My garden makes me so happy

[HumphreyCobbler]

I wanted a garden all my adult life, and for the last three years I have had one.

To begin with I was worried it wouldn't be as much fun as I thought it would be, but I soon discovered it was even better.

It was an overgrown, tangled mess when we moved in and slowly we have transformed it. I am still a beginner, but I already know so much more than I did.

Today I came home to find a massive pile of well rotted horseshit waiting for me. It was brilliant.

I don't really know what the point of this post is, I just wanted to share

Ok, just think of me as your gardening Svengali.

I may have ruined something... Moved things around in my slightly overstocked bed, but it's the middle of a relatively warm day and the things I've moved (nicotiana, gaillardia) have gone into a massive wilty huff. Honestly, what drama queens - maximum ten minutes out of the ground sitting in a nice comfortable trug, and then planted back in a different place, and it's all woe is me, flop, droop. Yeah, so it took me another half hour before I got the watering can on them, but I had to dig a hole for my new rose. Get over yourselves.

Oooh, I have a flower on one of the paul scarlets from the pound shop

hope your plants recover. I feel like that about cornflowers. One drop of rain and flop, splat.

Huh. My Paul's Scarlet has grown about a centimetre since the spring. It needs a good talking-to.

Here's hoping your plants undroop themselves overnight, Lexilicious.

Maud I shall take a pic today, after H has hopefully put it up. It was quite a cheap one, nothing fancy - I got it to replace a metal one that is working hard towards converting entirely to rust. I need to get it up though, as the metal one ha plants all over it and it won't be too long before the Blackberry is non-removable.

Humph I would love to have a space for wildflowers. I worry about it looking too wild though, IYKWIM? I'm not sure if I'm that level of gardener yet. Ooooh we should devise a level system. So I would say that I am a level 2 veg grower (have progressed beyond strawberries and salads onto thinks like garlic and blueberries), but I haven't progressed yet onto being arsed to remove Dahlia tubers in the winter

Maud I ALSO have all of those tiny Euphorbia type weeds! There are millions of the buggers and seems I am always pulling them out.

Thank you, Pfft, I shall look forward to this further piece of garden porn illustration! Those teeny euphorbia weeds are incredibly fast-growing - from nothing to six inches tall in a couple of days, it seems.

Humphrey - In yesterday's Independent, Anna Pavord mentioned a wildflower which is very good for meadows because it is a parasite of grass roots and so weakens any remaining grass. I'll find the reference (although I think you said your problem is that the soil is not impoverished enough).

I have not yet taken a picture of the arch, as it took H over 4 hours to put the bugger up and I haven't sorted the plants yet

Link for Humphrey, in case it's any use.

I'm revising my plans for an arch, then, Pfft!

thanks for that - v interesting. I would love to go there.

Ahhh, Maud. I wouldn't let our experience put you off. The delay in the proceedings may have had more to do with H's refusal to use instructions for anything rather than any sort of innate arch difficulty.

He got all the way to the end, realised he had used the wrong screws at the start and had to take it all apart again. And the hardest part was sinking it into the earth.

Today's gardening grumble: Either the black hollyhocks I bought last year weren't or I have grubbed out the black ones and left the random seedlings. Another nail in the coffin for the black and white colour scheme. Hmm.

I am relieved that the single hollyhocks I bought from a bloke at the carboot sale are actually single this year, last year's lot from the garden centre were double ones which I particularly dislike.

Harrumph. One of the hollyhocks has opened today as rose pink - lovely, but certainly not black. I agree that double hollyhocks are a bit too "frilly knickers" for my taste.

how well you put it. frilly knickers indeed.

I see a fantastic border of pink and yellow hollyhocks on my way to work every morning in the same garden that has the beautiful, enormous rosa glauca. They look so good I am planning to copy them and have a load next year. Fortunately my MIL gave me lots of seedlings this weekend, along with two lace cap hydrangeas and two mob cap ones. What an excellent present.

Just had a lovely wander round the garden and discussed the plans for next year. DH is planning to dig up the path at the back of the house during the summer holidays so that we can import soil and muck over the winter. This also means we can plant out all the stuff currently residing in pots/nursery bed because there is no room to plant them. This will be a proper deep border, unlike all those we made when we first came which were far too narrow.

Ah you have the same problem as me then Maud - I got red ranunculus and you got pink hollyhocks. I shall be more careful who I buy from in future - can you get a refund on your should-have-been black flowers? Love frilly knickers :o

My green gladioli are about to flower. Well, they're supposed to be green

I have got some green gladioli too, they are in the veg garden for cutting. Am really looking forward to them.

Got home today to find that DH had weeded the round veg patch and it has gone from looking an unholy mess to looking rather fab. Have planted white cosmos all round the middle, with wigwams of sweet peas, climbing beans, runner beans dotted all around. Some lettuce that has seriously bolted is looking spectacular and the peas look pretty too. He did break of the cucumber plant though, but I forgave him.

I did a massive weed of the borders after DC went to bed and discovered some verbena bonariensis. Hooray. This plant always makes me laugh as it is the first plant DH and I knew the proper name of and we always said it to each other knowingly and felt like gardeners.

The wildflower meadow has largely recovered as all the flowers that were flattened have turned upwards now. There are about five massive pink mallows mixed up amongst it all, the dill looks wonderful and the cornflowers are multi-coloured and never ending.

I came home horribly grumpy after a hectic and pre-mentstrual day and found solace in my lovely garden

I think my problem is self-inflected, Christine. I bought black hollyhocks and already had several random seedlings from previous years' plants. It now looks as if I uprooted and composted the black ones and left the random seedlings in situ.

::smacks forehead::

I must rummage in the undergrowth to see what's become of my gladdies. I too had a galling day at work and was calmed by a quick stroll around the garden.

or even self-inflicted

Humphrey, I am very jealous. My H won't weed. If pushed he will do some jobs - he will mow the lawns, and cut the hedges. He will edge, but only if he uses the strimmer. I like to use edging shears.

I should not complain as he is very good at structural stuff. He's just nearly finished a large wooden play house for the children, and has dug out a play area for them, put a membrane down and hard wood chip. He's made a wooden sandpit.

I'm after a pergola next

I found you again!!! Yay!!
Will post tomorrow, must get to bed (it's just before 10 pm here) but just wanted to pop in and say hello. Someone remind me to ask about winter care for clematis vines, and passionflower vines, and honeysuckle. I planted vines for the first time this year, can you tell?

And does anyone here have expertise with grapevines? Mine is running amok and I don't know whether to smile indulgently at it in the manner of a permissive parent or exert some strict pruning discipline (I suspect not at the time of year).

Got your obelisks yet, Jacksmania?

Hello all. Just come back from a week in Portugal (the agapanthus growing over there is something to behold) and the garden's gone mad. Well, the veg have gone mad and the weeds have taken over in the long border. Still, we have eaten plenty of homegrown produce today to make up for a week of over-indulgence.

Does anyone have any experience of amsonia tabernaemontana? Thinking of putting some in the long border but thought I'd check on the sage advice of you all first.

I have just got back from a weekend in London and my garden looks so lush and green. I actually found myself showing someone a photo of my wildflower meadow on my phone

I am chiselling the soil from under my nails, after a happy hour planting today's bargain purchases.

I don't know anything about the amsonia - would it look like camassia (one of my favourite things, although it never flowers for me)?

Link for amsonia

But it was these pictures that I was particularly taken with. There was something about it in the Sunday Times so googled it.