Month: May 2010

Just want to wish everyone and wonderful Bank Holiday weekend, I have a friend staying for the weekend she is from Mauritius, will let you all know how my brothers op goes we all hope and pray, but its in God’s hands take care

The weather has been a mixed bag for that last few days.  Didn’t get much done at all.  Bought loads and loads of seeds though, and have trays and pots all over the place.  There was a clump of primroses outside the fence so I dug them up and got 12 plant from them. Going to plant them under the trees, unless you think that might not a good idea. 

Managed to get broccoli plants in woodies and put them out for a week to harden off and then planted them in a patch (cant call it a vegetable patch because thats all thats in there at the moment)  The slugs had a feast.  So planted 3 more along with some slug pelletts. Touch wood they seem to be growing.

Thinking of doing a corner of the garden in shrubs. Would I be better off putting a membrain down  over the grass or do I need to dig first. Mind you by the time I have got rid of the stones and rocks it will be pretty well dug over anyway.

Enjoy the bank holiday and hope the weather improves for you all.

Eventually, in the evening, it cleared and the first thing was to put away the bedding plants. Next I attacked the griselinia which had been hit by the frost. I know that the damage was done in January when the temperature went so low but it was only in April that I noticed the change. With the new secateurs, I made a charge on it and got about half of the work done. Much of the shrub is sound and I believe it will survive. The new felco secateurs made the job easy although the branches were wet and so keeping dry was not easy. Eventually I retired to the house. I noticed that the parsnips had come on well. 

I’m sorry if you need to take out the microscope to read my journal. Why did the font go so small like that? Does anybody know?

 As John and I were taking some cuttings in the greenhouse the sound of the Cockoo came across the garden the first of the summer for us. they say you can plant runnerbeans when the cockoo comes, Ann spent the afternoon putting growmore over the flower beds . raining tonight but mild you can see every thing growing by the day.

for the last three days I have being pricing growbags but the thing that I notice is that they are smaller than previous years. normally the ones I get are 60 litres but most of the places are stocking 30 litre bags. These are miserable looking things and I don-t think they are up to the job for me. However managed to get 45 litre ones today, look to have a bit of substance in them for the job. have they stopped making the 60 litre ? I suppose with the smaller bag, I will have to water and feed more regular than with the larger bag. Another small trivial matter that when added to all the other trivial matters, makes for  interesting gardening

Hey everyone ,what have I missed, only managed 10 min log on in ten days, but in this weather who has time to sit at the computer (with slow net connection).The littlies want to be out all the time when the weather is good and I need eyes in the back of my head. When they go home in the evening it’s a quick dinner for my own gang and then out to the garden ’till dark, mostly the veggie patch at the moment, weeding, watering and still more weeding, sometimes I’m very tempted to try some sprays but I still get great satisfaction from weeding the veggies by hand. All the first lot of peas(Rondo) and mangetout peas are in the ground now, also planted out a row of broccoli, all the first lot of cabbages and we are half way through weeding the onions, radishes, parsnips,  scallions, lettuce, garlic, turnips etc.,The tomato plants have put on a great spurt of growth and so has the sweetcorn and butternut squash   ( the cucumbers died ‘cos I forgot to take the plastic cover off their tray when they had germinated and I guess the seeds rotted, not too upset as there were only 4 seeds in the packet anyway). The sunflowers are doing well both the big and small ones and I have planted out a lot of the sweetpea. Most of the other seedlings are up and 8 hanging baskets and 4 tubs have been planted up with petunias, sweetpea, verbena, fuschia(Paula Jane & Blue Eyes) and some other bits and pieces. We decided to put raised beds on the patio to keep the kids from walking over the flowers so we used railway sleepers to make the beds and they are about 8 or 10 inches deep so they have been half filled with farmyard manure and tomorrow and Monday hopefully will be filled up with a mixture of topsoil and compost, then the fun bit , putting in the plants. The test will come on Tuesday when the littlies come back to me , will have to wait and see have I foxed their little short legs (for the moment anyway)but they are growing so fast! The idea is that if they have to step up they wont bother and my poor flowers will be safe at last. John and Adam did all the hard work while I gave directions and made coffee every ten minutes but they are still my raised beds!!!Will add some pics soon.

One of our contributors (Rachel) recently discussed Amelanchier canadensis and Rosa rugosa. The Amelanchier is meant to flower in March. I did not see mine flowering this year. It seems healthy, but as it needs full sun and mine, though grown on a south facing border is shaded by other plants. The autumn colour looks well but I think it a pity I did not see it flowering. Has anyone ideas about the lack of flowering of this tree?

I grow the Rosa rugosa for its hips, as its flowers are not great.

I am enjoying the current issue of The Irish Gardener. I am hugely impressed with Carl Wright’s Burren garden. We who have soil in our garden are lucky, as Carl had to bring in tonnes of soil for his garden and then he sieved every bit of it.

