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

Well yesterday my OH spent the day making me a strawberry pyramid for the allotment, I planted out two wigwams of sweet peas and I have seedlings appearing in my cut flower bed.

Today we went to the Dorothy Clive garden (which had a plant hunters fair on) it was lovely, some gorgeous colours with the purple and orange tulips and blue forget-me-nots.
We did come home with a boot full of plants - well it would be rude not to!
Mostly herbaceous perennials for the front which is practically a blank canvas as the moment. Lots of bee friendly plants as we seem to have lots of bumble bees this year.
Oh and I bought some sweet woodruff just because.

Yes Rhubarb Pitmaston Pineapple is on my list too! I love the sound of the unusual ones! The ones you don't get in the shops!
Nightshade you had a great day!
I want a DH who wants to make me things!

Purple and orange tulips and forgetmenots are in this year. Surprised to find even I have some in my pots. What doesn't work are the red+pink+purple half hearted tulip plantings with the odd grape hyacinth that some unfortunate gardeners have planted. Yet another reminder that its best to get lots of just one or two colours of plants and plant them in masses than those cheap 'mixed colour' ranges in dots which just look messy.

I don't think its too late to sow sweet peas

Maybe I'll bung some sweet peas in tomorrow then.

Yesterday I finished weeding dd's flowerbed. Not many weeds, mostly grass and small bits of oxalis. Loads of Nigella and Calendula has self seeded from last year which is nice. Raked the bare bits and got the dcs to sow some more hardy annual seeds.

This morning, as soon as they'd had breakfast they pulled on their wellies and ran outside "to see the flowers!"

So sweet. Hard to explain they'll have to wait a while...

The thing is that very often I stick my flip flops on and run saunter into the garden in the morning 'to see the flowers!'

I'm a bit worried as having tried to google weeds I have discovered that one of the structural additions to my garden which, thinking it to be a nice grass, I have allowed to thrive and prosper, is in fact some sort of Carex weed.

This is not good. I urgently need to see lots of weed photographs please. I suspect I am not being a Good Gardener. Alternatively links to good weed sites or suggestions for good weed books would be most welcome.

I wish I could share my white and green shady border with you all though. It looks fab with more than 8 diff kinds of hellebore in proliferous large flowering clumps, and more and more flowers every day. Yesterday white anemones came into flower, and white and green viridis tulips in addition to the ivory tulips, white japonica, clematis helsingborg, clematis avalanche, white saxifrage, deutzia and forgetmenots already out. There is something about a real garden which eclipses all show gardens at horticultural shows because the plants haven't just been stuck in soil for a few days but have grown and survived there and thrived there for seasons.

Funny that sounds absolutely beautiful. I wish you could share it too.

I agree completely with you about show gardens. I have heard them described as 'flower arranging' rather than gardening, and this is true really. Plants that would not naturally thrive together are planted side by side, shade plants with sun lovers, and everything is flowering at once. There would be no year round colour, and nothing has the space it needs to grow. They are useful for inspiration, in the same way I like to flick through glossy fashion magazines even though I am not a leggy anorexic six foot model with thousands to spend on a summer dress.

Show houses and interior magazines are the same - you couldn't live that way in real life well not with kids around anyway but you might see an odd mirror to buy or a way of putting colours together that can be borrowed.

funnyperson, your border sounds stunning.

I think that is very true Rhubarb, what a useful way to think of show gardens.

Yes to everything that has been said about the false promises of show gardens. Funnyperson's birder sounds sumptuous.

funny your border sounds fabulous! I'd love to see some photos!

Am sitting outside the garden centre with Beauty of Bath stuffed into the car beside me! It's on M26 so I am planning on keeping it in the kitchen garden/potager as I want tall trees in the 'orchard'.
So excited! I should hopefully have apples this Autumn!

And Rhubarb I am like your little dc - I keep going out to check whether the buds on the BoB have opened yet....talk about impatient!!!

I'd love to see your garden Funny so I can copy

Castle I'm quite envious of your orchard plans- we've no room for any more trees so are stuck with what was already here.

I am rubbish at border design so have just put in what I have and am hoping for the best. I'm the person who can't resist a bargain such as 8 mixed Daliahs. I can't even remember where I've put them but there is no sign of them appearing.

In the front to day I did a lot of weeding and planted out Sunflowers, to go with Alliums, a lupin and geraniums. The latter were cheap plug plants so I don't know what colour. I guess it will look better than weeds though.

Some of the shrubs we hacked down when we moved are beginning to recover and are quite pretty. I recognise lilac not sure of the others.

I've managed to salvage every single germinating cosmos and will have about 50 - this will make up the rest of the borders and pots. With the cosmos I'm going to try Bells of Ireland, Hollyhocks and Pink cleome. I'm not sure if they'll flower this year though.

Next year I'm so mixing Tulips and forget me nots! Brilliant Facebook picture.

Yes, I think I could squeeze some forget me nots under the tulips in pots next year too. Did look amazing.

I've not managed much time in the garden this weekend but have tinkered a bit. Seeded one of the bare patches in the lawn, did a spot of weeding, checked on seedlings , pulled up the ground elder and brambles around the Soloman's Seal. DH went to get the second load of manure finally so chucked some of that where it needed to go. The rest is for the courgette/squash pots so can stay where it is for now. I think the garden appreciated yesterday's rain.

