"In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt." This month's discussion in the potting shed.

[MyNightWithMaud]

Grateful thanks to the magnificent Margaret Atwood (via A Mighty Girl) for the quote.

I have just come indoors after a delightful couple of hours' pottering in the garden. It's far warmer than yesterday and everything feels optimistic and vernal again, after yesterday's Arctic blast.

High point: Realising that most of last year's cuttings have taken. Given that I am useless with seeds this, I think, is my propagating future.

Low point: Realising that my newest fairy lights have already failed.

::wonders whether there's a secret handshake for recognising members of the middle-aged cliche club::

Our great achievement this afternoon is replacing the lawn edging, a couple of years after it needed doing. It's looking good, I think.

I'm sure there is, Maud

How do you do the lawn edging? Is it the 'invisible' type?

No, the lawn edging is very visible - the borders are all slightly raised. so they need edging to prevent them collapsing. After log roll (too rustic, really) and bamboo, we now have black bamboo. I like it, although I now realise we should have used a line to keep it straight rather than doing it by eye. I'll tweak it tomorrow.

If the garden were level and we had a smarter lawn, I might go for one of the 'invisible' strips. I looked at them while I was searching for the new edging and they look rather good.

Thank you for the fritillary link funny.

The gunnera has finally been planted. DH dug a rather large hole for it.

I have also sown some stuff in the veg plot and stuck a load of holly sprigs in the end of the long bed to give the cats prickly bottoms if they keep trying to poo there. It now looks like I'm growing holly but I'll live with it for a few weeks if it works.

I would like lawn edging alongside the drive. It sort of merges into the gravel at the moment; the gravel goes onto the lawn and the weeds go onto the gravel.

I have left my cosmos out tonight. I'm now worrying that I shouldn't have. It's wet & fairly mild though so I hope it will be ok.

It rained here most of the day. Nobody else of any generation wanted to walk in a bluebell wood so perhaps it is just as well it rained.

At an ngs garden they used that rope effect edging for their herb bed which looked nice actually. Your black bamboo edging sounds good too, maud I'm still sowing seeds because I don't have a cold frame. Everything goes outside in a more or less sheltered spot and then planted out.

Pity about the rain stopping bluebell-spotting, funnyperson.

I have a few bits of lrope edging which surfaced when we first double-dug the garden. They must be Victorian originals, but there aren't enough of them to do anything.

I've just watched an hour of birdsong on BBC4, Halsall - maybe I need to be inducted early to middle-agedom but it's the best TV I've seen for a while.
I've managed to spend a few hours in the garden this weekend. The border is emerging from the lawn, I'm making progress with the weeding, ive planted lavender, lobelia and a rosemary whose pit had broken, and DH has mowed the lawn. Only thing we've not done is sprinkle grass seed as lawn is at least half mud and moss.
The baby has been quite obliging and the nearly 3 year old's favourite things have been digging and having picnics.

Back from a long weekend in Cornwall with a bunch of friends, where there was definitely an element of middle-agedom; where once we would have spent a rainy Sunday afternoon in a nice pub, this year we gathered round the log fire in the cottage, half the group dozing on sofas and the other half watching the Antiques Roadshow and playing Connect Four.

I had planned to indulge myself in glorious Cornish gardens, but in the end only got to see Glendurgan. I guess this is the drawback of group holidays, and rain. So no Caerhays Castle even though we practically drove past it. Damn.

Oh, that must have been frustrating, Rhubarb, although a Cornish cottage with a log fire sounds idyllic. How was Glendurgan?

Hi thread - I can only visit from work, as this thread and an iPad do not work together. That's frustrating rhubarb - but maybe you could go back to Cornwall on a proper holiday? The south coast is a great place for small-children-friendly holidays, and there are so many lovely gardens. As they get older, the north coast's attractions take over, and there are good gardens there too. (Can you tell we love Cornsh holidays). In summer it's (bizarrely) not busy if you avoid centres like Padstow St Ives & Newquay.

We were away this weekend so I got no gardening done - boo. We did go to a NT garden though which had an orchard, a bluebell wood & a bed full of camassias - glorious.

parsip I recorded that birdsong programme I'll watch it when I' m not worrying about Milliecat bumping into things and DM hasn't rang me!. She has a much better, softer 'collar' on so can sleep and eat better, but is on an anti pain\inflammatory drug which makes her unsteady (oh having 3 legs might have something to do with it too ).

There was an almighty thunderstorm here last night (which didn't wake dh or Millie). And terrible wind this morning. We seem to be having the weather in front of you lot.

I've got a slope that needs planting too (after clearing) I'm going to transplant vinca and some of my many cyclamen there, but they need some sun and there's very little there. I hope there are not too many damaged plants after the storm.

