The gardening thread

[TopCat]

The tulips are rising!

 

[campanula]

2 trips to plant nurseries yesterday (for customers). All I came home with for myself was 1 teeny pasque flower and an auricula (in a colour break I don't have). Can't decide whether I am jaded and cynical, or just being grown up and restrained. (cos I have no bloody space without removing something else).
I am having second thoughts after failing to buy an absolutely lovely tiarella (Strawberry Sundae) as tiarellas and related heucherellas are good performers underneath the ceanothus.

eta - actually 'Raspberry Sundae'

 

[marty21]

After 25 years of not doing much in the garden, apart from cutting back stuff, Mrs21 is now going for it - (she has retired so has some time on her hands) went to a Garden Centre on Saturday morning and spent £70 on 7 plants, which basically filled the car

 

[iona]

I've also been the opposite of restrained today though in my defence I didn't spend any money. Pulled up an entire wheelybin full of arum plus two or three barrows of other weeds for the compost at work and got to take a bag of stuff for myself bin return. A few volunteer euphorbias and ornamental grasses that will probably go to the plant sale, some nice brunnera and pulmonaria and another blue-flowered thing I can't remember the name of that I'll keep for myself, and she let me hack a few suckers out from the daphne that smells amazing and actually doesn't mind the local clay at all.

 

[iona]

Forgot to take a photo before I left but there's a huge patch of snake's head fritillaries growing in among the snowdrops and daffs in the lawn there at the moment too, both purple and the pure white ones. Not sure whether or not to tell my Thursday customer who's massively proud of the two he has in his garden

 

[Johnny Vodka]

Forgot to take a photo before I left but there's a huge patch of snake's head fritillaries growing in among the snowdrops and daffs in the lawn there at the moment too, both purple and the pure white ones. Not sure whether or not to tell my Thursday customer who's massively proud of the two he has in his garden

I love fritillaries. I have a few in my garden, but a tip I just picked up from Gardeners' World is that they do very well in parts of the garden that get a bit flooded over winter. So going to buy some more bulbs later this year and will plant them in such places in my garden.

 

[Calamity1971]

I love fritillaries. I have a few in my garden, but a tip I just picked up from Gardeners' World is that they do very well in parts of the garden that get a bit flooded over winter. So going to buy some more bulbs later this year and will plant them in such places in my garden.

I had two pots full doing okay for 3 years and put them in the ground last year. They're looking very sad this year .
I'm trying to limit pots due to the bastard weevils.

 

[StoneRoad]

Past few years I've had [touch wood] very little trouble with rabbits, but mice and so on have been something of a pest. Eating seeds, seedlings and damaging plants. But, & there is always a but, worryingly, I have seen evidence of rabbits in the past few days. Holes dug to chew roots, & droppings ...
This may make my plans for some bright flowers over the next few months a non-starter ...

 

[mrsfran]

I'm going to net the fuck out of all my crops this year, bastard magpies had EVERYTHING last year. Sweetcorn, brassicas, berries

 

[gentlegreen]

I don't know how I'm going to pull it off, but I'm hoping to put some real effort into my front garden this year instead of just relying on what has self-seeded - though I will be glad of anything that has- certainly the verbena and amaranthus - and the self-sown buddleia will be that much bigger this year ...

My porch hydro set-up is taking shape - including the realisation that I should plant a couple of nasturtium plants in the lower middle positions to cascade down around the hanging baskets - though I'm worried they might be a bit thirsty and force me to fit in a booster reservoir somewhere ... plus I'm not sure about the potash as the hydro nutes will be optimised for greens ...
I'm hoping to fit in a narrow trough of purslane up there too ...

I'm also somehow hoping to accommodate several giant Russian sunflowers .. I've moved a bigger tub of miscanthus grass out there ...

The big amaranthus in the middle was a lucky accident, but this year I have better over-wintered and therefore much larger brugmansias that will need the light... I also (hopefully have SIX trailing begonias to accommodate instead of just the two I had last year and hopefully I will have two baskets of fuchsias too ...

Oh and I'm taking a punt on multicoloured nicotianas too in the faint hope of them not being wiped out by mildew - and I wouldn't turn down a lurid magenta New Guinea impatiens either if one shows up locally since I will be short of sunlight - though I see the latest hybrids are being marketed as "Sunpatiens" ...

 

[campanula]

I am toggling between my unreliable laptop and my phone (where I am also a bit shaky) trying to upload a coupla pics which epitomise spring...although I dismissed the pics of rosebuds cos they were blurry as fuck. Might just about manage to show the new pond (still not finished) and a new auricula. Will have to add text laters

 

[campanula]

Here are pics... I hope

mmm, the pond isn't very clear...but it is hiding in a morass of black polythene at the moment (have to finish off all the edges, fill and plant) and, I admit to being exhausted, just adding a couple of pics (after about 6 attempts. Always a dilemma between wanting to share the joy of plants but battling with technology and feeling unbelievable thick (and enraged).

 

[Ron Merlin]

Finally did some serious garden work. Potted on wallflower and Giant Russian sunflower seedlings, pruned and repotted the thyme then attacked the overgrown dead shoots and branches in the border. Bloody hell btw. Knackered.

Found time to admire the new bed I created last year as well. The daffs only went in the ground in the autumn and have done incredibly well, and my wallflowers I grew from seed/plug plant (can't remember now) and put in the ground in autumn are starting to bloom. My heart is gladdened

 

[two sheds]

I had some wallflowers that did stunningly well last year, so I've brought loads on this year ready to plant out ready for next year

 

[gentlegreen]

Some years back I bought some pink wallflowers from a shop that is now defunct.
Not only did a handful light up the place with their colour - for ages with religious deadheading - , they were amazingly fragrant.
I bought and sowed "giant pink", but they weren't a patch on those
This year I've remembered to buy seeds (of bog standard ones) to sow

 

[two sheds]

One of the varieties I've put in is supposed to be smelly. My sis recommended Bowles mauve as being stunning ("floriferous" rather than smelliferous), I may try that next year if I remember.

