…if winter comes, can Spring be far behind? 2014 beckons us...

[echt]

Okay, so the height of summer is yet to scorch the nethers of those in this wide brown land of Orstrylia, but welcome to the MNettie gardeners of the world. Prop up your sagging fences, evict the rats from your decking, and find a use for that poinsettia.

Bumbez your big weed may be alkanet. I have loads, as it self-seeds. It has pretty flowers but hideous leaves (IMHO). I must try weedkiller, as it just laughs at hoeing!

Humphrey - ahh no way could I do a back sling alone. They look very comfy though.

It took four hours to clean the greenhouse and all the pots / cloches today. Looks lovely though, and a good start to the growing season.

Will plant some seeds and bulbs after the school run.

It's forecast hot all week here so I'm going to push on with all the jobs this week.

No butterflies here, just flies.

Cath you can plant summer bulbs now.

Yes sounds like Alkanet, Bumbez. Tis my nemesis. vile stuff.

Magnolias coming out all over the place round here. Lovely sight. Need to get on with marking out and planting up my new north facing bed. Definitely putting in a Magnolia. Oh dear - I remember saying exactly this last spring and I'm still no further forward. At least the garden survey guy came back today and remeasured the dodgy measurements, so I should have the amended drawing survey plan back later this week.

Chopped back a few more snow berry bushes while ds napped today, and cut ivy off the diseased cherry tree so the tree surgeon can get a decent look at it. The remaining Carex have defeated me; I shall have to get dh onto those.

I did a garden litter-pick this afternoon and filled a plastic trug with broken plant labels, bits of polystyrene that had obviously come out of pots when I chucked old compost onto the beds and other detritus. The garden is looking much better now and ready for mulching.

Where's echt? I'm missing our Aussie nuggets.

Hmm. You're right. We haven't heard from echt for a while.

Is it autumn dunnunder?If we get an early spring do they get an early autumn?
The lotus seeds are doing well, each with lotus leaves unfurling. The sweet peas, cosmos astrantia etc are all germinating.
Magnolias round here are all in bud, none in flower as yet.
rhubarb burncoose have a special magnolia tree offer on I noticed.
The irises are really growing tall now that I have uncovered the corms so as to let the sun on them.
Welcome to newcomers. Loads of summer bulbs can be planted now, especially lilies and dahlias.
maud I'm impressed you are ready to mulch.

I have been quite industrious in pruning roses and general sorting out, although I didn't get around to the last bed today. Benefit of having a small garden, I guess.

Hi again, welcome to all the new gardeners and I'm v pleased some of you remember me

I snuck off to Lidl on Sunday to stock up on gardening essentials. I scraped my bumper while parking so had to buy a camellia to cheer myself up. It's gorgeous, big blousy pink flowers.

It inspired me to get weeding and indulge my chipped bark mulch habit. Things I planted last year that I was very pleased to see have survived the winter are my clematis Montana, magnolia stellata and a tree peony.

Today I've been waging war on the tap weeds in my lawn. Oh the satisfaction of getting a root out in tact is unbelievable.

My legs, bums and knees are now aching - but I've remembered the joy of gazing out the window at my lovely garden.

evening all
just when I thought the tomatoes will never germinate a teensy weensy green tip appears.

the dc are very impressed with the sunflowers. it's a mixed bag of seeds, so we are very curious what kind and how tall they are.

Of course we remember you NANN. I agree about the satisfaction of getting the tap root out as good as squeezing a blackhead

I rush out to the greenhouse every morning to assess the progress of the seeds mousmous. My tomatoes haven't started yet though.

DH moved the crambe cordefolia from the front garden, I am not holding out much hope it will survive. It had to be done though, it couldn't stay there. He also dug the corner bits of the round veg patch (the middle bits are perennial veg now as we both got fed up with trying to sow seeds in a circular patch so it makes sense ) for the broad beans. It is lovely digging there, the soil is a lovely texture and not at all water logged even after all this rain.

I pulled out the spearmint from an old tin bucket and repotted it with some bits of the root. It was unbelievably potbound but I made a few new plants from some of the root.

Not Alkanet, I've been googling Perenial weeds and can't find it, maybe it's not a weed I put a picture up on a previous thread and someone thought pilewort but that has yellow flowers and these are purple. Anyway it has to go.

I'm aching too nann years of nhs abuse and digging aren't compatible.

Lots of my seeds are up, I'm off to Ventnor tomorrow and plan to buy an Echium if they aren't too expensive. Mine still haven't germinated

Can anyone recommend a garden design book?

