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.

Lovely to hear how much gardening has helped everyone. I find it such good therapy. I've started reaching for the nearest plant catalogue when I'm down and even that picks me up. But pottering in the garden or sitting out there and enjoying everything I've planted is the best. It's worth all the money I've spent on it. It's also conversely pretty damn depressing when all the slugs eat everything, or this rain knocks all the flower petals off, but hey ho, nothing to be done about that. (I do fear that when I get my new house, I'll leg it outside with tarpaulins every time there's some bad weather to protect my babies )

I've been really enjoying Hampton Court, seems less manic (at least to look at on the tv) than Chelsea. I love the 'first home, first garden' garden... nice colours. I also loved the campanulas.

Just catching up with the thread after being away for a few days and very busy before that. I'd hate to tot up the cost of what we've put into the garden in the three years we've been here, however, I did work out last year that the veg plot normally saves me around £400 a year in shopping costs. So it does give some back too (aside from the happy garden vibes obviously). I may, of course, be amending that figure for this year. I had my first proper veg plot harvest on Wednesday - two strawberries, one courgette about the size of my little finger & four peas (yes, actual peas, not whole pods). All tasted lovely though .

On a positive note though my runner beans have started flowering finally and the mulberries and the white currants are ripening up nicely.

Had courgettes and potatoes today (or DH did, I am low carbing). Mmmmmm.

Lovely day today. Cut down the oriental poppies and rearranged according to colour. Also pulled up all the yellow iris. All 100 of them. They are sitting in buckets with drainage and a bit of soil. Don't want them in the borders, but don't want to lose them until I think of somewhere to put them. Do you think they will be ok? Should I put them in the ground?

Managed to dodge showers and started to clean out the open shed at the back of the cider barn thingy. It has stock gates and is divided into two by a breeze block wall. It is going to be the new potting shed . We are planning two workbenches, one for my height and one for his . Will have to put some garage doors in, DH will wire it so can have lights and radio. I am very excited.

I spent all afternoon chopping down massive overgrowing vegetation hanging over paths and gateways in the garden, mostly long grass, ivy and virginia creeper - how I hate that stuff! Let the chickens out to gobble up all the slugs I uncovered while DH wandered around turning over bricks, toys, bits of board edging etc for them to deslug everywhere. Job done they retreated to the dry bit under the play house for a 2 hour dust bath. Poor girls haven't seen anything dusty for weeks!

Humphrey your potting shed plans sound very exciting. My Dad made me a potting bench last year and its fantastic to have a workspace at the right height for me. Admittedly mine's outside and sandwiched between the waterbutt and the micro bog garden (old stone sink with washing up bowl pond in it) but it does the trick.

DH and I are planning an ambitious shed demolition and rebuild at some point in the not too distant future. Just waiting for a spell of dry weather.....

DS is at a party tomorrow so I am hoping to spend the morning catching up on HCPFS. I have huge garden envy now I've seen photos, especially Humphrey. I will see about a closed FB group.

My beans are now flowering & I just pulled several snails off them. I didn't know what to do with them so I threw them in DS's crabbing bucket which is full of water. What do you all do with rogue slugs & snails? I wish my chickens would eat them but they turn their noses up & look at me like I'm mad. They much prefer cake.

Please tell me what colour to paint my front fence - I have no garden, just a block-paved drive with lots of pots & hanging baskets. Cream house with black & white gable. Shall I do the fence & gate dark brown, forest green or something more exotic? My shed is a pretty sagey colour but I don't know if that;s a bit much for a front fence.

Off to Google echt's poem.

The rain is lashing down and keeping me awake. i bought some cheap half dead plants today that i left on the patio waiting for me to nurse them back to health and i only hope that the weather doesn't finish them off before i get to plant them.

If black and white gable on the house, then what about black for the gate and fence? Or at any rate a colour to match the gable.

It has been raining solidly and heavily here all night. I am having second thoughts about Hampton Court.

Humphrey where have you posted your garden pictures?

