Gardening chat

[Procrastatron]

I find some areas of Mumsnet quite stressful at the moment due to strong opinions and covid related doom and gloom. Not the gardening section though.
I spend a lot of time daydreaming about my little, slightly wild, London garden and all the lovely things that are on order with various online nurseries or stashed on the decking for planting out soon. I’m definitely novice gardener and happily so and my criteria for plants are along the lines of hard to kill, colourful and weed suppression.

Right now I’m pondering where I should plant my verbena and how well my rose will respond to the cavalier pruning I have it at the weekend.
I’d love to hear what gardening related things other people are thinking about at the mo.

Here are some photos of Vancouver's Cherry Blossom Festival

www.vcbf.ca/blooming-now

Delight this morning, as one of the remaining suspected winter casualties, a lavatera we put in quite late, finally showed signs of life.

I’m waiting for the clematis Armandi apple blossom to show some sign of life as the only stem it had was broken.

Ooh, we are peering worriedly at our clematis arm. Enham Star, it went in a few weeks ago and isn't looking very chipper.

Clematis solidarity!

I have a star jasmine that I put in a few weeks ago that is looking a bit sad. Hoping it was just waiting for some sunshine before putting on new growth. We've had a lot of frosty nights lately.

We've just put in a new lavatera after our previous died at 5 years old, which is pretty good going.

I decorated our fence with colourful pots for some instant colour. They've got trailing lobelia in them so hopefully should look fantastic in a couple of months.

Here's a photo.

Hi. I'm new to the thread and a new gardener. Am I ok to join in? We moved house last year and inherited a garden which had been landscaped about 10 years ago. Raised beds in place, seating area etc but the planting was rather boring (flowerless shrubs) and most hadn't had the best of care. I spent last year watching what did grow (disappointingly not very much), I've given some care to the soil to try to improve it and now removing plants Im not happy with/aren't doing well and now starting to plant. So Hi everyone, very much learning at the moment but that is the fun of it right?
@MilduraS I've planted a jasmine to a few weeks ago but it doesn't look like it is doing very well either. Im hoping once it gets warmer it will take off.

Cute!

Fabulous pictures Lovefall, if only we could travel!
Hi Bluebellpainting, it’s so exciting having a new garden to plant. Enjoy the journey.

what a fantastic thread, I have just spent ages trawling through! I have just bought two long wall mounted troughs for under windows, kind of like the iron horse hay manger things, does anyone have any advice on some interesting and unusual things to plant for summer? I lover whites, pinks and purples :-)

May I show off my amazing double petal tulips? I'm delighted with them, they look like peonies! I want millions more in all colours now.

Very beautiful Nutella!

Nutella they’re lovely. I’ve got some that have just come out. I can’t remember what they’re called. I got the bulbs on offer in the Co Op and completely forgot that they would be double.

What kind of angle will you look at the troughs, Buckle? From above, below, side on? Do you want flowers to tumble, or to stand up, and if do, how high?

Hello! Can I join in? I need some help with a flower bed. I grow veg happily, but I want a mixed bed with some perennial veg (rhubarb and artichoke) as well as flowers. I haven't got a clue on the flowers front. It's about 4' x 25'. Full sun all day, with ok soil. Flowers scare me! I know I should put large at the back, small at the front, in groups rather than odd ones sprinkled about - but that's as far as my knowledge goes.

@GrouchyKiwi I really like those pots. Do they need fixing to the fence with screws or do they just hang from them? I'd like some as I agree, they really add pops of lovely colour!

Gribble hi, I grow Calendula marigolds and Cosmos amongst my veg. They can self sow year after year. They also attract insects to help pollinate the veg.

Gribbie, , sorry!

[quote MaddieElla]@GrouchyKiwi I really like those pots. Do they need fixing to the fence with screws or do they just hang from them? I'd like some as I agree, they really add pops of lovely colour![/quote]
They're just hooked on. Will see how the dog behaves with them; I might need to find a way to attach them if she knocks them down! We have a Newfie so she can be clumsy.

I got them from Amazon.

Nutella and Beebumble those are so beautiful!

Found them, thanks!

Thanks Beebumble2 - love cosmos to that's on the list for sure :-)

I love snapdragons (antirrhinums) which are tough as anything, totally unappetising to slugs, and which flower all summer and which the bumbles adore. Bit late for sowing but always there in garden centre bedding

You could still sow linus, straight into the beds (or in pots if you prefer, just outdoors in compost). Very attractive and long flowering.

Salvia is a great perennial you could add, they come in all sizes and colours.

Thank you MrsBertBibby - Linus are cute - definitely my kinda flower, salvia too. It's starting to come together in my mind now - thank you!

DH bought a huge pot of lovely basil and a tomato with little trellis at Costco today.

The basil is gorgeous and fragrant. I cannot leave it out on our balcony all the time yet but it will be lovely a month from now.

The tomato is a compact variety called "Little Bing." I have never grown it before.

I have also got chives and thyme we got from the growing pots of herbs at our grocery store and I transplanted, and a pot of mint I dug up that had escaped from an allotment. I still need an oregano plant.

Not to mention arugula, cilantro, lettuce, spinach, dwarf peas, and radishes I have sown and have sprouted in my new waist high balcony planter.

It is all very exciting. I don't get out much. Gets my mind off the awful pandemic news here!