[oil painter]

Hi Everyone:

Penny--good to have you back. I'm glad you enjoyed your holiday. I enjoyed looking at your pictures. I'm with Bob. I like looking at the old tools. They are always the things that interest me when I go to a pioneer village. Some things that they used would come in handy today. Of course your buildings and cities-towns are much older than anything we have here.

Bob --Lovely roses again. It must be nice to be among all those sweet smelling blooms. Sorry to hear about your car. Nice that it's covered by insurance. Does your insurance go up too when you have a claim. Too bad you don't know who did it so you could make them pay.

Well our garden and my flowers have put on a spurt of growth since the rain. Our tomatoes are flowering and that first Zebrina I posted has doubled the amount of blossoms, and all the rest are doing well too. We have had seasonable weather yesterday and today seems to be shaping up that way too. The weather has actually been a gardeners dream. A few sprinkles in the morning and sun in the afternoon and temperatures in the low to mid 20 C--that's 70 to 75F. No rain this morning, but it is overcast.

Tomorrow is Canada day. It is the official day and Ottawa will have a big concert and fireworks on Parliment hill. Most people however will have a holiday weekend next weekend. My son and family will be here tomorrow and until after the weekend.

Take care--talk to you later

[telecom69]

Greetings to all, I didn't do very much in the garden yesterday because from about 10 am it rained just gentle rain,but thats how it was all day long,we never saw any sun at all,but the temperatures were up still, so it wasn't too bad,the time I did get before the rain was spent in staking the Roses,that were all bent over from the thunderstorm the day before,I should have known better of course and staked them as they grew,anyway they are all done now,its a good job done,the blooms just get so heavy when they are full of rain,there is no chance the slender stems on these first year plants could support them,luckily no lasting damage except to a couple of them that had snapped ....

I have just spent about 90 minutes looking through all of Penny's photos in Webshots,absolutely fascinating photos as always,I generally use the slideshow to see them,just wish it worked so that you could see them full screen,but doesn't look like you can do that in Webshots ....one thing that did strike me when looking was that there wasn't a sign of the modern generation in that there was no litter anywhere,not one bit,not an empty can,or crisp or food wappers in sight,I was pleased about that perhaps its just as well this generation is not interested in gardening,because thats how it seems to me anyway, because you can just imagine some of the damage that might be done to some of the garden sites (rant over) ....

In answer to Myrnas question about the car insurance,well yes, it does in a way, because you lose a years no claim bonus,usually you have about 4 years when you get a no claim bonus starting at about 10% first year and rising to about 50/60% by year four and it stays at that until you make a claim then you lose a year and revert in my case however I didnt make a claim because on inspecting the damage,I applied logic and thought that what goes in must come out,such was the nature of the damage,it was either kicked or pushed in,this dent was quite large,(about 8 inches across) I was hoping to get at it from inside the car but couldn't,so I gave it an almighty wack with the flat of my hand at the edge,from outside, and with a loud crack it sprang out,and was back to normal : just for once, luck was on my side, I was very pleased about that

[ymfoster]

Hi Everyone,

Loved seeing your photos Myrna, your garden is well kept also, ....

More lovely roses Bob, sorry to hear about the damage to your car, but glad you were able to remove the dent.

I've seen some of your photos Penny, they are great & I enjoyed seeing them & will look at the rest later.

We've had some very strong winds & some good rain at last, ..... taking some plants I've divided to a friend tomorrow for her new garden.

[oil painter]

Hi All

Thanks Yvonne--I/m glad you liked my garden and yes I try to keep it neat. Any weeds I see are promptly pulled and as a result I have few weeds. My grandfather had a saying--leave one weed and you'll have a dozen next year. We had an ongoing battle with parslane for a few years. This is an incidious weed that grows from any little piece left in the garden, but it's gone now.

