The first rule of potting shed is YOU ALWAYS talk about potting shed. The thread continues.

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Here goes, and feeling bit cheeky as I didn't post much on the last one.

A fine autumn day here, with much seasonal clearing done. Now I come to think of it, is there ever a non-clearing season? :o

Lovely Hydrangeas.

I really need to get out this weekend before the weeds take over. But I'm off to a knitting workshop on Saturday - conflict between my winter and my rest-of-year activities!

Beautiful Hydrangea, lucky you!
I’ve been travelling home all day, so missed most of the sunny opportunity.
But did rush to the greenhouse to water the seedlings.
Looked in the pond, where has the frogspawn gone? Has the cold weather killed it off? I hope not.

Lovely hydrangea cathpot. Really nice colour.

Is frogspawn killed off by cold and frost? I have a feeling it is.

Does anyone know what these are? They are very pretty though I suspect they may have invasive tendencies!

Wood anemone, aka windflower. Beautiful.

It's a UK wildflower, but I would love some!

Ah, thanks MrsBert. It is gorgeous and I had wondered where it went in the summer/autumn! Having now read about it I think I may transplant some under the big maple tree in our back garden as they would be right at home. Apparently they're a good bee plant though haven't seen ours working them yet.

Been to look for the frogspawn again, it’s just a cloudy mess. I’m hoping that deep down a few might have survived.

I have got more seeds planted. Sweet peas, Coleus, peppers and Aubretia. And a couple of sunflowers.

Bought baby leeks and cucumber seeds, and French beans as I think last year’s packet are duds. All very reasonable . Then went to another nursery with in laws and spent a fortune on shrubs.

Considering moving a black currant bush- is that a bad idea or do they move ok?

I think it's best to move them in the dormant stage, but they're robust enough that you'll probably get away with it though might get less fruit this year.

Spent all day digging up daisies ( yes they're lovely but I'd like some room for the grass to grow ) and removing sycamore seedlings .

Nice damp earth has helped so at all that rain has an upside .

lovely hydrangea Cath - its too easy to spend isn't it. :). If the blackcurrant is out in bud ( I know mine is just breaking) I'd be a bit cautious unless its a baby and you can take a big clump of soil out around the roots. But they are tough, so as Una says, I think it will live, just not fruit.
I have sown all my annual seeds - the greenhouse was lovely and warm. I was in Aldi , and bought dahlia bulbs , with the worry that my overwintered ones haven't shown any sign of life yet. The second cold snap seems to have done some damage sadly - most things are okay , but my gorgeous Hypericum 'Hidcote" has taken a hit. DH has chopped a lot off , so now its just fingers crossed . I seem to have lost a lot of daffodils too - they are popping up, and have buds, but not many at all . We have done a lot of major work in the last 2 years, so I am blaming it on that. It does mean I can go and buy more in autumn though!

I will leave black currant alone, thank you for advice. Hoping for recovery for your plant book, I was thinking how wintery everything still looks as we were driving around today- trees are still bare.

Thanks Cath - can but hope now , but it's a tough old boot. My Amelanchier has that faint haze of pink that is so tantalizing :) flowering currant just come out, and all the fruit - raspberrries/gooseberries/currants are all just breaking bud, but yes, most trees are not showing yet . Its still heathers and hellebores , interspersed with primroses, dwarf tulips and pulmonaria here, along with my spring pots.

I have just blitzed the weeding,with help from the smallest boy.

He was pretty good! Many buckets of weeds out, including a carpet of those ones with tiny white flowers where the seeds ping all ways. Think we got there in time. Dug up a large self seeded Welsh poppy and stuck it in a pot to see if it survives. They are deep-rooted swine!

I've been weeding too MrsBert. It is so wet in the garden...but I have pulled up loads of celandines, some dandelions and plenty of an unidentified deep rooted bastard weed. At least that is what I call it.

It was rainy and misty all this morning, but the sun came out this afternoon and it got almost warm! Hurrah.

It's been warm here today, but damp and lacking in sun. I've continued to empty the pots of dead stuff and have generally tidied up. Some spare tulips have gone into the empty pots and I planted some ajuga in a newly-cleared little space. There's lots of stuff in bud, so I'm hoping that by the end of the week things will be looking properly vernal.

Properly sunny today- we are all slightly pink cheeked. Managed to sunburn a camellia by leaving it in the greenhouse. Hoping it survives. Planted out various shrubs, a rashly purchased magnolia tree ( purple! Much excitement ) finished chicken proofing the raised bed, planted beans and cucumbers in greenhouse. Very very happy day.

Oooh purple magnolia! There's one just up from us that I have to pull over and gawp at regularly.

I do spend a lot of time peering into other people's front gardens. It will get me into bother eventually.

MrsBert I will warn you that this only gets worse when the question on your mind is 'are those our bees on that plant, looks like good food for them, wonder where I can get some!

We had a glorious 4m tall magnolia tree in our old garden and I do miss it, very tempted to get another but we don't really have a good place for it. But there are some lovely magnolias nearby so I'm enjoying those.

I have a magnolia stellate in a huge pot, inherited from pervious house owners. With a little tlc it is doing well and the gorgeous furry buds are just bursting into flower now.

I love magnolia stellata - it’s one of my favourite things in spring - but I’ve had two, which have both died, so I’ve had to accept that they don’t like this garden. I have a magnolia Sunrise in a pot and am waiting to see whether that too has been killed by the Beast from the East. It’s still raining here and the lawn was already squelching yesterday, so I won’t be going to look at it today.

I also do gawping into other people’s gardens mrsbert! I think it’s a very sensible assessment of local flora.. New magnolia tree is currently about 70cm tall which means I don’t want to think about the current price per cm and just hope it survives to the promised 25 feet. I got a bit swept away in lovely nursery which had a whole polytunnel of magnolias. I’ve planted out my pea plants in milk bottle protection in hope pigeons and chickens will leave them alone. Also stuck in some callaloo (sp?) a bit early but sunny weather making risk it- it’s my only James Wong so far this season. I’ve still got metres of red PVC in the greenhouse....

I love peering in peoples gardens too - it give me all sorts of ideas!
It may be horrible, cold and wet, but the first shoots have appeared on one of my overwintered dahlias, and a fuchsia too. I planted some ranunculas a while ago as well, and they are also poking out of the pot . We just need some sun ! They will all appear out now, as I was in Aldi today, and bought some of the plug plants for hanging baskets ( 8 for £3.99) as I am concerned most of mine won't have survived the winter, and I have mine and both DD's pots and baskets to fill .

Ouf, I have come in to lick my wounds after slipping over bringing a ceramic pot down from its winter quarters to fill with violas which I overpurchased in Waitrose,

But go me, my hand is all grazed but the pot survived the tumble!

In other news from the overwintering corner, my favourite nemesia, which I had given up for dead has come back! It's astonishing, I think that's 3 winters it has survived! I have rewarded it by hauling it out and sticking fresh compost below and around it. The mint is roaring back to life, and my marjoram has made it too.