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.

Don't worry funny, I promise not to torch the children.

Gravetye garden event you say? I must investigate.

Ha! I have just had a bizarre experience on a FB gardening page. I posted a picture of my mystery rose, asking if anyone could identify it. Some man then gave me a lecture about rootstocks etc etc etc - mansplaining as they call it on here - and then suggested it was a carnation anyway. As if I can't tell the difference between a rose and a carnation. I've been a member of the RHS for almost 20 years, you know.

::hoicks considerable bosom::

oooh how annoying Maud.

Thanks- I think I'll sow the rest of the seeds then!

Lol at mansplaining, maud. I find it quite endearing sometimes- they are only trying to help you know! Although when they automatically assume ignorance of the fairer sex that can be irritating. What I find odd is that your rose didnt look a bit like a carnation. Perhaps it was a troll?

I had a long mansplain about delphiniums yesterday in a very loud voice but it was quite useful actually. I was told chempak no 4 is the food highest in potash and likely to aid delphinium flowering. My problem is I can spot a 'miracle-gro garden' from a mile off and I'm not sure I like the look. I prefer the healthy foliage growth which comes from compost and leaf mould and manure.

Which brings me to the balance between flower and foliage. I find too many flowers overwhelming, and I am wondering if I am alone in this. The white section of the garden I saw yesterday was packed to the brim with nice white flowers but they were too blowsy and it was all too much. I think I prefer understated and frothy.

I haven't decided which day I will go to Hampton Court. The Gravetye event sounds child friendly with morris dancers and all (I love morris dancers: the hankies and bells make me laugh and the folk music is cheerful) and definitely cheaper than booking lunch or tea there on another day!

I hate big blousy blooms too. Nightmare. I think I will change my sarky tone from 'Too blousy' to 'Too much Miracle-gro' - thanks funny!

So today [I've named changed but have been on here a bit already] we are off to an open gardens...yay.

I rarely find mansplaining endearing, as it comes from that assumption that, obviously, as a woman one is a bit dim and uninformed and needs a man, who by his nature must be cleverer and more knowledgeable, to explain the matter. Pah!

I agree about the Miracle Gro look. Their before and after adverts are very alarming, as the "after" flowers look to be on steroids. I used to buy stuff like that when I was a novice gardener, but then the gardening society got their hooks into me and I went (mostly) organic. Now I use Tomato Maxicrop on almost everything.

And I believe Dear Monty feeds his garden with something seaweed-based, so it must be good!

I am sure Monty feeds his pots, not his garden. If your soil is so bad that the plants in it need top-ups then you need to feed your soil!

I never feed anything apart from tomatoes, peppers and cukes in pots or a polytunnel and that is using comfrey which is permanently in the waterbutts stuffed into plastic bottles with holes in them.

Yes, for clarity, I should have said on almost everything that I feed. I have a lot of pots and feed them regularly, but for things in the beds I generally rely on improving the soil with manure compost, composted bark or garden compost, depending on what I have and what I think is needed.

Composted bark is awesome for feeding beds. It is full of lovely microbes of Fungi which really really give a 'pow' to the plants that come after.

Yes, it's pretty much perfect - looks lovely, smells lovely and gives the soil real oomph.

Check out my new rose DH's fathers' day gift. It smells like a turkish delight factory. The flowers are colossal

Also David Austin "boscobel" flowering at last. I bought it as a half dead poorly thing on a reduced to clear counter last year. Don't it look bonny ;)

Ooh, Boscobel looks lovely (and all the better for a rescue from the shelf of doom). What is your DH's new rose?

I was up and outside the front of the house at 7am, cutting the hedge, weeding along the verge and hacking back volumes of ivy. The road is closed for the London to Brighton bike ride - it's the one day of the year that it's possible to stand in the road and do these things without risking life and limb! Till about 11am anyway, when the volume of bikes makes it impossible.

I'm knackered now. Is it bedtime yet?!

My DS probably rode past your house on his bicycle then rhubarb !

