Come into the garden with Maud - all obsessive and wannabe gardeners welcome

[ComeIntoTheGardenMaud]

Whether you've got rolling acres or a tiny courtyard, whether you're a novice or a gardening die-hard, whether you're aiming for a garden of Sissinghurst loveliness or self-sufficiency à la Felicity Kendal in The Good Life, this is the place to be. Take a seat on the tastefully-painted Lutyens bench and chat with fellow enthusiasts. There may even be a bottle of gin in the potting shed.

[ComeIntoTheGardenMaud]

I'm not so sure, Mistle. Sadly, I know what Spanish bluebells look like at first hand (another misguided gift from my mama when I started this garden) and, although I can't see very clearly, it looks to me as if the flowers are clustered at the top of the stem rather than along its length. The leaves also look too broad and too numerous. What do you think, Bertha?

[WynkenBlynkenandNod]

A type of Scilla maybe ? Hard to tell from picture as can't zoom in.

[Blackpuddingbertha]

Been googling for good photos of spanish bluebells and I'm not sure. Will have to go and look closer tomorrow but I think the leaves are broader. Also, it's just the one clump and I'd have expected spanish bluebells to spread further.

[funnyperson]

I pottered about in the sun today and got happily wet while watering the lawn.I decided to put the generous gardener rose on the verandah and dug in lots of horse manure. Some lilium regale bulbs arrived with 5 types of dahlia tuber in the box. I couldnt remember whether I had ordered the dahlias or whether they were a free offer. Anyway I decided to plant them out the front. My dad wants a magnolia soulanganea and the price online for a tree varies between £6.99 to £49.99 Guess which one I ordered - it comes with more free dahlias so dad most likely is going to have some in his front garden too!!

[fivegomadindorset]

Right DH is just about to look at polytunnel instructions. If we can get the frame up today, nephew is coming over next weekend he can help finish it off.

[worzelswife]

Hope you're all enjoying the weather and managing to do some gardening.

I have a question. On page 88 of the GW magazine there are the most gorgeous photos of compact plots. I haven't seen anything like this before and want to try to replicate it, or something similar. Does anyone know of any information out there, say a website, that tells you what to grow and where. I don't have the knowledge about whether some things will not like being so crowded. Just some help identifying the plants in the photos would be amazing. The first one seems to be a cucumber plant with some parsley and a chilli pepper, but in the other photos I'm not so confident. Maybe a cabbage and geraniums? Top left page 90 I have no idea! I would love to put some flowers in amongst my veg; it's so pretty.

[MoreBeta]

WEATHER WARNING!

Not sure if the Weather Warning For Gardeners thread from OYBK has been mentioned.

Temperatures are going to drop sharply by next Saturday so best take special care if planting out new plants or delay it a week or two.

[PurplePidjin]

DP has gone running. My mum just rang to say she has a bag of compost for us and do we fancy a trip up Otters to buy plants (she promised him plants for his February birthday)

Argh! Hope he's not doing a marathon wouldn't be the first time so we have time to do gardening!

[HJisgoingtogoBOOM]

Went to pound stretcher this am and got a plum tree. I couldn't resist the £5.99

[Lexilicious]

I've been thinking about the packed-in-ness of gardens worzels for ages... I think in terms of putting flowers beside veg you need to borrow principles from successional/catch-crop sowing. Two deep rooted or thirsty plants beside each other won't be happy, but shallow rooted beside longer-growing works well. I think I am going to plant parsnip rows between my onions in about June because they won't grow enough to get in the way of the onions before the latter get pulled. I think I've read of them as a good pairing too. Look up companion planting too.

planting some flower seeds in trays today on my shed windowsill. So far borage and foxglove, aquilegia next and I'm thinking of doing California poppies in a pot.

[PurplePidjin]

Ooh, HJ!! Place your bets, please, I'm going to see if my local PS has them and we shall see if it grows in a pot on a terrace

[worzelswife]

That makes sense Lexi. I see that Alys Fowler who wrote the article has a book on the subject, the Edible Gardener. I might buy it. I just wish I could identify all the plants in these particular photos as they are so very striking. I love the purple tripod she's used for her cucumbers against the chilli peppers. So colourful.

Just been out and planted some strawberries. They had to come out of their growbags and go into the beds my LL has been making.

[PurplePidjin]

I tend to have multiple things in each pot due to my complete inability to deadhead

I have a "butterfly pot" containing a buddleia and a lavender. The rose is intertwined with tulips an narcissi. The new plum tree has gone in with some of last year's strawberries. And the sunflowers and aubergine are snuggling up. We shall see how it goes...

[fivegomadindorset]

We have had a good afternoon clearing a scrappy bed, great soil so suggestions for bank planting on a sheltered and sunny sputh facing bed would be grateful.