 

[gentlegreen]

One of the varieties I've put in is supposed to be smelly. My sis recommended Bowles mauve as being stunning ("floriferous" rather than smelliferous), I may try that next year if I remember.

One of the rare half decent plants I ever had from Aldi were some Bowles mauve.
Indeed no whiff whatsoever
I planted night-scented stocks in the container with them to compensate.
Not sure about "stunning" - but it wasn't in an ideal situation, but I seem to recall it limped on for a year or two (?) in spite of neglect ...

That said, Aldi's plants ... I'm not sure the "Mrs Bradshaw" geum was actually worthy of the name ...

 

[Leafster]

One of the varieties I've put in is supposed to be smelly. My sis recommended Bowles mauve as being stunning ("floriferous" rather than smelliferous), I may try that next year if I remember.

This is (was) Bowles Mauve in my front garden a few years back. It performed well for several years but got a bit too big. I cut it back each season to try to keep it to a manageable size but eventually it got too out of shape with parts dying back so I dug it out.

I wouldn't be averse to growing it again as it was great while it lasted. Definitely lots of flowers but I don't remember a strong smell.

 

[gentlegreen]

This is (was) Bowles Mauve in my front garden a few years back. It performed well for several years but got a bit too big. I cut it back each season to try to keep it to a manageable size but eventually it got too out of shape with parts dying back so I dug it out.

I wouldn't be averse to growing it again as it was great while it lasted. Definitely lots of flowers but I don't remember a strong smell.

location, location, location

 

[Leafster]

location, location, location

Definitely! It was growing on a very steep, free-draining slope made up of flint, chalk and builders' rubble and in full sun for most of the day.

 

[moonsi til]

My new to me greenhouse , feel like I have ticked off another grown up /middle aged notch

 

[gentlegreen]

My new to me greenhouse , feel like I have ticked off another grown up /middle aged notch

That made me middle-aged long before my time then
And mine was overly-large and in the wrong place ...

 

[gentlegreen]

The seeds I nicked from the park are coming up like cress
Proper allotment nasturtiums which I will probably now use for my planned hanging garden of Bristol 5
I suppose I should have known - based on the reliable way they come up in the park beds every year.
They aren't being molly-coddled and are up near the west-facing window only a few degrees above outdoor temp.

I hope to get to the shops later for some proper seed compost and 7cm square pots.
The garden priority this week is to fire up my indoor seedling area again after two years...

Oh - that and finish clearing the back garden ready for a substantial delivery of fencing materials next Tuesday and deployment Oestre weekend ...

 

[ringo]

Anyone got any experience of hanging baskets?
Couple of years ago I did some flowers for my mates' festival (Together) in aid of Ugandan women helping orphaned street children.
I used mostly plug plants but this year I'm trying to do most of it from seed.
Got some hardy plants like trailing fuscias and geraniums outside already but I've also got lots of seedlings to pot up.
What's best to pot them on to?
I've just found a load of compostable pots in the garage. Look OK but if I use them can I plant those pots directly into baskets when the last frost has passed?
Or should I pot on to these for now and then discard the compostable pots and transplant the flowers directly into the baskets when it's warm enough to put them outisde?

 

[gentlegreen]

Personally I would not use compostable pots for anything other than vigorous things like beans that can reliably root through them. They're probably a bit messy if you choose to tip the plants out instead ...
I'm an obsessive re-potter so I usually have a stash of square pots - starting with 7cm - then I usually go to 11cm etc ...
Square pots are a bit of a pain too, but you can pack them in tightly and have maximum compost to grow in ...

 

[gentlegreen]

I discovered I had a branch of the very un-PC Wilko only a mile from my front door istead of the 2 miles to the one in town, so I just walked there and back - but they were out of compost ... luckily there was another homeware shop nearby - though all they had was Westlands with JI MP - but I've sown seeds in it before and it's a million times better than anything Aldi ever has these days ... ninety 7cm square pots - and some seeds - pak choi, lamb's lettuce, mixed mustard greens because the Misticanza pack I got the other day has the dreaded rocket instead of subtler mustards ... I suspect this one has too, but I will hopefully be able to spot them before I waste production space...

I also couldn't resist 25p French marigolds - plus I'm going to see what I can get from heliotrope sown this late ...

In the event I get my back garden flattish early enough I may have me some runner beans and also more kale and broccoli than I had planned ...

 

[ringo]

Personally I would not use compostable pots for anything other than vigorous things like beans that can reliably root through them. They're probably a bit messy if you choose to tip the plants out instead ...
I'm an obsessive re-potter so I usually have a stash of square pots - starting with 7cm - then I usually go to 11cm etc ...
Square pots are a bit of a pain too, but you can pack them in tightly and have maximum compost to grow in ...

Sounds about right. I was hoping they'd help retain moisture and keep feeding in hanging basket plants, but was a bit dubious the roots would be able to break through.
I'll pot on to plastic, got loads lying about and it's good to recycle them.

 

[gentlegreen]

Sounds about right. I was hoping they'd help retain moisture and keep feeding in hanging basket plants, but was a bit dubious the roots would be able to break through.
I'll pot on to plastic, got loads lying about and it's good to recycle them.

You have to water them like stink which causes issues with less vigorous plants.
I had moderate success one year using newspaper pots with beans ...

 

[Artaxerxes]

Newspaper tubes are the best hack I've ever had. The roots grow through and into them easily

 

[two sheds]

My experience with hanging baskets was just the one year trying them and forgetting to water them and everything died.