That rose looks lovely. I saw a very pretty rose called marinetta- a david austin rose- yesterday. when I googled it, the pictures were not nearly as nice as the rose itself. my point being that I think roses are flowers which dont photograph as well. In reality the subtlety of colour and form and scent far exceeds the photo.

maud in my academic days at a world renown university I went on a 'women in academia' course. It was aimed at postgraduate women and making their mark in a man's world. The most interesting thing about it was the views of the other academic women and the issue of how to be taken seriously. There were 2 main schools of thought: a) wear glasses, hair straight back and blue stockings when presenting papers at meetings b) wear high heels, pearls, short straight skirt, pretty but not risky blouse, superb haircut and makeup when presenting papers at meetings. The idea of a) was that men might take the science more seriously, the idea of b) was that men would be so distracted they would forget to be patronising.
option a) was definitely the more popular option last century, option b) is the more popular option this century.
DD scorns any kind of pandering to the male sex in terms of appearance. I am of the opinion that available weaponry needs to be used. This has no relevance to face book. sorry.

Ooh Boscobol is lovely. You are right about roses not always photographing well funny - I attach a picture of Princess Alexandra of Kent (Which was effectively free as it almost died so I got a refund). Although the photo gets the form right, the subtle shading of colour of the rose doesn't show- it's actually got a lovely touch of apricot around the edges, and is a slightly warmer colour. The colour of the geranium next to it is pretty accurate.

Haha at the mansplaining. It's tricky about the clothing business funny -option b. Sounds 'distractingly sexy' and we know what that leads to... I tend to vary what I wear and the style - sort of a dressing up game. Sometimes I wear pencil skirts and heels -very corporate: sometimes long skirts and flat shoes - very librarian: sometimes trousers - I used to have a pair covered in zips - a bit rock chick. Occasionally I get the outfit wrong for what I am doing that day, so have to keep something safe in the office to change into.

I do agree about preferring gardens to be more natural and not on steroids. I like lots of green with bits of colour not full technicolor.

By the way browsing on Sarah Ravens website for dahlias for next year (I want something tall & orange or purple to fill a hole) I noticed next spring's tulips are now for sale...

Hello everyone. I posted ages ago (last thread, I think) about hoping to do some gardening while on maternity leave and how to achieve it with baby and toddler in tow. I received some useful suggestions, and I'm pleased to report that I have managed to do a few things and my garden has been looking lovely. I've enjoyed it too.

I think you have super dress style Bearleigh

That rose/geranium combination looks great

This seems to be a good year for roses. I love seeing the neighbour's gardens and all the different kinds of roses people grow.

Steroids aren't good for humans or plants.

Picture of the fairy ring just starting to display its summer colours & the rogue foxglove hiding in the borage in the veg plot.

I'm afraid I am guilty of choosing my clothes to suit my audience and how I want them to perceive me. I will use my assets where necessary but spend most of my work days trying to look like I may actually work on a farm.

I think you are quite right, funnyperson, about the shift from option (a) to option (b) over time. In an effort to look smart but not corporate, my working wardrobe consists of so many near-identical dresses and pairs of shoes that it might just as well be a uniform. I very much like the sound of Bearleigh's rock chick trousers and have often toyed with the idea of buying a biker jacket, aiming for a similar effect.

We went to some gorgeous open gardens this afternoon. They have all the features that, between us, we require in a garden - sumptuous planting, a sales area and delicious cake. As always, I did not leave empty-handed!

It's the Wedgewood Rose

While at the nursery i did not nick some imaculee peony seed heads also got some nicotiana as i forgot to get seeds. £3.25 for 6 plants

Just enjoyed catching up on the thread, having been camping for the weekend. It rained where I was, rushing out to look at the garden the minute I was back I'm not sure it rained here. With rain forecast and the lovely light evening I planted out the rest of the bells of Ireland, 1 Amni visagne and a couple of Euphorbias.

I wear scrubs for work so don't have to think about uniform thank goodness, it's a minefield.

Oh and well done to parsnipthecat on getting some gardening done. Hope you also manage to snatch some time to sit and enjoy it!

i only feed my pots (which includes tomatoes, cucamelons, courgettes etc)

everything in beds just gets mulched, compost etc. i know what you mean about the flowers on steroids. i actually love big blowsy blooms though, roses and peonies the size of dinnerplates that are just going over with petals strewn about the garden - a sort of controlled-neglect secret garden look. but this needs plenty of foliage and contrasting shapes and delicacy to set it off too and provide resting places for the eyes. note, my garden looks nothing like this atm! i have brand new little ferns and other shade-loving plants in my new woodlandy bed and it all looks very clinical still - give it a couple of years...