[Tuppence2]

Hello, everyone. Wave, Wave, Yvonne. I've just been out sniffing the roses. They are so lovely to smell.

I've always wanted a plum tree in the garden and don't know why I waited until I retired before planting one. These are my first ever plums.



Seeing them really lifts my heart - silly, I know, as that's what trees do, grow and produce fruit, but I'm very pleased to have them growing and am looking forward to eating any that survive.

[oil painter]

Hi Everyone:

It's raining today as was forecast and we are supposed to get more of the same tomorrow. Oh well it will help all my transplants and all the ones I have set out. I never did get any more digging done. We went to the greenhouse after painting yesterday to get some greenery to put in with the Geraniums I'm putting in my patio pots. I did very well. I noticed that they had 2 plants in some of the pots. So I picked out the ones with the biggest plants and divided them when I got home. In fact I managed to divide the didichondra silver falls into 6. It works well for me because I didn't want great big plants to start anyway. I did that with potato vine once and had to do some heavy pruning so you could see the flowers.

Anyway I got the didichondra, a lovely white and green ivy, a cute little golden oregano that only grows to 6 inches and some burgandy coleus, with a couple of dracena spikes. They should go very well with the pinks of my geraniums and I will stick a bit of lamium in some of them.

Hi Yvonne--I wondered if that flower was related to our indoor Christmas cactus, because I could see in the background what looked like one of their branches.

Penny-- Is your plum the purple variety or one of the yellow ones? They should be good eating if you can keep the birds out iof them.

I wonder what's happened to Bob lately. We haven't heard from him. I also wonder if he did get to planting things out like he planned.

Well breakfast time. Take care all

[Tuppence2]

Hello, Myrna, everyone.

Bob could be busy with family as it's half-term this week. I think he has grandchildren. Hope to hear from him soon.

The Victoria plums are the purple sort - delicious, too, usually. I'm really hoping some survive. They've trippled in size over the past couple of weeks.

I potted up some "Blue Lake" french bean seedlings from the propagator this morning - they're in the greenhouse now with the squash seedlings. I hope to plant the runner beans against the wigwam at the weekend. It rained this morning after I watered and is overcast and breezy now.

Your little plants will be so colourful. All that hard work you do will be worth it.

[telecom69]

Hi Ladies, the last four days or so has been hectic Penny was right my Grandson who is very recently back from an Afghanistan tour of 6 months, visited with his children,he bought with him a computer he was giving to his Sister,took me the best part of two days to get that up and working,plus the fact I have been clearing, in any spare time I had,the opposite corner of the bottom of the garden, it didn't look right with just one corner done,thats work in progress right now the strong winds and rain havent helped in this venture of course,but its supposed to be better from today onwards ....

I did manage to get the bedding planted in the front garden before these winds came so Im glad about that,the weather at the time was perfect for planting out,the plants hardly suffered any set back at all ...also planted up a final 8 bucket containers,and now all I have left to do is plant out the Runner Beans,hopefully today,now the winds have gone away,I have to plant them out because they are over a foot tall now and are beginning to try climbing,trouble is they have nothing to climb on,so its a priority really I get this done ....

The Non Stop Begonias that have been bugging me this year have mostly now started to get going,they certainly took their time but once that first lump of vegetation appears through the compost they take off pretty quickly,just four left now that have not put in an appearance,Ive left them to it in the greenhouse now, to do as they will....

The Tomatos are getting taller and stronger every day now and picking out the side shoots is a daily task,at the moment they are still self supporting but will soon need tying in to the canes ...

Its been interesting catching up on the posts and seeing how everyone is doing,looks like your all busy when weather permits will soon be June now and hopefully some better growing weather.lets hope Mother Nature smiles down on us all this season ...just watched a slide show of Penny's veg garden,quite a lot going on down there Penny you might even be able to supply the local supermarkets when all that comes up to harvest time, ...well done !! you have worked hard this year

Now the visitors have gone home and my landscape materials have been delivered I am hoping I can get a bit more organised than of late,and do things without any interruptions...just one thing left to do is to get up the stair carpet,thats going to be recarpeted on Saturday ...

