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The gardening thread

With heavy rain forecast, I did the last bit of messing around with a hoe, defined the main path and started preparing the seed beds for runner beans and giant sunflowers. In the process I extracted two more greenhouse concrete anchors. Hopefully that's finally it...

The soild where the beans are going was like dust and there was no alternative to using a fair bit of water, - I will probably have to incorporate some valuable compost - ordinarily I would have had beans presown in compost in any case ...but I have extracted my water butt and plan to divert not just roof water, but the grey water from the bathroom - not that there is much of that - but perhaps I might feel justified in taking a bath every week - who knows I might learn to enjoy it ...
i have sorted out all my hose pipes and I have spare hydroponic pumps so can get water to the end of the garden ...

I know I could have done this before, but it is what it is ...

mondayseedprep.jpg
 
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The best time to sow seeds is when you acquire them, two sheds. They will obediently sit in their potting mix until local climate and light conditions trigger germination. One thing is for sure, nothing is growing while still sitting in a packet. I have sown seeds in every month, apart from July (because too late for biennials, too early for hardy annuals, too hot and dry for everything else). On balance, I prefer autumn sowing to spring sowing, since many hardy perennials are deep in dormancy and will just sit in their pots for another 9 months, until they have been triggered by going through a winter stratification. My greenhouse is often full in the winter and empty over the summer (although I am growing tomatoes in it this year).
 
I've just found these, must be a couple of years old, but OK until Sept 2022.
If I sow them outside now, well not right now, it's chucking it down, will I get blooms from something this year??
20220523_150517.jpg
 
campanula said:
The best time to sow seeds is when you acquire them, two sheds. They will obediently sit in their potting mix until local climate and light conditions trigger germination. One thing is for sure, nothing is growing while still sitting in a packet. I have sown seeds in every month, apart from July (because too late for biennials, too early for hardy annuals, too hot and dry for everything else). On balance, I prefer autumn sowing to spring sowing, since many hardy perennials are deep in dormancy and will just sit in their pots for another 9 months, until they have been triggered by going through a winter stratification. My greenhouse is often full in the winter and empty over the summer (although I am growing tomatoes in it this year).
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full in winter of seed trays?
 
clicker said:
I've just found these, must be a couple of years old, but OK until Sept 2022.
If I sow them outside now, well not right now, it's chucking it down, will I get blooms from something this year??
Click to expand...
Most if not all of those will be fast-growing annuals - get them sown :)

They suggest sowing in semi-circles which sounds like a good idea not only for effect, but you then stand a better chance of recognising and removing the weed seedlings ..
 
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When sowing annuals [in drifts] I have been known to mix in some sand, to give me a visual cue to the areas I've been working on.
Not sure how successful that was, as we had plenty of interfering & hungry rabbits for several years ...
It did help delineate some area to avoid when attacking with the hoe.

[trying several different deterrents this year, plus a ratting catapult]
 
StoneRoad said:
When sowing annuals [in drifts] I have been known to mix in some sand, to give me a visual cue to the areas I've been working on.
Not sure how successful that was, as we had plenty of interfering & hungry rabbits for several years ...
It did help delineate some area to avoid when attacking with the hoe.

[trying several different deterrents this year, plus a ratting catapult]
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Maybe I could send you my bloody foxes ?

View attachment Wansview-2022-05-23-18-35-19.mp4
 
Fortuitously I recently found a fishing catapult and it seems I can fairly accurately fire a shot across their bows from 20 feet - reliably hitting the galvanised shed.
We think they're living under next door's shed.
I will also see what I can do with a spare pond pump and a sprinkler head.
 
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clicker said:
I've just found these, must be a couple of years old, but OK until Sept 2022.
If I sow them outside now, well not right now, it's chucking it down, will I get blooms from something this year??
View attachment 323818
Click to expand...
Cornflower and Snapdragon seeds seem to be viable forever. Last year I grew cornflowers from seeds that said 'sow before 2015'.

Otherwise a good rule seems to be the bigger the seed the longer it's viable. I bought one variety of zucchini in 2006 which germinated in April - less than when I bought them but one or two popped up.
 
contadino said:
Cornflower and Snapdragon seeds seem to be viable forever. Last year I grew cornflowers from seeds that said 'sow before 2015'.

Otherwise a good rule seems to be the bigger the seed the longer it's viable. I bought one variety of zucchini in 2006 which germinated in April - less than when I bought them but one or two popped up.
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I would say it's the reverse.
I'm amazed a cucurbit lasted that long.
As campanula mentioned above, (umbellifers) in particular have a very short life.
I've been surprised in my garden over the years - nicotiana - minute seeds but still a surprise.

