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.

It has rained all night here too, and still going. Poor dp is doing a Duke of Edinburgh training session today, getting the children to put up their tents and safety with camping stoves! Ah well, at least it will be realistic weather!

I have almost finished planting up the borders that I have redone - just need to get the ferns in but I have just potted them up for now as I still need to ponder properly on how to arrange them

Just caught up on the thread.

I mentioned humphreys flame thrower to Dh, his eyes lit up unfortunately we lined all our paths with weed suppressing membrane that doesn't actually work but would melt.

Some of my foxgloves are taller than me! I'm not sure whether to sow seeds now for next year or just let them self seed

Our neighbours deck side have taken down a gappy hedge and replaced it with a fence -looks alright. I'll put pictures up later as I need planting ideas. It's N.E facing and quite dry. There are already a few baby ferns there that are quite happy.

I love ferns I'm creating a ferny grotto by my north facing kitchen window. Which ones did you get hapshawl ?

I wonder if I might have started the flamethrower craze by mentioning DH's, ages ago. ::proud, if so:: It's a wonderful thing and, even allowing for the fuel, must be more Eco-friendly than zapping the weeds with glysophate.

Lots of rain here overnight. I must go out to check how my garden the second baby I never had fared while we were away.

my parents had a flamethrower weed thingy - it was the one and only job we fought over as teenagers as we all wanted to do it!

geoff the ferns were this collection which were on offer a couple of months ago www.jparkers.co.uk/6-hardy-fern-collection-1002066c - i got three packs. i will use the hart's tongue, lady fern, ostrich fern, soft shield and scaly male fern, but probably not all the plants, so i will likely give away some to my colleague plus the japanese tassle fern due to lack of space!

It is nice that you can share your gardening with colleagues- where I am at work, gardening and knitting are 2 hobbies which to date are very unlikely to be considered positive -perhaps because of the connotations of 'gardening leave'. It is one reason why I post a lot here.
Rose Munstead Wood has flowered- wonderful scent, and because the flower is rained on, I have cut it, and it is indoors in a vase with some other pretty flowers from the garden. Looking at them makes me smile.

I have a few rose blooms now - Heathcliff, Winchester Cathedral, Glory of Edzell and Reine des Violettes - although the first and last of these have been rather spoilt by the rain. The snails are running amok.

I only have one colleague now who shares my love of gardening, and he's most interested in shrubs and lawn, which are the bits I find least exciting (although necessary). I had a couple of very committed colleagues in my last job (keeping a second fridge for seeds level of committed).

Those roses are lovely! I am lucky because the blackbirds and robins in the garden feed on snails and slugs and the blue tits and chaffinches suck up the aphids from the rose buds: it is quite a sight to see!
Nettle quiche today at home, made with nettles from the garden, and with a nice salad with chives from the garden.

my colleague has a horticultural and garden design background (she no longer does that) - i am very lucky!

what lovely fresh meals made with garden offerings funnyperson

hapshawl thanks for the link I am sorely tempted but really need to curb the spending. I have lots of harts tongue in the wall by the basement window, I'm going to dig some out and pop in better soil in pots, it'll probably look nicer.

My work colleagues may garden for all i know, but we are always so busy there is seldom time to chat about anything other than the job in hand. Dh does better and is often swapping with various colleagues.

The exotic fern collection from Parker's is also very nice, although I'm finding that one of them is slow to get going this year.

::dangles more temptation in front of you::

If we lived closer, Geoff, I'd offer to drop in with my mighty DH flame thrower.

Awe that's very kind of you maud

It's stopped raining finally so I've just nipped out and photographed fence. There is about 30cm planting rom in front.

I'm quite pleased with the foxgloves too!

what a lovely storage bench!

Those foxgloves are well advanced compared to mine
What sun does the fence get?

Lovely foxgloves geoff (like the bench too).

A v experienced gardening friend visited today and we went to the
weedy nursery I've mentioned up thread. She was delighted and commented on what unusual plants they had, so I'm persuaded that a few weeds don't matter. We may have bought some things, hem hem.
It's been a nasty, wet, windy day but I managed to get a shot of my nectaroscordums, which are out and which please me very much.

Oh gosh - those are some of my favourites.

