When the hounds of spring are on winter's traces…...

[echt]

I realise it's later in the UK, but couldn't wait to start a new thread. If another title had been agreed, just tell me and I'll have this removed.

Other than that, seek out those deckchairs from the shed, check them for spiders and get nattering about the spring's promise.

Geoff I must admit I don't think lilies are that easy : every time James Wong said 'you will have flowers for decades!' and he said it a few times, I thought of my flowerless lilies, and my eaten up lilies of last year, which had been the second year they were in the ground, and sighed. Still, it is possible I have planted the bulbs too shallowly and not fed them enough so I am hovering over the spalding bulbs checkout.....

sorry I mean the j parker checkout,

Ah. You have reminded me that the species lilies implanted last year did nothing. I emptied the pot, thinking they had rotted, but they were still there so I hope they'll do something - at least grow and, better still, flower - this year. The collection of black lilies I bought from the Telegraph was also a huge disappointment - very few flowers. I love lilies but do think JW minimised the downside. Lily beetles are a real problem around here.

I feel better I'm not the only one! The calla bulbs haven't rotted and are in fact multiplying, the only thing I can think of is bringing them on in the greenhouse first.

I had a quick look at lilies on J Parker website but got side tracked by Dahlias - the dinner plate ones! Did you buy anything funny ?

Hyper it goes like this - I buy Peony plant and carefully put on garden. They then grow foliage but no flowers. That's 3 so far that have done it to me.

I haven't really done Lilies as am worried about the cats. There are a couple which I think are day lilies that appear in the front each year though.

Congratulations Castle! What a pretty name for your baby.

The rainbow bed I am planning is from the Kim Wilde gardens for children book. I am going to give her plants a go but I think they are all annuals so will have to think up the perennials myself. Will post a list of ideas for your comments.

Could anyone tell me whether I should wait for the risk of frost to be over before planting bare root plants? I am in Scotland so that means waiting til late April by which time it'stoo late to get bare roots.

there was a rainbow bed in a school I worked in years ago. It was lovely, but I didn't garden then so didn't pay attention to what was growing exactly, but the effect was lovely.

I THINK you can plant bare rooted plants despite frost, but actually I would listen to someone else rather that me as i could easily be wrong.

The geese got into the pond tonight, it is a wildlife pond so they are not allowed. DH had to wrestle them in with the aid of a pole so that the fox wouldn't get them. It wasn't a fair fight apparently

I would have liked to have seen Humph's DH (or anyone else) wrestling a goose with a pole. It's the antithesis of the sort of gardening I do here.

Has anyone here ever tried to replicate Victorian carpet bedding? My offspring has never been interested in gardening ::parenting fail:: but now wants to grow the logo of her favourite TV show in floral form. I'm inclined to indulge her, to encourage her to do more in the garden, but does this way madness lie?

Lol. When you say it wasn't a fair fight, who were the stronger side? The geese or your dh?

±sugarplumtree± have you planted the peonies too deeply? On the programme it said that was the main cause of them not flowering.

Geoff I have chosen but not clicked on 'buy' because when I went to the local garden centre today, late in the afternoon just as it was closing, to get a larger pot for a rhodedendron, I noticed they had lily bulbs and dahlia tubers in. So said i would go in again tomorrow to closely inspect a) the range and b) the price

I have to be careful. I am going to set myself a gardening budget of £50 a month this year. This is partly to ensure self discipline at checkouts.

I don't know about the bare root/frost thing with perennials. Trees and roses are supposed to be planted when dormant anyway. I suppose the other option with perennials is keep them in a pot in a sheltered spot and plant in the spring.

Oh maud yes to a bit of floral madness!

Awake waiting up for DS (it is cold and raining: am worried)

Lobelia, impatiens, begonia, and violas spring to mind, but there is a website which sells bedding for the purpose of logos and suchlike which uses sedums.

My garden isn't too serious but its not as frivolous as some of the ones on Alan Titchmarsh's 'best back gardens' show.

I would like a red Japanese garden bridge to go over the lotus pond.
Something like this painted over

That bridge is very nice - painted green it would be très Giverny.

I have been wondering how many plants DD's logo would need. Sedums wouldn't work, as we'd need lots of blue and white. I haven't yet mentioned to DH that we would be commandeering part of the allotment to do it!

morning all
sugar hmm I fear I may end up with the same problem with peonies...may risk it and try one...
I have noticed little seedlings appearing in the patch I had wild flowers in the front garden last year.Hoping I get a good show again this year as it was lovely last year and is on the patch of rubbish really dry soil right in front of the house where not much else will grow.

I'm hoping to be able to order a small greenhouse when I get paid on Weds. Am very excitedly planning all the seeds I want to grow!

I need to get a couple of trees for the front garden too...have been browsing possible options...
will be limited on gardening time this weekend though sadly as have to take dd and friends to cinema for her bday later, then I'm working tomorrow...boo.
keeping fingers crossed for a dry day Monday on my day off though...

The geese were the stronger funny! He was knackered when he came in.

