Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.

[SugarPlumTree]

Potting shed thread for those who enjoy talking about gardens and plants. Plenty of garden chairs and the wood burner lit now there is a chill in the air, please join us !

Supposedly, children are instinctively cautious about eating strange plants (evolution) which is why they won't eat broccoli etc. not sure this is true for berries.

Hello everyone and welcome to the newbies Bearleigh
that plant is lovely !

Does anyone know how bulbs survive in grass if they were 'accidentally ' cut too early, before their leave went yellow?

I thought all camellias are early spring flowerers. Sugarplum are the autumn flowerers new?

Thanks funnyperson. I think trying to get rid of foxgloves from this garden may be too much of a job! I have to constantly monitor babyCobbler anyway so will just have to keep on with that.

I don't think so Ppeatfruit just that people aren't very aware of the Autumn ones. There's one called Yuletide or something like that which flowers round Christmas.

Yuck to snail eating ! Last year was my first year of foxgloves but I don't think either of mine were likely to have tried eating much out of the garden when little as not their thing (they had plenty of other things to make up for it.)

Seeing how large that camellia sasanqua grew has really made me stop and change my mind about where to plant mine

here is a lovely piece about autumn flowering camellias
www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/howtogrow/3345638/Camellia-sasanqua-How-to-grow.html

humphrey I think as long as you cut the seed heads early off your digitalis you should be ok. How is your bonny boy? Can I ask did you grow your thalictrum from seed or from cutting or from other little plants?

On the subject of plants growing large it worries me that Monty and others recommend cramming lots of plants into the ground because I think maybe actually what plants need is space to grow- but how much space/

I don't worry too much about poisonous plants. You'd have to eat so much for it to have any effect, a small child is never going to eat enough. Ds went through a phase of eating any berry he came across after discovering the delights of blackberries. I rang the NHS helpline after he snacked on Hypericum and Arum italicum, and they said that the worst that would happen would be a bit of a tummy ache. He didn't even have that.

Toadstools worry me more but I've drummed into them never to eat mushrooms that aren't served to them on a plate, and I've never seen them do more than poke them.

I'm planning to go to Chelsea on the Saturday.

I have planted a load of bulbs in a bed that gets some sun in the morning but not the afternoon. Please could some of you suggest some groundcover that would let the bulbs come through but control the weeds? We have alkaline, clay soil and are right on the coast (on top of a cliff).

Would heather work with a load of compost?

I think we bought the thalictrum. I will ask DH if he remembers what it is called. Can we propagate it from cuttings do you know? If so, I will try to do so!

I am embarrassed that I never remember the proper name of plants, unlike all you erudite lot.

Humph, don't be embarrassed. Your garden is in the Yellow Book. That trumps any spouting of Latin names!

CruCru, years ago when I lived by the sea I grew sea thrift (Armeria maritime) on my roof terrace, with daffs and tulips coming up through it in the spring.

Maritima not maritime. Damn autocorrect.

Awesome, I'll check it out.

re thalictrum: it says propagate by seed or by division in spring on the rhs website. Yours was such a pretty delicate pale colour. maud grew thalictrum one year maybe she knows.

Yeah. The thalictrum that Humphrey and I bought was thalictrum delavayi. Mine put on some early growth this year and then vanished from sight, so I shall be watching carefully next year.

This be the one

Hi everyone and welcome Grassybottom. Just checking in before I drop off the thread entirely. Managed to put the raspberry bed and the asparagus bed to sleep for the winter last weekend. Quite an achievement at the moment.

I thought humphrey's thalictrum was pale yellow but maybe my memory is wrong.

There certainly are yellow thalictrums but, at one point at least, Humphrey and I both had thalictrum delavayi because I egged her on to buy it from Parker's.

No, your memory is correct. We have two kinds!

Maud, the thalictrum delavayi has set a seedling in a crack by the back door. It had teeny flower too.

Have just tried to find a photo of the yellow one but we don't have any sadly.

A seedling? How delightful and galling for me as my plants vanished!

The big plants got a bit dry and the flowers went a bit funny, if that helps

I would like to think of them flourishing, as I feel a sort of responsibility for them!

I can't grow camellias or rhodies due to the alkalinity of our garden, Cru I fell for gorgeous heathers and shouldn't have ;even with a load of high acid compost they died fast

Ref. snails I LOVE them ! (even some french people think I'm weird ) they sell them in the market and I've made a dip and stew from them!! Very good for you apparently!

Snails!

I'll get some thalictrum in the spring; its getting cold here. I have cut back and wrapped up the gloriosa rothschildiniana and put it in the verandah.

Yes I have to take in me pelargoniums, esp. the expensive ones, the others can fend for themselves in our little wood store shed type thingy. Oh and the lemon trees which are just about hanging on in there. (I must get some sheep manure like *echt' said) .