What have you done in the garden today Part 4 Spring 2024.

[MereDintofPandiculation]

What have you done in the garden today? What went well? What surprises have you had? What could have gone better?

I too have a plethora of leggy seedlings because all the windows here face the wrong way. Usually I plant them deep and hope for the best. I was busy yesterday, didn’t check my seedlings and the calendula got their revenge by dying.

The 'flowers in smaller sprays' isn't a hard and fast rule eg Blush Noisette is a repeat flowering climber not a rambler - www.davidaustinroses.co.uk/products/blush-noisette

Piqued as to what the differences are, I found this which looks quite informative

www.ashridgetrees.co.uk/advice/climbing-vs-rambling

Ha! I can so relate to that.

The only windowsill at all suitable for seedlings is DDs room - I moved most of the morning glories there today (company for her spiky bastard cactus which she left here and I've not managed to kill yet). They had quite a few very pale leaves which I read can be a sign of being not warm enough - they'd been on the kitchen floor next to the patio door, I suppose that can get cool overnight. I've got one of these
www.lakeland.co.uk/20228/oven-rack-soaking-tray which holds quite a lot, plus a tray full under the kitchen table and a plastic propagator on it (also next to the doors).

Thank you! It’s not pretty yet, because the apple is just a little trunk at the moment and nothing else has flowered yet, but fingers crossed! Although I’m not sure that the hailstorm we’ve just had will help the poor little things.

The 'flowers in smaller sprays' isn't a hard and fast rule eg Blush Noisette is a repeat flowering climber not a rambler Sorry, did I say “flowers in smaller sprays”? I meant smaller flowers in sprays. Blush Noisette has big very double flowers so doesn’t surprise me it’s a climber. And it’s a repeat flowerer. Note the heavy use of “usually” in both my comment and the David Austin page I linked.

Ha! My Blush Noisette is a climber with ambitions to be a rambler, intent on world domination.

I was thinking yesterday that the garden had dried out so much that it might soon need watering. Today, we are being lashed by rain again. Hooray for the water butts, at least.

No I misquoted you.

Small double flowers in big sprays, anyway. But repeat flowering and quite stiff stems - unlike 'wild rose' type typical of ramblers.

I've spent far too much at the garden centre this morning! I have some empty terracotta pots in a shady corner that really need planting up so I bought a very small acer, some ferns and a sarcoccoca to go in them.

Then some dianthus, a salvia and a geum jumped into my basket. So this afternoon or tomorrow I'll be planting I suppose!

@GameOfJones I understand. I once spent £54 on a ball of twine

I think it might have been too early here too for the pumpkin plants to go out @SarahAndQuack. I fleeced them but we had 50 mph winds for 5 hours this morning and I don't even want to look. It's going to dip to 3C later in the week too. I kept a few inside just in case but I really want to test how hardy these things are
All the blossom has also blown off the pear tree in the gales so I'm hoping my hand pollinating worked! I guess we'll know in a month or so if any fruits begin to grow

I know they say April comes roaring in like a lion and goes out like a lamb, but surely it should have tamed down to say, enthusiastic Labrador by now?

Reports of suspected tornado's in Staffordshire!

That's March. Or at least, it's meant to be.

My pear trees had the most blossom on them I've ever seen. That was last week. As of today, its all been blown off.

So it is. I'm sure my mother used it for April, but she was a northerner.

Haha. Yes, It's probably a Northern thing. I'm NE coast of England and a rural girl. The year used to be absolutely set in stone by The farmers / Old Moore's Almanac. Planting and harvesting were only off by a couple of days here and there when I was a child in the 70s. The parables were generally true; "If March comes in like a lion, it will leave like a lamb" or vice versa. April was always April showers and "Ne'er cast a clout till 't May is out"

The seasons have totally gone to pot, now though. Fields here that have been productive of cereal crops for centuries are now waterlogged, and some are now permanent ponds. I'm guessing it's the same in most areas.

@GameOfJones I have a basket on J Parker’s I am fighting the urge to check out.

We had sudden heavy hail and the cat freaked out poor thing. Put 2 trays of newly germinated cosmos and sunflowers out in the wall greenhouse and hoping they cope with lower nighttime temperatures that are forecast later this week.

So, I bought the flowering currant. Just need a non-windy day to plant it now.

I'm getting a bit bored of waiting for seeds to sprout.
How long do I wait before abandoning them?
Eg, I sowed peas in pots, kept indoors, a month ago now - only one out of 15 germinated, 4 days back. Do I wait?
None of my aubergines, sprouts, broccoli, tomatoes (actually 2 out of 16 but it's v poor) have come up. Not sure what I've done wrong tbh. Sowed them all over a month ago, again indoors, warm sunny windowsill.

I’ve learnt If I sow too early nothing happens. I started 2 weeks ago and 1st batch is up except for the basil. Still tiny tho. My job now is to keep them watered and happy for the next few weeks and then to pot them on, not just send them out to sleep on their shields on the hillside. More sowing today. Chards and chives, pansies and parsley, dianthus and dill . Tarragon and thyme. More flowers tomorrow.

I’ve potted up some very leggy seedlings and put them in the plastic box coldframe. I have to trust they won’t get too cold overnight, but they were getting so spindly indoors I reckon it’s worth the risk.

Once the hailstorm was over, I also potted my latest Farmer Gracy indulgences.

What a beautiful day it's been! Hope everyone else has had the same. I pricked out veg seedlings at work, and it's been warm enough to get in the garden this evening. I am havering over fruit trees - thoughts? Would you brutally replace a 6-year-old morello, which is productive, because you've had to prune it into an ugly shape to stop cats using it as a ladder to nesting birds? I had trained it into a nice fan, but last spring it became obvious our kittens were desperate to use it to climb up to where bluetits always nest. As there were nestlings at the time, I had to do a fast-and-dirty hack job. The result looks awful, though the tree is in rude health.

Since you’ve had one pea come up in the last 4 days, then, yes, wait. Or you could do some gentle digging.

Rest should have come up. Make sure the soil is moist, put the whole lot in a plastic bag somewhere out of the way and start again.

Check the plastic bag every 2x3 weeks before throwing it away in June.

You haven’t done anything wrong (unless you let the seeds dry out), you just weren’t lucky enough to hit their preferred conditions. Oh, and warm windowsill is good but not the sunny bit.

Possibly they were having too much contrast between hot days and cold nights.

My smart WiFi watering system arrived today, in good time for practicing before we go on holidays as it looks a bit complicated to set up.

I'm still grappling with my Melburnian mid-autumn tidy up. I took all the best canes from two huge overgrown crucifix orchids and turned them into three. Also thinned out several very overgrown pots of aspidistras (there's a theme here). Cut back a rampant bully of a bougainvillea so it won't overshadow a very small tube stock tree I'm planting.

The resulting pile is immense so thank God the council collects the garden bin every week.

Thanks @MereDintofPandiculation. I'll give them a little longer.

I always get so excited for seeds to sprout - I look at them morning noon and night to see if they've appeared - 'a watch pot . . .'!