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Gardening

Find tips and tricks to make your garden or allotment flourish on our Gardening forum.

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

999 replies

Lexilicious · 03/05/2012 22:46

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.

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funnyperson · 01/07/2012 06:35

I discovered yesterday that a particularly cheerful climbing rose in my garden is not a rugosa species at all, but a rose called 'American Pillar' of the bright pink with white centred variety , and apparently frowned upon by Sackville-West as not being restful enough! It looks great against a wall though, underplanted with Geraneum phaem, violas, ferns, hostas, etc and next to the Polish Spirit clematis which is next to Dr Jamain which is next to the honeysuckle which is next to the winter jasmine next to the summer jasmine.

Then another wall starts.........

I went to Regents Park yesterday. The dolphin fountain which inspired 'so long and thanks for all the fish' has been ripped out and a new horror is in its place. The cherry trees have made way to an 'Italianate' garden. The climbing roses were looking very sorry for themselves. Acanthus is looking good under the trees there, but all in all it was lovely to come back to my own healthy well cared for garden, which surprised me. The park was too regimented.

Blackpuddingbertha · 01/07/2012 21:20

Had a random sighting of Alan Titchmarsh at an Agricultural Show I was at today. Now, if it had have been Monty I may have been inclined to follow him around a bit say hello.

Am planning not to do much work tomorrow and spend some time pottering in the garden as it's looking a little neglected. It will undoubtedly rain all day as its also school sports day in the morning. Need to plant out my ornamental grasses though as I think they're now big enough to leave to the mercy of the rabbits.

Lexilicious · 01/07/2012 21:45

Well, we went to chiswick house and it was very nice, but doesn't have enough volunteers. The kitchen garden project (my friend works on) is a huge walled garden and they have a lot of fab fruit trees, a four bed rotation area, a flowers section, etc etc. but it's just being overtaken by weeds as fast as they can get round the place I think. Nothing disastrous looking like horsetail but a lot of it.

Bought two outdoor cucumber seedlings, two strawberry runners, a couple of freshly pulled garlic bulbs and three thick stalks of rhubarb which I'll put in something with a box of slightly going-over pears.

Have the next three days off. Tomorrow is gardening and theatre, Tuesday is Hampton Court flower show, Wednesday is gardening (or possibly British museum) and shopping. I am totally going to get on top of things this week!

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Blackpuddingbertha · 02/07/2012 20:52

My weather predictions were correct; therefore no sports day and no gardening today. The weeds survive another day...

funnyperson · 02/07/2012 20:56

Perhaps London's public gardens/parks are suffering from shortages of funds or gardeners or both.

ComeIntoTheGardenMaud · 02/07/2012 21:13

I fear they are, funnyperson.

Am pondering whether to buy a last-minute ticket for Hampton Court.

Lexilicious · 03/07/2012 12:02

I'M IN A TENT WITH MONTY !!! RIGHT NOW!!! and Rachel dT . hyperventilating somewhat.

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HumphreyCobbler · 03/07/2012 12:02

WOW

HumphreyCobbler · 03/07/2012 12:02

I am SOOOOO jealous

Lexilicious · 03/07/2012 12:38

If you watch the show on tv (tonight?) and they do a piece to camera outside the bee conservation tent, you may see two laydees walking past behind them, the one in the pink mac is my mum and the brown jacket and jeans is me... Monty was just saying the words 'Sarah Raven' as I hissed "keep moving" at dear mama.

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Grockle · 03/07/2012 14:01

Ooo, Lexi, how exciting!

Lexilicious · 03/07/2012 14:13

oh heck it's getting expensive. Grin I'm two lavender, two salvia, an alchemilla, three allium bulbs and four seed packets down and only halfway through the floral marquee...

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Lexilicious · 03/07/2012 14:56

ahem, dahlia and four more seed packets. I need a cuppa Brew

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Grockle · 03/07/2012 17:13

Ooops!

I went to 2 garden centres yesterday for a cup of tea and piece of cake but came back empty handed Shock I was looking for foxgloves but couldn't find any. My garden has none and they make me smile so I neeeed some.

