Potting shed summer party

[Blackpuddingbertha]

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...

Ah, of course. French for chestnut is marron, isn't it.

Anyone else going to be at the Shades Of Autumn show today? I'll be there from about 1.30 with baby in a wrap sling and my mother. I can't see it but apparently we look very alike, my mum and I that is. Funny, I'll drop round your seeds on the way to the station now we've ascertained we only live a mile apart!! Small world...

Uh-oh, there are people with carrier bags, I smell a plant stall...

Oh crap that's today isn't it? I forgot to organise dh to work from home, so I can't do it. Damn. Have a nice time.

Drat. I am at work and cannot quickly go round and weed the front garden or invite you in to coffee and garden chat. Thanks for seeds in advance. Have a nice time at the show and tell us all about it!

We have a chestnut tree in our garden and one at the top of the drive where the cars open the shells as they go past. I had no idea Bougainvillea had thorns !

Horrendous rain,thunder and lightening here. Did manage to get my iris bulbs and some tulip bulbs in the other day. Peas and winter lettuce are germinating in the aquaponic system which has been neglected but I am going to try harder.

hello everyone

just going to catch up with the thread

Hi Humph! How is the new small one? Did you see that I managed to sneak the word 'greenhouse' into my AIBU thread? Hah.

Yes! Well done

small one is fine thanks. And very loud. And also quite hungry

Hi all

Lexi your store cupboard sounds a lot like mine - I have elderberry vodka, blackberry gin and sloe gin infusing. I didn't manage to forage many sloes, so thought it looked a bit weak (compared to the elderberry vodka which is as black as tar - hopefully tastes nicer than that!) but I had a quick taste of the sloe gin yesterday and its fab! Much nicer than the blackberry gin, so I hope that catches up bit. I have elderberry and blackberry jam too (maybe set like stone as I wasn't sure of the pectin content of elderberries so probably boiled them to death), and bottled spiced pears aplenty.

How do you drink these wonderful concoctions? Just on their own? I'm imagining some liqueur tasting session on Christmas Eve, which may get very out of hand...

No decent gardening going on here - far too wet. I haven't been able to go out with my new leaf blower/vac as its too soggy underfoot

Angels we have had the blackberry brandy in cheap cava to make kir royale, and a friend suggested we rename it 'kir rurale'... Just remember to strain it through muslin not just sieve before bottling otherwise it can be a slightly hairy brew...

funny I loved your collection of pots at your porch, it says "a real gardener lives here" loud and clear. Particularly gorgeous dahlia! I would not dare pass comment on anyone's weeding standards with the current state of my front garden. Let's just say that when I take a glance at it, 'kerb appeal' is not the phrase which comes to mind. Still, we Have A Plan and that excuse will keep me going until next week when I panic about the weekend visit of my granny (83 and still gardening even with crumbly joints and macular degeneration) on the occasion of both DC baptism...

Report from the show coming up later.

dh has collected enough apples to make over 300 bottles of juice. shame i don't drink it much! it is very nice this year though

I like the idea of Kir Rurale. That could go down a storm here. One day I will get my act together and start doing clever things with foraged things - when the small demanding ones are less small and demanding.

We have had periods of warm sunny weather inbetween the rain, so I've been slowly working my way along the narrow border along the south of the house, pruning the 'Mary Rose' roses, cutting back the feral Virginia creeper, deadheading the dianthus and general tidying. Next step, planting some of those alliums in there.

The apple situation is getting out of hand here, and I had to give the press back. I can feel another crumble coming on this evening. They are improving. [terrible cook]

Managed to get an hour in the garden yesterday. My back's been hideous so I've been avoiding it out of necessity but it all got too much yesterday and I succumbed to the guilt of a messy garden. So did some light clearance and got the patio, asparagus bed and veg plot tidied. Desperately need to do mulching and weeding of the long bed though. Also have bulbs to go in which ae crying out to me.

Dug up the first of the horseradish yesterday. DH grated into into a vinegar brine for me this evening. It's pungent stuff!

MyAngels - if you pop some of the fruit liqueur into the freezer you can pour it over sorbet to make an instant adult dessert which is great (& very simple) when entertaining. Works well with vodka mixes and lemon sorbet.