Hello everyone. Spent a lovely weekend at MILs (I have a good one!). I came with a few leftover seedlings (salvia and daisies mostly) and left with a boot full of hellebores, sweet william, and a few mystery surprises I don't recognise too. Far from getting rid of the excess, I have just doubled it! DP not amused - but I think it's time for a second flowerbed!

Have had a lovely day in the garden today, all the sweeter as I had planned to spend saturday the garden but other things got in the way. I have aerated and scarified the lawn though I am beginning to think it is beyond saving

I have mulched the border at the front of the house which I think of as woodland though it isn't I think it's just because of it being shady. I spend a lot of time weeding it but as its tucked away and only one small window looks on it I am trying to decrease themaintence on it so can spend more time in the back garden.

I also cleared and weeded the greenhouse, note to self put better weed control down next time! So that's all ready for some seed sowing, am glad to see other people haven't got all theirs done yet.

Geoff I managed to get cleome to flower in a year despite leaving it in the modules I sowed it in and never getting it out the greenhouse, it was about ten inches tall so you can imagine my surprise when I saw it about a metre tall at newby hall gardens.

Funny will probable steal some of your ideas for the shady border I am supposed to be ignoring

Am also composing a shopping list for harrogate flower show this weekend!

Also picked up from MILs some lovely pink and blue forget me nots. it might be her area (5 hour drive from us) that makes them mixed colour, but I do hope they can keep their colour, and spread a bit, in my heavy acid clay.

Rhubarb - I don't think it's too late for sweet peas, you'll be able to sow them straight outside now. They are so easy, if you have any seeds it's worth a shot.

I spent yesterday morning trying to dig out an overgrown quince bush. It's one if the few mouldy old shrubs we inherited which I need to get rid of. I'm ashamed to say it beat me - despite a wheelbarrow full of roots and a v sore bum, it's still there.

returned from holiday yesterday.
tomato plants look a bit sorry, a little yellow. start again or fo they have a chance?
have to sow sunflowers again, they have shot up but not staight up, sideways. their poles were to short.

Thanks for all the compliments about my border esp seeing as you only have a written description of it! It is surprising how quickly it changes, though; tulips in particular don't last very long.

I feel I was being a bit of a grump about show gardens because I have to say that going to the Chelsea flower show last year for the first time in my life blew my mind away. Even now a year later, there are gardens from that show which I still see with pleasure in my mind's eye. rhubarb is right, one takes away not just a happy memory like an old master seen on a wall in the Uffizi in Florence but also a widened perception about what might go with what and certainly a deep respect for the art of the genius gardeners. (and also of course a healthy scepticism e.g for Chris Beardshaw's boring hedges)
Had a lovely time on easter monday helping a friend train her mme Alfred Carriere. She has this theory that the flowers are on the top of the plant so it has to be trained low down so that one can see the flowers. ie one foot two foot and three foot above the ground like a sort of rose espalier. I didnt have the heart to tell her mine drips with flowers all over, or did last year. anyway, inspired by the artful traiing of climbers I saw at Dixter we had a fun time putting up horticultural wire and training the rose with great care and cups of tea and pondering.

Heh Funnyperson.

But then... I have been inspired by Sarah Raven's Vita book to train one of my climbing roses along the wires horizontally, rather than let them go up at 45 deg. It's amazing how many new shoots I have. It's going to be dripping flowers. Is that what she's aiming for?

Re: show gardens from the other side of the fence. designing a show garden to me is creating a snapshot or memory evoking the feelings of a place or time as opposed to a liveable garden. You are right in that its akin to flower arranging, our job is to create this memory for people to see and take away with them for a week and from that memory the inspiration (should) flow. Unfortunately the need for everything to be at its peak during show week does tend to lead to some rather unlikely plant pairings (particularly if at the last minute you are given a new plant to showcase which wasn't in your plans and you need to fit it in ) but this can be recreated by just bearing the forms, textures and colours in mind while choosing more suitable plants, this also means that the true feeling of the garden can be transposed to almost anywhere with careful thought.

in short there are lots of lovely show gardens but the ones that really stick in my mind are the ones that create and build on a memory.

bearleigh yes, exactly, does Vita/Raven recommend this horizontal training? Its rather nice to see how the same plant can be treated so differently. Mine isnt at any angle as it is rampant. I have pruned it in such a way that I can underplant it to a certain extent. So all my mm Carriere flowers are at a height of about 4 foot to 5 foot in a heavily laden bushy distribution.

In fact today a very satisfactory and delightful feathered white parrot tulip showed itself under the rampant rose. With the forgetmenots and hellebores etc previously mentioned.

I found this
www.sarahraven.com/how-to/growing-flowers/4/how-train-roses
I might try it on souvenir dr du jamain.

I saw that technique clearly at Sissinghurst early this month: it's actually why we went when we did, so I could see the bare branches. It was quite a sight, and of course there were all the beautiful spring flowers too.

speaking of roses.
my mature one seems to be eaten by something.
slugs? snails? caterpillars (but haven't seen any)?

the newer roses are doing well and have so many flower buds

Mous I'm of all your rose buds. Mine must be miles behind yours! My new roses have no rosebuds yet! My cuttings have two though, but in general the cuttings are looking quite poorly.

No gardening here for a few days. My sister is getting married in Friday so I went home on Tuesday. Left the bath at home filled with seedlings....! Quite a sight!