Humph's Happy Horti-cult: harvesting, preserving, mulching, leaf-gathering, bulb-dibbing, seed catalogue-surfing and hunkering down for winter

[Lexilicious]

Following on from the original March to August thread. For all - whether still gardening through the winter or planning to sweep the shed, hibernate, sharpen the tools and get started again in the spring.

Happy gardening again!

Thanks for letting me join this lovely thread. Yes it was very spring like today with all the birds singing. My garden is north facing with a large oak tree at the sunny end (which shades the sunny end). Underneath the oak tree is a rosa 'new dawn' which is beginning to grow into the oak tree which I am really excited about, and a choisya, summer jasmine, cyclamen, geranium johnson's blue and some aquilegias. then to the side is a ceanothus and this year I am going to grow a clematis into it (montana elizabeth) and by the side of that a white rosa albertine which is rampant, underneath which are paeonies, alchemellia mollis, a hibiscus (which never flowers, sadly) and the hellebores, snowdrops anemone blanda and japonica and everywhere in the lawn are forget-me-nots because the lawn slopes downwards so the forget-me-nots seeded into the lawn.
The other bed has an apple tree, honeysuckle, winter jasmine a pink species rose, lilies, irises, a hydrangea, a blue perennial bush, a spider plant which I planted and which grew, a topiary cotoneaster, japanese anemones and a hypericum and some primroses and a fews daffodils and tulips from Jaques but not in any designer way.
There are lots of gaps. Its all a bit random really.
This year I am thinking seriously of getting some hosta and lilium ( I am told there is a tall burgundy variety which grows in shade). Any suggestions?

You need Maud to come on with suggestions. She's good at that .

Why all the cautious and tentative, ladies? Do we sound like we're going to casually whack incomers around the chops with our foam kneelers? Or that there's an entry test? the more the merrier. Pull up a chair weed and get stuck in.

Funny, have you tried going on the RHS plant selector for your shady bed requirements? I wouldn't plant hosta in a garden that I wasn't able to go pest-hunting every day in. Up off the ground in planters, baskets or jardinieres, maybe, but they need watering. Child plus job means my garden has to be left to its own devices all week, about all I can promise it is one or two waterings for the veg.

at the thought of an entry test

hello everyone

I want an Albertine, Funny - I bet it looks lovely in the tree.

Came home today to find DH hobbling with a bad back but he had hired a friend for the day to dig up the turf on the little bit between the roses and the raspberry patch. DH is on a mission to get rid of lawn in favour of flower beds, on the basis that I do the weeding and he does the mowing. I think we may put a standard fig in the middle of that bit and then do a kind of spiral shape bed around it. He talked to our fantastic tree man who said that we could try an apricot there, or a quince. It is really hot and sheltered. I would like a quince but I think a fig will win. We have one but it has done nothing much as yet, although I gather this often happens with figs. They are my favourite fruit.

Humph, IIRC figs fruit better if you restrict their root run, maybe sink a pot or slate line the planting hole.

Yes, I've heard the same thing about figs. I took mine out of a pot for which it got too big. It's now in open ground and I'm wondering whether, even at this late stage, I should sink some upended paving blocks around it, to confine the roots.

I'll think some more about lilies. Because I am a plant snob have a rigorous black and white colour scheme in that part of the garden, I don't plant coloured ones. Most lilies are fine in shade. My favourites are lilium regale, because of the height and scent, but I do have some (can't immediately think of the name) which are purportedly black but are in fact dark maroon. I'll inspect them tomorrow to see if they still have their label. The thing to bear in mind is that very dark flowers can become lost in shade, which is the drawback of my B&W planting scheme once the tree that shades it is in leaf.

Some hostas are more slugproof than others - go for the ones with more leathery leaves as the tiny delicate ones can be chomped to nothing in an evening.

I'm worried slightly that Bertha is telling me in a very kind and gentle way that I should stop imposing my gardening obsessions and prejudices on others, so I'll stop now!

And Lexi is right, of course. This isn't (I thought) a thread that anyone needs permission to join. The more, the merrier!

Hey Maud you mentioned AIBU above, would you join me in a bit of sparring for fun if I set up an AIBU about how people simply MUST plant wildlife friendly cultivars and anyone who doesn't is EVIL and is just supporting the genetically modified gardening industry? I think you could hold up a good fight for the aesthetic perfection of highly bred strains...

I just went round the garden weeding and clearing leaves in response to an over critical email from some git at work (am working at home today ). How very dare he! Still, it turned it into a positive, as weeding and clearing leaves is a great way to get back in touch with what's happening, there's so much I miss when I'm just looking generally and not seeing the detail... I had a little fillip of joy to see dwarf Katherine Hodgkins out in flower on the top of the rockery, and my lovely deep red Monarda (from last year's Hampton Court FS) has spread loads - I may even need to divide it!! And I have two open yellow crocus flowers in a hanging basket.

I got the DCs to picked up all the leaves and dead stuff, only to find a load of dwarf narcissi growing in the front garden. Since I haven't planted any, the mystery of the bonus bulbs remains.

Dunno, Lexi. I find the real AIBU very scary!

Yeah. Good call. I think I started a MIL one in there once. Daft idea. I didn't get chewed over and spat out as such, it was just that nobody got the point.

Planted angelica seeds today straight in the ground. As well as the dwarf irises, I have a daffodil just starting to open. Ah, springy springy sprung.

What's the backdrop to your black and white border maud? Is there green foliage and brown soil? I mean to say, how pure can you get it? In shade maybe a light colour painted fence (neutral like a cloudy grey) might give enough of a backdrop for black flowers to be more visible.

I like lilium regale best too, and have some (forgot to mention them) and I think I'll plant some more this year (not sure when is best)
The maroon lily thing came from looking at this planting scheme
www.bhg.com/gardening/plans/shade/bold-woodland/
for a shady spot under trees. The photo looks nice.

