Rhubarb Appreciation Society

[Blackpuddingbertha]

Going with Rhihaf's thread name suggestion, following on from the first rule of gardening club is thread.

Pull up your kneeling pads, crack open the elderberry wine and the blackberry gin and come and join us. No real experience or gardening know-how needed.

That's last year , flipping autocorrect.

Thanks! I know I'm very lucky. For many years I only had a small roof terrace so in many ways I do feel like I've won the lottery. I just wish I had more time to work in it, there's so much needs doing.

It was a balmy five degrees here today so I dashed outside while ds napped and got another metre and a half of trench dug for my new yew hedge. Massive rocks hoiked out, composted manure dug in. Glacial progress, but at least it's something. Oh and dd came home from nursery with a little pansy in a homemade newspaper plug, so we planted that. I need to get her some little tools and a watering can.

That's very decent re your Mirabelle plum, Wynken.

You've done well getting out today, I only really made it as far as the greenhouse apart from quickly filling box with compost . Yes you absolutely need to get DD some tools, I love little garden tools but my baby is a hulking 9 year old who wants the big ones now .

I had never heard of a Mirabelle before a couple of summers ago. Not sure I'm spelling it correctly. My Aunt has a tree in her garden in Germany which produces loads and they are lovely. When I came back I mentioned it to my neighbour and turns out her tree with the gorgeous white blossom I admire every spring is one.

We're visiting my Aunt next Monday. She's moved back into the house I used to visit her in as a child which had a cherry tree with the most delicious cherries. Shame we're not going later in the year so I could enjoy some again .

walled garden! We could do with some walls around here, the WIND today so, so cold. I am worried about the pig who is about to give birth, even though she is inside it is semi open to the elements.

Anyone know anything about pig midwifery? The people we know who know about pigs just say "She'll be fine". It is SO cold. I am imagining giving them hot water bottles....

oh humph, little piggies are just so cute. Bit scary when they turn into great hulking sows though, and not sure how your garden would cope with all those little rooting noses if they escaped. Try reading some james herriot books to get you primed for delivery!
I too am about the walled garden! You will have to post some pics to your profile so we can all drool, or do a blog or something.

Rhubarb - I think I am going to take some of the conifers out - one border has approx 7 different conifers, 2 viburnums and 3 unknown bushes in a space about 8 feet deep by twice the length of the car. They are horrid too, I thought they might grow on me but they only look nice drifted in snow! There was a nice box ball but unfortunately DD tripped over and sat on it, as only 2 year olds can, and it split it down the middle and now it is under snow, I don't think it will ever recover to its original shape!

Wynken - do you know what sort of cherries they are and if they would fruit in Yorkshire? I have a very sheltered corner by a stone wall and I wondered about a plum tree to go there but now I am excited about cherries. I never realised they grew to eat in the UK, i've only seen the little wild ones.

Sorry Humph, have only delivered kittens. Very exciting to have piglets though. They have them on the allotment and they seem ok in one of those pig house things though I can't remember how cold it was.

I don't know Molly, I can try asking. We usually have a bit of a language barrier but my cousin's DD speaks really good English so I might get to the bottom of it.

However, we have a cherry tree in our garden. This wil be it's 3rd year and we would have had cherries if we'd netted it. As it was the blackbirds had cherries. I think that one is called Stella, someone bought it for DH's birthday along with a Morello that has been in a pot for ages and only just gone in the ground. I'm trying to fan train it against a fence.

My parents have a cherry tree but, again, I don't know what variety it is. One of the weekend papers (the Independent, I think) had an offer on miniature fruit trees which included a cherry.

The birds get all of the cherries from our trees. We should net some of them, but it seem such an undertaking. We have three fan trained against the wall on the drive but they are teeny tiny as yet.

All the daffodils and tulips are in total stasis. The farmer next door says this weather will last for another month He has lost a lot of lambs.

J Parkers have several cherry varieties.

Here, I think
www.independentoffers.co.uk/i-pp-ind157-bae/mini-fruit-tree-collection/

One day I would like to go and see the cherry blossom in Japan.We are lucky enough to have rows of cherry trees lining one of the longer roads here. There never seem to be any fruit, but the trees are very pretty when in blossom.