I just cleared ground where I only ever saw two or three weed species and I've had a rash of annual mercury come up - now that's not going to be windblown .. evening primrose ...
Last year I had a whole bucketload of fat hen and I'd never seen that in my garden in decades - I suppose some of the seeds come with compost and bought-in plants...
I had tomatoes spring up recently ..

I gave up on sprouting mung beans for ages because the supermarket ones wouldn't sprout ...
 
As a (very) rough rule of thumb, I am inclined to agree, contadino...but for sure, there are exceptions. While huge curcurbits have a long viability, small lettuce and minuscule nicotiana are also very long-lived. I will say that my germination success more than doubled as soon as I started using my own saved seed...even notoriously shortlived parsley was infinitely more successful, even after storing saved seed for a coupla years. For the longest time, I blamed myself for poor germination...until I started seed saving. Some seed merchants are worse than others, too. The very worst results (for flowers) came from using Plants of Distinction and T&M and for vegetables, nothing compared to the disastrous year I had with the now defunct Edwin Tucker seed co. So far, I have not bothered saving sweetcorn seeds...but given the unreliable germination results, every single year, I really think I will be stepping up my game, for next growing season.
My record was tomato seeds, well over a decade old.
I store my seeds in 2 biscuit tins (1 for flowers, 1 for veg.), in the bottom of the fridge.
 
campanula said:
Ah @iona, I grow a few umbellifers and would always try to use the freshest seed as it loses viability super quick.
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I know but at least now I can look back over the thread when it's time to order some rather than googling a vague plant description that could apply to dozens of umbellifers :D

gentlegreen said:
Gardening with OCD ....

I just set up my runner bean canes and sowed the seeds with a spirit level and ruler :facepalm:
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I planted out some runner beans the other day that I'd germinated in a handful of compost in my raincoat pocket :oops:
 
I'm rather afraid I need to buy more rope and netting and get on the roof ...
There isn't that much wall area up to 3 metres for the 4 morning glories and two cobea scandens I'm thinking of sending up the wall ..in addition to the sweet peas ...
No point doing things by halves ... there's a displaced tile up there and a gutter that needs unblocking - my ladder activities so far have hopefully set me up for it and I will use safety ropes ...
At least those are things I can easily take with me when I move

I only hope the neighbours don't think it's some sort of Jubilee bollocks ...

newmeshsmall.jpg
 
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Darwin’s observations​

Charles Darwin in 1875 made a detailed study of various climbing and twining plants, subjecting them to stimuli such as light and touch, and presenting them with a range of surfaces while minutely examining their movement over time. He was impressed by the exceptional strength and speed of Cobaea scandens:[7]

This is an excellently constructed climber. The tendrils on a fine plant were eleven inches long, with the petiole bearing two pairs of leaflets, only two and a half inches in length. They revolve more rapidly and vigorously than those of any other tendril-bearer observed by me, with the exception of one kind of Passiflora.
...
The long, straight, tapering main stem of the tendril of the Cobaea bears alternate branches; and each branch is several times divided, with the finer branches as thin as very thin bristles and extremely flexible, so that they are blown about by a breath of air; yet they are strong and highly elastic. The extremity of each branch is a little flattened, and terminates in a minute double (though sometimes single) hook, formed of a hard, translucent, woody substance, and as sharp as the finest needle. On a tendril which was eleven inches long I counted ninety-four of these beautifully constructed little hooks. They readily catch soft wood, or gloves, or the skin of the naked hand. With the exception of these hardened hooks, and of the basal part of the central stem, every part of every branchlet is highly sensitive on all sides to a slight touch, and bends in a few minutes towards the touched side. By lightly rubbing several sub-branches on opposite sides, the whole tendril rapidly assumed an extraordinarily crooked shape. These movements from contact do not interfere with the ordinary revolving movement. The branches, after becoming greatly curved from being touched, straighten themselves at a quicker rate than in almost any other tendril seen by me, namely, in between half an hour and an hour.
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Hmm should have covered my bog plant yesterday as that rain has waterlogged it and lots of places say not to allow that to happen as it will just turn stagnant. Have covered it now just incase.
 
I planted out my sweetcorn at the weekend but should have hardened then off a bit more first - about half of them flopped over in the wind. I've staked then today, hopefully that'll be enough.

In love with my plot after the rain today.
 

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mrsfran said:
I planted out my sweetcorn at the weekend but should have hardened then off a bit more first - about half of them flopped over in the wind. I've staked then today, hopefully that'll be enough.

In love with my plot after the rain today.
Click to expand...
Wow !

I'm deffo going to have roses when I move :)
 
Ran away to town today [hospital appointment & then a work-related visit to a "small engineering" company I want to do some stuff as a sub-contract]. The heavy rain showers & gusty wind aren't helping ...

