He who dares not grasp the thorn should never crave the rose

[Blackpuddingbertha]

New thread for the potting shed crowd using Rhubarb's rose suggestion and Squeaky's quote for the new title.

Spring is underway with promises of summer in our gardens big and small.

Elderberry wine for all

Wow echt your garden looks amazing so green and lush! Love the brick path I want to put something like that in but till the other hard landscaping is done I can't really do major changes, oh well I can but dream!

Ooh a pic of Echt's garden! Beautiful. Lovely cat too - I find they always add a certain something to garden photos.

These are the pine cones at arundel castle for those if you who don't do Facebook.

Lush - your idea for fixing them on sounds good. I should have given them a tug to see how the gardeners had done it!

I wrote a lovely post about the castle kitchen garden - but then I was too pissed confused about the password change and didn't post it. It was really inspirational for cottage gardeners, lots of fruit & veg (raspberries, apples, peaches) planted artfully and mixed with very pretty ornamentals (tulips, euphorbia, clematis). Plus a stunning stumpery, I'd never seen one of those before.

If anyone wants to join the Facebook group, please PM me your email address.

Echt - Your garden looks lovely and so does your house.

NotAnotherNewNappy - Now we just need to find some lovely big pine cones!

lush I thought you were Nann, but as she's appeared, oh well probably before my time.

echt love that picture.

Spanish bluebells- bugger I think I have them, a clump under the pear tree, and another clump just popped up in a random place in the lawn. I quite like them but have just been reading about how invasive they are.

Bracing myself for digging out a border or two today, and planting out the sunflowers.

I'm a bit amazed it worked. I've never done it before. The pic was taken in winter, when the clivia come out. I'll dig out some others from other seasons.

Squeaky the brick path I must say was there when we bought the house, but yes, it does finish it off.

Now I need to find out what a stumpery is. Oh, I see. Yes, seen them used here, often with native orchids lodged in sawn-off tree fern stumps.

I have lots of bluebells, how can I tell if they are the spanish ones?
they are very pretty and full of bees atm

love your gardenecht
today will attempt to take lots of wisteria cuttings.
do you think they will be ok in the car for 15 hours or so wrapped in a wet towel and in a binbag?

From what I've read mous Spanish ones are more upright, native ones bend over, mine aren't in flower yet so I'm not sure.

Is it my imagination or are there more bees about? I do hope so, the pear tree is full of them!

Mous don't know about wisteria cuttings, but you can only try, are they a present for somebody?

Yes, Spanish bluebells have more upright stems and flowers all around the stem, rather than drooping and having flowers aligned on one side of the stem.

Having the cuttings exposed to the air for 11 hours might be a problem, but the damp towel and binbag should help. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

I hope to give them to my sister who is moving house.
if it doesn't work I will order her one.

just looked up pictures on the web and am not sure which ones they are. the leaves are very narrow, but the stems are quite upright.

Good morning, have just caught up on all the garden chatter!

Lush your lobelia post has revealed you!
Echt your photo is lovely, looking forward to seeing more!
Rhubarb well done on the yew hedging. It sounds very torturous work!

Regarding the pine cones there are double pointed nails (I am sure there is a mire technical term!) and when you hammer them in there is still a pointy up bit that you could stick the cones onto! Check in a hardware store - glue mightn't be as durable.

Lovely sunny morning here! Just drinking a cuppa in bed before springing into the day!

We have a little nest of starlings in our cooker fan vent pipe - being in the kitchen is like having a live streaming of audio footage from the nest! Was worried landlady would notice and board up the vent on the outside wall before the chicks were born, but things are looking good for them!

Must check out the scottish garden programme! For anyone interested there has been a wonderful Irish gardening programme for a few seasons about a gardener restoring a beautiful old walled garden (and I know how much you all love walled gardens!). He was being treated for cancer at the beginning of the series and as he restores the garden, the garden seems to restore him. Dermot's Secret Garden, it might be on YouTube.

