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.

Just ordered a 'Stella' cherry tree for DH's birthday. I think it will go in the corner where the ugly plastic raised bed is now. He's been wanting one for ages and this type is meant to have nice blossom and fruit.
Hope you've had a nice day of garden therapy, SugarPlumTree

Been to Beningbrough Hall today - it's looking amazing. Anyone know what this is?

Phlomis Russelliana. Very structural and soon makes a good sized clump. I have some to dig out, if you'd like a Jiffy bag-full!

Great plant - the bees go under the top of each flower to get the nectar. Quite lovely to watch.

I love phlomis
How well sorted you must be as a family sugarplum to have a dd going to Japan!
The sprain turned out to be 3 fractures (2 foot and 1 leg bone) due to thin old bones so I can't go to Gravetye tomorrow and am in plaster. It was a shock.
At least I saw lots of lovely gardens before I fell over!

Oh no, funny, you poor thing. I hope it's not too painful. ????

Oh Funny! hope those bones fix themselves quickly.

My neighbour does water for me but if it's really hot it can take half an hour each evening to do all of it and that's on top of the half hour his takes. It's a big ask. Also, my mum usually helps with some watering & does the conservatory plants but she's away at the same time. So neighbour is going to have to do the conservatory as well (& the chickens). Going to need a big present for him when I get back. But rain would be good. Hoping for some tonight so I've avoided watering...

Does anyone want any knautia Macedonia seeds? Mine just starting to seed themselves everywhere.

Broad beans, courgette, purple mange tout, lettuce & rocket for tea tonight. Veg plot just starting to be productive. Sweat peas going well, gave a bunch to neighbour for his lightning reaction in chasing away our local fox this evening who has developed a taste for chickens. He's had three of next door's and one of our chicks so far this week. We are building higher fences tomorrow as he's deliberately spooking ours to make them panic and fly out! He can't get in but has learnt that they can pop over the fence if they flap enough. Caught him at it twice now in broad daylight

oh no funnyperson, what an awful thing to happen to you. I hope it gets better very soon.

Tea at yours sounds lovely Bertha, I am only eating fruit and salad as yet, everything else is really behind this year. Sorry about the fox situation though.

Just been sitting out under the rose walk where the debutante has made a canopy. Betty Corning has a lovely scent, this is the first year it has been big enough to do much there. It was lovely to be out there as dusk fell.

Yes please to the seeds, Bertha! Glad Mr Fox was thwarted.

I made a trip to the wholesalers today to collect another batch of plants for my client. Then spent several hours in the hot sun planting them. It's got to be the worst possible conditions for planting - heatwave/drought. But we have little time left before the summer holidays, when I can no longer work, so the bits and pieces I've been working on need to be finished asap.

Oh no FP, what a pain

How's everyone doing with their Dahlias ? I have spotted a solitary bud.

Mme Carriere and lupins are on their second flush and the perennial sweet peas are thinking about flowering shortly.

DH and I am appreciating the quietness of one child and relaxing outside after A bit of pottering. Not an allotment but I'm enjoying my little veg patch and the benefits if having it outside the back door.

I was so sorry you couldn't make it to Gravetye funny, and I am very grateful to you for posting that it was on as I would otherwise have missed such a treat.

I definitely recommend a meet up there if they have another Wiliam Robinson day next year it is spectacular. Glorious planting, glorious setting and a really nice feel to it.

The Head Gardener,who is charming and so knowledgeable (and sold me some enormous artichoke plants) gave a brief talk. They have to keep the gardens looking good so replace through the year as necessary. It is very densely planted, with lots of salvias, and grasses, and geraniums, and so many other things, my head is spinning.

We visitors got to poke around in their nursery - they still haven't planted out the cosmos as they feel it may still be too cold for them, and the cold frames were full of amazingly healthy cosmos plants.

The planting is really special - I am used to the National Trust method of threes or fives or sevens of plants, in a triangle, neatly spaced, but the Gravetye method seems much more free form, with some tall things at the front. The HG worked at Great Dixter and it shows.

The walled garden is 1 1/2 acres of vegetables and flowers they are trying. Stunning. I want one.

Hearing about how the garden changes throughout the year I want to go for afternoon tea every month from now on.

