What have you done in the garden today? Part 6

[MereDintofPandiculation]

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

Not quite so good when you tug the thorny bastard and find it's firmly rooted at the other end. That was on a nature reserve not my garden, fortunately I only get one or two incursions over the fence.

Yes, that’s annoying. But you have to admire the prickly bastard’s ability to cover ground. Another ground coverer is willow - huge branch splits and falls to ground, sends up vertical branches along its whole length to form new trees. Then they fall at right angles to the original fallen branch, send up new trees, and so on. Called “phoenix growth”. It’s endlessly fascinating to watch the different strategies of plants.

I've done a bit of general cutting back and weeding during which noticed that the iris foetidissima in the shade by the fence (discussed some time ago) has lots of brilliant orange seeds.

The seeds are the main reason people grow it. Personally, I love the subtlety of the flowers

Planted 50 daffodils (tete a tete) and 2 Clematis (alpina and tangutica)

Just a bit of twilight gardening today before it started raining - planted out about 8 foxgloves I'd potted up from where they'd self seeded in unsuitable places, potted up my avocado seed which now has a long root and a small green shoot, and remembered I'd put last years amaryllis in the growhouse and brought it in.

Moved the last of the tender stuff under cover.

Pruned the rose over the archway, thinned out the weeping crab, and made a start on pruning the grape vine and figs.

Realised I have not been on this thread for a long time and as a result my garden has suffered as you were all keeping me on track.

Last week took up my canna lilies and discovered quite how much they have multipied. So today is trip to garden centre as I don't have pots big enough.

Pelargoniums are now in the porch, as are cuttings from the argyranthemum. We will see if they survive - neither DH or I are optimistic about us looking after indoors plants.

Aside from potting the cannas, I also have some lychnis that desperately needs planting so should get done today.

I am a little embarrassed to admit I have collected forty-ish cuttings from my peach coloured brugmansia.

Unless you’re better than me at cuttings, you’ll only get a dozen or so to full size.

Used to have an apricot flowered one with huge dangling flowers. Friend of mine, a farmer, hated it - it reminded her of a milking machine

I have peeled off large enough pieces that I have been able to patch up some gaps in the lawn😬
I think peeling anything off something in a satisfyingly large piece is always thrilling, be it grass off a paving stone, stripping a large section of paint, or wallpaper off a wall.

I planted the rose we bought for our wedding anniversary this year, Claire Austen climbing rose. Can't wait for its first flower🥰

I have also started planting up the new border in the front garden. It has a viburnum, several winter flowering honeysuckles and two different jasmines plus some crocuses. I have some peonies coming, £2 each from Suttons which was a good deal, which might put a few in this border. Not sure yet. Some will go under the window and in the back garden though.
I was wheelbarrowing stuff from my parents around the corner from me, a couple of hellebores and several bags of chipped wood clippings which have rotted down excellently over approx 18 months my dad said. That's gone on top of the border and makes it look instantly better.

I bought a tin of Farrow & Ball exterior paint from Facebook marketplace for £5 so have painted my shed. Looks much nicer, even after one coat. I have never used this paint before and am mightily impressed.

I'm positive I am not better than you at cuttings, I had to go on a youtube tutorial to make sure I was doing it right!

I once had a guy help me in the garden and he had me cut foot long (or less) lengths and just pop them in a pot of compost before the cold set in. I kept them in my unheated greenhouse and some over-wintered, some didn't. Last year all of my cuttings died so I thought I would try the 'cuttings in water on the windowsill' way. If I get a dozen that will be fine, more than I have room for and in fact they can be tiresome plants-- they are very needy.

Possibly should experiment planting them in the ground next year instead of pots as well.

YES to the joy of peeling! There was a lovely bit on moss in gardeners world a couple of weeks ago. Inspired me to go out with my shovel to a mossy bit of pavement, scrape up great sheets and put it in a little area of my woodland garden/stumpery. Looks beautiful.

Mosses are specific to substrate, some grow on walls and rocks, some on tarmac, some on soil, some on trees. So your pavement moss may not last long term in your woodland, but by then some of the woodland species may arrive

Oh no- the gardeners world moss guy didn't mention this! There were a few types, hopefully some will make it... I don't suppose they evolved for tarmac 😂

I’m not sure of the mechanism. It may be the spores that need the substrate to get established, but once established they’re less fussy, in which case you’re ok. And that sounds likely if the guy didn’t warn you to source your moss from woodland

No he warned against it I think! On environmental grounds. He made his own by snipping one piece up onto trays of clay pellet medium which looked fun. Do you grow different types? I'll report back in spring if pavement moss has survived- it's clay soil and a damp and shady corner so I'm holding out some hope...

No, I don’t deliberately grow any mosses, just let grow the ones that grow naturally. Because I’m still learning, I don’t get rid of any moss until I’ve identified it.

Storm Bert did this last night

Oh dear!

Oh no!

Oh dear. That looks terminal to me. I just paid to have my green house, which looks similar, moved. Sadly it seems to have warped out of shape over time and the door doesn't really work, so I fear for yours. We bought a new bird feeder and placed it nearer the house. So all I’ve really done since is watch the birds, but I might clean the inside of my wonky greenhouse in a bit.

I do think it is terminal Zebracat. It was on one of my beds awaiting final positioning and glass fitting. Never imagined the wind would shove it over.

The snow finally did for the Cosmos and they have been chopped up into the compost bin. Tidied up a few other dead bits and dahlias in the potting shed to dry out.
Took a peek at the hyacinth bowl and there are tiny bits of growth; will check in another week or so and then bring them on for Christmas flowering (fingers crossed).