Bob-- a last word about Tomatoes. You are right when you say that Tomatoes were originally a vine, but that is not strictly true any more. You grow the indeterminent or vining Tomatoes and that's why you remove the suckers and they grow so tall.

The Roma and the bush variety that we grow are determinent and only grow about 4 feet tall. No matter what you do.they won't get any taller. They are bred to be a bush not a vine. You do not remove the suckers because if you do you are cutting down on fruit production.

Quite a few years ago I ordered my first package of subarctic tomatoes. Right on the package it said do not remove the suckers. This intregued me because we always had removed the suckers, so I wrote to the seed company and they sent me a letter explaining the difference in tomato varities.

It has been gently raining all morning but the sun is out now. I am just waiting for my gang to come home. It's Canada day today and there are celebrations all across the country.

[telecom69]

Hi everyone, Thanks to Myrna's information about the different sorts of Tomato plants,I not only learned two new words about them,but also the reason why the variety I grow never does any good outdoors ...basically an indoor Tomato will not do very well at all outdoors,you need bush varieties for that,so we live and learn suppose really its down to the fact that I have only ever grown Alicante Toms,because I find them to be ideal for what I want, good size,heavy crop and a taste that is spot on

Weatherwise it was hot yesterday,so much so that a level three health warning has been issued by the Met Office (there are just four levels and the fourth is an emergency situation) the message is to stay out of this weather as we are just not used to it over here,it can and does pose real health problems especially for older folks and the very young,it was 80 Deg. inside with the fans on,and 95 Deg in the back garden in the sun you could feel the difference when you stepped inside as being cooler,never really noticed that before till yesterday .....

Everything seems to be coping ok with it all,the weeds in particular are growing well ,its a job keeping them down now,as you pull them out they seem to be there again next day,watering too is becoming a chore,if this weather keeps up much longer they will be issuing a hose pipe ban,it always happens in cooler weather than this has been ....

Another Rose made its debut yesterday and there will be more soon judging by the amount of buds on them, the Beans too have lots of blossom on them,looking forward to tasting the first of these before long,the grass to is now needing to be cut every third day,it grows so fast ...the Non Stop Begonias are now starting to show lots of blooms,trouble is that the first ones tend to get hidden amongst the foliage,will post pics when more appear ...

And so,from a sun baked UK I wish you well take care all and happy gardening

PS a different sort of photo to sign off with, mainly for Penny,this is Buster fast asleep with not a care in the world those cushions measure 4 ft across and he fills them ....made to measure .....normally he folds himself up into a ball and easily fits onto one of them ....



Shot with DSC-W35 at 2009-07-01

[Tuppence2]

Aw, how sweet. Thanks for the photo, I love it. It was in the 90's F here yesterday, too. I managed to keep the dogs cool by staying indoors most of the time and Cecil swam in the river on his walk home from Bradford-on-Avon with his "minder".

I've just watered the peas and beans, in the cool of the early morning.

I pulled my first carrots yesterday and they're very good to eat. The Red Duke of York are nice, too. I noticed that most of the potatoes haven't flowered (or have and I've not noticed), though their leaves are beginning to yellow and I have potatoes to harvest.

Hope it's not too hot today.

[telecom69]

Hi everyone, The heatwave drags on,hopefully its going to rain today according to the forecasters,so that should cool things down a bit had the fans on continuously for the last two days,its been so hot ....not all potatos flower Penny and if they do its not for long,like you said its best to be guided by the tops dying back ....

With all this hot weather,and not being able top get outside,Ive been watching the cricket Penny,Australia vs English Lions which is England second team and the ossies are nothing like as strong now as they were,they don't have their big stars anymore so its going to be very close for the ashes series that starts next week ....

Im going to have to do a bit of watering first thing if there has been none overnight,as plants will soon start to die,with the ground so dry,about the only things loving this weather are the Tomatos and the Runner Beans but they are kept well supplied with water ....

the Non Stops are just starting to bloom,this one is looking good ....


