Magazine style - all inclusive

[alp]

Went to the allotment and discovered all was not lost - 5 slim sticks of asparagus which I had hunted left, right and centre for last time miraculously appeared. Very happy. But I will raise the rest from seeds and see how it go.

One bean tray in the millennial's room hadgrown to 1 foot all and STILL inside the plastic bag. He has been teaching in that room!

Yesterday, I sowed some more Eleonora bean seeds nearly 20 in total 10 at home and 10 in the allotment plot. Also sowed sweet corns, radishes and coriander - all covered and hopefully protected.

Had a lovely lean piece of roasted pork last night at 8.30pm. Really late, but worth it.

Been very busy and haven't watered anything, might live to regret that!

Early Sensation

A new tulip from Farmer G!

The nectarine at the back has given the ghost! Blueberry very promising!

Lord Lambourne didn't taste much I remmeber it last time. Still in a pot.

Asclepia Incarnata

Abutilon

 

[alp]

Just saw this and really have to share it!

Really beaky this fellow!

 

[Perki]

Well the sun out again , hard frost this morning glad I brought the brugmansia and ensete back into the house and fleeced in the GH . My bleeding heart flopped with the freeze it tends to happen every year.

poor bird needs a beak trim , it be difficult for it to eat with it being so long

 

[alp]

My brugmansias are at the very top of my lean up. Nearly touching it; whilst the bird of paradise x 3 have had no flower this year.

Planted out a hardy orchid zygopelatum. Another died with excessive water. It's not so cold today. I did a bit of weeding and had a bonfire. Felt guilty as I had the fire too close to the neighbour renters. But I had no area to host a safe bonfire.

That bird might be able to reach all sorts of nooks and crannies. Got a shipment of about 10 facemasks. Just so sad for all of us. Last year was groundhog days for Brexit and now we have coronavirus! The only good news was Tom Moore 99 walked to raise more than £1m for the PPE for nurses. Better than the Beckhams or Ramseys or Richard Branson who wants millions from the government to keep his business afloat.

 

[alp]

Avons is having a sale

The Final Week of our Bulb Sale The last bulbs from our list are offered in our Sale which starts immediately. In the online Check Out process enter the Discount Code: SP2020 in order to obtain your 30% discount .which only applies to all the still dormant bulbs.

 

[alp]

Good morning - I am already exhausted. Water for an hour and haven't had breakfast yet.

No prize for guessing the weather. It was cold and there was a frost sheen on the bubble sheet this morning on one of the raised beds

This muscari looks like a mini tower

Could be ice-cream tulip. But I am not sure!

Tulip time!

 

[alp]

Old habit has resurfaced again - I'm checking for rain every day at every single weather report. Gone are the days when weather report came on like clockwork i.e. half an hour. Some programmes have to have no weather report during a whole hour - an egomaniac nuisance or sheer laziness. When Boris Johnson was in hospital, 2 hours solid of re-reading the autocute .. as if the newsroom rejoiced at the news! Might be they were. But it's just ridiculous! Rant over!

Not much rain to look out for!

Courgettes Black Beauty - I will plant them out at the back and hopefully I can have some harvesting soon!

All sorts there - melon, toms, lupin Blue shades .. thalicthrum .. lettuces

Wish all seedlings were like those of salvia Moorcroftiana or Barrelieri

Sweet corns Bantam!

The beans growing in the millennial's room.

Viburnum Plicatum Mariesii

Furry Pasque flowers!

 

[alp]

First thing i did after getting up was to go out and look for traces of rain from that blob of rain predicted to be HIT AND MISS. Obviously, it's 100% missed. Neighbour's daughter was showing the cracks in her garden soil, which I have a lot too. No trace of rain and it was very windy. The little emperor took my mouse and now I had to use the keypad!

This snip took 3 attempts

When sweeping the patio, suddenly saw these pristine and pure anemones! Only bought them because they were reduced! Such a welcome addition!

There was a powdery blue little butterfly which flew like a maniac, but I did manage to capture this!

Blown up from this one!

Waiting to feast on my icecream. Didn't buy the yellow one - too pricy!

Camellia E G Waterhouse

 

[alp]

Planted out 2 courgettes Black Beauty. Dreaming of harvesting in 3 weeks' time! Yummy!

Need to find a name for this beauty.

WAS raining and now it's cold.

Also planted out 2 x Roc n Roll alstroemerias. Sowed some spring onion and the instructions says 9" apart. These people can't be serious. 9" apart for spring onions! No wonder I have never really been able to grow any cabbages, broccolis .. You need acres of land to plant them.

