Rachel's Journal

Ricinus very small here too, Rachel. And we learn something new every day, or every year.

You were busy today.  

its great to get out and do in the garden, and any errors will not be repeated, thats for sure.

I had a good day too and tackled the front hedge, a lovely day for it not too hot.  I too lost a banana, not my fault though a digger went over it.

Must be something in the air .... hedges and shrubs watch out  - gardeners suffering from cabin fever are on the loose ...... 

:)

looks great

Looks fab  ;-))

Looks fab  ;-))

Great feeling to get that tackled Rachel - you got loads done.

I find that you don't repeat the same mistakes but find new ones to make!!!

Hedge cutting is on my agenda too but might get help in with it as it is an area that gets out of hand on a regular basis.

Great picture Rachel - My ricinus went out last week they are very small let's hope they put on a spurt

That border looks great Rachel.  No slugs in Wexford then ??  :-)

It is disappointing, Jacinta. If we had the warm space indoors to nurse the Ricinus for longer, we would be laughing.

Andy, I'm not so sure that I will be able to avoid the same thing again. It comes down to the number of plants that need to be kept indoors for longer. Perhaps next year I will grow fewer Ricinus, but warmer for longer!

Anne, you cannot be blamed for the sins of a digger!

Hazel, I think you have hit the nail on the head.We gardeners have been held inactive for too long.

Fran, there's an echo in here.

You are right, Moya, gardening burgeons with new errors to be made :)

Mary, I think once Ricinus goes in the ground, it stops growing taller. Certainly once they bloom, they never grow taller. Plants are full of disappointment.

Hosta, the slugs are merciless. They love the Zanthadeschia and Ligularia here and I even found them eating the leaves of my Brugmansia. They ignored the flower buds but ate the leaves. How weird is that?

Lovely photo Rachel. I took my cannas and gingers from the glasshouse yesterday as they are taking up too much space and I intend to plant them out as soon as I remove some foxgloves from on of my borders. I keep them potted up in the glasshouse over the winter and found this year they stayed evergreen. I start to feed them in early spring and I think this helps to bring them to a good size at this time of year. Mary

 oh Rachel the border looks so green.. lovely.. pity the sun loving plants just dead looking my Ricinus (thanks for seeds) looks like dwarf...

But when the warm weather arrives (ever hopeful) things will really take off and we'll forget all about the slow start to the summer, maybe.

Hi Mary, I think I will try overwintering my cannas and gingers in the greenhouse this winter too as they have gotten too big for indoors. Size isn't the issue with these as they are all fairly tall now but the leaves got burnt by late frost in the cold greenhouse and I have a lot of brown :(

Thanks, Jurga.

As you say, Conrad, maybe!