Shot with DSC-W35 at 2009-07-02

Ernest H Morse,the only Rose to bloom this week ...



Shot with DSC-W35 at 2009-07-02

And of course some Fuchsias .....



Shot with DSC-W35 at 2009-07-02

[Tuppence2]

Hello, Bob. Thanks for the photos. Love the flowers. The rose is beautiful.

It's not sunny this morning but still warm, though there is a breeze. Hope we get rain, too.

I'm looking forward to The Ashes series and might subscribe to Sky Sports to watch. If not, I'll listen to the radio commentary.

Thanks for the info about potatoes not always flowering. I have a lot of plants. Would it be a good idea to buy a potato sack and store them, rather than leave them in the ground? One was soft and I wouldn't want them to rot.

If we don't get rain, I hope it's cooler for you and Buster.

[telecom69]

Hi Penny,Rather then me go through what I know about Potatos which isnt very much,have a look here http://www.allotment.org.uk/vegetabl...vest-store.php I do know that early ones do not store very well indeed,the maincrop are a different proposition and it tells all here ....I do know from experience that its not advisable to store in plastic sacks ....

At the moment 9.30 am its very overcast and raining steadily since 7am,its cooler,but still very warm and humid,seems it going to clear up this afternoon and the weekend will be a mixture of sunny periods and showers.....

[oil painter]

Hi
Penny--
Potatoes will not store through the summer. The heat will make the soft and the skin is not thick enough for them to keep. Unless your plants are completely dead they are still growing. They won't rot unless you get a lot of rain and the plants are dead. I wonder if the soft one you got is not one of the seed potatoes. Occasionally we get one like that when we are digging ours and that's what my husband says they are. He should know because he's been planting them his whole life.

They store best in the fall piled in an open basket or box with a newspaper on top to keep out the light and kept in a cool place. We use bushel baskets. When we dig ours my husband spreads them in a shady spot on the lawn and washes them with the hose, and leaves them for a few hours to dry. Then he spreads them on plastic in the basement and leaves them for a couple of days so they are good and dry. Then we store them away. I'm not saying this is the only way to do it, I'm sure others do it differently. but it works for us

Except for the occasional look around I have,nt been doing much gardening. I'm spending all my time with my grandsons

Nice flowers Bob--
Are your fuschia planted in the ground or in pots. I've never seen them planted in the ground

[Tuppence2]

Thanks very much, Bob and Myrna, for the advice re the spuds. I'll have to get on and eat them by the sound of things. I have a hessian sack and have put some in that and am storing it in the bottom of the pantry, which is cool and dark. Those I've already dug will have to take their chances. Yes, the soft ones could be from last year. Not many of them, just the odd one or two. The ground is very hard, even though I've watered (though I haven't this week), making it difficult to get dig them up.

My carrots have done well. I'm pleased about that. I ate some today, along with my first beetroot, cooked in the microwave. It's a favourite of mine, one of those things that when I start eating them, I find it difficult to stop.

Sunny today but not as humid and there's a slight breeze. Still too hot for the dogs and I walked them early. I'm waiting for Cecil (the Labrador) to be collected by his minder for the weekend. He's getting a trip out in the car he's hired to Stourhead or somewhere nice like that. He takes him near water so he can swim and keep cool.

I watched the Federer match and am watching Murray and Roddick now.

Hope you all have a good weekend in the garden with reasonable weather.

[telecom69]

Hi Ladies,Yes Penny looks like you have a lot of Potato eating to do,I dont think the early varieties are meant to be stored, just the maincrop ones that are lifted in the Autumn, the commercial growers then store these in temp controlled warehouses over the winter, amateurs like us have to do the best we can ...I gave up on growing them years ago,they just took up too much room,and you can buy them so cheaply nowadays from the shops,its not worth the hassle,for me anyway ...

