It will not always be summer; build barns. The potting shed goes on...

[echt]

Please ignore my first, illiterate thread. I'll try again.

I hope this quotation from Hesiod captures the moment of movement from high summer to the splendours of harvest and the planing for the new year.

:o

I won't be in such a hurry to empty my pots in the future, useful to know.

That's just where I am FP. It's a bit strange though as is patchy - doesn't apply to people behind us apparently. Next door havea huge cedar it applies to and next door but one a massive oak. We don't have many trees, lots of hedges . We do have a lovely sweet chestnut though which I think isn't old enough to be protected. Our ash tree sadly died. We've planted some fruit trees as our garden was supposed to be a orchard previously. However looking at an old map I don't think this was the case and the orchard was behind us.

That's interesting about TPO, I must have a rummage in our local council's website, and see if we have the same. We did have two horrible old apple trees chopped down 20 years ago in our old house - and no police officer knocked on our door. They seem to have been the same varieties that we have in our garden now; a scabby Bramley and an eating apple that produces lots of enormous tasteless apples. A local nursery in the 1920s had some very dodgy stock! I won't have these trees taken down though - older me appreciates the structure they provide and it's also a bigger garden so they don't dominate as much.

I save my compost from year to year and use the old stuff in the bottom of big pots. I know vine weevils are a risk but so far it's worked well.

I wouldn't have thought about TPO's but for the architect doing plans for an extension. He very firmly made me ring, muttering about fines of 10k. That bit did focus my attention!

Hmm, yes, one could do a lot in the garden with £10k!

I can't imagine spending 10k on the garden ! I've been very good with my spending recently as need to move a fair few plants so really don't need more at moment.

Took neighbour to garden centre the other day. She told the guy who cuts both our hedges etc. He asked if she was mad going to the garden centre with me and she mist have spent a fortune, cheeky git ! She did actually as was determined to buy all the special offers in the leaflet she was brandishing and they added up somewhat. I did try to warn her....

I could spend £10K on the garden without blinking.

I have wonderful mental images of Humph's pigs snuffling for acorns under autumn leaves in her beautiful orchard.

Yes, the mental picture of Humph's garden right now is a delight.

I suspect that if I totted up what I'd spent on the garden over the last 20 years - even though I'm frugal and buy most of my plants preloved - it could pass £10k, once big items like the new patio were included.

Ooo, I missed Humph's post, what a lovely image !

I was driving earlier and started thinking about whatwe have spent on garden since we have been here and had to stop once i realised we spend £500 a year on maintenance (been here 13 years) , that's ithout plants and deck amd greenhouse. Suddenly 10k seems quite reasonable...

£10 K over 20 years is £500 a year (shows off maths) ie 10 visits to the garden centre at £50 a time.

I haven't spent nearly that much owing to not being a great garden spender when the children were young owing to lots of other things calling on the income. Also plants are more expensive now than they were then and there seems to be a lot more marketing of consumables such as garden furniture, tools, pots, etc etc etc. But one does have to be very firm even at ngs garden visits, and definitely at places like Wisley and David Austin. I have found though that getting a cutting from a friend gives me as much if not more pleasure than

Re the pots I thought I would just top up the roses in pots with horse manure rather than renew the compost entirely but perhaps I will do what you do, maud

lol at the pigs

I finally got to meet Maud today and see her beautiful front garden; packed with interesting plants and full of colour. I swapped a baby Auricula for her twisted hazel and a huge scented geranium, which the dc loved as I had to squeeze it into the rear footwell of the car under ds's feet, so he kept poking it and announcing it smelled of 'lemon sweeties'.

I feel I did rather well out of this trade - thank you very much Maud and I hope the Auricula flowers for you. It is Helen Ruane - sorry it had lost its label which I found on the doorstep here on my return.

thats nice! :)

On Friday I finally got to the Art of the Garden exhibition at the Queen's Gallery. It was great. I'm no art buff and go to galleries only rarely, but I really enjoyed it. Some beautiful paintings of over the top formal gardens, exquisite Fabergé flowers and incredibly rare and important centuries old gardening books.

