"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.

Cercis Forest Pansy are gorgeous.

Yes, that's why I allowed them to hold a gun to my head and force me to buy it! My friend has a gorgeous specimen in her garden, but mine will be going in a big pot. I dare say it will be just a twig when it arrives.

Thankyou folks ref. the melon, if you plant the seeds on top of your compost heap and it's in a sheltered warm, sunny spot they MIGHT grow !

I LOVE the fairy ring!

Ref. coffee machines we, like Rhubarb, don't have one of those pod machines, well we did get one cheap from a garage but we've recycled it because dh is a coffee freak (he gets the best organic poncey bolivian beans from the Algerian Coffee store in Soho, it's a magical shop btw ). So we have a grinder, also we use a filter with paper filters which rot down beautifully. I use the grounds for putting round the roses (the snails hate caffeine ).

My DH too buys poncetastic coffee beans and does all the grinding etc. we also use loose leaf tea. I put the grounds on the flowerbeds, in a mix with the tea leaves (we collect them in the same pot).

I've been looking without success for a picture of the pumpkin festival we went to in the Vendee, where there was a tunnel with dozens of melons of all types suspended in recycled orange nets. It was quite a sight.

Anyone got a pic of the forest pansy? It sounds nice

You're good Maud using loose leaf tea ALL the time, I ,in similar poncey fashion (our dh's would get on well I reckon ) sometimes use me fancy teapot for green tea but usually use the herbal teabags (all good on the compost too)

Ok, I think if it's a slug deterrant then the coffee pods could be pretty useful - if I put them round my strawberries it could really help

I'm also going to use them as drainage in pots when I plant up the stuff I've bought from qvc this morning - Canna Bulbs and Ornithogalum bulbs - every Saturday morning on qvc they have something I want for the garden

I think the coffee pods on the bottom of the pot will just gradually leak out the goodness over time

Thanks all for your help

Cercis canadensis Forest pansy and a better picture of the flowers.

Oh, we are very particular about hot drinks here - proper coffee made in a cafetiere and tea made in a teapot. We will have to make an exception, though, for the Cath Kidston teabags that I won this week in a raffle, as they combine DD's twin obsessions of tea and CK!

Well today I have bought 100 snowdrops in the green to plant in the same area where we have put the 3 new apple trees. The plan is to plant them and also put grass seed down. I also bought 3 rhubarb plants as I feel certain I can find space to grown rhubarb.

Mina lobata seeds arrived today, so they are soaking in preparation for sowing tomorrow

I didn't realise forest pansy was a tree/shrub!

Did you see the pic of my blossom tree Maud ? it looks very similar to the one you linked to ! In fact thinking about it, it probably IS .

I only saw it on my phone, ppeatfruit. I'll have another squint when next I'm on the PC. Does your tree flower on bare wood? I believe that's a characteristic of cercis.

Yes it does! before the leaves. Oooh I didn't know

Mrsmalarkey, in my old house I grew rhubarb in the dark corner where nothing but nettles would grow.

I pinched some rhubarb from a friend's garden when I went round to feed their guinea pigs at teatime. They've gone on holiday and won't be back for ages, so waste not want not, hey? It's much further on than mine. I'm just borrowing it really. They hardly ate any last year anyway, it all rotted.

Surely picking rhubarb encourages further growth and so you are merely helping things along, Rhubarb?

Did you go to Great Dixter today?

Very interested in the forest pansy. They've become more popular in my bit of Melbourne, and like Maud, I fancy giving a container specimen a go. I bought a cotinus "Grace" a few months ago and it's developed verticillium wilt. I'll give it the, er, coup de grace :o today, and look about for a forest pansy. For the same spot. Thank goodness the cotinus was in a container so I can bin the lot and scrub everything.

Today's project is rescuing the nature strip that has a tall pine on it and very little else except straggling weed grasses. I'll post pic later so you get an idea of the job I have to do.

Sounds fun, echt.

Yep encouraging further rhubarb growth absolutely.

We didn't go to Dixter. The kids had something on today. I was planning to go tomorrow but the weather (howling gales and rain) is off putting.

I hope it is not going to be too windy : today is my gardening space. Refuge from chaos.

That tree looks interesting. That greenhouse is brilliant.

I might have to create a bed extending to the middle of the lawn , officially so as to create a winding path to a bench in the afternoon sun, (I've decided on a banana bench) but really so as to plant more flowers. The other option is a pond in the ground (as opposed to in a plastic basin).
Humphrey your dogwoods sound wonderful!
rhubarb what varieties of rhodedendron did you plant?

My rhubarb is coming up nicely. I'm going to pick it at Easter (unless the builders get there first).

Does anyone have any recommendations as to where to see magnolia trees in flower apart from Kew and Caerhays?

I'm keeping a beady eye on my rhubarb that had to be put a big container, so as to move it about out of the sun. How much manure can it take? the lot, seemingly.

Today is the most perfect autumn afternoon, sunny and calm, though DH forsook the promised gardening to watch cricket at the MCG. A last-minute freebie so who can blame him? Me, actually. Always with the underdog, I hope NZ thrash Au.

More importantly I started on the nature strip with the soon-to-be-forbidden glysophate, to kill off the last of the straggly grass.

I've been eyeing the green cestrum with a view to pruning to make it more bushy and give us better cover, but saw an eastern spinebill in it, uncommon now, so will leave it alone. With decent rain, it flowers all year round, providing food for the nectar-feeding birds, even if it is a notifiable weed in NSW.

Looking for forest pansy for a container I could only find ludicrously overpriced advanced trees so passed. To replace the killed-off cotinus, I put a dwarf oleander, Isabella, which has pretty pale peach petals and yellow centres. It will be tough enough to take the blazing sun.

A plant that begged to be bought, so I did, was euphorbia tirucalli aka Firesticks. I always have a place for a plant that can be safely ignored while looking fabulous.

Well if you're doing a favour feeding the guinea pigs Rhubarb then they owe you one surely? .

My friend is a proper farmer au naturel, she reckons she's better than organic ones because she follows the seasons;doesn't 'force' any crops or have overheated greenhouses etc. echt and she says there are no weeds just 'wild plants' . Her produce is fantastic and not expensive.

I'm not sure the canadensis wil be able to stand your summer heat ,it also has the dark leaves of the cotinus.

Yet again, echt, I'm amazed by your Antipodean garden. I had to look up the euphorbia. It wasn't at all what I expected, so unlike our garden euphorbias here. Why is glysophate going to be banned? I don't often use it, but I'd miss it if it were no longer available.

ppeatfruit the cercis canadensis is the one on sale here, and it does well. What I do note is that the woody plants susceptible to verticillium wilt have purple leaves: acer, forest pansy and cotinus.

Maud there's a report out linking Roundup, i.e. glysophate, to Parkinson's. Annoyingly I can't link to the latest news that alerted me to this, and all other links are at least year old. Aargh.

Eek. I guess if there's strong evidence of harm, it's likely to lose its licence here too.

Has anyone bought tickets for the Chelsea garden show yet? If so, what days are you going?

No funnyperson We used to go because dh worked on the local press (many years ago) it was sooo crowded!! I loved the marquees with their lovely perfumed flowers though I couldn't see anything else!