I dont want a planting scheme which is too random. I am happy with the variety of foliage and structure in the garden but with respect to flowers, when the roses geraniums ad salvias are over there will be a gap. In theory this year there should be dahlias, lilies, ceratostigma, japanese anemones and clematis viticella as well as fruit. I'm not sure what is going to happen in practice. What flowers in your gardens in August?

That's a shame Funnyperson, is it still raining now ? The sun has actually made a very brief appearance here, gone now though. I have remembered I didn't delete Facebook after all, would love to see anyone's picture who's kind enough to share. Closed group sounds good , I'll need a brief tutorial on how to use it though !

Think Funnyperson is right with Grockle's fence, black would look good, or maybe white. I usually don't have much that flowers in August but went bought some stuff to hopefully change that this year. I've bought shasta daisies, a tall phlox, a pinkish veronica, a couple of scabious, a hydrangea, nemesia, all which are supposed to go through to September. I wanted an astrantia but couldn't justify a tenner.

Last year the calendula on the allotment looked lovely right through the summer so I've put some self seeded ones in at home in the hope they will self seed in future years. There's some linaria which is supposed to go right through and I've a climbing petunia which is on year 3 or 4 having survived minus 10 degrees. I'm hoping it will look a bit better this year as it usually runs out steam at the end of June.

I forgot about a penstemon that is supposed to also flower right through.

I hadn't thought about black. I will investigate black fence paint. I want it to look calm but welcoming & not too dull & formal. We live near the sea so I was tempted by beach hut colours. Who'd have thought a fence could cause so much procrastination!

I don't know what flowers here in August - so much of the garden is new. I think the mallow might & the alliums. The leeks I forgot to pull from last year will certainly be flowering.

I'm on a mission to buy a big blue hydrangea.

They might have some at the plant sale Grockle. If not I know somewhere selling them for a fiver.

Grockle I think a very dark brown will do the job well - warmer than black but just as striking.

I wanted to paint my pond fence cobalt blue but was overruled... I still think it would look good. I think fences and sheds in a slightly glaucus (glaucous?) grey look very elegant. We've left ours woody brown. I have concrete fence posts all over the place that it would be good to do something fun with, rather than obscuring. Maybe I could paint the knee height ones on the front path to look like gnomes that have been squished into a square tube. The 6ft ones in the back could be totem pole designs. Or stencils of climbing stems.

But what am I thinking- I have too much actual growing to do than bother with that!

Don't let the rain put you off Hampton court, funny/maud, it was raining on and off when we went, and as long as you have a good raincoat/brolly you will be fine. It is so much more spacious than Chelsea so there is a lot less risk of umbrella-eye interface issues...! If I could suggest a good route around the show which maximises plant viewing and minimises shopping temptation: from the car park entrance, turn right across the pond to stroll past the major show gardens and conceptual gardens to the nursery stands (if you have a specific plant in mind you want to buy) and the rose tent. About turn and head for the growing for taste (veg) marquee (grab a snack in the neighbouring foodie marquee if you didn't bring a picnic but be prepared for a cup of tea to be at least £2 and a slice of cake £3.50). Out of the side of the veg marquee is the urban garden by Chris Beardshaw (who I could be persuaded to wrap in my womanly bosom without much pressure at all) which is really good. Head over the pond at the top of the site to go in the top of the floral marquee, through it down the middle lane (the sides seem to be the single-genus stands which interest me less). Turn right out of the floral marquee to finish your day going down the summer gardens/low cost garden 'street'. If you come from the Thames entrance, you start at the rose tent/nursery stalls, so same route but you end with the show gardens. It takes about 20-30mins to actually get to the site from the car park field/tube station, so don't short-change yourself on time if your ticket is just for the afternoon.

Little gardening for me yesterday, just pulled up a couple of rows of onions and one garlic and shallot (to see if they're ready) and planted an outdoor cucumber (well, the boy did really!). Then went to a fun day in a park near where my friends live. I'm currently hiding in bed in their house trying to avoid the fact I've promised to go out for a run.