Have ordered in 2 tonnes of topsoil tonight for veg beds.

[Blackpuddingbertha]

Happy day in the garden interspersed with going to a lambing thing with the DDs which basically involved man-handling looking at cute lambs and just missing out on the live lambing bit as we got bored and wandered off for lunch. When we came back, as if by magic, two more lambs. Poor timing as ever.

However, the veg plot now has its roof back on, I've planted a load more seeds (including my humbug parsley which I'm quite excited about), spread some manure and generally had a tidy up.

Have added a close up of yesterday's blue flower. Plus another different one I found which there are loads of. I'm slightly confused as they both bear some bluebell resemblance but neither of the flowers really are bell-shaped when they open. The new ones (third photo down) look more like the Spanish Bluebell as the leaves are thinner but I'm still not convinced. Maybe I have a few varieties of hybrids.

Also dug up a clump of snowdrops from over the fence, divided them and replanted (in my garden) - about 100 bulbs in just one spadeful! Hope they'll come up nicely next year, although the DDs helped with this bit and were a little heavy-handed...

[PurplePidjin]

They look like the bluebells/harebells we get round here, Bertha

[puffylovett]

Hello all. Well I appear to have got started on weeding and drunk lots of lovely wine on my sunny patio with the chimenea fired up last night which was lovely!

Any suggestions on what I can do with our strawberry bed? They take up fully half of the veg plot and I've no idea which are new and which old. I have a big strawberry planter I need to fill, and need the space but feel awful digging them up...

[ComeIntoTheGardenMaud]

I had a very productive afternoon in the garden. I upended the dalek composter and dug out masses of lovely compost with which I've now mulched the beds - I know it would be better if the beds were wet, but as ever it's a compromise.

Next tasks will be planting out the things I've been growing on and excavating the black bamboo to check whether (as I fear) it's dead.

I've misalid my GW mag but will have a look at that artcile when I find it.

[worzelswife]

Thank you Maud, I would be v grateful!

I have bought some purple paint to paint my bean/pea tripods. Hurrah! It looks so fantastic in the article. Only a couple of £ on ebay too.

I am off to the garden centre one day this week to get more veg seeds for my newly extended flower beds. So far the plan is to also buy some cosmos, marigold, nasturtium and sunflower seeds. They are the ones that are best for putting in amongst veg as far as I have found out, and then I can also get others if someone is clever enough to identify more from the GW article. I don't know why they haven't just put a box of text saying what they all are.

[funnyperson]

blackpuddingbertha in your new photo the flowers look like chinodoxia. But the leaves look like......bluebells.

Last autumn I had a little think about blue bulbs for spring........bluebells, chinodoxia, scilla, grape hyacinths, anemone blanda. In the end I chose a light blue scilla and they have come up and look very pretty with the light yellow yellow species crocuses I planted at the same time, though intriguingly only a few of the '50 bulbs' have come up. I put them in a pot and when they are over I will plant them out in a sunny corner under a tree. The anemone didn't come up at all- sabotaged by the squirrels sadly. The robin was happily eating my cornflower seeds today. I had to laugh, he looked so chirpy.

[mistlethrush]

How about pyranean squill? Leaves of the squills look about right for your pictures.

Sitting at office desk and gazing longingly out of the window at the sunshine.

[msbuggywinkle]

I'm MNing in the garden

Looking at the 10 day forecast for here, it isn't supposed to go lower than 5 at night. So hopefully my herb plants will be ok.

I'm going camping over Easter weekend. Will be taking all of the fleece PJs!

[LaurieFairyCake]

I've just got back from another allotment afternoon as loads of plants arrived ! - I've just planted 30 raspberry canes (for £20) and 48 Lavender Munstead today.

I have another dozen rose bushes to go in but I didn't have time to dig big holes so they are in a bucket of water til tomorrow.

What a lovely day, it's so hot out there.

[ComeIntoTheGardenMaud]

Latest gardening news:

Lidl have got lots of gardening goodies in store - I came away with a plastic trug and a large foldable tray for potting-up. They also have loads of tools and a rather attractive walk-in plastic greenhouse for which, sadly, I don't have room.

Sweet pea sowing for me tomorrow, I think. I am loving the lighter evenings - I have not long come in from the garden, where I discovered how much wider the path would be if I hacked back the vinca and galium odoratum that have gradually encroached on it over the years!

[Blackpuddingbertha]

Was also in Lidl today - there is some good stuff in there. I managed to come out with nowt but some children's gardening tools for niece's birthday though. Proud.

Ok, my official verdict on the two blue plants - the first one is Pyrenean squill (thank you mistlethrush there is a photo in that link which is spot on) and the second is chinodoxa which I actually have in my long bed and only noticed the similarity earlier today (got quite excited about self-identification and then came on here and realised that funnyperson got there first!). Thanks all .