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Gardening

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

Potting shed summer party

999 replies

Blackpuddingbertha · 26/07/2013 20:42

Following on from the Blooming into Flaming June thread and all others before it.

The potting shed is open for summer. Elderflower wine aplenty and room for all. Monty will be along later...

OP posts:
echt · 05/10/2013 09:29

Well, that was a washout. The lovely hand-propagated plants no longer existed; it was all commercial-grown stuff I could get more cheaply at Bunnings. And the sale guides kept asking me to identify plants.

Boo hoo.Sad I wondered where all the lovely older ladies who used to grow the plants had gone.

A long drive then to the Golden Plains Shire, and well named: God, it's flat. It's on high, ancient volcanic lava flows, and windy as hell too. We were drawn to a farmer's market at Bannockburn, which proved to be very small, but with some excellent native plants for sale: two more grevilleas. Also poncey olive oil and artisan bread. :o

The bonus was a lovely barbed wire sculpture at the local gallery art show. David Dickson, whose work will sadly have rarity value soon, I fear.

Back home to the completion of the mowing to make the backyard less snake-friendly. Tonight we'll fire up the brazier in the front garden, listen to The Archers or Just A Minute, and try to remember to put the clocks forward.

ComeIntoTheGardenMaud · 05/10/2013 09:34

Oh, it's so disappointing when plant sales don't live up to expectations. Some of my best buys this year have come from the sales table at NGS open gardens.

As ever, I live gearing about echt's gardening adventures in the antipodes. Did you buy the sculpture or just admire it? Sculpture in the garden is wonderful.

ComeIntoTheGardenMaud · 05/10/2013 09:34

Err, love hearing. Drat the autocorrect.

echt · 05/10/2013 10:18

We bought it.

echt · 05/10/2013 10:24

I should say the sculpture was vase- shaped, and is now in our house, with a glass vase of native flowers snuggled in it.

ComeIntoTheGardenMaud · 05/10/2013 10:26

That sounds beautiful, echt.

Bearleigh · 05/10/2013 14:28

I hope I see you and baby there Tyne.

May I pick the communal brains and ask if anyone knows anything about Rosa Primula. It apparently flowers (lemon yellow) in May and the foliage smells of incense when the weather is wet or humid. It looks like it grows quite big, too big for where I would like it, so would it be OK if well-pruned?? I am a sucker for anything scented.

RakeABedOfTyneFilth · 05/10/2013 14:45

Ooh lovely, Bearleigh! Will just be me and baby Beatrix, too late a finish for DS. I might bring baby in the pram if there are likely to be shopping opportunities to save my back from carrying her in the sling all afternoon/evening...

Bearleigh · 05/10/2013 22:28

There were shopping opportunities at the only London show I have been to before, Tyne. That was a spring show and there were some very good exhibitors. Everything I bought is still alive, which is something.

MousyMouse · 06/10/2013 08:28

hi there, I might take the dc to the harvest show next weekend.
have discovered that playdates in the garden are the best cat deterrents ever. especially if I let them loose with water pistols and spray cans.

we still have plenty of tomatoes ripening. yum. but I don't think any of the figs will ripen before it gets cold.

Rhubarbgarden · 06/10/2013 22:20

Very pleasant day planting up the red/orange/yellow garden. The south facing border looks fab, the east facing border a bit meh, but that's just because the main structural plants on that side have a lot of growing to do. At the moment it's all a bit low. Very happy with the foliage combination of the reddish black leaved plants with the limes and yellows. My old garden design lecturer would be a bit Shock at the level of spikiness, but I like spiky and it really suits my clients - fortunately!

Blackpuddingbertha · 06/10/2013 22:39

Managed to do some veg plot clearance this weekend. Filled four wheelbarrows of spent stuff into the compost heap and it still looks overgrown! Picked 2 kilos of tomatillos and still loads growing. I have made some very nice tomatillo chutney this afternoon Smile, we had some roasted with Sunday lunch too which I liked but the rest of the family made faces at. DH mowed the lawn today which was definitely over due; looks so much better. Also cleared out the dying things in the conservatory but they only made it as far as the patio

Writing it down makes it sound like I did more than I actually did.

