long though.

 

[alp]

I will have a rummage to see what I have! Quite a few, but not stunningly tall like that. They tend to self seed where my first erythronium to flower this year. The seeds must be more than a year's old.

It's daff when you see the sardine packed underground trains when they talk about lock down. It's most important that London itself locks down and yet trains were full of people and builders were working on construction site. I found it incredibly cruel that residents in old people's home got abandoned and left to die in Spain. So heartless!

Son is now teaching in the living room. There go my Forensic Files and Murder comes to town.

The temperatures really sicken me - I still have to turn on the heating and now that little emperor is home, I can't even switch it off from 10 to 5 as he needs the living as his studio from 10 to 3! Also, my plants will struggle. Already my Salvia Glutinosa has displayed damaged leaves.

I didn't even know I had these. Bought when reduced. I have found about 5 to 6 or them Hurrah!

2nd F rubra

An Fritillaria Imperialis Lutea

 

[Perki]

Glorious day today even warmer here alp than where you are , says 15C but felt at lot warmer in the sun. You do make me laugh calling your son the little emperor . Haven't been to work today which is really annoying when the weather good, not sure whether to go tomorrow are not people are ringing up asking for there grass to be cut etc.


Spent all afternoon on the back lawn more weeding of rogue grass ( it way over the top really neighbours must think I am losing the plot ) I've spent for to much time on that lawn the past week are so, after finishing weeding the lawn bit of spiking with the fork - over seeded - top dressed and re leveled on one of the corners.

Took some pictures today , love the colour of these crocus .

Euphorbia Black pearl with Pittosporum tom thumb , they should really match up soon Euphorbia BP has a very dark centre and P.tom thumb new growth has lime colour leaves . Lots and lots of allium as well.

 

[alp]

Oooo! I caught a glimpse of the picotee behind the lovely crocus! Lovely! Yes, that crocus is the best - striking colours, stunning markings, apart from the saffron crocus which I have and will yield something next year. I bought 2 or 3 lots and they are not flowering yet. Reduced when I bought them.

Glad that you had a GOOD DAY! We had a sunny day. But considerably cooler in the shade. I am like an oven and son freezer! I would always be sweating and he needs his duvet jacket with hood on!

That 1c is sobering, for me and me plants! Sorry, plants! Put you out too soon!

In China, with one-child policy, all families want a son and when they have one, they spoil him and hence the term little emperor is coined. Some save up so that their children can be sent abroad to be educated, and they treat them to Italian fashion even when very young. Girls are not worth it as they need to go with a dowry! Sons carry the familial name and perpetuate the family tree. As I have only got the one, I don't spoil him. But I do spend quite a bit of money on his clothes, music which he has abandoned and of course his car! Ouch! Let's say no more! The worst is that I missed my roomy Nissan Note! My suggestion of going to get manure has met with a muted m!

See, Perki, you're still young. Nice to get a contractual job. Stability when nothing is certain, just as it's now. I reckon everybody is worried about contracting the virus or when and where the next penny is coming from.

I planted out some melon seedlings and covered them with a dome. Two days ago, I had a look, all the stems were broken in the middle. I was so fed up. So I just buried the seeds in situ in two of the hottest places. Chiltern Salvia seeds have come up nicely - really restored my confidence in the name. Had a look at the daff Apricot Twirl and the teal coloured muscari - all kissed by slugs. Very annoying. I don't really want to use slug pellets.

2 of these Fritillaria Imperialis Lutea

Rubra and there is smaller one next to it.

This camellia is full of buds.

Very pleased with me flowers! What are you people sowing now? I'm getting a bit nervous and hope I'm not going to miss the boat. My petunia seeds have seen no movement. Just not enough heat this year. Usually, my hellebores are covered with aphids, but not this year! Gee, I don't miss that! I repotted the Mini Munch cucumber seedlings and one leaf had already been munched, leaving half a leaf! And I had only 3 out of 4 precious seeds. I had some dahlia Variablilis Collarette Dandy mixed seedlings and I repotted them. After that, I saw some slimy trail, so I put out some slug pellets. The following morning, I saw a huge dollop of mucas on one pot and on the side, a huge slug! Very horrible stuff!

Sowed some grass seeds (tall ones).
Tom Sweet Asperitif
Sweet million tom
Tom black Russian
Tom Cherry Fall for basket
More petunia pirouette seeds.

Next year I must keep some Rosella seeds.

 

[Perki]

Another sunny day better than summer .

Your erythronium is a beauty very nice .

I haven't sowed anything for a while, should be more than warm enough for petunia seeds i used to germinate them on the windowsill with a plastic lid but use the propagator now , seeds don't keep long germination drops to below 50% after a year and you are really struggling after that , I have germianted some old seeds but if they are pelleted its a no go.

Top dressed and over seeded the front lawn today and did mum back lawn as well. Tidied up a bit in the GH and planted out the last of the wallflowers . Lifted some beetroot ( good condition ) turnips ( poor ) and some red carrots which have been slug fodder , still got some swede in that bed I may lifted them casue I've got some potatoes to plant in that bed. Dug up a dutch iris it was mingling with a coreopsis zagreb and replanted both along with a heuchera cola, dug up a kniphofia which I am giving to my mum I've got two Kniphofia mango in the GH to replace it with .

