What have you done in the garden today? Part 8

[Jimmyneutronsforehead]

A continuation thread.

Thank you to MereDintOfPandiculation for threads 1 through 6. We wouldn't have built this lovely gardening community without you.

No gardening job is too small or too big to tell us about.

Spring is springing into action, let's get mucky.

My greenhouse is full of self seeded tomatoes, as well as the 12 plants I carefully grew. So I’ve been sticking the extras in every spare bit of ground. I’ve never had any luck with them outside, but this weather is perfect. I’m a bit worried about what I’ll do with all the fruit if it works.

Send some my way because my tomato plants are dead

I planted a climbing hydrangea a few weeks ago but 1 of the 2 (I think) stems has decided to die 🙄 Dug it out, it's in a bucket of water. Watered everything again, I'm usually a bit mean and water only once a week to encourage strong deep roots, but it's awful out there and I have young trees.

I hate this heat, I spent much of the day lying down on the cold kitchen tiles with the cats, cooling our bellies.

I feel a bit like a truck hit me this morning! Planted up a new area with salvias and lavender, mulched that with bark and two other beds.

Planted up hanging baskets of Tumbling Toms and everbearing strawberries.

Found some seed potatoes in a cupboard that had sprouted long roots. They were soft and wrinkly when I absent mindedly threw them in there so hadn't even thought of them. Popped them in compost in 4 buckets to see what they do over summer.

Fed the roses and hydrangeas with liquid feed.

Lots of watering late last night as my work schedule doesn’t permit early hours watering.

I yearn the months where I can complain it's too cold. It's too bloody warm!

Our thermometer comfortably settled from 32.2° inside to 28.9° all night.

Weather forecast is saying some severe thunderstorms today but there's no cloud in sight yet and that pool has got my name on it.

Trying to get ahead of the sun and water everything deeply today but it's taking me a while to find my get up and go this morning.

I have the tiling being grouted today so I won't be able to get into the garden again, I am hoping the camomile I put in the pots for my new trees is giving some root shade but I am also hoping for rain. A lot of my seedlings have frazzled as there is only so much space in my kitchen and living room for them so I risked a few outside, bad move!

I have moved all my pots into the shadiest part of the garden. It is sizzling here in the central South - like most other places to be fair!

Obviously watering all the pots but also the plants in the ground as well. I'm eeking out my rain water on the things that don't like tap water. Don't think any rain is forecast for where I am until next Monday. The grass will be very parched by then. I always feel that grass watering is too excessive.

Other than that, I moved my sun umbrella around so that I could continue my weary task of stone sorting and shifting. I still cannot comprehend why the previous occupants on my home thought that putting loads of white stones under a heavily dropping tree was a good idea.

Heading back south today to see what remains of my veg patch. Hopefully it’s mostly salvageable and plants have deep enough roots that they could find some water over the weekend.

My winter onions have started to bolt. Probably because it was 2C last week and 32C this week. Very stressful, and they don't like it. I will try harvesting some seeds for next year.

My onions haven't bolted yet. I planted them in the shadiest patch as they seem to do well there, but they're in competition with the sticky willy at the moment.

I'm thinking of swapping to walking onions next year.

Walking onions sound fun, but I haven't got a big veg garden patch. Mine are in a raised trug, so perhaps they got a bit dry. Only 3 bolted, and the ones in the ground seem to be doing well, so that's something.

Yesterday we reshaped the flower bed borders in the back garden and seeded areas which needed grass. Put a lawn feed on and have taken clothes line, chairs etc off lawn to give the lawn a break.

Hanging basket tlc tonight. Might edge the front border and around tree.

I had a climbing hydrangea in a pot it was thriving moved it two months ago and planted it in semi shade in the soil - watered in etc and it has gone from thriving to dead! I’m pulling it out later today 😤

My two Labrador are avoiding the heat and lying opposite the air con unit. The terrier in on the other side (with a cone on) none of them are going near the garden & I don’t blame them. We got up at 5 am to water!