OP posts:
RakeABedOfTyneFilth · 06/10/2013 22:51

We've made a start on the front garden! Dug up the lavender border (12 hidcotes, about 8-10 inch diameter bushes) removed weed roots from each plant, trimmed it of dry flower heads, and potted it into troughs where it will probably live for the next six months. Did a few bulbs too - gladioli, iris, crocs, lifted and put into a bit of soil in pots to wait out the winter. I suppose I really need a cold frame for these. Will need to be more systematic finding the rest of the things I want to keep from under the mass of weeds - what I planted was done in quite a strict pattern, and I have photos of it too.

Also tidied my pots-and-plant-supports dumping area... Also known as the frog/newt/invertebrate hibernation messy zone. Isn't too tidy, just a little easier to get into when I want a pot or a tray. I have a couple of large pieces of glass from our old kitchen window (before we put on an extension) that I could lean against the shed as a bit of a cold frame actually.

Wasn't it warm today? I sat on the front step feeding the baby while DH and DS did the digging and potting under instruction. Was rather idyllic.

Hope all is well with the Humphrey family!

Blackpuddingbertha · 06/10/2013 23:18

Ooooh, forgot we're waiting for mini Humphrey news.

OP posts:
HumphreyCobbler · 07/10/2013 00:31

mini humphrey has arrived Smile
all well and we arrived home today

he says hello

cantspel · 07/10/2013 01:05

congratulations and welcome to the world to little humphrey

Rhubarbgarden · 07/10/2013 07:18

C

Rhubarbgarden · 07/10/2013 07:19

Congratulations Humph! Lovely news!

echt · 07/10/2013 07:54

Congratulations on the arrival of the mini humphrey, Humphrey.

ComeIntoTheGardenMaud · 07/10/2013 08:58

Congratulations from me too, Humphrey!

MyAngels · 07/10/2013 09:55

Lovely to hear baby news, congratulations humphrey

Finally did some planting in the fantastic weather - sunny things for my front garden and shady things for the shadiest bit of the back garden. All kicked off by a trip to fab garden centre with sale on lots and 15% off everything. So came back with sarcococca and hellebore for the back and the coreopsis I had been admiring for the front (plus lots of other random herby things which I could resist for 50p each). May have to go back today...

My telescopic fruit picking bag from GW magazine arrived at last, so picked bucket fulls of pears and bottled the lot in spicey syrup. Got sore core-ing finger, but the house smelt lovely...

Bumbez · 07/10/2013 11:57

Congratulations to mini humph :)

WynkenBlynkenandNod · 07/10/2013 17:48

I've picked a great day to catch up! Congratulations Humph and a big welcome to Mini Humph!

Rhubarbgardn I think you might have gone past my allotment if you made it down to the orchard with the pigs in at KL! Mine was the weedy one with loads of marrows I am too scared to collect. Compton Acres is where DH and I hide with a paper in the cafe on a Saturday whilst DS is at a club.

No gardening had happened here as it all rather kicked off again my my Mother. She's now home and am effectively estranged from her and my Brother after some nast accusations.. I feel some gardening is in order as a restorative measure and those bulbs won't plant themselves.

I love Echt's garden updates though can't help shuddering a bit about the snake...

funnyperson · 07/10/2013 18:21

humphreycobbler Congratulations to mother and baby! Flowers wishing the little boy long life, good health, happiness and great success Wine and of course happy gardening!
I have fractured ribs. This is serious as a lot of the bulbs: Allium chistophii and allium everest, tulip american dream and claudia, purity, chinodoxia, crocuses etc ) are neatly laid out on the garden table ready to plant. Aaaarrggghhhh.
Oh well, maybe this gives time for Peter Beales' roses (Nuits de young, Coopers Burmese, Magenta and Mrs Oakely Fisher) to arrive. I ordered them in Sept and still no sign which is annoying, especially as in the interim they have had a special offer on bare root roses. David Austin are much quicker.
Mum has fallen out with dad's carers so the care agency will be changing again. wynken it is not easy. I think the increased longevity stats hide the reality of a great deal of infirmity and heartache.
The sanguisorba arrived though! V exciting.

mousmous · 07/10/2013 18:45

congrats humph hope all is well!
oh dear funny how stressfull for you. hope it gets resolved soon.
my roses have not arrived yet, but they warned that the bare roots will only be ready from mid november because of the late season this year.

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