What have you done in the garden today? Part 3

[ThreeRingCircus]

The old thread was filling up so I've created a new one!

Link to old thread: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/gardening/4823202-what-have-you-done-in-the-garden-today-part-2?reply=128367673

After being on the point of giving up on my Morning Glory after cold miserable weather this summer, they're trying their best to dazzle me with their beauty.

Glad I gave them a chance!

I've been just harvesting, processing and seed saving and planning the next steps in the orchard.

That's about all I can do it so hot here. We go out at 8pm to water from our well as that's still allowed here. It's the highlight of the day.

I have started taking out finished crops such as beans and have started putting random brassicas in their place for the winter. I've got a stash of shop bought plants in soil blocks so they are ready to drop in where I get space.

Fabulous colour! I’m a fairly recent convert to morning glory, partly because I grew it from seed a few years ago (the same variety I think, Grandpa Otts) and now it pops up all over the place. My cobaea scandens, meanwhile, have done nothing.

Gorgeous colour on the Morning glory. We were in Portugal years ago and there were whole hillsides covered in them. Stunning.

Had a lovely visit to Aberglasney. They had a fantastic display of dahlias in front of the house. Wish I’d taken photos.

I had forgotten about my Cobea scandens and not sure it exists any more. My mini orchard from Gardening Express is doing well and all 5 have leaves and look healthy to my surprise as I didn’t think there was much chance given they were bare root and arrived in July. Not bad for £17.

Also got a pair of standard holly trees from them in January that didn’t fare well in the dry June. They were in intensive care and dosed with seaweed and look surprisingly ok now with signs of flowers and should be good to go into new pots I have once we move in .

Those are gorgeous! I’ve given up on them, i’ve decided they’re marginal in Yorkshire.

@AlisonDonut I take it you’re not in the UK. What’s stopping us gardening here is either the cold or the rain. And sometimes the wind

Today I chopped a small shed in two to make two potting shelves for next spring's seedlings.
Just need to tank the top sections and add seephose drainage then they'll be ready to leave in the rain.

Cut the grass.
Deadheaded and fed my roses.
Watered my tubs and raised beds.
Fed the tomatoes.
Painted some stones with acrylic paint pens to use as seed labels.
Sunk a new rotary clothesline into one of the utility areas.
Done a bit of weeding.

I always feel like this about morning glory. They burst out of their seeds , make some growth then seem to lose the will to carry on. Then suddenly they decide to get moving and the next day start flowering and just keep going long after you expect them to stop. Funny things, but worth it. For a reason I don’t remember I have mixed ones this year, though I prefer the blue, and it is fun to see which colours open every morning.

Hi can anyone tell me how to get my tomatoes to turn red. This is my first year growing them. Got loads just all green!

TheFinalTwist - Either hang on in there (Al tomatoes seem late this season and they might still ripen) or pick them and put them in a paper bag with a banana.

I know, I used to garden in Derbyshire. That's why we moved to France.

Here's the lovely little thing I picked up at Columbia Rd Flower Market the other weekend. It's got a soft peachy colour - does anyone know what this is? For now, I've named it Columbian peach for purposes of recording it in my diary.

Could it be sphaeralcea? I have one in the kitchen but, to my shame, haven’t paid any attention to the leaves.

Kitchen there is weird autocorrect for garden.

It could well be what you said it was (can't pronounce it!!) As it's only 10" tall, it'll stay in the pot for a bit, and I'll plant it west-facing (read that it doesn't like East winds). How does it fare for you, @GertrudeJekyllAndHyde ?

Something very curious happens with mine (probably it's just me thinking this, because it's the first time I've ever managed to get them to flower ) which is that in the morning they are vivid purple like my photo and by the end of the day (or on a dull overcast day) they become or are a soft mid-cerise. Maybe that's why they're called Morning Glory. They are lovely - must nip out and see what they're doing.

I'm pleased I didn't throw them away in disgust, they just suddenly perked up. Maybe they are mindreaders.

I expect you need to breed a special variety for Yorkshire, called "Tough as old Boots" - they are a bit precious for your robust weather systems!

I’m quite sure plants have psychic powers, as so many perk up just after I’ve given them the shape up or ship out to the compost heap pep talk.

I can’t say how sphaeralcea fares because I’ve only had it since early summer. It’s been in a big, mixed pot in a fairly sunny position, where it put on a lot of growth and flowered prettily but not prolifically. I’ve now moved it into its own pot and might put it in the cold frame over winter with the canna and tender perennials.

I’m quite sure plants have psychic powers, as so many perk up just after I’ve given them the shape up or ship out to the compost heap pep talk.

This made me grin. We had a woman in the nursery recently who had come to buy a rather dismal-looking rose, and who asked (in forthright Yorkshire) 'do you think if I feed it, it'll buck its ideas up?'

A woman after my own heart! I do recognise that the occasional success of my pep talk is more likely to be because it’s accompanied by a generous dollop of tomato Maxicrop, a move to better location and some general cosseting.

Yes, it's the multi-pronged approach that works best! A stern talking to and a good feed.

I’m just out with the dogs on the other side of the valley looking across to our garden. You can see clearly from here that the leaves are turning. It is an early autumn. My eucryphia is in full flower and that’s usually mid september

That’s beautiful, even if it is out of season!

Yes it is pretty @GertrudeJekyllAndHyde. I'm a bit wary of Southern Hemisphere trees and shrubs as they can look a bit weird in northern hemisphere country gardens, but this and hoheria from NZ blend in better than some. Nice to have late blossom too.
My cyclamen are out and I'm on the lookout for the first colchicum too.
Not much gardening done today other than sighing about a profusion on late summer weeds.