Tomorrow is the last day
Walk in a Water garden open with the ngs or Art of garden exhibition?

What a dilemma, funnyperson. Could you fit in both, or would that make your day too hectic?

It was lovely to meet Rhubarb and the little Rhubarbs, who were very articulate and charming. The auricula is very exciting, especially as I see that it is green and I love green flowers almost as much as I love black.

Oh and I was very pleased today to find two buds on the brugmansia I brought home from Hampton Court last year. I was just about to get rid of it for its failure to flower. It's been a good gardening day for me.

maudyou have a very high emotional intelligence imo

I refer to your soothing reminder of the brugmansia

I looked up the weather forecast and the morning will be chilly, warming up in the afternoon so i have bought a morning ticket for the exhibition and will go to the water garden after a little something if I have the energy and if it is warm and sunny enough.

That sounds like the makings of a lovely day, funnyperson.

Rhubarb reminded me today of our fledgling plan for a meet-up at next year's Hampton Court gala night.

yes, as long as we get to see the gardens too!
but there is nothing like being in the garden doing gardening with friends!

Have a lovely day funnyperson. There is nowhere to get a cup of tea at the Queen's Gallery so make sure you stop off somewhere beforehand or have somewhere in mind for after. This caught me off guard.

Maud I'm glad the Auricula is to your taste! I thought it was a really fascinating colour when I bought it at Chelsea and it made several offsets, so I'm hoping for a good show in the spring.

The Goring would be a nice place for a cup of tea near the Queen's Gallery Funny but you might need to check you don't have to have a full afternoon tea. I'd go to that exhibition as it won't come again.

I love auriculas too - mine never set offsets though and seem to be pushing themselves out of the earth - what am I doing wrong?

I am bringing most of my pots inside today. Sob. But there are still loads of things flowering, and my pineapple sage is about to bloom. Strange plant always flowering this late but soooo lovely. It's in a pot so I can whisk it inside when it gets really cold, as I've lost them in previous years.

That sounds like a lovely Sunday FP.

The Mini Rhubards sound delightful. My not so mini DS is amusing me. I can't get him out in our garden really these days but he was helping out on at open evening at school this week as he is on the 'garden design team'. They are moving a memorial garden for one of the pupils who sadly died. He's very vague about of of the actual details about what's going to be there, other than the Head has bravely said 'think big' on the subject of budget.

Guess I should bring my little banana tree in soon or face losing it. I want to label the dahlias whilst still flowering so I know which ones I want to take cuttings of next year. This year's one successful cutting is currently flowering on the deck so I'm inspired to do more next year, especially Thomas Edison. Lady of the Lake is about to have another flush of flower so definitely is a repeat rambler as promised ,pretty good for her first year I feel much better than my Mme. A. Carriere, though she has now redeemed herself).

Has anyone got a Clematis freckles that flowers ? If so, how long did it take to establish and start ?

Sorry to hear about the grievous lack of tea at the Queen's Gallery. One of our criteria for choosing NGS gardens to visit is always the availability of tea and homemade cake (a mere biscuit is not enough).

The exhibition was fascinating.
I came home afterwards for my sustenance and have been happily pottering and sitting in the garden.
There must be something in the air because I too have been thinking the pots need to be moved to shelter.

sugarplum as I was staring at my MMe Alfred Carriere , I realised it is 20 years old. It was the first rose I planted. Perhaps thats why it flowers so well. Even so I think it only repeats once, definitely not all through the year.

My clematis jingle bells and Wisley cream only had one flower each last winter: I have put some horse poo round the roots again in hope of great things this year, though as the montanas already have buds and the cirrhosa don't I'm a bit worried. No buds on avalanche either yet.

I planted up a nice big winter pot with Mahonia, purple pansies, tulips spring green, snowdrops and a clematis integrifolia which had been lurking in a plastic pot.