Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May: Alternative potting shed thread

[funnyperson]

On the grounds that potting sheds should admit those of all cultures here is an alternative potting shed thread. Probably makeshift and not as posh as the other one. Definitely subversive and open to gardeners of all capabilities.

Have a lovely time

Oh yes Bertha - heavy rain starting at 10.00 just as we're meeting! I'll be the one in head to toe rain gear, clutching a tray of wet dahlias. DS is meeting his GF for a (wet) walk half way to Wisley: I am dropping him off. I have to leave at 09.00, not sure if he's focused on this...

Love the sound of the campfire and your garden description is beautiful, funny. Humphrey I wonder if we got the same batch of blue (but actually yellow) iris?

I chose the yellow expecting it to be a primrose colour but it was a really golden yellow and looked sooo wrong!

I actually like yellow irises as they remind me of the Isle of Iona and the Hebrides where they grow wild by the wayside. There the sand is pristine and the air a clear blue.
But in the garden yellow irises dont really do in a border. They are better en masse by a pond or under a tree as at Sissinghurst.
Have a lovely time at Wisley!
Mother reminded me of one holiday outing to Wookey Hole caves and Cheddar gorge when I was little: my first ever view of stalactites! My sister says Cheddar gorge is very green and garden like these days.

Please may I join you? This is such a lovely thread to read through. I don't have much room for growing things (just a back yard), we also have some communal plants/benches in the back alley which I fret over a bit obsessively & I am helping out in the garden at my DCs' school. I am a bit of a sucker for bargain plants, yesterday rescued a tray of verbena from the B&Q shelf of doom (only 50p for a tray of 12, I would have had more but couldn't justify 24+ verbena!) and today a "Jacob's ladder" reduced in Morrison's. Today I planted out some sweet pea seedlings for the alley (i made some rustic obelisk-y things for the seedlings out of some old dogwood prunings & jute twine, which don't look too bad) and also some trays of calendula for the school fete next month. Heavy rain forecast for tomorrow so it was good to get quite a bit done.

Hello timtam welcome!
That is a brilliant bargain on the verbena from b and q! Your sweet peas and calendula sound thriving!
You sound like a good container gardener. Do tell us about the alley.

First rose is out on the rose arch, and peonies, and aliums. It's all happening!

I am away for work all weekend this weekend, so am quite grateful for the rubbish weather as at least I won't be itching to get into the garden.

Welcome timtam - the alley sounds perfect for some guerrilla gardening

funny your garden sounds idyllic. Any pics??

halsall -sorry - I have an outdated applemac with a rubbish camera and the DC never remember to upload any photos onto my machine though they go into their icloud or whatever it is called. It is probably just as well otherwise I would post pictures of irises and roses and hellebores ad nauseam and you would all get very very bored!

Thanks for the welcome!
Funnyperson - the alley is gated & runs along the back of 2 streets of terraced houses. It has a lot of bins in it but a year or so ago we applied for a community grant to buy some pots, plants, benches & compost. We were trying to have some evergreen stuff plus encouraging bees so now have lavender & Hebe as "baseline" planting plus whatever anyone else wants to put out. Some houses are really into it whereas others are not interested at all, I really love looking after the plants but they do get a bit battered from all the children playing in the alley. Last year the lavender in particular struggled & a few died. Fortunately some of my B&Q verbenas have temporarily filled those pots!

I do like container gardening but have been having a few problems with rosemary beetle & vine weevils over the last year or so

No worries, funny, your description is wonderfully lyrical!

timtam what happened to the bins?

Just seen that we have Francis Lester out! Not even June yet. Also Debutante and Young Lycidas are flowering. Normally only have Mme Alfred out by now.

The bins are still there...some houses still have 4 bins for rubbish & recycling but others share
We have moved some of them to one side of the alley to make a bit more room for the plants.

Welcome Timtam it's so nice to have new people joining.

I've just got back from Wisley where I met Blackpuddingbertha and her charming and spirited daughters and had a very good time. They were all lovely. We had a nice walk round, partly in a bit I've not been to before. It's looking very good, with lots of lovely scents - we discovered in the test beds though that bearded irises have rather rank, silage-like smell. We had only light rain at first; then when we were having a drink and cake, the heavens opened spectacularly.

What luck you were indoors when it rained!
How horrid that the irises smell so: I thought they were being bred for a nice scent! The ones I got from Chelsea definitely don't smell of much at all.
The bees all go for the roses and geraniums: they are leaving the irises alone even though they cant get much nectar from each tiny geranium flower but I'm guessing the iris flowers are simply too difficult to get into with all their frills and veils and so forth.
Oddly enough the bees don't like lupin Masterpiece either!
I'm thinking I've bought enough 'showy' plants. I'm not sure they are good for bees and butterflies. The butterflies in the garden are wonderful to watch- white and blue ones mostly. Not that many of them though.
And still no blossom on the apple tree I must have pruned it wrong.

I have just about managed to dry out from a Wisley. It started raining as we arrived and stopped as we left. The cake break was well timed to miss the torrential downpour but we got very soggy dashing from the cafe to the glasshouse. I was very jealous of Bearleigh's over-trousers at that point. My children were very loud and disobedient lively today; 'spirited' is a good word! Wisley was lovely though, even in the rain. I haven't been for a good while and it was nice to see all the changes.

Welcome timtam

Glad you had a great time! My dc have been somewhat spirited today too, must be something in the air!

Hello timtam, I love the sound of the alley gardening. How fantastic you were able to access a community grant. There is nothing more satisfying than greening up a previously barren place.

Yes, there are days where my children are very lovely. Then there are days where they are just not.

I like the sound of the alley too. I think it's great that you can get a great sense of community just through some plants. It must also be a far nicer place for the children to play even if some of the plants get the fall out from that.

Bertha they really weren't loud & disobedient - they were lovely! I used spirited as a compliment - they are interested, engaged and charming, and a credit to you.

Thank you , but they can be so much better! They did have fun though.

It is great they had fun! One of my mother's friends reminded me recently of a day out at Kew which she still remembers from when my sister and I were about 7 years old and turned cartwheels against my mother's wishes (because we were in public!) and had a picnic near the pagoda. Wonderful day! We were only able to disobey because we knew she wouldn't tell us off too much in front of her friends!

We went to Bristol Zoo today, the planting was fantastic! Really well done. The animals were quite interesting too

I'm glad the Wisley meet-up went well. You must have experienced the same deluge that we had in Cornwall a few hours earlier - not much fun in a tent! (Note to self: I must dig out my waterproof overtrousers for our next camping expedition). Anyway, we are safely home now and I have some nice little herb plants from a Cornish herbery and a primula from an NT garden. Hoping for some planting time tomorrow.

And welcome to TimTam. Community planting is always fabulous - even the people who don't seem interested now may get involved later.

I think there is a family friendly youth hostel in Coverack where if it rains the campers can come and sleep indoors in any empty rooms at the warden's discretion at no extra charge. There is no sandy beach within walking distance though lots to drive to
It is raining here.
Allium 'Mount Everest' is bursting out very nicely!