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.

I have one verbena bonariensis that has some shoots, the other one doesn't have anything and the new ones I planted out this year haven't grown at all since they've gone in the bed. I'm assuming hoping at some point they'll all wake up and go mad.

My verbena have grown some shoots but nothing approaching buds yet. Was quite worried that they hadn't survived this winter and failed to find seeds to grow some more so just hoping for a good show and lots of seedlings next year.

Bertha how are your morning glories? Mine are out and twirling up thier canes but still very pathetic and spindly looking.

Lots of my perennials looking really good now though and this sunshine has brought on lots of flowers and buds. I have loads of huge foxgloves all of a sudden too.

Lexi. There can't be many thymes left that you don't have by the sounds of it

It's lovely hearing about everyone's gardens. And good to know it's not just me that's excited obsessed by the day to day progress in the garden.
I was really chuffed as we had some friends round at the weekend who were very complimentary about our garden. My hard work is beginning to pay off.
Lots of roses are bursting into flower but they also have masses of aphids/green fly or whatever they are, and some black spot & rust too. I thought I got disease resistant varieties too. Any tips on what to do about the rust/black spot. I'm not very keen on spraying with chemicals though.

Had a busy evening in the garden yesterday, somd planting, sorting out some seeds & watering.
I also tried the Chelsea Chop on our sedum. I seem to remember seeing something about it last year on GW so gave it a go this year. Hope it will be okay.

It'll be the first day of winter in Oz on Friday, and I've been dutifully hacking back the verbena bonariensis. Having grown it in the UK and Oz, the difference is, unsurprisngly, it never fully dies down in winter and flowers earlier and longer here. I'll be interested to see how it seeds.

I've checked the aspidistras planted for ground cover in the shade, and they're all sprouting new leaves. Oddly, they were very snotty plants in England: NEVER divide, and then they sulk. Here you can chop the rootball with a spade, stuff them in the ground and they're pathetically grateful to be alive. The variegated variety are a little more haughty and pout for several months.

I'm a year in on my Australian garden and grappling with the strangeness of how to plant a bed that is shaded for all of winter, yet gets scalding sun in summer. Currently it's acanthus mollis at the very back, and New Zealand lilies further forward (on top of the dead cat).

I've got that obsessive listmaking/collecting gene, freezing. I could easily find myself building up a proper systematic collection of something. Wasn't there a mention on GW a little while back about a list online somewhere of plants in need of someone to look after a National Collection?!?

I've been I'll today and done virtually nothing, but I just tied in some of the growth on the grapevine and gave found my first ever bunch of teeny-weeny grapes. I am sooooo excited.

I was also very chuffed yesterday when DH (who scarcely notices the garden) looked round and said he thought it was good enough to go in the yellow [National garden scheme] book, because it was at least as varied and interesting as the three we saw on Sunday.

Ooh I'd like a national collection and the time and space to do it properly

I have an obsession with tomatoes and mint. I've 28 different toms this year but didn't manage to get a blue osu :(

Grapes

hope you feel better soon Maud.

Have been thinking about colour in the new borders. I am going to grow red wallflowers next year as the mixed ones we have in this year do not work with all the purple/red/pink/white stuff. Also think the bright yellow iris should be moved from the border as it really is much too yellow, whereas the mixed yellow and blue iris work really well. We have several blocks of lupins planted throughout the border and we have mixed the colours - def going to swap them around to be solid blocks of colour. The best is a lovely red one which looks fantastic next to the purple ornamental cherry. I have red, salmon and patty's plum oriental poppies in a clump from which I am going to move the red into another part (the border encircles a roundish bit of garden and basically can be divided into four parts).

I want some softer yellow plants to put in that will flower in June - any ideas?

God I am loving my garden. I am stopping work in THREE DAYS TIME until September, I simply cannot wait I will be able to grow lots of stuff, and have time to think about it.

Link to collectors website with embedded link to plants needing a collector
www.nccpg.com/National-Collections.aspx

I am stopping work in 3 days time but not so thrilled due to income worries.

Loving my garden though. It is blue and white with the odd touch of purple and pink. Sissinghurst white garden in one patch, and arts and crafts in another. At least, thats the theory .

The Astrantia shaggy got eaten by the slugs it was supposed to repel.....or something.

They're only baby grapes, Humphrey, so I'm not yet planning on making my own vintage Nuits Saint Maud!

You're right, I think, that mixed colours of anything always look a bit blah. Much better to separate the colours. It pained me this winter that one tulip Artist had somehow snuck into a pot of Prinses Irene, thereby ruining the uniformity. For soft yellow, how about sysirinchium (a bombproof plant) or Geum Lady Stratheden (possibly too bright)?

