Osteospermumsnet.com - flutter your foliage, pick your produce, shake your seed packets and bring your blooms to the Spring Show

[Lexilicious]

Welcome to the gardening quiche :)

Earlier malarkey was here

All welcome whether you are a Sackville-West or a Dimmock, an Oudolf or a Swift. Whether you dream of digging or dig for dreams.

Fair weather or foul, we've got disco lights in the potting shed and fairy lights on the terrace. Bring gin, wine just doesn't cut it round here.

for humphrey's ravenous slugs. How depressing for you. I have no other advice for you, everyone else knows much more than me.

Maud, that sounds like an amazing bargain. I was given lots of foxglove seeds last year which I just scattered but I don't seem to have any thing from them. I can't remember if I should even expect it this year or next. But somehow I suspect none of them germinated.

I was at the garden centre today and bought some coriander plugs (amoung other things), because we love using coriander but it sounds like they might be difficult to grow properly. Oh well, I'll give it a go anyway.

My biggest problem with coriander is keeping the slugs off. The seeds I grew in modules germinated well, but they seem to be sulking since being potted-on. The seeds I sowed straight into a very lovely Long Tom pot got off to a good start but were destroyed by evil slugs.

Yes, the packs on the 99p Store where you get seeds, flower pots and a tiny amount of suspiciously peaty-looking compost are a bargain. I have just direct-down some 99p Store sweet peas too.

I'm growing some 29p Lidl carrot seeds this year - so far so good - they all germinated and are growing at least. I love a bargain!

Humphrey :( I can't believe your slug problem. I wonder what caused such an infestation?

We have got loads of greenfly but often do - lots of sycamore trees nearby which seem to rain down a fine mist of tiny aphids and honeydew on everything.

We have the same sort of slug problem here - although the worst are the large ones which are larger than my thumb (I kid you not). We've even had thyme plants stripped - and chives.

Humphrey such a shame about your wildflower meadow. I planted a small bed (about 6ft by 1ft) with wildflower seeds and they're thriving despite it being quite shady, but I have been surprised by how long they've taken to get going. I planted the seeds in March and the seedlings are only just 3-4 inches. I thought everything would shoot up nearly overnight. Am looking forward to seeing flowers, and am hoping they get going before I move into my new house.

Went to the garden centre the other day and bought myself some plants to replace my dead seedlings. Have peas, broad beans, courgettes, dwarf borlottis, radishes, nasturtiums and one tomato plant in my bed now, and I chucked in loads of flower seeds too. It was so tempting to buy some cosmos plugs and some other flowers, as my seedlings died but I am going to trust the seeds I planted because I really mustn't spend any more money

Glorious sunshine here!

Oh, a quick question. I'm roughly planing my new garden out, and I'm keen to put weed plastic and/or bark chippings on the beds to keep down weeds, but then I was wondering how people who do this feed their plants? I know you could use comfrey tea, but in terms of putting compost on things - do you just not? Or do people rake their chippings up every year, put some feed on and then cover them back up again. Am clueless!

Haven't been able to watch any Chelsea yet as my internet connection is really slow.

Well my day of planting didn't go anywhere near as well as I hoped!! It was far too hot so while DH moved compost, I only managed to plant one corguette plant (don't tell my mum but I'm going to go down early when it's cooler and get more stuff planted)
I have planted my aubergines on, and some other on, trying desperately to get the conservatory emptied of most of the plants before flump arrives!

Tomato disaster! and multiple wildlife win here today.

I moved some things around on Monday evening to make better use of space, and planned to pot on my tomatoes into a zinc trough (deeper and shorter than a grobag so about the same volume). I didn't have time so just put the small pots in it and put the 1m square cloche over it. Two days of heat treatment in effectively an unvented greenhouse has not done them any favours. The Moneymaker is ok but it was a short squat plant. the yellow stuffer is the worst and I don't think it will revive. I'm hoping that the Gardeners Delight will cheer up by being planted deeply so that it can make new stems.

