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.

Hear Hear Wynken. The rose walk is just about to burst into flower and the forecast is rain rain rain. The roses will just get smashed. And I won't be outside to see them.

My sweet peas failed to germinate, from three different packets too. I was reduced to buying them and even they are only about a foot tall as yet.

All is not lost however, the Patty's Plum I bought from a random plant sale somewhere is a brilliant and deep pink. Hooray.

Tree saplings of all varieties here. I made the mistake of paying the children a penny a sapling to pull them out of the play bark around the climbing frame. I ended up owing £1.50!

My dahlia is flowering. It's lovely. Will get more of them next year.

My sweet peas are starting to grow properly but only about 18in tall. If they get even half way up my 'sweet pea' arch I'll be amazed.

Congratulations Kimmi - I love the name Toby. Big bunch of these for you

I have millions of ash seedlings here, would love some hazel to grow my own pea sticks but have done pretty well scrumping them out of the hedgerows. Would love to guerilla plant some sessile oaks into our local hedgebanks too, we only seem to have ash or sycamore.

I went out and picked all the best just opening roses in the garden this morning and have them in a big jar on the kitchen table. So glad I did because they are filling the house with scent and would have been destroyed by tomorrow by the tempest that's raging out there now.

I should do that too chixinthestix, I have a few in the house but I should just get the rest!

Its a good excuse to fill your house with flowers if you have them Humphrey!
One of the greatest pleasures of gardening for me is that I have a vase/jug/jar of flowers in the house pretty much all year but this bunch is the best so far this year, the smell is sublime.

It is one of the great pleasures of life, I agree. Also taking them round to friends, especially fragrant bunches of sweet peas. The only thing I enjoy more is picking my own fruit and veg.

just lost a highly literate and amusing post.

Funnyperson i have lost 2 posts tonight and 2 last night.Whats Happening?.I'm losing the will to post here.

Congratulations kimmi, take it easy!
That sounds like a lovely front garden funnyperson, when I walk to nursery I'm always amazed how boring and/or neglected most peoples front gardens are, I suppose we all concentrate our energies round the back.
Does anyone know about mildewed roses? My miniature rose is practically white. I sprayed it with rose clear last week but its made no difference. I suppose it keeps getting washed off in the rain. The daft thing is that I looked up causes of mildewed in my book and it said 'dry roots'. Not a chance in this weather!

I'm so excited my Dahlias have sprouted-my first ever!.None of the j Parker Dahlias appeared above ground [the crocosmia also].The sarah raven ones must be better quality.I've also just taken delivery of surprisingly very small sweet pea plugs from S.Raven a month later than the originally specified time.I'm sure they will grow fantastically well once in the soil though.

teta my dahlias too! It is so exciting when the dry old tubers sprout.

I agree that David Austen are fab for roses.

I picked some and out them in vases with sprigs of sage, rosemary and mint and the rooms smell fresh and summery even though it is pouring outside.

sorry..put

There are that many rabbits in my garden I do believe they are actually keeping the grass mown

If only they'd stay in the back garden where pretty much all they can get it the grass and weeds I'd be quite happy. But I'm getting really upset with them eating my flowers in the long flower bed! They're practically tame; I have to go right up to them before they're the slightest bit bothered.

GW is starting. Ooo, for an hour! Yay.

I've been away from MN for a bit but am back and have pottered in the garden today. I made DP planted the Bay tree in the soil rather than a pot as it was looking a bit worse for wear. I planted some lupins, wallflowers and something I can't remember the name of.

We have been to the Eden Project & brought home loads of a few plants.

Its been raining all day here.I've been debating all day whether to prick out the white cosmos seedlings into another large pot[as are outside and involve much faff with compost].As an alternative i've put through an order with Crocus.A blue Hibiscus,lilac'blue rose[to tone with 3 Perovskias] and a white tree peony plus other odd bits.
The garden lodge idea has been scotched by the local tree officer!.The act of digging and leveling the old compost heap would cause root damage to an old oak and scots pine and he wanted us to consult an arborist [which seems pretty pointless]and an exercise in spending more money.The only other alternative would be to resite in full view of the neighbours which we don't want to do.At this point i am really cross we live in a conservation area and trees take precedence over humans.