I have given up on the idea of HCFS. It's only a couple of miles from here and we have had such torrential rain overnight that I think it will be a mud bath - I've been before when it's been squelchy underfoot. And DH isn't enthused about either going or driving me there. I may go to our local garden centre instead.

I would say either black or beach hut colours for the fence - I think the near miss of black/brown may look jarring. Is the house Tudorbethan? If so, how about black and white (I'm assuming we're talking about vertical palings/stripes rather than a lapped fence)?

I was hoping they'd have them at the sale, wynken. If not, I'll pm you for details of the £5er place - everywhere else seems to see them at £12 - £15 which is a bit much really. Although today I am reminded how short and precious life is and it's silly not to do things while we can. We never know how long we have and need to make the most of everything while we can. This, from someone who has been suicidal in the recent past. Yesterday, 2 good friends lost loved ones. So, if a big blue hydrangea makes me happy, £12 is not an awful amount. I am going to spend time in my garden today and the beautiful countryside around here, feeling very grateful for what I have.

Phew! MN seemed to be offline yet again.

I'm not sure whether these codes will work on the T&M website if you haven't clicked through the link that they sent out by email, but here goes:

Three plugs of buddleja Buzz for £3 - offer ends tonight 'GPTNS10'. (This seems to be the same offer as in yesterday's Guardian but a rather different price!)

Lucky dips of pinks (worth a tenner) for £1 - offer ends 19 July - 'GPTNS11'.

If anyone tries it and the codes don't work, PM me with an email address and I'll forward you the emails.

Grockle - I am very sorry to hear of your friends' losses and your own troubles. I spent yesterday evening with a friend who has recently, in her early 40s, been widowed. It puts everything in context.

May I join you all? I'm a complete beginner on the gardening front but have a typical 30s semi 100ft garden that hasn't been touched since the 80s to get my teeth stuck into!

We bought the house a couple of years ago and have concentrated on the essentials so far, like removing skip loads of glass from the bottom of the garden(!), cutting down 5 enormous conifers that blocked all the light, digging up the concrete base for the greenhouse that was conveniently placed in the middle of the lawn... I could go on!

All there are is shrubs, no flowers at all, so tthat's the next plan - am I too late to get things going for Autumn?

Look forward to learning from you all!

Of course you can, Norkybutnice. Welcome!

There are things like dahlias, Japanese anemones and chrysanthemums that you could plant now and would flower into the autumn. And towards the end of the summer you could add lots of bulbs - it's much easier to do that before the flowerbeds get full.

Where in the country are you?

Oh and I have large garden envy!

I have large garden envy too! I just weeded mine and dug everything over. I need to fill some spaces now... I will try the T&M site later.

It's sweltering here today, which is lovely. A little sunshine is good for the soul and very much needed. And a jug of pimms will help too

I have set up a secret FB group for MN gardeners. I've added Lexi and Humphrey and will add anyone else who wants to share garden pics. I might post some things for you to identify. Of to take photos!

I have just been killing gastropods dealing with the mollusc problem.

How does one join your sneaky beaky FB group, Grockle? And where are you sweltering? In London, I'm simply dissolving!

Oh, and if anyone wants some of Maud's famous plants by mail order, I have some leftovers from the school fete to get rid of. PM me if you want the list.

Ooooo, yes please for the list please, thank you !

Ok, that was supposed to be a PM to Maud, I am sort of watching tennis. Feel very conflicted as want to go to allotment and make the most of the sunshine. Grockle's somewhere near me Maud but closer to the sea I think.

Welcome Norky, I'm also jealous of the size of your garden. That's great you've got shrubs in, gives a good backbone of the garden to work from. One tip someone gave me is to plant shop once a month for a year buying something in bloom each time.

I really shouldn't try to MN and watch TV. Meant to say I'm very sorry to hear about your friends Grockle and your friend's DH Maud.

I avoided the tennis on tv but I gather it all ended in tears.