 

[alp]

Yes, very sunny, but considerably colder.

Back of my garden, my hellebores died of thirst. Would you believe it? Been replanting out the hellebores to ground and I think I have to chuck some as it's just unsustainable as I have too many in pots and there is not enough land. I have planted out speedy mixed salad, wild rocket, spring onion, Also planted out some big organic white and some red onion seedlings.

In a bid to cut down on meat, we had Tortilla wrap with fish and a bit of steak. The raw red onion just went through my nose. Looking for seeds and what's new?! I'm so hopeless. I stumbled on SWEET white onion seeds from Premier Seeds.Well chuffed and will sow them out after the icy Sunday!

I have spent a lot of money on Erythroniums and Trillium, but that trillium didn't emerge. Too late to complain. I knew it didn't look right. I had a check and found out that the petunia seeds germinated, but some critters have attacked the top bits and most of them have no chance of getting anywhere. Mango Kniphofia sounds exciting. I have a lime and another one, but they have been in drought hot area and only flowered once.

I have also planted out Radish Rosso Gigante and filled yet another raised bed. Now we have 3 of them all filled with seeds. I will have one more and filled it with Mizuna. They will withstand any slugs or snails. As my son says, Dig for England!

Wonder if it's time to buy a nomocharis bulb? Probably not! I so like Zenj's avatar! You know when GW first started last year, I screen-grabbed a bird and later I recognised that it was A DUCK! More shots of birds rather than the dogs! Would love to see Adam's lamb again!

T&M catalogue comes again and this time it tempts me with a bottle of Maxicrop seaweed extracts. Hope they are not the quality of Tesco cheapest bleach as the latter was totally useless.

I have now 10 milk bottles of banana peel mixed. One tub of stinging nettle mixed. Not going to do shopping until next week.

 

[Zenj]

Hi all
A nice sunny day a bit cooler ,dug a large shrub out of the front garden planted some seeds and begonias .Hers a few from today including a green finch keep well everyone.

 

[alp]

Now I wish I had bought a panny! Glorious sunshine there! I wish I had greenfinch here. But mustn't complain as I actually had long-tailed tits feeding here!

Yesterday, I wanted to snap a robin, but the blessed Blackie kept crowing and frightened the bird away. Sowed some iris seeds and wonder what they will be like. I cross pollinated the tall bearded ones with the ordinary ones which had tons of pollin. Will the hybrids have half a beard? LOL!

Going to water the plants. I must check my begonia from last year. There was a new shoot from last year's tuber. Thank heavens no more video teaching this afternoon.

 

[alp]

Much colder yesterday, so much so that I put 2 pieces of plastic over my plants outside.

A decent day. All my cuttings are dying because of the drought and cold. As I am too mean to use a propagator, my seedlings are not doing much. Apart from petunias, most of them look promising.

Newly made raised beds x 3 and some salad leaves are already germinating underneath. I wont' remove the bubble throws!

Snowflake

A most perfect camellia!

These photos were taken with the camera underneath this crown! Love the markings!

 

[Perki]

Not do anything yet today but my farmer gracy order arrived this morning some liatrus bulbs and dahlia red labyrinth so I'll plant them later . I going to dig out te day lilies sick to death of them not flowering they can live on the garge site road verge where the soil poor maybe that will force them to flower . Got plenty of seedling to prick out later

Did a lot of potting on yesterday afternoon, my two Brugmansia maya were potted on into 10L pots with JI no3 this time for the coming season - cannas Pretoria and durban - ginger lily - cobaea - dolichos lablab re potted ,Perennials Echinacea Pallida and Agastache White liquor also potted on.

Cloudy today and colder with a strong bitter wind but warmer in the GH

.

I have two propagators both stewart not controlled thermostatically one large which I think is 52watt and the little one only 8W nothing really to run , I always use the little one but both are on at the moment. If I had power to the GH I'd probably have one of them big vito pod ones but I happy with my two stewart they have served me well

 

[alp]

Haha! Just when I thought I had all the dahlias, out comes Red Labyrinth! Some of my dahlias side shoots are so tall that they collapse onto the side of the pot. I dug out some day lilies last year as they looked boring. Then a trip to Springtime in Enfield made me part with my dough for a day lily. Stunned by the stunning colour, I bought another one - a very gaudy one at that! But it's only £1.77 or a bit less.

It's so cold that I took out a plastic translucent tub and some bubble wrap to save my tender plants. Didn't expect to be caught in wintry chill!

Yesterday, next door asked me to get him 2 tubs of flowers! So I was in a crazy rummaging for my petunias. Perki, you're right - I might just use the vitopod, but it is in the lean to where all the electrics have been severed. Very sad that I have to turn on the central heating in British summertime and my seedlings are now shivering in the lean to. It's not even sunny out there now. Normally, my lean to serves as my giant propagator, but this year, I can't say the same.

Finish a 4th raised bed. Filled up with soil and now I just have to make up my mind what to grow in it.

My last count revealed that I have about 14 erythronium, including some tiny spin offs. Well chuffed.

Nothing exciting to share in the garden

Wonderful markings in this rubra

Martinette

 

[Zenj]

Morning all yes alp a very cold wind but apparently getting a bit warmer from tomorrow cold nights here though .