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.

Nearly then Geoff! I did laugh at the idea of a load of people sitting there with their scratch cards so they can sniff out their local cannabis farm. Not Gunnera unfortunately, courgette plants. Well done on having baby melons, not the easiest of plants.

I love a spot of pyjama gardening, lovely way to start the day. Am rapidly going off late evening gardening as the mozzies seem to be very partial to my blood all of a sudden. I went out last night for a spot of black spot removal and regretted it.

No Broadband sounds highly traumatic ppeat

You have just confirmed, Rhubarb, why my Ballerina rose has become a pathetic shadow of its former self since I moved it to the shadiest border. It used to be a gorgeous mass of flowers and is now a spindly, twiggy thing with scarcely a flower. Sob.

Thanks Sugarplum This computer is like a trip to the moon compared to my old one (I'm just getting used to it) i don't have a 'touch control phone or anything so you can see why it started out confusing me!!

Yes Maudant it\s a shame isn't ? I tried an expensive rambler by the caves which immediately got bright yellow leaves despite my mulching and feeding it with acid forming feeds and died in a year. (i had fantasies of beautiful masses of fragrant roses growing in the full sun around the caves) it was n't to be .

Yes, ppeatfruit. I usually take the view that I will try to plant a plant in its optimal growing conditions and if I plant it in sub-optimal conditions I will have to accept sub-optimal growth and performance. Normally, things turn out ok but this Ballerina rose looks so awful that I can't keep it where it is. It's gotta go!

I was in denial about this in London too. I'd read that Queen of Sweden is tolerant of shade and planted it under a Magnolia in the north facing front garden. It was miserable and I got about three flowers on it in three years.

Right plant, right place will be my abiding rule in this garden until I get tempted by something inappropriate

Has anyone heard of a clematis "Dr Ruppel"? which is large, pink and a bit like Nelly Moser . I read that Nelly is not good in full sun which is annoying because we had some overgrown leylandii removed last weekend and there is an ugly fence, in full sun, directly opposite our kitchen window which needs covering fast!

I'm going to move an ailing climbing rose and maybe put a honeysuckle there too. See I never learn about roses!

How about a Campsis if it's full sun, ppeat?

Ooh, campsis. My gardening pal here has a fantastic campsis growing in his London courtyard garden and I have seen some beauties in France.

Yes Rhubarb They are lovely; I looked at one in Jardiland today but it was the price that put me off, that and the one supposed to be growing up our house wall is not very floriferous;I get of the ones I see here as you say Maud !

That reminds me, ppeatfruit. I like to buy bits and bobs for the garden when in France, as they make nice mementoes of the holiday. I have some nice lanterns from Leroy Merlin, for example. But where is the best place to look? I don't necessarily mean upmarket, just nicer than (and not the same as) I would find at home?

I've seen Dr Ruppel clematis here, pppeatfruit, it is a larger flowering clematis with flowers darker and not quite as large as Nelly Moser, not a fast grower and 'type 2'.

What about jasmine trachelospermum: that grows fast! Or even Bougainvillea?

The main reason my roses are doing OK at the moment is they are in large pots in the warm sunny south facing patio. Except for New Dawn who survives and flowers well under the oak tree for some reason, and MMe Alfred Carriere who has plenty of space to herself on a North East facing high fence which she loves. But Dr Du Jamain didn't like his North West position, found the competing clematis next to him too much, and died.

This isn't ideal, as the reason the roses were bought in the first place was to go in the back north-facing garden in various carefully chosen spots, but I thought I'd give them a year to settle locally first.

This Autumn is designated for rose transfer from the patio pots to the back garden, so that they can spread and grow properly, but I'm not entirely sure they will, as its less sunny, which is always a little bit nerve racking.

I frequently garden in my pyjamas in the morning in the summer, and as I look a fright, I'm sure any neighbours who happen to be up at 6 am (rare) avert their eyes quickly.

maud When you see the sign "Emmaus" go to look at the shop ;it's a sort of charity shop that collects old stuff of all types and mends it then sells for quite low prices. dd1 and 2 are into retro and they adore this place . I bought an large enamelled jug in blue to collect the dregs in the kitchen and they do all sorts of unusual 'old fashioned' things. actually if you're setting up a home you could do amazingly well there ; the Le Creuset is so
o cheap and the china (speechless emoticon) !!!

