What have you done in the garden today? Part 5

[MereDintofPandiculation]

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

Love it-- went on a garden visit where they did that, in Westwell near Burford I think. They had a very basic kitchen garden but the compost pumpkins stole the show!

Yes, I'm OK, thanks. One trouser leg wet to above the knee, and had to remove a lot of pond weed from between my toes.

Liner should be OK, no buckles on my sandals.

Oh no, so sorry @MereDintofPandiculation the worst part is the shock. I hope you are feeling OK x

I had to cut away a fair amount of buddleia earlier in the nonexistent summer because it was quite diseased. It seems to have had a growth spurt in all the hot weather, so maybe it will flower this year after all. I've planted 4 different ones and none of them have done particularly well, which makes me grrr when I think that it grows rampant in railway sidings and in the cracks between paving stones!

Thanks! It's just a memory now. More importantly, the pond liner seems to be OK.

I planted out a rose yesterday (a gift from a friend). There was a nice bit of rain early this morning which will really help water it in for me. The rain has brought out all the lovely garden smells today.

Spotted a couple of cyclamen in flower, thought “it’s still July! That’s early for an autumn flower”, checked my diary and found for the last 6 years Cyclamen hederifolium has come into flower between 26 and 31 July. I presumably have the same thought every year

I found a cyclamen in flower yesterday - presumably self-seeded. I’m very glad to have it, as it’s white and all my other cyclamen are pink.

I'm having a stupid day.
Got DH to click and collect some garden furniture but misread both the package size and the furniture dimensions.
DH could barely wedge it into the back half of the car with the boot tied down, and it is far too big for the space I meant it for. We have a fair bit of garden reconstruction ahead to rejig the space for it.
The picture on the website didn't have any humans for scale and the product specs were unclear about the final dimensions.

Very hot here again, but managed to do some deadheading & cut out all the summer raspberry canes that had fruited.
Also did my second butterfly count & saw several in the 15mins including my first Painted Lady, Speckled Wood & Jersey Tiger.

Spent the day painting my fence black - looks great but I'm exhausted 😂I've been undecided about the colour for the shed - I like black but I think I have enough. I leaning to a warm dark green on the vertical surfaces and black on the windows and doors.

Spent the morning cutting back a conifer but it was much too hot. I had to do it in 15 minute bursts with 30 minute breaks. We cleaned out the shed this afternoon as DH could smell something bad. Didn’t find anything apart from a few slightly mouldy onions.

Here in Melbourne I seem to be cutting back all the time. It's the last month of winter and I cut back two very large and lovely monstera leaves that are blocking a path as well as a salvia Anthony Parker whose flowers are over - loads of new growth.

That reminds me of the slight shock I got sitting in a village square in Spain and realising I was sitting under a giant Ficus elastica.

Has anyone enjoyed the delights of the Rococo Gardens in Painswick this year?

DH and I went yesterday and it was really beautiful. I think the cooler weather and copious rain until recently has kept the grass lush and the herbaceous borders full of bright colour and perky stems, not frazzled to a frizzle had it been a very hot summer.

I wish I lived closer as I'd do some volunteer gardening there. They're absolutely lovely there, such a friendly bunch and I know they would be grateful for the helping hand. It's just a bit too far to travel as it's about an hour's drive, albeit our journey takes us through the fiddly roads in the Forest of Dean and through Glos town centre.

Always meant to go there but haven’t made it yet. Next time I’m in that part of the world. They are dog friendly too which is a bonus unlike Aberglasney which I love - I understand why though. I’m meeting a friend at the National Botanical Garden of Wales this week. It was a bit disappointing last time I went but that was some years ago.

DH's parents lived in Gloucester, so we used to go there frequently. Once there was a perfect green carpet of pondweed on the bottom pond. Our dachshund mistook it for a lovely soft piece of grass and jumped onto - to his surprise into - it. So he then got chucked into the lovely plunge pool to wash him off.

They are definitely dog-friendly there @BestIsWest I must look up the Botanical Gardens, I forgot about them. there were a few beautifully behaved dogs none in the pond though 🤭 loads of pondweed and lily pads in there. And the Loch Ness Monster. @ErrolTheDragon yes it's so close to Gloucester probably about 15 mins if that, I'd be there every day if I was that close!

DH and I spent an hour early today hoicking out overgrown plants from our tiny pond; half the irises are now on the compost heap and most (I hope) of the thuggish water hyacinth that grows at a ridiculous rate.
He also gave the pump a good clean and added the sludge buster stuff.
He’s currently in town buying wood to make a frame for the netting that keeps the herons out - he’s been gone two hours so far…..
It’s looking much better anyway.
My oomph has evaporated so nothing much else happening today!

Yesterday I pulled out the rust-infested Hollyhocks & planted my Rose for Hope (in aid of the Brain Tumour Trust); not sure I'll both with hollyhocks again, just looked awful.
Today I've weeded a bed, deadheaded & planted out a bee balm. But then got too hot & came in.
Very excited to see new growth on my rescued DA rose Gertrude Jekyll. Have plans to put it in the front garden when it's a bit bigger.

Yesterday when we returned from a nice half-day out (sizergh castle - gardens and a walk up to a spendid viewpoint over the Cumbrian hills) I went to the garden centre to get compost, and also acquired a couple of heuchera, an astilbe (different to the one I've already got lots of) and a bargain white thunbergia.
The latter has gone into a pot to replace a morning glory that had been terminally slugged (oddly my only significant loss this year). I potted on some everlasting sweet pea and passion flower seedlings, and also a couple of bits of the guara rescued from a plant trampled on by someone or something a while ago which have taken root.
Also did a lot of deadheading/cutting back of perennials.

Today I went out at about 5:15 intending to plant the heucheras and astilbe. I need to put that somewhere it won't be outcompeted by the one that's already in a lot of the back border... I'd forgotten that digging a hole large enough for a medium sized plant in my side border involves extracting a lot of hardcore and then doing some brick mining (3, two halves and a couple of chunks of paving slab) ... so by 7 I had a hole that will need some backfilling before planting into it.

When I came in DH told me a truck on the farm lane behind our house has driven into the neighbours garage, they may need to access it from our side to fix it. It's behind a large dogwood and has a climbing hydrangea on it so I may be getting a free major prune ...I'd be quite glad of that if they take the debris away.

Water hyacinth is on the lust of banned aquatics, isn’t it? Against the law to let it spread outside your land, and against the law to sell it.

What are people’s hydrangeas looking like?

Are they crunchy at all, even though I water pots daily they are tinged brown

Is it a good idea to lop off flower mops?

In my experience I've never managed to get hydrangeas happy in a pot - they get pot bound and suffer a lot from drought-like conditions. Feeding them is quite challenging because they need a lot of space encouraged by feeding, but the pot constrains them.

the ones in my borders are doing well, no adverse effects from the extreme wet and cold, and now flowering profusely.