Lexilicious · 03/07/2012 18:23

I'm sure I have foxglove seed I could share. Oh! actually I have a whole tray of foxglove plugs and nowhere to fit them now where approximately are you Grockle ??

I have only accumulated seed packets since my last update. Lots, but at least I can share them...

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Grockle · 03/07/2012 19:32

Ooo, I'm on the Dorset coast, Lexi. I hadn't considered growing it from seed Blush

Grockle · 03/07/2012 19:47

Other than Crocus, where do you all order plants/ seeds from?

ComeIntoTheGardenMaud · 03/07/2012 19:57

I have some teeny foxglove plugs that came from one of the Gardeners' World recent offers. I also have seeds of Apricot Beauty, recently bought from the 99p Store.

I buy mosts of my plants from my gardening society's annual plant sale, but have also found some good stuff in the aforementioned 99p Store. School fetes are another sometimes fruitful source. Crocus is reserved for their sales! Oh and Parker's, which is cheap but not always reliable.

::doing it on the cheap emoticon::

funnyperson · 03/07/2012 20:03

Aldi did amazing fruit trees for 1.99 in the spring. They were stick like but have put our shoots, may fruit next year. Their rasp canes were also cheap.

Spalding bulbs are reasonably priced well packaged and superb plants.

Crocus are overpriced.

I had free dahlias from J Parker but their seeds didn't germinate.

David Austen roses.

I plan to get some irises from Woottons.

ComeIntoTheGardenMaud · 03/07/2012 20:09

Oh yes, and Lidl sometimes have great bargains . I got two nice geraniums for £1.99 last year.

I think I've said before that when Crocus reduced some DA roses to half price, they were a pound or two less than their full price on the DA website. Confused

Grockle · 03/07/2012 20:09

Fab, thank you. I need to get 2 apple trees. I will look at Aldi in the spring. My 99p shops never seem to have plants in them. I'm disappointed.

WynkenBlynkenandNod · 04/07/2012 07:17

Grockle I'm going to PM you about a plant sale coming up I don"tbwan o put on here.

Grockle · 04/07/2012 08:15

Thanks Wynken Smile

echt · 04/07/2012 08:57

Today was a fabulous winter day, a sunny 13 degrees, and thanks to no wind from Antarctica, warm. The rain has let up at last, so time to get digging.

Spent an hour shovelling sawdust from the second of the tree stumps we had had ground out last month, and filled the whole of a vast estate car with bags and took them to the dump, but still more to do. I can't believe how much sawdust one stump can produce!

When it's finished I'll put in native top soil and plant two grevilleas, which will grow to about 4 metres, but open in habit, to provide screening for DD's room and flowers for the birds. The ground cover will be aspidistras in the shade and three purple flowering native hibiscus as a low hedge in front of her room (ground floor and very sunny).

One of things about having to do the garden slowly is that the dog's paths are already evident, and I can plant round them, knowing he won't trample. He's a good boy, and never digs where there are plants or mulch.

Next month we're having all the retaining wooden walls of the raised beds replaced, as the sleepers have rotted, so I'm taking the opportunity to dig out the dracaena marginata which infest the place. They have their uses, and as our house used to be a rental, such luxuriant, fecund plants were a landlord's dream: nil maintenance. We'll keep a few for the very back of the beds,as they provide height.

Hyacinths are just poking out of the soil, and all the freesias I planted have sprouted. I'd like to have some sweet peas- a first time for me in Oz, much inspired by posts here.

teta · 04/07/2012 11:31

Rain,rain and more rain here.The slugs have been partying on my Dahlias and Coamos and my Lupins are now Lacework[but are still flowering].I have resorted to slug pellets as nothing else is working.
The roses love this weather though.My Handel climbing rose has masses of blooms on and i have been picking bunches for an old edwardian rose bowl i have.I also want to make pot pourri as i have apart from Roses,scented Pelargoniums.Lemon Balm,Lavender,Mint and Rosemary and Perovskia.Do i need a recipe or do i mix it all up?