Thanks funny I garden in pots too! I'm out in my painting trousers first thing and anointed with a special essential oil to repel ticks etc. (i got a tick down me neck and it put me off the garden for a while!!). It may get too cold in the winter for bougainvillea; we're up a hill and always 2 or 3 degees colder than the valley

Did anyone see the programme about nude gardeners i can't think of anything worse really; I wear 3 pairs of gloves to remove the brambles and nettles and I still get pricked !! Adam and Eve can't have 'gardened' till they ate the apple and wore protective gloves etc.!!

ppeat that shop sounds lovely. I didn't see the nudey gardening show, a month or so back it was naked gardening day, friendly gardeners a Facebook page I'm a member of, was full of naked selfies and strategically placed plants.
I often like fp wander out first thing in a nightie looking a fright, but naked is a step too far for me, and my neighbours!

Photo is of the biggest Melon, I have no idea what type.

Did it just grow callme? It looks a bit like a swollen courgette to me! (oh dear the juxtaposition of that and the nudey gardeners is a bit ooer missus )

2 years ago the loveliest pumpkin vine literally just 'grew' out of my compost heap it was fabulous with 4 different coloured and types of pumpkins they tasted lovely!

i keep looking for a return but no luck though this year it looks like potatoes aregrowing out of it!

Thank you for the tip about Emmaus, ppeatfruit. We have a local one which is not a very productive hunting ground, but I am sure one in France would, by its very nature, be more interesting. Last year, I got two nice containers at a vide grenier.

Oh yes vide greniers are fab places;I bought a lovely traditional heavyweight bread mixing bowl. Also good for dcs clothes, toys etc.Our local one is in Oct. on the same day as the best one in the area which is more of a pumpkin festival\gourmet market which we always make a point of going to!!

Where do you live? i didn't know they have Emmaus' in Eng.

I live in South London. I know of Emmauses in Brighton and Cambridge too, but I don't know how many others there are in the UK.

well I didn't know that! They're not too good though? ds has lived on S. London it's odd i didn't know actually.

Well, our local one is a disappointment, but a friend tells me that the Brighton one is excellent. To be fair, none of our local charity shops are very good - they always seem better out of London and I know done great ones in Surrey.

The Oxfam furniture shop in Streatham is good (or was when we lived there). also the charity shops in Golders Green/Hampstead are brill.

ppeat definitely a melon, now the size of a small tangerine. A friend gave me the plants and said the seeds were quite expensive. I feel a bit guilty as her plants all died, she won't take one of mine back though.

I've joined a local Facebook plant swapping site, just searched and sure enough there was one. A lady is sending me some Acanthus Mollis seeds, quite pleased about that.

An emotional day today as dd1 bid farewell to her primary school. Now that Schools out for summer I shan't be gardening much. On the other hand 8000 loom bands just arrived so that should keep them busy.....

Has anyone ordered bulbs yet? I'm planning a tulip forget-me-not combo, and have lots of for-get-me not seedlings potted on. I'd also like to get Allium sphaerocephalon is that spelt right which has been the last of the free Alliums to flower. I really like them. Purple Sensation is already ordered from Sarah Raven to save on postage.

The other seedlings I have are Black Pansies for the winter, not sure what to put them with, if anything. They will be in pots and hanging baskets. Grateful for any suggestions.

I would put the black pansies with orange tulips. ::unsubtle ::

I haven't ordered them yet because I will try to buy as many as I can through the gardening society, but I will be buying lots of bulbs this autumn because all my old ones have gradually dwindled and failed. Similarly, I need new lilies for next summer as my current crop is a shadow of its former self.

I have lots of gaps for bulbs, so will be splurging soon. Inevitably the ones I really want are each stocked by a different supplier. I also love allium sphaerocephalon, and will be ordering some. Black pansies with orange tulips sounds fab. And maybe shocking pink wallflowers for maximum pizzaz? (I have some seedlings of those and they looked lovely with Prinses Irene this spring)