I had a bumper horticultural post today - GW magazine and astrantia and digitalis seeds, so many thanks to Lexi and funnyperson for those.

Just read my GW magazine, Monty's article is on gardeners using social media. No mention of us though...

I intend to take Monty to bed with me.

Ooh! Hussy.

I have read Monty's piece on social media and his views on tulips. I have now discarded him in favour of Alan's recommendations for fragrant roses.

Ooh, the mix with cheap cava idea is great, thanks. Although may skip trying it on Christmas eve, as we may risk getting carried away and forgetting the kids presents..

I always wanted to make rose syrup for champagne cocktails on Christmas morning but realised that collecting eight ounces of rose petals may be quite a challenge.

I want to use the crab apples as christmas tree decorations. How do you think I should store them? I have apple racks and they could go in the shed, DH thinks I should keep them in the fridge.

It is a shame Monty didn't mention us, we are a brilliant example of gardening by social media

I am out of action - managed to break a bone in my left hand. :(

Rose petal champaigne sounds heavenly - at a recent girls lunch meet up a friend of a friend bought rose petal jam, I think it was from Slovakia, just gorgeous tasting!

I would think crab apples would be fine in the garage, at this time of year it can't be much warmer than the fridge.

Thank you for the seeds lexi. Please do visit when I am in and come round the garden! I hope the baptisms go well! My front garden is limited by wall issues which have to be sorted before the garden is sorted and the man I chose is busy.

The dahlias are from Sarah Raven who sent splendid healthy large tubers. The one in flower out the front is Chat noir which has been flowering since September.
www.sarahraven.com/shop/venetian-dahlia-collection.html
'Downham royal' wasn't very impressive but 'New Baby' brought a surprising colour and cheer to the back garden. This year they have been grown in pots, some out the front and some out the back, but I intend to plant them out in the border next year now I know what colours they are. I've been impressed by a neighbour's rose and dahlia combination: in their case with pastels, which really look very very pretty- the foliage and flower shape of the spikier dahlias go very well with the roses, because dahlias have lush foliage lower down where roses can be spindly.

Perhaps Monty didn't mention us because he doesn't know about us. I do like him. He made even scything look easy last week. I like the way Carol looks at native plants. It made my parking under the Rowan in the Waitrose car park more pleasurable. After a very very windy rainy week today is mild. I am so pleased I pruned and tied in the New Dawn climber rose a la Monty last week before the wind came. But there is masses and masses to do because of being out of gardening action the last 3 weeks. bumbez I am sorry about your hand.

The cyclamen are loving the weather, the asters are out, the pansies in pots are cheerful, the maroon and pink coreopsis and lacy hydrangea are still going strong. Other perennials and annuals are dying back: the sweet peas, phlox and nicotiniana are well and truly over.

The spring flowering clematis are not flowering, but are seriously growing upwards along trees and fences- Montana Marjorie , Broughton star, Jingle Bells, Wisley cream: I am looking forward to spring very much already!

I'm not sure when to prune the clematis viticella ( polish spirit and abundance) and when to prune the Countess of Wessex, if at all. Maud and others do you have any advice?

it didn't work.
.
new lawn in spring it is. until then we will have a mudbath for the dc (just have to check for the poo first...

Sorry to hear that mousmous.

I am glad to hear S Raven's dahlias are good funnyperson. I like the ones you mention especially Chat Noir. I have also had good experiences with her stock except for one rose the price of which they refunded without any quibble. I a beginning to think you get what you pay for as my experiences with Thompson & Morgan haven't been at all good.

We've been away for a couple of days near Chepstow. By chance really we went to Westbury Court Water Garden which is a restored original Dutch style water garden laid out around 1700, and is gorgeous. Formal but simple, and I recommend a trip. They had an Apple Day with chance to try and take away lots of old varieties of apples and pears. I tried a Pitmaston Pineapple apple from 1785, which is a lovely little yellow apple with a beautiful flavour . I was also able to take some black Worcestor pears which apparently can't be used until January and will then keep until April. And I got some medlars and vast quantities of small, furry and strongly scented quinces. Quince vodka??