On a happier note, the boy and I have had a very educational evening around the pond. I'll post a photo later of him looking dubious about a frog, but through highlight was about four simultaneous live births of mayflies/damsels. I saw some nymph cases on the pond iris leaves, looked closer and saw one emerging! Then realised there were others all over the plant in different stages of transformation. (there's a proper word, I can't remember it) So that was a lovely 15 minutes of preschool biology lesson!

Yesterday we transplanted the thymes into my second herb pot. Will put up a picture of that too because he's just too damn cute. The one I couldn't remember is 'pine-scented' thyme. I got four new plants off them too - two silver posies, a common and an orange scented. Don't suppose anyone near the top left corner of the m25 wants to swop a tomato plant for a thyme?

sounds like a really nice experience around the pond. Makes me think more warmly of DH's plans. Sorry about the tomatoes.

I keep meaning to mention that I saw a bat flying around in broad daylight last weekend. It was being dive bombed by a swallow that had chased it out of the pigscot. It was large and pale brown. A really strange thing to see.

Just thinking about the mulch v. fertiliser, I use compost AS mulch in some areas, and use liquid fertiliser in areas I don't want to disturb, but then all mulching here is primarily about keeping moisture in.

Fortunately a lot of Australian plants will only live on poor soils and minimal amounts of native fertiliser.

About weed mat, be careful what you buy. Our garden was covered in it and it actually stopped a lot of rain getting through. I've torn out every bit of it, weeded by hand and use mulch to keep the weeds down instead. This sounds very heroic, but as our house is built on sand, weeding is not difficult.

just checked... narrow-winged damsel fly.

Just got in from a work do.

Had an alarming moment this morning, when I was eating my breakfast in the garden. A tiny bird - a fledgling tit - had got itself trapped in the upturned lid of a propagator. I know you're not supposed to pick up baby birds so I put him on the flowerbed, beneath where I think the nest is, but there was a crow on the roof and I do hope baby bird didn't disappear as a crow snack as soon as my back was turned.

Lovely nature notes from Lexi.

Spent a happy hour in the garden this evening with chooks free roaming and DH strimming. Planted the pumpkin patch up as they were suffering in the pots in the heat. Hope they'll be ok. Have slug pelleted the bed.

Lexi - I have loads of spare tomato seedlings (money maker and some variety of black tomato I think). Not sure if that helps . Happy to share if we can organise it. They're still quite small (about 10cm) at the moment so no great rush.

Bertha - yes please! we're coming over your way on Saturday pm through to Sunday morning actually. I'll pm you.

Maud - I used to watch out for the bluetits fledging from the nest box in the orchard in the house I grew up in - they'd normally fledge early morning, and sometimes one wouldn't make it onto the apple tree twigs but end up in the grass - long and wet - of course when their feathers got wet they had no chance of flying up into the tree. I would pick them up and pop them up in the tree - even had one begging me for food and not particularly keen on getting off my finger onto the tree.

just done another slug hunt. Looked a lot better tonight. DH mowed the lawn as the sneaky buggers were making their way up from the orchard. Hopefully that will get rid of a few more.

The man at the garden centre said that lots of people were having this trouble.

On a brighter note, the alliums are looking amazing now they are fully out. DS said "Look. It is a sophia" (sphere). We planted them evenly spaced around the cottage borders. I think next year, when the ground cover is stronger, it will look great. Mme Alfred Carriere is out, so is young Lycidus (forgive my spelling, I am too knackered to look them up). The yellow iris remain blue, but all other colours are as planned. The purple is my favourite, although we don't have a white properly out yet. The peony is out and makes me realise we need a lot more of those if it is going to look ok. The rose walk is looking healthy too.

Enjoy the lovely weather

I have Alfred Carriere out too- just the first few flowers! Also geranium Johnsons Blue, geranium phaeum and a really pretty green/white aquilegia

Love the wildlife notes esp the pond.