The article by Frances MacDonald lists many plants that I like. This article reminded me of how many plants I have lost over the years. She considers Astrantia major ‘Shaggy’, which I used to call by its other name ‘Margery Fish’, as "one of the best". It has seeded all over my garden and seems to do well, even though seedlings may differ from the original plant.

Here’s some advice for elderly gardeners like me. However, it requires having a son in prison.

An old man lived alone in Idaho. He wanted to spade his potato garden, but it was very hard work. His only son, Bubba, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament.

Dear Bubba:
I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I won’t be able to plant my potato garden this year. I’m just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. If you were here, all my troubles would be over. I know you would dig the plot for me.

Love, Dad

A few days later, he received a letter from his son.

Dear Dad:
For heaven’s sake, Dad, don’t dig up that garden. That’s where I buried the BODIES.Love, Bubba

At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local Police showed up and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left.
That same day, the old man received another letter from his son.
Dear Dad:
Go ahead and plant the potatoes now. It’s the best I could do under the circumstances.Love, Bubba

All yesterday I had been thinking of concocting some cock and bull story of being sick today. I feel totally cheated out of the Bank Holiday Weekend by being in work. I had to work Easter Weekend too. Don’t get me wrong, I love my job. But if I was made redundant tomorrow, or today (ha ha) I wouldn’t mind too much. Everybody here is getting so much done in their gardens. And all I can manage to do is piddly little jobs each day. But on the plus side, Steve is missing me so much that he has started painting the interior of the house (and not before it’s time either). I wonder what he will achieve in my absence today 🙂

However, I know all these negative feelings will disappear once I am in work. I hope it’s a busy day. It looks like it was a cold night. But the sun is up and yawning. And getting ready to shine all day. I hope it remains good for all you ‘Lucky Ducks’. Have a great one.

I’ve just discovered that a tree which was in all its blooming glory in my garden last week  is an Amelanchier – I’d coveted this having seen Brenmar’s fantastic specimen in their album not realising I actually had one.  It had flowered last year but I thought it was a flowering cherry!  I’d bought 2 small bareroot ones last autumn but they’re still in their pots because I was reluctant to chance planting them thinking they wouldnt survive in the conditions I have here.  Must be a really toughy.  Unfortunately I’m having trouble uploading photos – I’ve a new computer and the operating system is making it impossible to do anything online.

Can I take this opportunity to thank all who’ve encouraged me to add a journal entry – a special thanks to Liga – I may not always add a comment but I enjoy reading about what everyone is saying and doing – such energy and enthusiasm is incredible  

Today got out in the garden for a while tackled some weeding & discovered a new "winter Jasmine" plant, was delighted have tried to start another one now by layering, lets see how it goes. I am not sure where to put the new plant so I shall leave it where it is for the moment & give it a chance ( pic attached).

 

My Bluebells are also starting to flower now ( I had given up on them) is it unusual to have them come into flower so late? I guess its because of the hard winder.

 

Decided then to try currings in water for the first time. Only took 2 cuttings of the skimmia & 2 of the chilie potato plant, sure we’ll see how the go ( pic attached).

Put in some more seeds ( rosemary, corriander, Basil, Buzzy Lizzie) 

 

Also put lillies into my herb container. As Im starting a herb garden I thought this might look like a nice feature when they start to flower. 

 

A lovely sunny day. Started pruning of a griselinia hedge on Saturday and continued with same to day until I got to the end The new secateurs made the work easy but some branches were too much to prune with same so the loppers were brought out. I may have to get a saw to finish the job. A large amount of the dead wood is gone. I will get the shredder to the prunings and put the product in the compost heap. While working on the griselinia, I saw a Hipericum Hidcote near by and the secateurs did a neat job on it. This material removed from same should also be shredded. 

I went to the Botanic Gardens today. They looked magnificent. We really are lucky to have such a great facility.

I tried to check the names of my plants.

The Kerria japonica (16th April) I have should be Kerria japonica ‘Pleniflora’.
I am not too sure which Bergenia I have, after seeing them in the Botanic Gardens, but I think mine is cordifolia as given previously (17 March) and not ciliata.

My final concern is about the Amelanchier canadensis. My plant may be Cercidiphyllum japonicum or even (less likely) Cercis siliquastrum. I took a photo of the Cercidiphyllum japonicum in the Botanics and compared it with what I called Amelanchier canadensis. I finally decided there is a difference and I will stick with the name I gave to the tree I have – Amelanchier Canadensis.

I see there is a new programme starting on R.T.E.1 wednesday night at 8pm called Super Garden. Thought you might be interested.

Gave the greenhouse its watering. From the water butt. So much handier than dragging the hose all over the garden and knocking things over.

Potted on all of MY tomatoes. And buried them deeper. Gotta say they don’t look too bad, even though they are tiny. At least they LOOK like tomatoes now. I also potted on my Melons (Edonis), Cucumbers ‘Crystal Apple’, and a few sunflowers. Very time consuming. I can just imagine the time Dave has spent to date with potting on. Nightmare.