I dont have a lot of interest in the tennis but do keep in touch with it through wimbledon, I never thought that Murray would get to the final,he's like Henman was,won some battles but never the war ...Federer stands alone for me,he is one of the best I have seen in recent years,he is just so in control,and Im pretty sure he will again lift that trophy ...

As for the cricket,I have seen most of this match between England Lions and the Ossies,and this Ossie team are not what they were,they have lost so many of their stars in a short time,this Lions team, ( England reserves are just as good as they are ) even so they will give England a run in the Ashes,because it will be conditions at the time that will decide results most of the time,having said that,England have a far better bowling attack,the only bowler of any note I have seen this week has been Lee for them ...Harmison for England has come good at the right time I just hope he gets picked,we are spoiled for choice at the moment for a change Im not absolutely sure who are showing the Ashes,probably Sky Sports I suppose,if so it might be worth your while investing for a few months as you said ,there will be some great cricket on offer ..

It rained all morning yesterday,but was still very warm,it went above 80 in the greenhouse, in the afternoon the rain stopped and by 6pm the sun came back out for a while ...lots more rain forecast over the next few days though,so no watering ideal growing weather in fact ....

Myrna, the photo of the Fuchsias I posted were in pots but I do have quite a few planted in the ground, they are the hardy varieties,the flowers are not quite so showy as the the Summer ones and they do grow to quite a sizeable shrub,4ftx4ft,I cut them back to ground level each Autumn,and they come back each year as strong as ever ....One of the most popular over here,that everyone seems to have, is Maganellica,Ive even seen it used for hedges ....

Have a good weekend everyone

[Tuppence2]

Hello, Bob and everyone, on a cooler morning.

I'm thinking about treating myself to Sky Sports for the cricketting months, Bob, but they want a month's payment in advance as well as the fee for the actual month and it's a lot to pay out at once.

Thanks for the information about potatoes. As I've lifted them, I'll have to get on and eat them. I'm giving some away, too.

I'm itchy this morning with spots and can't work out what I'm allergic to. Hope it's not the beetroot. It's more like to be raspberries. I'll stop eating them and see what happens. Might need an antihistamine from the chemist. Going into town this morning and will get one.

Would you dig in the leafy parts of the potatoes or dispose of them in the compost? I think I might grow main-crop next year, so there's more chance of them storing.

I see I need to prune my rambler, "Bobbie James" and hope to get that done today - it has put on a lot of growth at the top of the trellis.

[ymfoster]

Hi Everyone,

Great photo of Buster Bob, love the begonia & the rose they look very lush, hope they're surviving the heat ok.

Penny I hope you find out what's causing the allergy soon, it would be uncomfortable to say the least.

Myrna it sounds like you keep on top of the weeds, most of mine I manage to keep weed free, but my Japonica is hard to weed under & gets out of control, I'll have to prune it to make it easier to weed around.

We've had rain for a number of days now, the ground is finally get a deep watering & hopefully the catchment areas will get more also.


Here are some of the flowers out at the moment .....

[oil painter]

Hi All:

Yvonne:
It helps with weeds when you have a gardener living next to you who keeps her weeds under control too. I actually have more volunteers to pull out than weeds, except for the insidious Quack grass that gives me trouble--thamk heaven for round-up. With it's underground rhysomes it is hard to dig out and though we try to keep it out of the lawn we fight a losing battle.

Bob:
I meant to comment on your non-stop. I don't think I have ever seen one that color--it's a keeper. Even though they are a long time coming, maybe it is better to buy the tubers than the plants if you get one like that. A beautiful color.

Penny: why not do both. Plant a few early potatoes to eat and some later to store. There is still enough summer to produce something else in that bed. Summer turnip or summer squash only have a month and a half growing time or try leaf lettuce and radish

No gardening news from this end. We had cool temperatures and cloudy skies yesterday, but it's supposed to be seasonal and sunny today. I hope so because it is hard to keep 2 little boys inside when they want to be outside playing.