Walled gardens are romantic. Its not just the enclosed space or the microclimate, its the feeling of being hidden away that they have. There used to be some beautiful plants- roses and passionflower and clematis and all sorts- trained up the walls at Sissinghurst. And there is a lovely walled vegetable and apple garden at Hughenden Manor. Hughenden cancelled its apple day last year because of the lack of apples. I do so hope this year is better.

Mine came from Parkers. I really feel for Farmers. Rubbish year last year and now a freezing cold spring, really not good.

I'm so glad I saw lots of gardens when I was younger. I'm not that fit or healthy and wouldn't fit into the accepted norm of a retiree travelling the worlds gardens because a) I'm not retired and b) I'm not well enough. So I'm really glad I took the DC and parents to gardens when younger. It would always be my birthday treat to choose where to go on a big family outing, and so we have been to lots of truly lovely gardens in England.

Yes, farming in the north of England and in Wales does seem to be consistently tough. A friend of mine is thinking of getting a shepherd's hut to go in a field she has
www.englishshepherdshut.co.uk/
I'm fairly certain real shepherds wouldn't have huts like this, though I could be wrong.

Yes, my gardening woes pale into significance when compared to farmers' problems with the weather.

They work so incredibly hard. I went round to visit the farmer next door once and he was sitting down, I assumed it was his birthday as in four years I had never once seen him not at work. He goes past every day at the crack of dawn, is busy all day until really late and it never ever stops. Lambing is unbelievably hard work. And both he and his wife still find time to be tolerant and helpful to our hobby farming aspirations.

I think pigs do just 'get on with it' in terms of birthing, but often problems afterwards if mum not happy or lies on them. .

We have a mirabelle plum in the old orchard, first two years we had bags of fruit, last two years nothing. Hoping it'll revive itself this year.

My farmer contacts are forecasting slightly warmer temperatures after the weekend, but that's south coast way. Potato planting way behind as ground been frozen. I spend a lot of time with farmers and they're not happy at the moment

For various reasons I am likely to be an armchair gardener this weekend and as a treat, bought myself a 'Gardeners world' magazine.

The offer code to save 20% off 'Crocus' orders till June 1 is 9770

At their prices, of course, 20% off is still more expensive, than, say, Spalding bulbs, but I thought some of you might like to use the code.

Here are some lovely gardens I have visited
Sissinghurst:
Winkworth Arboretum (esp spring)
Regents Park (rose gdn, japanese gdn, herbaceous border, various secret gardens)
Hidcote (lavender obv)
Wisley
Kew
Knole (deer park)
Nymans
Stowe (landscape, open air theatre)
Hughenden Manor (apples)
Scotney (rhodedenrons and azaleas)
Chenies (Tulips)
Giverney

et tu?

I think I've been to all of those apart from Stowe and Chenies. Having been a member for yonks, I've been to most of the NT gardens in southern England.

::ancient::

Ooh, I like this game! I love garden visiting. I'm currently working on a means of getting childcare on 1st May so I can go on the garden tour (and champagne lunch!) at Gravetye Manor that House and Garden magazine are touting in the current edition. I also need to go to Hidcote and Stowe this year as I've never been.

Some favourites of recent years:
Sissinghirst
Great Dixter
Middle and Inner Temple
Chelsea Physic Garden
Trebah
Scotney Castle
Wisley
Harlow Carr
Leonardslee
Kew
Wakehurst Place
Sandringham
Anglesey Abbey
Penshurst Place
Syon Park (got married in the glasshouse )
Jardin Albert Kahn
Renishaw Hall gardens
Villa D'Este
Dyrham Park
Howick Hall gardens
Cragside
Bury Court Gardens

Oh and the Generalife gardens at the Alhambra Palace. But I went in February, so I need to go back at a time of year when things are flowering.

Just cancelled our RHS membership today. Now we have the dog we don't get the opportunity to go anywhere (we used to practically live at Wisley) and it's not worth the £70 a year.

Ooh, yes. Cragside and the Villa d'Este and the

Villa Lante
Parco dei Mostri
Parc du Bois des Moutiers
Parc et Jardin Potager de Miromesnil
Hyde Hall
Harlow Carr

Villa Farnese

::gardening trainspotter::