Hi all brother over op things seem to have gone well t.g. have to wait and see now what treatment is needed I want to thank you all again for your prayers for him 🙂

Maurisa

In the front corner the is a large mound on earth from when we did the extension. It is covered in weeds of all sorts. Will not get much done with this area till the end of the year. I am going to cover most of it with plastic. How long will it take for the weeds to die completely?

It surely was worth the wait.The hybrid R.Horizon Monarch has flowered and it has very impressive large trusses of yellow flowers.The flowers themselves are large as well, and it has very handsome leaves.A few feet behind it is R.Scarlet Wonder with its waxy red bell like flowers.This is a very popular hybrid and deservedly so.Also out is the dwarf R.Wren with its yellow flowers and the evergreen azalea Red Red,no description necessary.To my great surprise,my R.Loderi King George is about to flower.I thought i would be waiting a few years for that.It is considered one of the very finest hybrids and im delighted to have one.

is it my imagination or is a lot of stuff flowering before it ‘should’ be?  i notice in particular that my chives have the little purple/mauve flower heads developing en-masse.  is that because we had such lovely extended warm weather so early on?

no gardening Saturday (nephew confirmations)  or Sunday ( 10k walk ) so it was all systems go today, put up the fence ( take photo 2morro) for the raspberry’s 2day planted the raspberries  in march also planted peas, broad beans and runner beans along the fence,  also planted carrots, turnips, beetroot 3 types and the last of the potatoes they went into a corner where i dug the last of last yrs carrots. weeded all the veg beds and any beds not planted are ready for plants. pulled the first rhubarb 2day stewed with custard an ice cream it went down a treat

An old man lived alone in Idaho. He wanted to spade his potato garden, but it was very hard work. His only son, Bubba, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament.

Dear Bubba:
I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I won’t be able to plant my potato garden this year. I’m just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. If you were here, all my troubles would be over. I know you would dig the plot for me.

Love, Dad

A few days later, he received a letter from his son.

Dear Dad:
For heaven’s sake, Dad, don’t dig up that garden. That’s where I buried the BODIES.Love, Bubba

At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local Police showed up and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left.
That same day, the old man received another letter from his son.
Dear Dad:
Go ahead and plant the potatoes now. It’s the best I could do under the circumstances.Love, Bubba

small town garden about 4 years old love to pack as much as i can in the small space

I have not being on the site as I was engaged in a fierce battle of will and sanity, I refer to the battle with that slug.  As I said before on day 2 of the battle there was no sign of the bugger and I thought that he had moved on. Maybe the sight of me crashing thru the greenhouse like a lunatic put the fear of God into him and he moved on. No such luck

Day three did not begin well for me, the slug was back. He had dined on my lupin seedlings and I was not impressed. I was dealing with the scarlet pimpernell of snails. However I noticed something. The distance travelled between the seedlings devoured led me to conclude that (a) either the slug was travelling up and down the greenhouse on rollerblades or (b) more troops had arrived to join the ninja slug.

Day four was spent completely clearing the greenhouse. I left not a thing in it but no sign of the that elusive fella and his comrades. I was going to follow Martins idea of the beertraps but i decided against it. I was bad enough popping the valium, but to start drinking beer on top of that so I would have some beer slops for the traps, no I had to draw the line somewhere.  I left some bait for the slug, the remainder of the lupin seeds in the middle of the floor.

If this failed I would take to the drink, but low and behold on day 5 I nailed the lot. The distance to the lupins and back to the hiding place was to great and I caught them in open space. Three slugs and two very small snails. Had to polish my boots again when then the job was finished. It was a massacre but I paid a heavy price, all me lupins destroyed, parsley half devoured and a few other seedlings here and there.

Gardening is meant to be a calming influence on us, however this week brought out the murderous side of me and I think it will be a while before I calm down.

I’ve been quite on the garden site for the last few weeks, not because I wanted to but my Internet connection has been so slow it was driving me mad. I have been busy in the garden so I don’t feel so bad. I could go on to the site but when I tried to log on it was taken ages to connect and then it would just crash. How the laptop never ended on the compost heap I’ll never know. Like everyone else the last month was taken up with sowing seed- potting on-taken cuttings and feeding and cutting the grass. Minding all the young plants are taking up a lot of time now, bringing them out in the day and bringing them back in at night. The sooner the better we can leave them out all night long. The tomato plant seeds that Dave sent me are all doing great, they include Amish paste, Marglobe, Nebraska Wedding, Rutgers, Black Cherry and Green Zebra. I’m really looking forward to tasting all of these. I also have most of my baskets and planters made up and ready to go out when the time is right. Can’t wait to clear out the greenhouse, really short on space now. The fish are feeding every day now and are geting very big and very lively. I think there is a little bit of hanky panky going on.

Off now to catch up on all the journals