The lilies in the scheme are called martagon lilies I'm not sure about them, but apparently they grow very tall, about 6 foot, do well in shade and complement hosta. I wouldn't normally, but the spot I am thinking of really is very shady and rather bare.

ooh look an online seed swap!

Just dashing in and out as our internet connection is back (hooray) but the sun is shining and I reckon I have an hour and a half gardening time (hooray hooray).

The backdrop to the B&W area is the fence to which I've just added the trellis, which is covered in white climbers (and a rose that was meant to be palest pink but is actually a bit pinker than ideally I would like, but I don't want to transplant it so am hiding in the froth of other white things). Because of the weed problem here (aka lack of time for weeding) I plant very densely, so there's little soil showing by the end of the season.

Have you seen lilium speciosum rubrum? They are divine. I like to plant them in memory of Eric, my late gardening mentor, who introduced me to them.

Had a glorious day in the garden. It was heavenly. I planted four oriental poppies, lots of geraniums, weeded the rest of the cottage border, ate lunch outside , watched the children pickle around outside, gave the children their tea outside (no inside mess) and generally had a lovely time. Am so excited that this year we are really ready to start spring and not playing catch up all the time. The cottage borders are coming up beautifully. I can't wait.

Thanks for the tip about the figs

DH moved two mock orange and put holes in the buckets for planting. As well as many other things I have forgotton. He was busy all day. We have LOADS of buckets and am looking for ideas for things to put in them. One side of our house, the bit with all the windows is presently a sea of tarmac and we want to look at some green! There are some holes put in with what will be fan trained cherry trees, but they are only little as yet.

I had a great garden day too. Got the veg plot put back together after the snow loading failure although it is now roofless and will remain so until we get some inspiration about how to put a roof on that we can remove on threat of snow. Picked the last of last year's veg from the plot - leeks, parsnips & celeriac. The cabbages and kale are looking great too; I reckon I'll be picking kale in a couple weeks . Got the beds composted and dug in a bit in preparation for planting and DH made the asparagus bed.

Loads of jobs left on the list for tomorrow but felt really good to get going on stuff.

Maud - I think everyone values your suggestions please don't stop!!

Final note - spring is definitely on the way as the DDs stayed out on the trampoline today whilst we retired inside to watch the rugby . The next time I looked out the window they were engaging in their favourite bouncing routine - naked trampolining! In February

at naked trampoling!

Oh, and had meant to say that DT Brown's have free p&p on seeds this weekend.

My bargain of the week is pots of snowdrops in the green for £1 each. I'm going to mingle them with the hellebores.

Hello blackpudding!

Your gardens all sound so beautiful. I am most jealous!

I am waiting for my elbows to calm down (a bit inflamed at present; I have EDS) before I do anything for the moment. But I did wander to the local cemetery today and there were so many crocuses and snowdrops out. I passed lots of front gardens on my way back, they were all neglected and bramble covered. I so wanted to do some guerilla gardening and plant some wildflowers.

do it worzelwife - it is a great plan!

Another fantastic day today, what wonderful weather we are having. Lots of things coming into bud.

So pleased. I pruned the roses last week and this week shoots are coming up in all the right places. Today i moved the snowdrops (more coming up) to beneath the white japonica which is just flowering, near the hellebores.I
cant think what to spray/paint the fencing with. I'm not keen on orange.
Still not sure what to do with the lawn. Last spring it was a carpet of blue forgetmenots which the children asked me to keep. Today I tried digging some up and replanting them near the tulips.

I love forget me knots. The orchard has a carpet of them and it's beautiful.

Do snowdrops move ok? Found some today growing near the orchard in the 'adopted' garden. We can't see them from the house so was tempted to dig up a few clumps and stick them in our actual garden. Will this work?

DH filled the asparagus bed today with soil which was originally turf we cut from where we put in the long bed last year. We'd dumped it in a pile by the compost bins and it's turned into fantastic rich soil. That plus another pile we'd cleared when we extended the veg plot perfectly filled the new asparagus bed. Couldn't have planned it better!

I dug out all the remaining jerusalem artichokes so I can replant next year's crop. I'm estimating I have about 10-15kg of them . Some will be sent off to Maud in the next day or so; last chance for anyone else to have some - PM me if you do. The remainder will no doubt be turned into soup. It did occur to me that if I had a way of selling my neglected organically grown artichokes, based on supermarket prices, it would probably cover my annual veg growing costs...

BPB try putting some tubers on that seed swap website, for nominal fees - you could make a bit, at least!

I've just bought some plastic cloches and a 1x1 metre grow bag/raised bed cover from greenfingers.com for £35 inc free standard shipping. If I find five minutes here or there I might put some sheets flat on the ground to warm up the soil.

First frog spawn appeared Saturday - that's a day ahead of last year! And my pair of honeyberry plants from the cover offers from GYO arrived and I potted them. They're only an inch tall so I will be amazed if they get at all productive this year.

Whether to move snowdrops 'in the green' or wait for them to die down to bare bulbs is a matter of hot controversy in the RHS magazine, but I've always found it works - and I need it to as I've just bought 10 pots of them!

Lots of gardening action for us all this weekend with the lovely weather. I'm moving a little gingerly this morning after first digging session of the year.

DS helped me. We planted Hellebores, Heather, cyclamen and Snakeshead whatitsname plus pink Dicentra under tree in the front. We've a fair few primroses so I was splitting them as well. My White Dicentra are under trees in the back with more primroses.

We also got two climbing roses both with a clematis in and one shrub rose so hopefully will have flowers in the back finally.

Can anyone recommend some very hard wearing grass seed, need to do something about the dog induced mudbath out the back