Final note,none of my Roses have yet flowered,but some are pretty near to it,the winds and rain have not helped of course,strange that the winds havent stopped the green fly appearing on them though will hopefully post some photos when I can get some worth posting ..

More soon,take care all,and happy gardening

[oil painter]

Hi Bob:

Nice to have you back. I hope you had a nice visit with your grandson and family. Kudos to him and all the other British forces for fighting side by side with our Canadian forces. We can both be proud of what they are doing there, but it must be hard to think of one of your own in the thick of the fighting.

We have been getting rain the last couple of days, so that has put a stop to any gardening here. If it does let up later I'd like to get some Allyssum planted out. If not it will have to wait. Things are really starting to get overgrown in the greenhouse, so the sooner I can get some things out of there the better.

Glad to hear that you got things planted out and that the Begonias are coming along. Mine weren't blooming when I got them and I had asked for pink. I got 2 pink and 2 white but I think they will work anyway at least the colors go together. They are growing and blooming away in their pots in the greenhouse.

The trouble with growing them from the tubers is that not all will come. The same thing happens when you save your tubers. They may all look all right but some just don't come.

How are the ferns doing? Are the containers to put in your pea gravel? You will have that end of the garden in pretty good shape.

Penny

I had a look at your garden after Bob mentioned it and it sure looks lush and healthy. I 'd say by the looks of the potatoes that you are a month ahead of us

Well guess that's all

[Tuppence2]

Hello Bob, Hello Myrna.

Nice to see you posting again, Bob. And you still sound very busy. I don't grow begonias. I've never been one for planting annuals, though I've put in some seeds and a few plants this year.

I was given pieces of geranium this morning at the garden centre where I volunteer (I spent two and half hours dead heading and tidying osteospermums) and have potted cuttings.

Wheeee! I planted my runner beans just now, round the wigwam, in the warm sunshine. I was given French beans ("Blue Lake") and they germinated within days in the under-heated propagator and I potted those today, too. I've sown a packet of Sweet William seeds in the propagator. Not grown those for years.

I have nasturtium seedlings appearing and the marigolds are doing well. The wild flower seeds in the little border under the trellis are showing through.

I'm pleased you enjoyed the slideshow of the veg garden, Bob and Myrna. Things sound very much more advanced here, Myrna, than with you. Carole and Frank in Canada say the same - their growing season took a month or so longer than ours to get going. I'm hoping to visit Frank and Carole in a 2011 and get to see their garden in the "flesh".

All the pattie-pan squash seedlings are potted up now and in the greenhouse.

I'm just about to pick some cabbage and have a dish of that by itself. Yummy.

Good luck with the rest of the hard-landscaping, Bob. Looking forward to seeing the results of your hard work.

[oil painter]

Hi Penny:

Yes BC was late getting started this year. They usually have a much longer growing season than we do, because of the mountains and ocean creating a mild microclimate. In fact those that know say their weather is much like England. You will enjoy it there. While every area of Canada has something to offer in nature. BC is certainly one of the most beautiful. Just bring your gum for the air flight. Chewing helps unplug your ears.

We on the other hand had snow and cold longer than usual but once it went we were back on track and only about a week behind what is usual. This week has been rather a bust for gardening for me. If I didn't have something to do, it was raining. Tomorrow is our 44th wedding anniversary and we have a day of celebration planned, but I hope the weekend will be better for gardening.

[Tuppence2]

Contratulations, Myrna on 44 years of marriage. Hope you all have a lovely day. I'll remember about the chewing-gum. I chew it when walking the dogs to keep my mouth moist.

[bp936]

Congratulation on your 44th wedding anniversary Myrna. have a beautiful day!
Judy

[oil painter]

Thanks Penny and Judy:

44 years is a long time but when I look back I don't think I'd change a thing.