As a result, no actual progress in the garden, but whilst waiting for the first appointment, I did some "planning" & "sketching" ref the allotment layout.
I need to find a way to block the northerly wind, using the new shed plans ... now I need to get out there with a tape measure to ensure the proposal will fit in the available space at the "top end". The back & one side of the area are fixed boundaries, the other side could be a moveable feast, with some extra work.
 
The foxes dug holes last night and I'm seriously considering getting a cheap electric fence - I emailed my brother because they keep a horse.
I'm spending £40 on climber netting for the house, so £50 for fox protection isn't a big deal and I will almost certainly need one when I move to the sticks.. and I would please the neighbours both sides if we extended it ...

I sowed 5 metres of runner beans and 3 metres of giant sunflowers today (about 55 seeds - whole packet - plan to thin - a lot - and plant the thinings all over the place - guerilla gardening ? :hmm: now why did I not plan ahead ? :D) ) and have deployed sticks and a net at the end of the garden.
My spare hydro pump is not up to the job of spraying anything - and I'm now considering aged urine - which I have plenty of ...

foxfence.jpg

gardentuesdaybeansunsowings.jpg
 
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Redid all the platform planters at the station today, and planted a refugee philadelphus out in the long border. One platform is all annual bedding plants my mum got (red, white and blue for the jubilee :rolleyes::rolleyes:) but the other side I've got a stipa tenuissima in the middle of each trough surrounded by a nice mix of perennials like lavender, verbena, salvia, osteospermum, dianthus and some cineraria maritima and that bloody creeping campanula that's everywhere in my garden. Dug out all the old tulips and daffs that were in the planters and I'll poke some into the border and take the rest for myself for the allotment and maybe my garden.
 
Fragrant begonia tubers ...

Last year I bought three from Parkers and two did very well for me - I would have them both but vine weevils got the best one of the two and nearly did for the other.
The third one from last year never took off - miniscule amount of very red foliage and died ...

So I ordered more this year and the deal was five - so I dragged some corner baskets out of mothballs and put two in each of them and they're growing - albeit slowly ...

But right from the off, one of the new ones romped ahead and is now a good match for the much larger survivor from last year that I put in fresh, grub-free compost ...

Is this common ?

sixbegniascomparedsmaller.jpg
 
clicker said:
The rain's brought the irises out.
View attachment 323965
Click to expand...

Mine too.


20220524_211745.jpg

I love Iris. I've got 4 in the pond and 3 in the bog garden as well. It's the structure they bring that I love and the flowers are other worldly.

I've gone a bit bonkers for Salvias this year. I put a couple in last year and fell in love with them and the bee activity they attract is fab so this year I've done 3 different types of seeds which have kept me busy as seedlings and potting on. We've got a space in mind for them that will be in later part of the garden to get developed so I'm going to keep them potted for as long as I can.

The other thing that's keeping my busy are my chillis. I've taken it easy this year. Only 14 varieties on the go :D
 
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I've never managed to have antirrhinums that big this early - even self-sown ones ...
I'm raising some this year because the colours can be so intense and it's good to have more species as insurance.

I can see both irises and teasels on my list for the future ...
 
futureforests.ie

Sorbus pseudohupehensis Pink Pagoda

A beautiful cultivar of a Chinese species of rowan, Sorbus pseudohupehensis Pink Pagoda is a small, deciduous tree with a broadly columnar habit. Creamy-white flowers in late spring are followed in autumn by pretty rose-pink berries which persist into winter. The leaves are of typical rowan...
futureforests.ie futureforests.ie

This is arriving tomorrow, to take the place of one of the cherry trees at the allotment. I don't have a big enough fruit cage anymore, and netting a 5m x 5m area, with either my 'meadow' or a rose bed in the way, is a hopeless (and distressing) task. I don't much mind the blackbirds, eating the cherries, but the pigeons strip all the new foliage, leaving a horrible, sad looking specimen. So I am grubbing out the meadow cherry and replanting with (another) sorbus (I have 3 others at the allotment). The cherry is around 16 years old so my oldest, who enjoys green woodworking, can make a lot of use out of the timber. Coming with the same order is a white buttercup - ranunculus aconitifolium (I love ranunculus although I am far less keen on those frilly double-flowered horrors. I would bloody love to get my hands on the single species of Persian buttercup (ranunculus asiaticus).

O salvias - my goodness, this is a genus which just keeps on giving. And so easy to propagate. What do you have, friedaweed ? PM incoming.
 
campanula said:
I would bloody love to get my hands on the single species of Persian buttercup (ranunculus asiaticus).
Click to expand...
That looks quite poppy-like :)
I only realised the other year when I looked up the greater celandine in my neighbour's garden that the two families are sort of related - along with fumitory :)

Oh and oddly I see Berberidaceae are also now placed in the Ranunculales - now that one is a bit odd ...
 
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