 

[Perki]

Hi another cracking day

I wish I planted some spring anemones . Not done anything in the garden I seem to be onto of everything , just mowed the lawns again yesterday . I may plant some plants out in the garden at weekend , probably some agastache blue fortune I bought for a quid each bargin. I forgot to mention I think a fox or badger flattened some of my alliums while robbing the fatballs

 

[alp]

Oh dear! Fox or critters are nuisance. Another nuisance is squirrels. Early in the morning, they had all my sunflower seeds. 4 inches of them. Two of them went on the tree and just damage the feeder holes. I had to shoo them away. They did it very early in the morning 5 to 6am ish! Heartbreaking when they will flower soon. I have about 5 to 6 precious bold type in buds.

Then I trod on some mess and had to clean it off. Then I saw it on one of the raised bed with scarcely any new shoots. Removed it and surrounded the whole area with burnt ash. Very annoying.

Usually, at this time of the year, anemones went for a penny and so were snakeheads. Gone were the days. Such trauma this infectious disease has been wreaking around the globe. £1 for a plant is a real bargain and here they are perennials.

What a joyous scene my front garden is - clematis waiting in the wing, Cerinthes have taken over, and so have alstroemerias. I have incorporated some 3 new ones in the front.

You want one, and they come up in tons!

This one is more accurate although they are from the same page!

So disappointed as I am not having any rain now and it's 4.40, not a sausage!

Rain: You want tons and you have none!

 

[Perki]

Afternoon cloudy chilly day , its had a little go at raining but that all . I hope my beard iris flower this year I've had them for 3 years now with no flowers , they do have quite a lot of competition in that little border.

Been trying to buy some plants online but its been a nightmare lots aren't taking orders at the moment cause they are over run. I ordered a few earlier today from the secret garden club some for me and mum and a client who I am planting a large border up for.

 

[alp]

Competition? You should have seen mine 2 different bearded irises in the same hole as the purple rose and behind purpose rose some bamboo! They have both flowered and have finished! Mad and bad and that's me!

They will flower if there is heat and sun and baked rhizomes. I think it's like Monty trying for more than a decade for bearded irises. He then realised that he needed a wall and concrete ground to release heat even at night. Hot tin roof is the ideal place for irises. Boy, he was lucky - very pretty irises he had last year.

If you buy plants, please make sure you ask the supplier for a tracking number. Some of them use post office and the plant might be sitting there being squashed and you think it was Covid-19. Not true. Post office has been very good. But coming to delivering parcels, you really have to be lucky. Some branches are doing very well, some parcels can sit there for more than 8 days and you thought it was covid-19. If you ordered it and the seller said they had posted it. On the 3rd or 4th day, you should try to key in the tracking number. If they say we will only provide tracking info when WE HAVE ATTEMPTED TO DELIVER YOUR PARCEL, you need to phone the post office and ask them to track the parcel or even write to complaint office. No such worries if seller uses other couriers.

How about me chasing my organic flour?! Went to Upminster Waitrose and there two lone packets of irrelevant flour sneered at me. But still, I had to take them. Staff said that they were like gold dust and they couldn't tell us when they would be delivered. Might have to buy from Asda - ones with a bit of round-up in them!???

Was toying with the idea of buying petunia pirouettes. A week earlier, 5 for £12.99 free delivery or 3 for £9.99 on ebay. But was too mean. Now it's all gone. Jackson's garden on qvc seeling 3 mini plugs of Calibrachoas for £12.99 plus nearly £4 delivery. Wish I had bought from Summerhill or The British Garden Centre or even Thurrock. Now they are probably dying and my heart is crying!

 

[alp]

Got up very late 5 to 7 and the first thing was to water most of the garden at the back. In the end, the furthermost bit was still untouched. Weeded as I went along. Only stopped at 10 to 8. Eyeing up an area for asparagus bed. Might go to the allotment in the evening.

My trusted pelargonium - always outdoor and has come back 5 years in a row.

My beans are forming!

My alliums are doing very well. Don't know if the wire mesh has fenced off the foxes. There is still something digging my primula auricula, twice. But that didn't seem to be a big fox.
A new clematis bought at £2 or £3 last year - very big flower, compared with Montana Rubens - Fenne!

I stared at the spot for nearly more than a month and no news, only the label accusing me of my indulgence and extravagance! Turned out that I stared at the wrong spot - 3 inches away! I had given up on my Trillium Grandiflorum until 2 days ago. And lo and behold I have NOW 2 BUDS! One behind this one!

Magnolia Susan

All these lovely tulip with no name! Parrot tulip??

I will rename this one Fiery Gold! LOL!

 

[alp]

Get Britain blooming again: Gardening centres could open almost immediately as industry faces £1.6 billion loss amid coronavirus crisis

Whoa! I need some PLANTS IMMERSION THERAPY!

The Essex gc could be Blue Diamond in Harlow!