[telecom69]

Hi everyone, well its Christmas Eve morning now albeit very early was sorry to hear of your accident Penny,hoping that by now you are well on the way to recovery,I had to smile when I read about the dogs destroying your present but thats dogs for you I suppose expect they could smell the chocolates and how are they too know its not for them ? as far as they are concerned if its eatable then they will eat it ...my dog Buster is the biggest thief on earth,and he does it in a split second ,never see him do it most of the time,only time I know he has done something wrong is because he goes so quiet,and when he does that you can bet he is chewing on something he shouldnt be.

Glad to see you were able to rescue those roses from the skip keep your eyes open as there will inevitably be more things about like that especially when the weather starts to warm up again on the aproach to Spring.

All gardening has now ceased here Im afraid although I still have one or two Pelargoniums braving it out and flowering,as for the last week its all been freezing fog and frosts and the garden really does look in a sorry state at the moment ...I have had to partition off the bottom part of the garden,because of Buster (the dog) he was bringing so much mud into the house on his feet,I was almost following him around cleaning up muddy footprints thank Heavens I put down that laminate flooring earlier in the year, cant imagine how the carpets would have looked by now....he has destroyed my bottom lawn cant imagine yet what Im going to do with that come next Spring ....maybe bark chips or even some sort of gravel spread over it? ...anyway will think about it over the next few weeks when Winter really sets in ....

And so to all of you I wish you a very Merry and peaceful Christmas and a Happy Prosperous New Year
have a good time folks but stay safe and take care,see you next time,Bob

[Steppinstone]

Hello all my gardening friends!! Life has been keeping me pretty busy, I get time to read a little here and there but never much time to post.

Penny I sure hope that you are recovering nicely, sounded painful..

We are going to have a green Christmas unless some freak storm arrives in the next few hours . We had one nasty storm that lasted about a day and half, melted within two weeks and now everything is bare.. I even have a yellow primrose that keeps blooming.. Very odd weather for northern Michigan.

Time for me to run, it is daughter # 2's Birthday today, she is 16! Last weekend was # 1's birthday, 17 and I have a million things to do today!! Take care and ((( HUGS))) everyone!!

Happy Holiday's!

Chari

[Tuppence2]

A Peaceful and Happy Christmas Everyone

Thanks, Bob and Chari.

You both sound very busy. My two sisters have birthdays in December, one on the 24th, the other the 29th.

I just had to laugh, Bob, when I saw the wrapping paper everywhere....it's my fault for not closing the baby gate into the sitting room.

I was given gardening shopping vouchers by the nursery manager yesterday and got myself an obelisque for one of the new roses when it's planted. Lots of hyacinths were sold yesterday and the garden centre - I went in to help at the counter - pretty arrangements in baskets, pots and little tin baths. Only five or six of hundreds of Christmas trees were left to sell yesterday - they'll probably have gone today (Sunday).

Climbing rose"Guinee" is home and waiting to go into the soil when I can walk on it without sinking! Sounds like yours. I notice a lot of bulb shoots appearing in my pots and tubs. No fog today but high pressure which brought the coldness.

I saw another miniature rose on sale (they're so cheap), a white one, and have put that aside to grow as a bonsai.

Since I had the patio put outside the kitchen window, I don't get so much mud traipsed in by 16 little feet, though the little one likes to scratch the soil and he still comes in with feel loaded with clayey mud. I've not had carpet for years.

I'd like to have more paving stones at the bottom of the grassed area, in front of the trellis that divides the garden, to get rid of more of the grass.

Went to church this morning and will go to the 9 a.m. Communion tomorrow as I'm not going to midnight service.

Penny.

[Tuppence2]

Greetings to you all on Christmas morning

Penny

[ymfoster]

Hi Bob, Steppinstone, Penny & Frank,

I hope you have a lovely Christmas Day, our visitors have just gone home.
We've had a cold wet day with some hail, my sister's friend had all his vegies coming along nicely & then had hail the size of large marbles that ruined half his crop, .....

we've had snow on the hills & in the bushfire areas, very weird weather indeed, so a White Christmas for folks in the hills, which is amazing for Oz !

