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.

Congratulations, nightshade1.

About scaevola, bearleigh, I've only grown it in the UK as summer bedding, but it can be propagated from cuttings, likes the sun and open, free draining soli, but is not frost hardy. It worked very well in London, and did flower for ages. I may try some as underplanting near a grevillea that will spread to two metres in time, but needs something more interesting than mulch for the summer.

When giving the salvia "Anthony Parker" a prune this week, I abandoned all caution and cut it right back the the new growth, and was astonished to see that a couple of the branches (it's on a sloping raised bed) had layered.I didn't know they did that. I can see why some won't have it in small garden, and I could easily have just had the one. It flowers a little in spring than whopping show in autumn; lovely inky purple/blue flowers.

I have scaevola Zigzag under planting the pear tree in a vast terracotta pot. Emboldened by my success with salvia Hot Lips, I may now try some cuttings!

Knautia seeds dispatched to NANN. Wynken, I think you wanted some too; if you'd still like them then PM me your address. I can collect more if anyone else would like some too.

Congratulations MrsNightshade

Big party in the garden yesterday for DH's birthday. It rained, we covered the garden with marquees and gazebos, all turned out ok in the end. I fed people a huge bowl of salad leaves from the garden and took inspiration from Bearleigh and tossed some edible flowers on at the last minute. Went down a treat, even the kids were eating the flowers.

Yes please Bertha, that would be lovely. Happy Birthday to your DH .

Congratulations to Mr and Mrs Nightshade. NAAN, hope you feel better very soon.

My Bowles Mauve cuttings are starting to flower which makes me very happy, as did the fact it rained so the soil is damp again.

Many congratulations on entering the state of matrimony, Nightshade, and get well soon, NANN. I remember the misery of tooth infections.

Could I have some knautia seeds, please, if there are plenty to go round?

I had a horrible shock this evening. Earlier today, I noticed that the box hedging in the town gardens had blight. When I went into our garden, it looked as if my box hedge had succumbed almost overnight. Closer inspection revealed that the dead bits were clippings that I hadn't properly removed when I trimmed the hedge. Phew!

What's everybody's favourite plant of the day? Mine is jasmine Clotted Cream - beautiful flowers and wonderful scent.

Get well soon NANN.

More hedge cutting today. It meant I had to tackle the rambling rose arch that grows through the hedge where the middle garden meets the bottom garden. Epic task. It hasn't been pruned properly for years, and was full of dead wood with an explosion of skinny branches sticking up into the air on top. Much neater now!

I also weeded the wild areas a la Monty on Friday night's GW, and pulled out dock and other undesirables.

Favourite plant of the moment? Hmm, has to be the lavender I think.

The growth on several of my David Austin roses (and on New Dawn, come to think of it) seems very spindly this year. Is this something to do with weather conditions? Or my rather pusillanimous spring pruning (which probably should have been harder)?

Knautia seeds also on their way to Maud

Favourite plant of the day is one of my grasses (but no idea what it is); it moves beautifully and catches the sun.

A spot of evening weeding carried out. Favourite plant of the moment is the pink honeysuckle by the front door - I've just had a lovely waft of scent from as I came back in.

Hope you are feeling better NANN.

Favourite plant of the moment is my orange mint as it makes a fantastic mint tea.

Phew about the box blight Maud, we have had several such scares! I think it was a mistake to plan our entire garden around box hedging tbh, but DH was not going to waste his beautifully grown on box cuttings!

Would love to get it but so don't. Love (wild) bature and others' gardens but mine is my gulit-fest, my failure and slatternly ways writ large to the postman and everyone! So much of it is boring stuff, endless weeding,pruning repairs, clearance! Hate it! Wouldn't mind just faffing around a bit watering hanging baskets or something.

Bearleigh - Dahlias are just shoots. I bought them very late (tempted by the 70% off!). They are Sarah Raven hot collection.

Bertha - thank you so much for the knautia seeds. Should I plant them now and over winter them? Or wait til next spring? Are they annual or perennial? They look lovely in the photos of your pink/purple/white border.

Wynken - I have a Bowles mauve cutting which is just starting to show signs of new growth. I'm so pleased as I had to sacrifice the mother plant to the builders. The DDs loved it and it was always covered in bees.

Thank you everyone for your lovely get well messages. I've slept most of the w/e away - but I managed to deadhead a geranium today, here's hoping I'm on the mend!