A bridge! A bridge would be brilliant

I also have a lovely image of the geese v Humph's DH in my head ! They might be too deep FP. The first one probably was but I dug it up and put it in again a bit higher, waited a few years and nothing. Took it out in the end. Then I saw two more at a good price and though I was careful with that one.

Maud I would go for it knowing that you will have tried. I think with children you can't win and are indeed not supposed to. DD requested more flowers in ours so I did. Then she complains they are giving her hayfever.

DS is building a mini house for homework. I'm trying to persuade him and DH it should have a green rood but they are currently insisting on a more traditional one. I'm going to make him watch that Ben Law Grand Designs house in the woods episode to encourage more rustic thinking.

A gardening budget is good. Maybe we should all try to swap seeds and cuttings more this year? I bought a very little propagator this morning to put on the kitchen window sill where I will regularly look at it and not let cuttings dry out.

Was the Ben Law Grand Designs the one they repeated this week, with the Hobbitty-looking house and overflowing cottage garden? I thought it was beautiful (although probably couldn't hack that lifestyle myself).

I'm definitely up for seed and plant swapping. I usually have lots of stuff to give away.

I have just had a lovely couple of hours pottering in a surprising warm garden. I have planted the hellebores that have been on the patio for at least two years (so long that the ink has washed off the labels so I shall have to wait to see which varieties they are), raked up the leaves on the lawn, pruned the roses that got missed last week, thrown away the grot, and sprinkled clementine peel as cat-deterrent on the beds. Everything smells gorgeous, thanks to the winter box and the daphne.

I have also broken it to DH that he will be giving up part of the allotment to create the Captain America logo in bedding plants. He is taking it remarkably well.

Yes that is the one. DS had a very pained look on his face so I said to do something else and watched the revisit bit myself.

Fair play to your DH. Captain America bedding plant logos and wrestling geese, a fair bit of variety on this thread!

Sounds like a lovely time in the garden. I can't smell my winter box annoyingly. I need to clear up all the moss something has been throwing off the roof. I had assumed it was cats but DH thought it might have been birds looking for worms.

That does sound a lovely bit of gardening Maud. I need to get some winter box.

Luckily the geese were well behaved tonight as it was my responsibility to get them to bed. Frankly I am not up to geese wrestling.

We went to the garden centre for lunch and I saw some lovely dwarf hellebores for five pounds each, I had my eye on them for the spring borders but then got distracted by a half price hamster cage. We pick up Fang tomorrow

Winter box is indeed the bee's knees. I wonder how easy it would be to strike a cutting.

I think I have convinced DH that we need to go to Cambridge Botanic Garden in half term. Wahoo.

Smiling at the geese and the Captain America carpet bedding. I would like to see photos of both, please.

I was hoping to dig today but still too wet. So I ventured into the orchard to begin the big apple and pear pruning. Weirdly, most of the trees appear to have hardly grown, so there was very little to snip off. The exception (of course) was the huge old Bramley, which I have been renovation pruning in phases over the past three years. I stared at it for a long time, hummed and hawed, then courage failed me and I decided I have lost my pruning confidence. I need to seek advice from an apple expert.

Re non-flowering peonies - it takes them several years to start flowering. I put some in up in London and they never flowered the whole time we were there. I bet they are doing so now, the buggers.

I want to go to Cambridge Botanics too Maud. So far I've planned a Wisley trip for half term, to see the butterflies. It was a huge hit with the dcs last year.

The Wisley butterfly thing does sound delightful.

My apple trees look far better as a result of their expert pruning, but I only noticed today quite how much has been chopped off the viburnum tinus, whose canopy I had wanted to lift a bit. I'm actually rather pleased - it's created a decent planting space underneath - but it was a bit of a shock at first.

afternoon all.
have managed to fit some garden time in this morning despite being on-call.
have been working on re-edging the borders in the back and stripped off the overgrown turf on the stepping stones of our path to seating area.
Yes re peonies, I realised after that programme that they will take a few years to flower...going off the idea now, may not be patient enough!

I'm planning a trip to out lovely local independent nursery next weekend. It's great, really ramschackle, just a series of huge greenhouses and polly tunnels, family run. tucked away down a weird little path - I lived here for years before a even realised it existed! Not at all like a garden centre with coffee shop etc...but the plants are always great and very good value, and super friendly and helpful staff...can't wait!
So excited it's almost February!!

Maybe I am too impatient with the new ones, I think it is only s couple of years. But the other one had a good few years and nothing. My Stepmum bought me some from her nieces gardrn that I thought died a death and didn't take but reappeared. Maybe if I just forget about them it will eventually happen. However I have problems with things thd rest of you grow with ease so I am not holding my breath - Mme Carriere springs to mind. There's a replacement for it if it won't play ball, one of the Aldi ones.

Cracked today and planted some antirhinum seeds I got free with a magazine the other day in my mini windowsill propagator next to Pinks cuttings. Combined with not being far off the first Camellia flower it doesn't seem to long till Spring now.