I only have two varieties of tomatoes on the go, as I failed to sow seed on time, so am hugely jealous of 28 varieties. However, my partner on the school plant stall usually brings lots of interesting tomatoes, so I may catch up!

Almost all bought as plants or swapped. I don't plant tomatoes as I end up with too many, have been doing cuttings though. Also have lots of tomato weeds in the compost.

That sounds good. I am much better at amassing fancy seed than I am at sowing it. And my success rate this year has been worse than ever - all
the zinnias and tithonias failed and my ricinus communis didn't survive the potting-on and I have only one left.

My little hellebore seedlings are doing fine, and the rosemary, sage and cistus cuttings also.

My seeds never work.Not one sweet pea seed germinated. Not.One.
As usual.

I clearly need to watch Monty plantings seeds again.......and again.......

I love the sounds of your plants: bonariensis, tithonia, sysirincium...Maud do please post a picture of the black border.

I had trouble with sweet peas too, hardly any germinated. They are the one thing I have grown from seed for years without any problem at all.

Those plant suggestions both look loved Maud, I especially like the sysirinchium. I am planning a geum bed outside the back door too, after I saw a picture in a magazine.

Oh wow! I was pointed towards this thread from one I started - it's great, isn't it!!! I plant sweet peas every year - love them (though always in v. large pots since moving to my current house because of the very bad soil). I cheated for the first time this year and bought some already-growing ones from B & Q. Well, so far they're still growing. Don't know if they'd still be on sale if that would solve your germination problem, funny?

Not that you really want my advice becase I am a true novice! Last week I planted some dandilion seeds (again, in a pot, there's a necessary theme to my gardening!) thinking that with plant food and regular water, surely they'll grow!

I used to have lots of sisyrinchium, but think
I ripped it out in a case of mistaken identity!

I deliberately don't have a profile on MN but if the black and white border (aka small patch about 2m x 3m) thrives I will work out how to post a picture!

Hello, Secrecy, glad you joined us. This thread is about sharing the love of plants and gardening. We're all learning from each other, so don't worry about being a novice.

Hello Secrecy - why the dandelion seeds?

Oh yes, the dandelions. I really need to have another go at weeding the lawn, but after a hideous session earlier, removing lily beetle grubs and their poo from the lilies, I really couldn't face it.

Chix - my morning glory are gradually snaking up their netting but haven't gone far and are very spindly. I'm expecting them to leap into life as soon as we get some more rain...

My neighbour's roses are peeking over the top of the fence and ruining the colour scheme of the long bed. I mean, yellow - I don't have anything yellow; will have to have words with him.

I'd like to report I have one french bean in the french bean bed. One. So I have been proved wrong; they haven't all disappeared. Will be trying again at the weekend.

Have just planted a few runner bean plants to grow up an (admittedly haphazard) arch made of bamboo canes spanning one corner of my veg patch....

Put two tomato plants (dad's leftovers from the greenhouse) into growbags outside but in a sunny spot. I think they're Shirley - any advice??

And the outdoor cucumbers I planted outside a few days ago are still alive, and seem ok! I grew them from seed and now some of the leaves have gone white and look a bit dead...

Out of three separate sowings of radish (approx 100 seeds, must be) I have three, yes, THREE radish seedlings . What is going on with the garden this year?!

I have no idea about all these glorious-sounding bedding plants - I'm a pig who only grows stuff I can eat flower/pretty garden novice, so it's lovely hearing about all these exotic things!

Happy gardening everyone!

Well, I checked the Plant Heritage page yesterday (thx for the link, funny!) and it did appear that there is nobody looking after a National Collection of Thyme. hmmm.....!!!! Perhaps in our next house, if I can have a bigger garden and make a whole area of it into perfect conditions.

What a busy bunch you are - in the garden and on here

I moved a clematis this morning so it now has a big fence panel to grow along. I need to put wire or trellis up but for now it's climbing up a cane.

Garden full of bees, which always makes me smile.

I have 2 questions:

1. Do any of you have female dogs? If so, do you have patches on your lawn? Our dog arrives next week and although I am excited beyond belief, I am looking mournfully at my beautiful new turf...

2. Do any of you grow blueberries? Any tips?

1. No. We have no pets having killed all the goldfish within weeks of getting them.

2. No, but I understand they need a large and damp pot of ericaceous compost. As ever, the dear old RHS will tell you all you need to know.

Thank you Maud.

We have acidic soil here so blueberries should grow ok - there is a blueberry & camelia nursery up the road so I shall ask their advice too. Thanks for the link.