I was wondering about Echt too, hope she's ok.

Hello all, and welcome to the new gardeners. And thank you for asking after me. All is well.

I've not posted because it's been as dry as a dry thing, so limiting the damage has been the order of the day. No rain to speak of for about six weeks.

Autumn is here, which is why it's 25 and feeling much warmer. The upside has been the ripening of aubergines that Mrecht stubbornly planted in the shade of the tomatoes. Experiment tells us that plum tomatoes do well but taste of nothing, the regulars are so-so, but cherry toms are the ones that keep on giving.

The grapevine is doing well, and we've planted a second, a muscat vine so will see how it takes.

The dry has postponed the flowering of so many plants, but the lion's ear is blooming; a gift to nectar feeding birds when so much is over.

A number of casualties, notably a black-flowering kangaroo paw, a mini banksia “Birthday Candles” and a grevillea “Robyn Gordon” and an acacia cognate. All gone from a raised bed that gets sun all year round and blisters in summer, so a re-think needed.

All four kinds of plectranthus: ecklonii; Mona lavender; Nico and argentum are bearing up well and provide autumn flowers. All varying shades of purple.

I’ve been watching the neighbour threads on MN about losing the view when the right to chop down treees kicks in. Our lovely neighbours to the back will retire soon and downsize, so we’re anticipating their going and the inevitable massacre of the trees, and planting a fast-growing native, grevillea Red Hooks, and the non-native but ferociously vigorous oleander Professor Martin, to block the view of a house, screened right now, but just recently sold and doomed to go to the developers.

To end on a good note. It’s raining, and my lovely NDN has called over to cheer the downpour.

It’s been lovely to read about all your jaunts, and first spotting(s) of spring.

Bumbez's mentioning of echium has reminded me that the dear NDN to the rear has promised any number of the babies hers have prodigally seeded this year. I must take a stroll past her house, she has the greenest thumbs going. A pom, of course. :o

Lovely to have another Ozzie bulletin, echt!

DH has gone chainsaw crazy on the goat willow and reduced some overgrown coppice to stumps, hopefully the increased light will see it flourish again.

A few hours chopping will mean weeks of me hauling firewood and dealing with the brash - fingers crossed the sunshine days contiinue.

Hello echt. It is great to hear from you. You write so eloquently about your garden.

Chainsaw crazy sounds productive, if rather dangerous!

Good to hear from you, echt! Such wonderful-sounding plants you grow.

I finished chopping back the snowberries today, which left me with a huge pile of branches in the drive. Couldn't put it off any longer, so dragged them all to the bottom of the garden where I already had a couple of big piles of rubbish, and had a big bonfire. Very satisfying. And I didn't scorch the hedge this time either.

Sowed some more seeds - Alcea ficifolia Yellow and Lexi's Astrantia Venice. My digitalis parviflora and fussy Aquilegias are already germinating. The Aquilegia is surprising as they haven't had their fridge phase yet.

Funny - thanks for the tip about Burncoose; they have some tempting Magnolias on offer!

Happy sigh of content at echt's post. Thank you.

My Astrantia Venice from Lexi are germinating!

I ordered edible hedging plants for mum's hedge gaps from wriggly wrigglers,
"Blackthorn (for Sloe Gin) , Crab Apple (for jelly), Cherry Plum (for jam), Dog Rose (for Rosehip syrup), Elderberry (for delicious cordial from the flowers in spring), Hazel (for Nuts), Wild Pear (for jams, liqueurs and syrups)"

and 3 magnolias on special offer from Burncoose to replace mum's fallen chestnut (cut down in its prime and shredded to sawdust) and conifer (storm damage). I decided against the birch in the end because they are neither fruiting nor flowering trees.

For myself I ordered some worms (heh heh)

Ooh funny, lovely shopping list! I love the idea of an edible hedge.

Which Magnolias did you get?

Love the sound of that lot in a hedge Funny.

I'm a bit behind on my seeds by the sound of you lot. I have sweet peas and nasturtiums coming up but nothing else yet. Need to review the seed box for sowing this weekend. I'll try my echium seeds, I'd forgotten I had them, thanks for the reminder.

Funny - What did you do with Lexi's astrantia? I have some too - but I've been too scared to open the envelope...

I potted up a daff for DD1's school competition. She's v put out it's not in flower. I'm v tempted to pick up a supermarket one tomorrow, but that would hardly teach her the patience of gardening.

I just finished Virgin Earth by Phillippa Gregory - anyone read it? Any recommendations for other gardening novels?

love that hedge already!