Wonderful description bearleigh I was sorry to miss it. Fantastic to have an artichoke haul!
The foot means no weight bearing or driving or gardening for at least 4 weeks and it hurts a lot. The children are unfortunately so used to me being very ill they are being a bit minimal so I cant reach the phone and am worried about the plants and my parents. I suspect I shall be crippled for life (miserable) because the no weight bearing thing just isnt realistic.
It is lovely to read all your posts and watch Monty on bbc iplayer though!

Your shed and veg look nice in the sun sugarplum! Thank you for flowers!

Picture of the edible teepee which is coming on very nicely. Tried to plant out some of my delphiniums today but the ground I was so hard that I had to resort to using the sprinkler to water the long bed. Spent so long doing the sprinkler that I a out of time to get the plants in, no doubt it will be solid again by the time I have time again!

More Funny, all sounds a bit miserable.

Rhubarb, can you PM me your address for sending seeds, not sure if I've got yours in previous messages.

Forgot yo add the picture! Here it is

to

Oh dear funny, that's, er, not funny at all.

Sounds like you need to have hard words with your children, as you don't want to risk being crippled in that way. If they can't help, however, the plants will survive and if they don't it's not the worst thing that can happen: far better to look after yourself.

Your parents may be a different matter, but could you get some help in until you're back on your feet literally and figuratively?

Oh no, Funny! Sending you get well wishes.
Gravetye sounds wonderful - I loved what I saw of it on GW.
Humphrey - I've planted Betty Corning this year and am very pleased with her. I've planted her next to my climbing Claire Austin and another clematis, Sweet Sensation, which looks to have fairly unassuming white flowers in the day but by night they really glow and have a really sweet fragrance.
My Bishop series Dahlias are doing really well and are full of flower. I do, however, have some other pink and orange ones that don't have a single bud on yet... They were a bit useless last year, do have another couple of months to prove themselves, otherwise it is the compost heap for them and I'll just stick with the Bishops!

Phlomis , thank you! According to my books it is a shrub and I was looking in lists of perennials so that would explain why I couldn't find it. It is definitely lovely and I wouldn't say no to a jiffy bag full!

Funnyperson, I'm so sorry to hear about your injury. Hope it heals quickly (at least, as quickly as it can) and that your offspring exceed your expectations.

We drove past Hampton Court at chucking out time and I felt quite envious of all who have been this year. Gravetye too sounds an utter delight, and (I flatter myself) like my own style of planting or, rather, what I would like it to be.

funny sorry to hear about your fall

Poor you Funnyperson! Hope you are taking it easy.

I have been too busy to post much recently - partly in the garden, and partly just with LIFE (you know, that inconvenient thing which gets in the way of gardening).

The rose I refer to as "the evil bastard" is flowering - see pics. I have no idea what type it is, and it has the most savage thorns known to man, making pruning a near impossibility. Every year I vow that it must go, but then it does make the boring wall of the shed look so much nicer (at least for a few weeks a year) that I usually relent... Anyone have any ideas what it is?

Some sort of rambler? I bought gold leaf gloves on rhubarbs recommendation, thorns do not penetrate they are fantastic! If it only flowers for a short while I'd be tempted to replace it with something else. It does look pretty though.

I recently got round to applying for a loyalty card to my local garden centre, a voucher came through today for the princely sum of £3.00 -it's burning a hole in my pocket

That's a very pretty rose, whatever it is, Bramshott.

I had a very pleasant day at Hampton Court yesterday. It was nice and quiet for the first hour or so because it was a bit drizzley, so I got to enjoy the show gardens without being jostled. The Festival of Roses tent was beautiful but curiously lacking in scent compared to previous years. My back was hurting from being on my feet for hours so I sat and watched a presentation about rose care. The advice about black spot was not to bother raking up the leaves as the fungus will have already got into the soil. Better to mulch deeply while the rose is dormant, so that when the new foliage appears in spring the rain can't splash the spores up onto the leaves.

He also said that it's important to prune well because if the rose becomes too tall, the roots are under stress, the plant weakens and becomes less resistant to black spot. Interestingly, my Crocus Rose which has never had black spot before is covered in it this year - and guess what, I didn't get round to pruning it over the winter so it is very top heavy.

I only bought one plant - a little Pelargonium australe. Oh and some Nerine 'Patricia' bulbs as they were a bargain. And some sweet pea seeds. Then I had a crazy blow out on a pair of Garden Girl shorts. Oh well.