"in the midst of winter, I found there was within me, an invincible summer" Potting shed chat continues here

[funnyperson]

So as agreed (by 2 other people!) I have started this thread for spring gardeners follwing on from the previous thread : Welcome one and all. experts and novices alike and draw up your chairs and join in discussion on all things garden related (and even not garden related)

Yes I've had some success this year with eggshells. Well so far.

We also got two hedgehogs from a wildlife rescue centre, the kids think they are for them but really they are to eat the slugs . However after ONE NIGHT in my lovely hedgehog house, the cheeky things said " thanks for the lift Kristina " , flicked me a v and buggered off into the nearest woods. Damn cheek .

My mecanopsis started to unfurl their petals last night , despite the drizzle . I was out taking photos in the twilight

Mecanopsis! Utterly beautiful. Tell me about growing them - I've never evenntried as I gather they are 'temperamental'

They really are lovely, I'm very

I can't get over how everything has grown so suddenly, really must pull some rhubarb. Gardening has kept me going through some difficult times and hopefully will during more difficult times ahead. Cut one of the Mme. Carriere to come into the house.

Just had a quick potter and have dug up some more aster and hardy geranium to make new plants. The kiwi seeds sprouted do now in compost and I'm hoping they continue to grow. I noticed the grass in the border I took a chance on and left is in fact quaking grass as some seed heads are growing.

Really looking forward to a week of watching Chelsea.

Geoff kiwi plant is in a 12 inch pot, buds haven't fallen off, I just hope they open up soon!!

For the mecanopsis you don't need to be a great gardener ( just as well in my case ) , mine just live In the border along with everything else, they get no special treatment.

You just need to live in a cool damp breezy not too sunny place . If you have the wrong soil you can grow them in a container but you can't do anything about your weather.

They are v hard to grow from seed as it's murder to get them to germinate , the seedling are tiny, they hate being disturbed and they take years to grow into decent sized plants . So I guess that's why the plants are so expensive to buy and hard to find .

I went on a course about them at the botanic gardens about 11 months ago. The seeds I sowed there are now barely visible to the naked eye. The now two year old plant doesn't look big enough to flower this year . So you'd need to be mad very dedicated to propagate them from seed IMHO.#lazy gardener

Mine are bulking up ok in the border so I'll just divided them , maybe this Autumn , which will be 3 years aftre I bought them .

All you ever wanted to know about growing them

www.meconopsis.org/

Gardening has kept me going through some difficult times and hopefully will during more difficult times ahead

Missed this comment from sugar and wants to say " me too " .

I'm also looking forward to the Tv coverage of RHS Chelsea . We will need to start a thread in " telly addicts " so we can all sit watching it with our laptops on our knee , posting comments to each other

I know I'm sad but I'm old and I don't get out much

Thanks Kr1stina - my late FIL grew them from seed, which I knew was an achievement - but his then seemed to die after they'd flowered, so I assumed they all did.

I think I may treat myself to a plant, as I do love them, since they don't necessarily die.

Feeling bad now that my meconopsis in a pot from 'crocus' died- I bought it 3 yrs ago. It never flowered.

Sea rabbit - maybe the ones your FIL grew were monocarpic, so they do die aftre flowering once . Some of these ones are evergreen and have a big rosette of leaves that can grow for several years .

I think it's quite common to buy plants that have the wrong label, as a lot of them look very similar . So you could end up with a sterile hybrid, collect the seeds, sow them and wonder why they don't germinate .

Funny person - you maybe don't have the right climate . I don't think they like England , except perhaps the Lake District and Devon .

I'm another one who has shied away from blue meconopsis because of their reputation for being tricky. Poppies in general don't do very well here, apart from Welsh poppy (meconopsis cambrica) which merrily self-seeds).

Kr1stina, having googled it may be because it was too dry - according to some detailed info on the Crocus website. I noticed that most suppliers are in the north/west!