We're back to Cornwall in August, I believe I'm owed at least 2 garden visits on account of not seeing any last time.

This chat about middle agedness has reminded me that I did notice women of a certain age and dress at the garden centre yesterday and had to ask dd if I belonged in that group, she said no but I suspect she was being kind!

Windy here, one casualty - the most impressive Echium Pininana has been felled - just coming into flower too. I could stick it in a bucket I guess.

I embraced my inner (and, let's face it, outer) middle-agedness a long time ago!

parsnip and everyone - I watched the birdsong prog as well. And the glass one. And the knife one. Now looking forward to the 2-hour unedited canal trip with no commentary

Cornish garden talk reminds me of a heavenly trip we once took to Lanhydrock - I've never seen such incredible rhododendrons.

We watched the National Gallery programme. It was fascinating. I want to watch the glass programme.

Is it ok to join in? I find myself increasingly embracing middle-aged-dom

We moved house a couple of years ago, new house has a much bigger garden than the old one, one of the reasons we love the house. It's mostly lawn atm with a mature shrub border down one side. I've been busy planting perennials to brighten it up over the past couple of summers but our focus has mostly been on the house so not done anything major to the garden.

DC's are still small enough to enjoy having a biggish lawn to play on so not planning anything drastic, but I'm always on the lookout for interesting things to do.

So far this year I've weeded the borders, cut back overgrown shrubs (one buddleia is a good 15 feet shorter than it was ) and planted some perennials, that's about it. DH is on a mission to sort the big green weedy bit lawn out - he's desperate for a stripy lawn

We're getting a large chunk of fence replaced over the next couple of weeks so the task will be to tidy up the bits of garden currently being ignored due to the lack of a workable fence. The wind today is making me wonder exactly how much more has blown down... (am at work)

So I have some questions

• any ideas for shady areas? I'm going to go with dicentra, the dc's love it and we had a very successful plant in our previous house (should have dug it up and brought it with us) and we already have some lily of the valley doing very well, but once the fence is replaced I'll have a border under two fruit trees to plant up

• am I too late to plant some bulbs eg crocosmia? Also had great success with this in my previous garden

Our soil is quite heavy clay but I've put a fair amount of work into improving it. Everything seems to be growing beautifully so far this year.

Eek a bit of an essay there :)

Hello, IKnowRight. It's always good to meet another middle-aged gardener contending with both clay and shade!

What I find works for me are: hardy geraniums and heucheras (I may be slightly obsessed with these), lamium, Alchemilla mollis, tellima grandiflora, vinca (although I have to rein it in every few years), gallium odoratum and an unidentified thing that was given to me as maidenhair fern but is in fact some variety of thalictrum that never flowers (at least, not to the naked eye). Lilies in pots seem quite happy (bulbs never like the clay soil) and for shrubs I have phygelius, Callicarpa, daphne, several varieties of viburnum and lots of roses. Anything that I think won't cope with the clay I pot in a pot on the overcrowded patio.

Oops. Another essay.

Can't believe this new thread is past 900 already!
We went to Newby Hall at the weekend. The rock garden is looking gorgeous and I am dying to go back in the height of summer to see the herbaceous border.
Not done much at home lately because of rain.

Hello IKnowRight, your garden sounds similar to mine, so I'm watching with interest for replies!

Maud, I'll look up some of your suggestions - here goes Google

hello iknowright - is it dry or damp shade? i have a damp shady border that i am redoing, and i'm putting in ferns with lots of woodlandy flowers

i don't know how the thread-naming works as i'm quite new to these threads, but i always think this is a lovely quote if it hasn't been used before "Every spring is the only spring, a perpetual astonishment." though we are heading into summer now so perhaps too late

Hi IKnowRight & welcome - I have dry shade under apple trees, and in summer the following grow well:

Malva moschata alba
Honesty
Simple asters
Shasta daisies
A vigorous alstromeria (not so vigorous under the trees)
Purple potato vine

I'll look at those recommendations, thank you.

The bit immediately under the trees gets very dry but the corners of the garden can get damp, although not waterlogged as it looks as though one corner has been slightly raised and filled with topsoil. I'm also thinking I may put some rhubarb in that corner, I already have blackberries and raspberries in some random bits of the border that have come through from next door which I'm happily keeping going, I like the idea of mixing up veg and "normal" gardening together. Might put some bluebells in as well, I have them growing elsewhere in the garden so once they've gone over later in the year I will perhaps move them. They'd look lovely with some heucheras and ferns :)

I love that quote HapShawl, my garden only really seems to have sprung to life over the past couple of weeks so as far as I'm concerned, given that the apple blossom is only just now coming out, it's still spring.

cyclamen under trees looks heavenly too