Oh poo to the garden lodge being vetoed, Teta. Did I mention, by the way, that we went to Alnwick castle? Anyway, by the entrance to the poison garden is a little Hobbity lodge that made me think of you.

I am fed up with the foxes knocking over all the little plants that I'm growing on in pots so am now planting out as many as I can. Grr wildlife.

I loved the poison garden, very interesting.

Teta- that's crap re the lodge :( conservation areas are so picky. We live in one and a few years ago all satellite dishes had to be moved as the new officer chose to enforce it. We didn't have one but it just seemed picky to kick up a fuss like that.

Poisons are absolutely fascinating in an Agatha Christie way. I try and avoid them in the garden, because of pets and children.

I have been thinking about front gardens and how little there is to guide one as to how to plant a front garden. My front garden is south facing and sunny, tiny and unwalled. Whenever I buy plants I think of the back garden, or containers for the porch, so the front garden has been neglected really. At the moment there is a dogwood, a buddleia, a rose, and loads of self seeded valerian. There is also car standing, a garage door and a porch with containers. The whole doesnt really hang together, unlike the back. I would love to hear what others have in their front gardens, and what you think works well in front of a house.

I removed all the poisonous plants that I knew of before DD was born, although I hadn't known until we went to Alnwick that aquilegias (for example) are toxic to pregnant women. I have reinstated some euphorbias now, and there is some arum italicum pictum at the very back of one bed, as DD is old enough to be trusted not to eat the plants.

Your front garden must be bigger than mine, funnyperson, because mine wouldn't be long enough for a car. For me, I think the key to a front garden is visual impact (I might think differently if I had a large front garden, where something dainty and cottage gardeny might work). So, my approach is big containers (everything is in containers) and big plants and bold colours.

I've not been conscious of poisonous plants in our garden but 90% is veg/ fruit & dh does the flowers. I am conscious of next doors bush that has berries on as dd3 eyes them up as food.

Been out at Open Farm Sunday today. Saw a Jersey calf being born (although unfortunately not a survivor), had a tractor-drawn trailer ride and bought a tomato plant to fill the void left by my departed Yellow Stuffer. Failed to take a note of what it was, but I think it should give me golden cherry toms.

Friends round for lunch yesterday despatched a lily beetle off one of my giant orientals and I checked for any returnees later, instead I found clusters of eggs on almost every leaf of the plant! Other lilies close by were untouched.

DS and DH are at a birthday party this afternoon so my to do list consists of 1. weed the front garden, 2. plant new tomato, 3. net strawberries. Obviously I will do 2 and 3 first because the first job is Sisyphean!

:( at tge calf We were going to go to an open farm but I'm not well and couldn't go. Dd3 has gone to the garden centre with my parents though

I pulled a lot of weeds yesterday - one benefit of the ground being soft - but overnight the foxes have brought in one bag of KFC remains, one teddy and one nappy. The nappy they brought in earlier in the week was shredded all over the lawn. If I knew which neighbour was leaving rubbish out, not in the wheelie bin, I would lamp them Have Words.

Maud. That is awful.

Spent a happy day in the garden, I planted out all my ferns and then reorganised the outside pigscot area which is where I do all my potting. It is all tidy and organised now, which is obviously very pleasing and makes me feel as if I might know what I am doing I then tried to sow my red wallflowers and couldn't find the seeds. Most annoying. I did some echinops and foxgloves instead.

Also cut off all the verbascum, took some geranium cuttings, planted out some Alchemilla Mollis in the front garden (and thought of Maud as it was her suggestion), tied up all my pelagoniums as they all seem to be wobbly.

I think I am also going to remove the red oriental poppies from the cottage garden, along with the yellow iris. DH is planning to plant chives all around the round veg patch.

It is now raining. What a surprise.

The second sowing of dwarf french beans have appeared. But unfortunately not before I went and bought another packet of seeds for a last ditch attempt. Oh well, banked for next year.

Planted out self-seeded knautia into long bed from their temporary pot homes, reattached the solanum to the fence following yesterday's winds, planted out saxifrage plants and some bedding plants to fill any remaining gaps.

Discovered that baby rabbit break-in to the veg plot last week had a nice feast on my cabbages before we spotted him. The squirrels have started scratching at the kitchen door again for a lark. Think your foxes win the pesky vermin competition though Maud.