Wow, look at that colour! There is no blue in the garden like it. I have 3 meconopsis in my garden that I've grown from seed and it has been a plant that has required patience at every stage. This is the third year and I was hoping they might flower, but there is no sign of it yet, so maybe I have to wait even longer??! It doesn't help that whatever is digging massive holes in my garden seems to have blundered across one of them and torn half the leaves off.

You would think that Leeds would be cold and damp enough for mecanopsis . Although not if you have elephants in the garden

I'm well impressed that you have grown them from seed. You must have a lot of patience as well as green fingers

Perhaps they like it cold what with being called 'Himalayan' blue poppy

Anyway just wish to report that maud came to lunch and we happily wandered round the garden in the pouring rain drizzle and did a plant swap which neatly sidestepped my DS's new plant ban. Swapped a division of salvia Caradonna for salvia Patens for example. We agreed sagely that our magnificent Salvia Amistad were in a similar state of apparent death but that we would leave them in just in case it was dormancy though we didnt think there was much hope. It is really most relaxing looking at and talking about plants with a fellow plant lover. Good clematis advice was given. Jackmanii, says Maud, is the thing to go with New Dawn.

Lurker here, compelled to post by funnyperson's mention of Salvia 'Amistad': do leave them! I have a pot with a few brown twigs sticking out of it which I'd been meaning to deal with for at least a fortnight. But yesterday noticed two tiny leaves sticking out of an apparently dead branch. Laziness vindicated!

Ooh, that's good to hear. I too have three Amistad which are doing very passable impressions of a dead stick!

Don't lurk, clb, join in the fun! Where roughly do you live and what's your garden like?

I have just been reading the last few posts, and the 'mindfullness' of gardening. Also lovely memories. it was my DF -( Dad !) who taught me to love gardens, and today, just mooching about, I was looking around my garden and wanted to say thank you to him. Mines an oldish garden now - I have been here 33 years, and it was rather empty - some young lawson hedging ( grr- the previous people dug up the beech hedging) and a row of delphiniums - that was it. My DDad threw himself into helping me - lots of digging, planting, cuttings.
And a couple of things just made me want to smile , and look over my shoulder and see him there....
The azalea was in his garden, he helped plant the horse chestnut, and he got me the cutting of my Kolkwitzia - its not quite in full bloom yet, but as the cherry blossom has all blown off the last couple of days its taking up the slack- (the grass is littered like confetti!)

That azalea/horse chestnut thing going on in the garden is stunning bookbook!

I went to see mum and dad: DS is at present being noble and helping to look after them by stopping mum from wandering off and supervising the carers/cleaner/cook/gardener and doing the shopping etc
Anyway there were flowers everywhere indoors, including succulents in pots and lilies in vases
"Its to improve nani's mental health" DS explained as he arranged some pale cream stocks and beautiful yellow roses he had bought when shopping for vegetables. I nodded wisely and approvingly, and refrained from reminding him of the 'no new plants' ban, and thought of bookbook
While I think most people love plants it is also true that gardens and plants are things that families share.

purpleribbons I have hellebores in the garden: they seem to thrive on clay in shade
I started with the hardy sturdy ones, then added in the lenten and christmas rose types, then the harvington hybrids/anna pavord types
Slugs dont eat them, the foliage can be stunning, the flowers are lovely and very long lasting and they look brilliant with snowdrops and come up year after year without fail

NigelasGuest how is your Philadelpus. Today I noticed mine has buds on it. It has taken 3 years to produce any flowers, so I am hoping I might get a nice display as a reward for my patience. It is planted close to my bench and entwined with a beautiful variegated summer Jasmine. The Jasmine was cut to the ground when the new fence was put in, so,this has not flowered much in the last three years either?

Hopefully,, if we get any summer, I can get drunk on the perfume of them both.

Thank you for the welcome, maud. I'm in London with a typically suburban back garden, perhaps 110' x 35', south-facing and on improved clay. The big excitement here is a new vegetable garden with raised beds and a surrounding border at the end of the garden. I've never really grown anything more than courgettes and herbs before, so can think of little else and am down there examining progress several times a day...

Thank you funnyperson, I think I'll give them a go, there are so many varieties! When should they be planted?