[Farmgirl22]

It is a long time, but I'm sure that even though some of it was rocky every second was worth it. Congrats! May you have at least another 20 years!

[oil painter]

Originally Posted by Farmgirl22

It is a long time, but I'm sure that even though some of it was rocky every second was worth it. Congrats! May you have at least another 20 years!

No Becca none of it was rocky. We talk out things after a little cool down period. Do we have our differences--you bet but nothing major or that can't be worked out. I wish every young person a marriage like we have.

Thanks for the best wishes and yes another 20 would be good but at this stage of our lives we take it one day or year at a time--what will be will be.

[telecom69]

Hi Ladies,First of all congratulations Myrna on your long time membership of the marriage club I'm in that too, in fact I can't remember what its like not to be married .......been at it so long ...

Domestic duties take a bit more of my time on Thursdays,that and the fact that my internal batteries run down a lot quicker these days means I didn't get as much done as I would have liked,but I did get my Runner Beans planted out,which was my main aim because they were starting to climb and I didn't want them twining together with each other,anyway they are in now and were given a good soaking to be getting on with,they wilted a bit of course but that was to be expected,they will soon pick up,glad I planted them were I did as they were out of the afternoon sun,it got hot yesterday,and reached 98 in the greenhouse,had to leave the door and vents fully open of course.....it was too hot to do much else honestly,so I filled up the wildlife pond and watered the roots of other stuff that was in the shadier parts.....no rain in sight for the next five days at least,so I could do with some of your rain Myrna,if only for a day,with so much planted out ....

The increase in temps and the sunshine have brough on the hanging baskets a lot,the Surfinias,are blooming well and so are the Fuchsias,some Spring Onions that I sowed 3 weeks after my first sowing have almost caught up with the first already

Don't know if your getting the same weather Penny, but if so looks like you will be busy with that hose pipe ....

Thanks for the info about the Non Stops being a bit unpredictable,Myrna there are now just 4 that have not appeared,no worries about them really, I will just leave them to get on with it,the others are going great guns now,once they show through they seem to romp away ...but they have sure taken their time ....the Ferns that were split up seem to be doing ok,there are no signs that they have not taken to having surgery done to them, and yes the containers can be moved around of course,and so some of them will be going to the new refurbished part when its finished ....

Have a very happy and pleasant day Myrna on your anniversary ....

Take care everyone and happy gardening

PS As an afterthought,Im just wondering what a dish of cabbage tastes like on its own Penny,

[ymfoster]

Hi Everyone,

Congratulations on your 44th Wedding Anniversary Myrna,
have a lovely day celebrating. Your garden is moving along well also & all your hard work will be rewarded.


Good to see you back Bob & able to get back to your gardening after some good time spent with the family. Nice to hear more of your flowers are blooming & the Spring Onions are doing well.


Penny your plum tree should be great, our neighbours had one that hung over the fence & we'd have some nice ones off it also, then the Lorikeets & Fruit Bats came South & most got eaten before they were ripe,


I've planted out some of my new plants that were in pots & now need to dig out a few runners & plants for a friend. My Irises & Jonquils are already shooting up now, still some repotting to do also, getting much colder now though.

[Tuppence2]

Hello Myrna, everyone.

It's very nice to be able to say that you wouldn't change anything. Well done.

I stayed single so don't know about "married bliss" - great when it happens.

I picked gooseberries this morning, the very first from the bush I planted last year, garlic and the first of the spinach. I'm eating that now. I enjoy greens by themselves.

It is very hot here, too Bob. Yes, the hose is coming in very handy. I'm overdrawn at the bank because of it but hope to catch up next week and be back in the black.

I gave a squash away to my American neighbour - she's used to growing them and pumpkins, whereas they're new to me.

I did some dead-heading at the garden centre this morning after taking the dogs out and going to the gym. They had another little walk afterwards but it's too hot for them to go far.

Hope you all have a good weekend in your gardens.