Have just potted up a tray of forget-me-nots - Rhubarb's photo reminded me of the seed packet languishing unplanted under the stairs....

All 52 pots outside the door have been inspected and watered, and all seedlings have been gently encouraged. Great start to the day!

Hope to sweep out one of the sheds later on....am going to set myself a task per day for this whole week of holidays.

looking a bit more closely I have a mix of native and spanish bluebells, about 50/50.

Castle I saw a couple of editions of that programme, it was lovely, I must see can I find it on RTE Player. Else it is off to YouTube for me.

I've got a bugger of a jasmine that I'm trying to dig out if anyone has any tips? The roots are everywhere and they are so tough.

It and a honeysuckle had taken over the pussywillow (salix caprea per Wikipedia - I'm not good on Latin names) so I had a big dark green lump taking over a flowerbed, and have taken the whole lot out. Have lots of lovely room for sweetpeas now, on the sunny side of the garden, once I get rid of most of the roots.

My garden is absolutely tiny and I constantly put in plants that are too big and either have to remove them completely, or cut them back ruthlessly. But I'm getting better - I put something back in the garden centre yesterday as it grew to 4' tall. 4'' is more what I need!

I have just potted on 132 lobelia plants, which is about a third of the cell tray. I may have overdone it somewhat.

I have also thrown away my Orange Emperor and Caravelle tulip bulbs. I had obviously kept them too long, as they were coming up blind. In future, when I plant tulips in pots I am going to mark them with the year, as well as the variety. I usually find they do well for 2 or 3 years, but I suspect these were older than that.

ooh, Echt, brilliant photo! Am really looking forward to seeing some more.

DH moved seven barrowloads of clay from the pigscot borders and replaced with manure and compost. All very shipshape now.

I cleared out the weeds from the terracotta pots of wallflowers and weeded the box balls in the pots on the front garden wall. Baby cobbler showed an alarming desire to eat plants.

The pond digging goes on. Very excited about this now.

this is the heuchera sprouting in the wall. I love it!

I'm excited about your lake pond too, Humph.

Hello and welcome, OnTheBottom. I had to dig out a feral jasmine at the last house - not fun. No suggestions really other than keep attacking it. We found a mattock quite effective.

Lush your lobelias remind me of many years ago when I only had a teeny tiny roof terrace instead of a garden. I ordered a special offer hanging basket collection from The Guardian, but they were out of stock so they sent me a tray of 50 busy lizzie plugs instead. I only had two hanging baskets and a couple of pots; I was bemused as to what to do with this surfeit of busies. In the end I went in for a spot of guerilla gardening (about a decade before that phrase was coined) and planted them into an empty and neglected communal bed that I could see from my window. They spread and filled the bed completely, and were an absolute joy all summer.

I was able to do some proper weeding this afternoon while the dcs played around me in the garden. BREAKTHROUGH. This has never been possible before. A corner has been turned.

Hi all! Year 1 of allotment and just getting ready to plant out. Exciting time if year!

Well done, Rhubarb. That sounds like a lovely afternoon and, as you say, a breakthrough.

Welcome, OnTheBottom. You have one of my favourite names on MN. Victoria Wood is a goddess.

hello OnTheBottom

ive just shown my OH the cones on posts, thinking for the raspberry wires. He doesn't seem convinced!

I've realised I caused myself an injury while energetically digging over the Children's Centre allotment on Saturday. My hip was feeling a bit dodgy yesterday, and a bit more so today, but I had planned to run from work across London to the station partway home, then from my local station which I'd normally walk. Total 3 miles - I was almost limping by the time I got home. I think it's my hip flexor muscle, it's probably still just weak from lack of use in the past year of being pg and new mummying. And, frankly, fairly lazy.

Have been flicking through an Unwins catalogue that refuses to disappear from temptation my house. I fancy some lantana, marguerite daisies, nemesia, coreopsis, campanula, monarda, and some dark hellebores (I have only creamy white ones).