What do you think of this as a slug killer?
www.marshalls-seeds.co.uk/nemaslug-slug-killer-40m-pack*-pid2507.html?gclid=CKL41_Czl7ACFcQKfAodlTM2rQ

I am very excited because there are buds on some of my new David Austin roses - Winchester Cathedral, Buff Beauty and others whose name I forget.

I've never used nematodes because it sounds a faff, in terms of buying them, storing them and waiting for the perfect conditions to use them. Has anyone else used them?

I don't have a slug problem in the garden, they are in my house

I do have a snail problem - I have never seen so many snails in one place. There must be hundreds in my garden.

Do any of you have a small wildlife pool?

We're used nemotodes before but actually doing it properly this year. Also got slug gone pellets to try ( wool ones) so far we don't have as much problem as usual. They usually eat the potatoes ( on allotment this year) and rhubarb the most .

We've a frog pond, does that count?

I went on a slug hunt last night too. Not too bad actually but I also spotted a toad which was cool. And we saw a slow-worm earlier in the week too.
The peonies here have gone a bit crazy, not flowered yet, but about 4 ft high and I counted almost 40 flower buds on the biggest one
Roses also about to burst into colour. Gertrude Jekyl, Queen of Sweden, Egremont & Charlotte are the ones I remember the names of.

Lexi, I have tomato plants I could swap but might be a bit far away. We're between M3 & A3.

Unfortunately I haven't managed to get in the garden despite the lovely weather. A rather hot & grumpy DS has needed constant feeding.

40 flower buds! I have peony envy. (sorry)

It was lovely coming home today. Lots more flowers out. Lawn edged and looking great. The best bit is a truly beautiful oriental poppy. It is massive. I can see it from my living room door. Seeing it open was like being given a present.

Hurdle man is supposed to be actually coming tomorrow to start. I will believe it when I see it.

Yesterday evening I took pics in my garden and this morning the beautiful patterned blue iris in the pond was already open when I drew the curtains at 7. The blooms on the bearded iris are already over though, and the next ones on the flower spike opening. Does one dead-head irises?

catching up with Chelsea episodes on just iplayer ... has Rachel de Thame got a baby bump going on...??? Lovely if she does. I bet she's a very nice mummy.

Funnyperson, I've used the nemaslug stuff before. It's difficult to tell how effective it is, unless you have a huge garden and can do a controlled experiment by pouring it on one half and not the other. I don't have a big slug problem here, and I'm using the 'wildlife friendly' slug pellets at the moment.

Grockle, my pond is for wildlife - pics from yesterday on profile. I thought the frogs were gone this year after the spawn was set in the warm snap of march, then disappeared. But the young frog sitting on my arm must be a survivor. This evening I saw him reach out and swipe a damselfly nymph that had just crawled out of the water onto a rock to metamorphose. Bad luck, damsel.

The pond is great as a water source for bees (and wasps, hmm) and clearly breeds other bugs. I think i posted before about spending a happy few minutes (probably longer!) watching waterboatmen shagging. I would be really interested if someone came and told me how many species we're supported by it - it's less than a square metre but is chock full of life.

I have a bird box on the back of one of the sheds which has a blue tit family in it. One of the neighbourhood cats has a regular patrol along the back fence and I saw him come into the garden looking interested at the shed this evening when I was closing DS's curtains and should have concentrated on getting him ready for bed so I went downstairs, tiptoed to the end of the garden, and caught the cat sitting on the top of the compost bin in 'pounce mode'. But there was also a blue tit just above the fence, making a constant and very urgent sounding racket, which was clearly telling other parent and babies not to poke their heads out of the box or they'd get swiped. I think I might put another couple of screws there to make sure the box can't be knocked off by a hunting cat.

Put the washing out this evening too and there was a powerful scent from something. Don't know what - different but the strawberry flowers were pungent, more so than in daytime.