Googling would suggest anywhere from Feb to June for sowing the knautia. I'd also be tempted to throw a few in the bed now if you know where you want them to grow and see if any come up that way.

Favourite plant for me is a toss up between my shocking pink Pink which scents the whole back garden late in the afternoon, and (also shocking pink) Malope Trifida that has just come into flower in the front.

Even if you don't get many flowers this year, NANN, you got a bargain for future years: I love the hot collection. And phew about the box blight: it is a constant underlying worry up isn't it?

We went to Wisley today; quite busy despite the tennis. The long borders and rose gardens were looking gorgeous. Their champagne rhubarb was struggling just like mine, which is sort of a comfort. This year for the first time we have ventured into the pinetum, which is a lovely bit with some very strange looking trees and very quiet. We never knew it was there, and I suspect few other people do either. Some fabulous clematis in the trial beds.

Congrats to nightshade and hope you feel better soon nann

Favourite plant of the moment for me is Cosmos. Until I joined this thread I hadn't even heard of it!

No gardening this weekend having worked, I have just been contemplating some of my fails!

In my head were hanging baskets chocca with Nasturtiums, the reality is stunted growth, and smothered with blackfly.

I went a bit crazy with the Borage, planting in 3s and forgot how big they get, look really stupid in the herb border, oh well the bees are happy.

I grew 3 lovely blue Budeia from cuttings. The mother plant is now in flower and is actually dark purple.

My worst fail however has to be discovering lots of baby Aquilegia, and carefully redistributing round the garden - took a whole afternoon. They are mostly some sort of clover weed !

Uh-oh, Geoff, could that be Oxalis? If so, dig it up again quickly and burn it.

Bearleigh I love the Pinetum at Wisley. It is always a haven of tranquility.

I had never grown borage until this year. It looked fabulous when first planted but it and the flat leaf parsley have been attacked by snails. The parsley is gone completely and the borage is looking very mangled.

rhubarb yes I think it is, will be on the case tomorrow, thank you.

Blackpuddingbertha that's fountain grass, AKA pennisetum setaceum. I have it in my garden, the purple variety, too. It works really well on the raised bed directly below the deck, all waving. In fact all the plants I use on that bed are tall and see-through.

good morning
congrats to nightshade

I think I have killed one box ball. it was placed on the patio close to the fence with overhanging neighbours' plants and just didn't get any rain. the other ball is sprouting plenty fresh green leaves after a good soak and feed but the other is nearly completely dry. do you think cuttting back could encourage it unless it's too late?

supposedly they are blight resistant (and were bloody expensive)

I'm no real expert on box, but to save almost any expensive plant, I'd try a combination of prune/clip, feed and a good soak. I replanted a magnolia stellata that was looking a bit frazzled in the heat, but was just thinking I might prune it as well.

Box is very popular here in Melbourne, though with its water demands, it beats me why its used so much; it never thrives as it can in the UK.

For this reason I use westringia which grows very fast and can be shaped as easily as box, and has pretty pale mauve flowers in winter.

Today I dug a two foot-wide bed alongside a raised bed, parallel to the veggie beds, about ten feet long. It faces full north and will consist of three types of lavender, three of rosemary, alyssum, marigolds; generally bee/insect-attracting plants. Not a native bed, of course; they generally don't like company so they will be on the wider parts of the ex-lawn.

The buddleia Black Knight was severely pruned and the last of the agapanthus sawn up and planted for height in the back bed that runs the width of the garden, very slightly downhill, so taller plants are very welcome.

Ah, yes, agapanthus. I have several pots full, but so far have only one flower stem. I am getting impatient!

Your border sounds lovely echt Having googled black knight that's what I have, smells lovely. I'm going to plant the one I've propagated, by the deck.

Am stupidly pleased that 2 of the lupins grown from seed this year are in flower.

This morning I've been pulling up Oxalis also potting on 6 Delphiniums 2 Aquilegia plus 1st pot on for Honesty seedlings. I need to pot on the Gunnera as I still can't decide where it should go. The Delphiniums look as though they might flower, hope so as I haven't a clue what colour they are.

My Aldi Ahapanthus is in flower, next to pink cleome which has the weirdest smell, Nigella in the front just about to flower.

8 weeks ago I accidentally on purpose severed one of Dh's yuccas. Left it on its side to die. Not only is it still alive it's putting out a flower. I'm going to have to plant the bugger!