"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.

We specialise in killing off magnolias and lilacs. Then there was the rowan tree on the drive, the weeping pear we moved from a friend's garden (that was always a long shot) and two wisteria. Some plants are clearly not to be in this garden!

We still have the last nearly dead magnolia planted out the front. This year is has approximately 12 sick looking leaves. I need to give up on it and try something else.

Waterperry is nice, been there a couple of times for work. Never at a good time of year though. Last time was for Christmas dinner.

I'm now feeling slightly better about all my lost plants. I'm quite stingy about what I will spend on individual plants, but the cumulative total over the years must be horrific. Still, I don't smoke or drink coffee, so I reckon I can afford one vice.

I loved GW tonight. Malvern looked beautiful and there were some gorgeous plants on show - Humph was quite right about the proliferation of tangerine geums. The planting in the bee-friendly garden was lovely.

oh I forgot to watch!

IPlayer is your friend, Humph! I did look for you in the background behind the divine Monty.

Malvern looked lovely with the hills in the background and the plants on sale were wonderful varieties. I liked the look on Monty's and Rachel's faces when choosing which plants to buy and the spring in Monty's step as he came away with his haul!

My Montana Broughton star is flowering, but not as well as the cutting from the same plant in my neighbours garden. It is because mine is under the Oak and they have planted theirs in the south facing front. Still, the Montana Elizabeth in my garden is covered with flowers which opened all at once yesterday!Such a pretty plant!

Malvern sounded lovely, I'm going to watch it on iplayer in a bit. My standard olive was a Tesco £10 one. It's in a pot' what am I supposed to feed it with? It might need a change of venue for more sun.

Pleased to see buds on Lady of the lake rose that was my birthday present. Also I think I might have a tangerine geum by the pond so waiting to see if I'm right on that and if so might go ours and hach a heuchura.

Go out and hack a heuchura that was supposed to be.

I've just been to our local hardy plant society sale (I know I said I was finished buying) and inspired by this thread bought a geranium phaeum and tiarella. Also a hosta. Have got my trusty knife out, hacked them to pieces and planted. So now have 3 geraniums, 2 tiarellas and 2 hostas.

This morning I picked up a French tarragon (forgot to lift mine) rainbow chard seedlings and some Honesty. Sweet peas nearly hardened off and going in soon.

Think I have a bit of an issue with plant buying, can't stop I was counting up the roses in the garden the other day and have about 30. It really is time to stop.

Me too, SugarPlumTree. There's always something new to buy.

What would you folks do about sooty mould on holly? From googling I assume it is cushion scale, and it looks as though it's not entirely necessary to do anything about the pest itself as the mould washes off over the summer. I would prefer to avoid chemical control if I can, but I also don't want the pest to severely damage the plant even I the mould itself won't

This is what the RHS says about sooty mould
www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=483

With no direct experience of it and reading the link (which you have probably read already anyway!) I would want to treat it so that it didn't spread to other plants and treat now while this generation of bugs is growing. There are a whole load of pesticides suggested in this link. I would choose one that kills other bugs too just in case other things affect other plants in the garden.
One of my roses had black spot and I sprayed it with pesticide because I didn't want the fungus spreading in the garden and this has been very successful.

I sat in the garden today, and did a bit of weeding, planting, reading etc. I potted up the clematis princess Diana with a peony, the Gloriosa rothschildiana, some lilium regale and some aquilegia. A bit random but should look nice when in flower.

I've bought tickets for chelsea flower show (Saturday) so I am saving some money for it.

Yes that was the one I saw - thanks, it's good to know you would do something about it. Sometimes I'm not sure whether to just leave things as they might resolve themselves

I made a May vase. I am ridiculously pleased with myself as flower arranging is not really my forte

Here

Oh, that is lovely, HapShawl. My mother used to do proper flower arranging - ikebana and all that - so I don't even attempt it. I have a collection of pretty jugs from junk shops and rely on the flowers to make an impact I have shoved them in randomly placed them artistically.

On pests ... I either ignore or chop off the affected bit and put it in the council composting bag, depending on what it is and how seriously it could damage the plant.

Love it, Hap. I have a vase of enormous deep pink tree peony blooms on my kitchen table at the moment, that a friend gave me. They are an absolute joy.

I potted on the dcs' sunflower seedlings with them this afternoon. They have all had their tops nibbled. I didn't point this out to the dc, but I don't know how successful these sunflowers are going to be.

Drat those molluscs. My cosmos seedlings have gone from nibbled to annihilated and the calibrachoa are (I suspect) going to be useless. I have thrown several snails out of the cold frame and may resort to pellets next.

There was a frog on the doorstep when I came home from a night out last night, and hedgehog poo on the patio this morning, so I'm hoping that the molluscs are meeting their karma.

That would be some consolation, Rhubarb. We have a frog, but no hedgehogs.

I would so love to have a frog in my garden, and hope the container pond might, by a very long shot, do the trick.

Hedgehog poo sounds exciting. We had frogs and toads last year hopping in the damp dark sections near the watering can and the lily growing in a bowl.

Final post on a sunny Mother's Day.