I’ve done nice bits today. Miniature gardening. I have an alpine trough and I took out the rampant sedum and planted 3 better behaved little plants, refreshed the gravel and then spent really quite a long time building little cairns with bigger pebbles.i don’t think I play enough. It was fun. And it inspired me to approach a big tidy up of my little herb patch in the same spirit. So that’s now looking much better. I think I’m going to find some little dinosaurs for my trough, and maybe make a pond from a mirror.

Managed to get a lot of flowering plants (grown from seed or plugs) into the beds in 30 minute bursts over the last couple of days; they look much happier now despite looking like death for the first 24 hours after planting, falling over and wilting like ladies in a Victorian novel. Still a lot to find homes for but we won’t be short of flowers to enjoy this year.

Weeded the fruit tree bed which I swear was weed free 2 weeks ago and a complete carpet of tiny weeds this morning. Cosmos and calendula in there now so just need to hoe around them to keep on top of it. Dahlias in pots beginning to really get going; must photograph and label them as they have all got mixed up at some point.

Everything in a pot has been watered early morning and late evening, but water butts are now completely empty so it’s the hosepipe tomorrow if necessary, though we are forecast a thunderstorm later. Storms often go around us though.

Picked the first two sweet peas just now; I am determined to keep picking the flowers as they appear as I often forget and don’t get the benefit of them indoors, which is why I grow them!

My sweetpeas haven’t even begun to climb yet. I might have to help them get to the first rung of the arch.
I have a problem area outside my shed .About 150 cmsx 15 strip which would have been better paved. I have just let it be weedy which is one reason I open my shed door a few inches and chuck things in, and then do without next time I need that item. It’s next to my compost bin and rhubarb . I want to use some edible ground cover, but can’t decide on Corsican mint which works in shade, or creeping thyme. It’s west facing, but in the shadow of the boundary fence and the shed. I think it may be too hot and dry for the mint , but not sunny enough for the thyme. But maybe Corsican mint can cope?

Have you considered creeping phlox?

Spent yesterday evening planting out my dahlia which were busting out of their pots. While digging the holes, I came across about 5 viable dahlia tubers from last year. They look surprisingly healthy and plump with some small healthy shoots which is a bit of a miracle given the wet autumn and winter we had.

Ive set them aside in the wheelbarrow and will pot them up this evening. Quite exciting having some extras to fill out a large gap in the border.

Well as I predicted the storms missed us completely so it’s the hosepipe for the foreseeable future as no rain forecast for at least a week 😢

In better news, everything I planted out yesterday has perked up really well overnight so just got to carry on with the watering until properly established. I’ll find homes for the last of the flowers today I hope, and aim to have everything in the ground or in pots by the end of the weekend.

Off to water the tomatoes and chillies now. Feels a bit fresher this morning.

We got the thunder but no rain. I feel thoroughly lied to by Stevie Nicks.

We had a tremendous lightning show. It went on for hours. Never seen anything like it. Torrential rain but not much thunder so the opposite of you @Jimmyneutronsforehead. Of course I’d already watered the garden.

No thunder. No rain. I'm very jealous of those that had a storm last night.

Dry as a dust bowl here in central south east, not a drop of rain let alone thunder and lightening. As far as I can tell I'm unlikely to see any drops fall from the sky until well into next week. Did have a chuckle at your disappointment in Stevie Nicks meteorological predictions @Jimmyneutronsforehead !

My sweet peas are starting to flower. I'm soooooooooooooo excited. I think these are the first plants I have successfully grown from seed, since I was a child and grew cress on damp tissues on a polystyrene food tray. I believe you have to pick them to encourage more flowers, so I will be out at lunchtime doing my first pick!!!!

Have you ever left cress to flower? It's absolutely beautiful.

Might have found that out by forgetting I had grown cress to eat.