A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot!

[MaudantWit]

Join us for ongoing gardening chat in the MN potting shed. Blow the cobwebs off a deckchair, help yourself to a glass of elderberry champagne and tell us about your garden.

it is sad, but was the right thing at the time. had once to dispatch a baby rabbit that neighbours cat list interest in. the scream still haunts me.

was unexpectedly home with dc who has a massive boil on the arm and sat in the sun looking at the garden.
was thinking of all the lovely plants I have inherited that I would never have bought myself: hydragena, yucca, fig tree but J can happily live with them. I'm a bit surprised that I like tge 2 hydrangenas so much

funnyperson if it is of any interest to you, I was looking at my copy of Neil Lucas's book on designing with grasses, and he says there is a version of Anemanthele which is more yellowy - it is called Golden Hue. Google threw up a couple of suppliers here and here.

If you did go for this grass, the clumps get to about 50-75cm across after a couple of years, if that helps with spacing.

I think the sanguisorba sounds lovely with the other plants.

Just collected some knautia Macedonia seeds, can't remember who it was that wanted some?

My hidden sanguisorba

DF has bought me a Stihl rechargeable hedge cutter for my birthday.

Have we missed it? Happy Birthday !

I think I like the orangey anemanthele better, especially when it is tussocky. Its really interesting seeing all these websites though.

One of the neighbours has planted grasses with daisies last week and another has stuck in some floppy grass next to the lavender. No ornamental grass in the border is so last century. Beginning to panic.

Thank you, but it's not actually for another month. I think it's my Dad's way of telling me my hedges need cutting.

Well, happy birthday in advance, funnyperson.

Today I finally found out the name of a scraggy tree in our front garden that had the virtue of flowering most of the year and giving some screening against being overlooked a little. It's cestrum parqui^, a declared noxious weed, to be shot on sight in NSW, so I've emailed the vic.gov. to take advice. It was originally used in Au as an ornamental plant and has gone bonkers. It's deadly within hours if eaten by a whole host of animals.

I rather think the response will be to dig the bugger up. Ho hum. At least it will make room for a proper tree.

It apparently has an RHS Award of Garden Merit over here echt! Just goes to show how plants are seen differently in different countries. I think in this case it's because it doesn't get too rampant over here and isn't that hardy.

Do you have a link for that, Blackpudding?

No need, I've just found it.

Apart from the killing herbivores, I suppose it's rather like agapanthus, another weed, but one I'm happily planting in the back yard. :o

Congrats on the hefty power tool, rhubarb!

DH and DD are just about to go out for the day and I was going to reward myself with last night's GW but it isn't yet on iPlayer. Curses.

Anyone else's autumn-fruiting raspberries ripening already? We have one tiny cane that seems overly enthusiastic.

have done an enormous amount of weeding today, stopped by the rain, so am enjoying a nice tea break.
hope to be able to finish it and to trudge all the weeds through the house to the bin before the football.

Link here to GW

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b048srv5/gardeners-world-2014-episode-16

It is not my birthday echt: Rhubarbs is coming up!

I am reading a nice book by Piet Oudolph and Noel Kingsbury: it has planting plans for borders with grasses and shows how to plant for all seasons and how far apart to space plants etc. It is interesting looking at the repetitions and also the use of 'treat' plants: a bit like fairisle knitting patterns.

On the whole this type of planting seems best for dry sunny spaces and summer autumn and winter colour and structure. Spring still belongs to snowdrops and primroses.

Im back! Exhausted mind but im now a mrs, the day was fab despite the early rain (it stopped as I got to the church) Everything went to plan and the flowers were lovely and just how I wanted them.

my garden is looking a bit neglected and jungle like, bit I bit of weeding and cutting back and it will be all right.
The allotment on the other hand is shoulder high in weeds - it got a neglected in the run up too the wedding. so we have spent today clearing it all and tomorrow I will do some more. me sweet peas are looking great, even if they have neglected to grow up their allocated supports and have just formed a 5ft high mound instead.

Congratulations Mrs Nightshade!!!!!!

And congratulations from me too Mrs Nightshade. How wonderful that the day went well. Lord Copper my autumn rasps have some fruit too also on a scraggy little cane. Not very tasty, but a welcome surprise.

Echt I am very envious of your having agapanthus as a weed. Can I pick your brains as a resident of the antipodes? Today at the garden centre I bought a plant of Scaevola blue fan, which Google tells me comes from Australia. It's a lovely purple/blue, low growing and apparently flowers for a long time. I can't find out how to propagate it: it looks a it like a succulent and like it may take from cuttings - do you happen to know anything about it?

Congratulations Mrs Nightshade!

Unsurprisingly, I did some hedge cutting today.

Hello everyone, I've been lurking as I've been poorly. Both of my wisdom teeth have been causing me terrible pain and I'm now on my second bout of anti-biotics to sort them out. My garden has been destroyed by building works (foundations for extension) but I'm already making plans for its rebirth. My Sarah Raven dahlias are finally appearing, I'd given up hope.

Congratulations to Mr & Mrs Nightsade!

Congratulations Mr and Mrs N!

I hope you get better soon NANN

Ouch NANN I do hope the antibiotics work this time. Hopefully the dahlias will cheer you up! Is it flowers you have or just shoots for the moment? Which varieties?

I have grown some dahlias from seed over the past 3 years. Most got slugged, but those that survive are lovely, and getting better each year. I cracked yesterday, as I had a dahlia-sized hole in the garden and actually bought one. And I know it's specific variety (David Howard) as opposed to 'small red dark leaves ' or 'pink'. Luxury!

Blooming weather - keeps changing: yesterday here was fine-ish in the afternoon and the forecast was for sunny weather all day today, so I could enjoy sitting in the garden. Now it's raining hard and the forecast is for no sunshine till late evening. I shall content myself with the thought that it'll save me watering.

Yes the forecast is annoying me too Bearleigh. I planned my weekend around rain yesterday and dry today and it's the opposite.