For those with any sort of community project, have you thought of getting in touch with local nurseries and asking for any unsold plants as a donation to your projects? I hadn't but some friends of mine who have a nursery were going to compost around 200 pots that hadn't sold or were on the way out and not good enough for selling and I picked 100 odd up this week. I returned the labels and pots [just depotted on site and wrote our own labels out] and this is going to fill a fair amount of space at our community garden. It means we can give some away ourselves in return if someone takes a shine to them.

At the moment the fence gets some sun, East facing but it will eventually be quite shady from the pine (note ivy covered trunk) and the bay tree, the latter has just been radically trimmed but will bush out again I am sure!

I've got to be careful what I grow as I wouldn't want to piss off our neighbours.

The bench was left at our last house by the previous owners, used to be inside but I commandeered it for pots.

I have never heard of nectaroscordums, they look fantastic.

Nectaroscordums are extraordinary aren't they (and smell so strongly of garlic!) - yours look particularly good halsall

Geoff I would probably do pots of things but I'm not very adventurous. I do have a chocolate vine that I have put on a NE facing fence that seems to be doing pretty well, but that isn't in a dry spot.

I'm ataggered at how advanced those nectaroscordums are too! I have to go looking for mine!
geoff Pines are quite slow growing arent they? That said, I think I heard on gardeners world that the soil underneath them can be quite ericaceous due to the pine needles dropping, therefore you could consider the rhodedendron/azalea/pieris/magnolia group of plantings: there are so many different types of these that you can choose any colour and size of flower and train them to your fence. The disadvantage would be the lack of flower after May. But the advantage would be great spring and autumn colour.

Otherwise, if the soil is clay, I'm for the classic rambling roses and clematis combo due to the scent and colour!

I love nectaroscordums, but by last year they had dwindled to a couple and even those seem to have disappeared this year.

I love all of Geoff's garden furniture. It really grieved me while we were away that I saw a gorgeous, very Parisian looking table and chairs in a charity shop but, even if I'd paid DHL to ship them home, I'd have nowhere to put it. I neeeed more space.

Here is one of mine - the bees are loving them

Thanks for the suggestions, as we only use the deck in the summer I am leaning towards clematis but this year will put pots there.

funny I'm rather hoping the pine has finished growing its 80ft high, it was the Bay tree that got hacked

I forgot to say welcome timtam sorry

maud are you ever tempted to move, or are you in London with ridiculous house prices?

Ah now, Geoff, there's a question. DH and I are both in jobs that don't really exist outside London, so moving out would probably entail career changes for which we're a bit old. I think I might be tempted when DD is off and independent, but then we'd be cracking on a bit and might want to stay in the environment we know and where all facilities are close to hand. Actually, I'd like to live in the city where DD might want to go to university, but she'd be mortified if we followed her there, I'm sure!

Have you always lived where you do? It does seem rather lovely.

Those nectaroscordums are lovely , never seen them before - hoe do you grow them ? Love the garden furniture, especially the bench.

I probably would do Clematis but include an evergreen one. Not sure what conditions it needs but Early Sensation is a lovely evergreen, I think Pixie is similar.

Some of the Raymond Elvison ones are designed for pots so don't get huge and won't annoy the neighbours. I however am trying to annoy my neighbour who cut my hedge down and have planted a buddleia (can't spell it) which is in fact daughter of our old buddleia we removed to put cherry tree in. Plus honeysuckle , Pyracantha and Eucalyptus. Very petty but there's over 100 feet of boundary between him and plenty more he might cut down so am trying to make a point - it's just not big enough for him to see yet !

Sugar - 100 feet of boundary?

Hap, yes, the bees love my nectaroscordums too, they grow next to/through a big clump of nepeta (the plants obvs, not the bees), so the whole thing is a bee buffet

I think they're basically a kind of
weird-looking allium. Plant as bulbs. They spread, too. Mine just seem to like it in that spot, there's a clump of about 8 but there used to be more, I seem to remember.

maud pretty much, I moved away a couple of times to study and have worked abroad. Something always called me back, the last time with Dh and our 18 month dd1.

Schools are not good unfortunately and had we done more research we might have stayed on the mainland. Still dc's seem to be doing alright. Like you I'm already considering following them when they leave unless they don't!