What have you done in the garden today? Part 7

[Jimmyneutronsforehead]

Continuation thread from MereDint's previous threads.

Hello, i would like to join! 👋
Today i weeded part of an area of the garden, removed the spent iris, tidies up the tomato plants and made two rose bush cuttings (i hope it is not too early in the year!)
i have never done a rose cutting before. I placed a plastic piping bag over each cutting to make a mini green house. I hope thats ok!
then tonight DP and I had a walk around the area and just looked at all the front gardens

Spent a glorious few hours this morning volunteering in an old historic garden that is being slowly restored. Then went to the garden centre with DH who bought more tomato and pepper plants and six red dahlias. He does love a bright flower. That is where his input ended and I’m left to plant and look after everything. I have warned him that I will not be responsible if they’re eaten by snails.

Welcome, tostaky. I love to do that too, checking out neighbour's gardens. You can get a good sense of what does well in your area but of course I do it because I am just plain snoopy.

This was yesterday. I finally repotted my new rose into a new (half price) terracotta pot. I hope it thrives. Here is a photo. It smells wonderful.

@fixingmylife thats a really gorgeous rose! Where do you find half price terracotta? Im constantly on the outlook for larger ceramic/terracotta pots but i cant seem to find good second hand ones or cheap ones…
today unfortunately i threw away a whole potato planting bag due to rot… im just hoping this was quick enough so my other potatoes (in different planters) dont get it!
my bean tipi is not growing as fast as i would like to….

Thank you.
I found the rose in my local garden centre which is a a Blue Diamond garden centre. I was pleased that all the pots were half price. I might go and get another one while they are on sale as I'm sure I'll find a use for it. Hope you find one as well.

Went for lunch with a friend and passed a stall in the town centre with the most glorious plants. Came away with an Amistad salvia and Bishop of Llandaff salvia. Hopeless. Couldn’t resist.

Bishop of Llandaff Dahlia not salvia!

Well my hayfever tablets have done naff all for me, but we have sourced some extremely local honey and for the past few days that's all I've been taking and it's helped a lot.

Been a firm believer that it doesn't really work but I've gone from sneezing my organs out to just mildly itchy eyes so for the first time in a good long while I'm going to go out and do some gardening!

Everything needs a good drink of water, so I'll start with that, and then I think I might sow some seeds, although its a bit late to be doing that, and hope for the best.

I was planning to water the plants today, but there are thundery showers forecast (it's bucketing down at present), so I don't think it will be necessary. I deadheaded last night and was disconcerted to discover that one of my new plants has disappeared almost entirely - there are just some dismal stems trailing on the ground - the foliage and flowers have all disappeared. I suspect it fell victim to a slug/snail assault. That's what I get for falling for a plant at a garden show and not doing my research. The other plants are all holding their own.

I have my eye on a beautiful patio rose (little sunset). The roses are yellow with a red/pink tinge. And I've also been admiring a beautiful agapanthus 'Twister'.

In order for local honey to truly work for hay-fever you really need to start taking it daily from as early in the season as possible (late March / early April) therefore there is time for the tolerance levels to build up to the pollens contained within the honey (which is the whole premise that its based on). I think it might just be luck that it's worked for you for a few days. It's good ro support local beekeepers though, so thank you from a beekeeping family of 35 years. ❤️🐝

Pollen in honey is mainly the type carried by insects, whereas hayfever tends to be triggered by wind-pollenated plants. And the types of pollen in the honey - by the time it's collected by the bees, honeyfied, harvested, jarred and sold - lags a long way behind each pollen wave.

Hello, I finally found out the name of my marvelously perfumed geranium it is : Pelargonium 'Fragrans" . It is beautiful and deliciously odorous!

@ London- someone wanted to know but I can't remember her user name.

I've just finished potting up my dwarf pomegranate seedlings.

In spring last year I found a small punica granatum nana about 6 inches high for 50p in a garden centre, on their sad bench, and I brought it home, watered it and sat it on the patio. It grew like crazy, flowered all summer and produced one tiny pomegranate fruit. I kept the plant indoors all winter on the kitchen windowsill, and watched this little hard green fruit slowly ripening and turning bright pink. Having done some research I discovered that they are self-fertile, so I wondered whether I might be able to propagate it from the seeds in this tiny fruit, smaller than a ping pong ball.

Well... I planted 24 seeds and was thrilled when 19 of them germinated. Today was the day to pot them up. What I'm going to do with them, I have no idea!

It's been raining cats and dogs here, so no opportunity to get into the garden. But on a positive note, I don't have to water anything ☔.

@Yamadori That’s Christmas sorted then! Well, I would love one. Although today I thought I would sort out the pots in my pergola. Afteran hour I’ve come in swearing no more pots, ever. The hosta was inundated with snails and leopard slugs. I can’t kill them, so I dont know what to do. Monty says hostas get less damage in the ground, so I’ll try that, somewhere near the pond. There were 2 ant nests, behind the pots, and they didn’t like that I disturbed them. I wonder if I should cut my losses and return the 3 pots with small evergreens and just empty the rest, which look awful but I already bought some shady bedding , so I guess I have to sort it. Gah. And someone’s having a barbecue and it smells so good.😭

@Zebracat Monty says hostas get less damaged in the ground?

Pwahahahahahahahaha................

They don't get damaged, they get completely obliterated down to ground level.

DH had a Garden Centre voucher to spend so he chose some dahlias and I "accidentally" came home with another verbena bonariensis - it doesn't seem to self-seed in my garden - and an amelanchier shrub. I've wanted one since I stayed in a BnB with one in flower at Easter a few years ago.

@Yamadori . Yes he swears it, and his look fantastic, he probly sends a minion out to buy them before they film. I’m not even sure i like them but feel obligated to try and keep them alive. Also If I'm going to put them by the pond I will have to tackle the weeds and cutting back needed there, and it’s not even on my list of grot spots.

Well this afternoon I have sat on the garden bench with a cold beer and made plans for various beds. Which to my mind is very much the point of having a garden; admiring and planning!
It's looking very lush today and I will do some tasks tomorrow. But today was for looking 🍻

My neighbour has a garden full of pristine hostas. I dont know how she does it. She's very frail so its not like she's bending down picking the slugs off of them.

If its anything like the bloke in the next allotment to my Dad with pristine veg, then it will be hefty usage of slug pellets.

I dragged my DS outside yesterday evening to help me tidy , we have a paved seating area that was a bit weedy . All the weeds were shallow so came out easily .
I got knocked or bitten so my ankle has a wound which is painful and red. No infection but I'm limping like a total wuss .

Watered everything in pots , dead - headed the sweet peas . They are dark purple - last years re seeded themselves- so I'll keep a few back later .

Lots pf bindweed and brambles need cut back , that can be tomorrows job.

Loads of tomatoes , still green but impressive .

@Yamadori I've been dreaming of a pomegranate since I saw them in Cyprus! You're not in central/east London, are you 😅

I pondered where to plant out the Dutch irises that are doing very well in a cramped pot. Actually I have about 10 plants in pots that desperately need planting out, but keep changing my mind on the best location. Tad frustrated with myself. Was hoping for lots of rain in the 'storm' last night but it was two light showers - useless.

I have been dead heading roses. I have about a million of them. I want to know how Monty Don gardens with his dogs who seem to do nothing but play. Mine digs little holes in the lawn, gets in the birdbath, eats pigeon poo and just about anything else it comes across.