We have our Bougainvilleas in flower, Agapanthus, Plumbago, some Roses & Pelargoniums, so there is a bit of colour about, .... the rain has been most welcome as water restrictions will be very strict from next week.

Hope the New Year will be a great one for your gardens also,

Yvonne

[Tuppence2]

Hello Yvonne, very nice to hear from you. Hello everyone. Hope you are enjoying your Christmases.

My goodness, snow! What an amazing world - full of interest. Sorry to hear about the veggies belong to your sister's friend. All that work and anticipation, with little to show at the end of it! Hope next year is better for them.

High pressure here, bringing cold - it can also bring high winds but it's been calm. Wearing my warm "russian" fake-fur hat when out.

Your flowers sound lovely. I did some hoeing today, just the top of the front garden flower beds where the soil has compacted and is growing green algae from the damp! A lot more green shoots of bulbs appearing.

I found another miniature rose at the garden centre - they are very cheap and you generally get four little rooted pieces in a pot. This one is white. I want to grow it as a bonsai.

Boxing day is almost over here - Christmas will soon be a memory!

Looking forward to a new year of interesting gardening.

[telecom69]

Hi everyone,hope you all had a good Christmas,mine was quiet but OK just like I like it Ive got £40 in garden centre vouchers so its a good start to the season,as it has been dry for about 4 days I decided to have a bit of a go in the garden,although it was a bit cold I soon warmed to the task I finished the garden divider,so thats Busters digging curtailed hopefully,he keeps wondering why he cant get down the bottom end now I looked at my dog vandalised lawn and thought well it might be ok when it starts to grow in the warmer weather,so I cut it and it cut surprisingly well too,pretty sure it will recover even though I might have to cut away some of the edges where they have been dug up .....cut back 3 of the Clematis Montana,that was a job in itself,and filled the wheelie bin with it,compacting it by jumping on it ...

Pruned back some of the other shrubs too and had a really good tidy up all round,I was getting a bit carried away actually,but by now I was all warmed up and was actually enjoying a bit more ....only one job I would like to do now is to clean out my wildlife pond,its a bit overgrown with reeds etc,but thats a dirty job and will tackle that in the next few days, all in all I had a very pleasing day,and glad I did it cant ever remember cutting the grass in December though before yesterday,but these days it never seems to stop growing,and Im sure it will benefit from that mowing .....thats about it for now,its raining outside today so nothing will get done out there today ...

Heres wishing you all a Very Happy New Year and succesful gardening season for 2007 in case I dont post again before then .....

[franca]

Originally Posted by telecom69

Hi everyone,hope you all had a good Christmas,mine was quiet but OK just like I like it Ive got £40 in garden centre vouchers so its a good start to the season,as it has been dry for about 4 days I decided to have a bit of a go in the garden,although it was a bit cold I soon warmed to the task I finished the garden divider,so thats Busters digging curtailed hopefully,he keeps wondering why he cant get down the bottom end now I looked at my dog vandalised lawn and thought well it might be ok when it starts to grow in the warmer weather,so I cut it and it cut surprisingly well too,pretty sure it will recover even though I might have to cut away some of the edges where they have been dug up .....cut back 3 of the Clematis Montana,that was a job in itself,and filled the wheelie bin with it,compacting it by jumping on it ...

Pruned back some of the other shrubs too and had a really good tidy up all round,I was getting a bit carried away actually,but by now I was all warmed up and was actually enjoying a bit more ....only one job I would like to do now is to clean out my wildlife pond,its a bit overgrown with reeds etc,but thats a dirty job and will tackle that in the next few days, all in all I had a very pleasing day,and glad I did it cant ever remember cutting the grass in December though before yesterday,but these days it never seems to stop growing,and Im sure it will benefit from that mowing .....thats about it for now,its raining outside today so nothing will get done out there today ...

Heres wishing you all a Very Happy New Year and succesful gardening season for 2007 in case I dont post again before then .....

Sounds like your having fun....... did all my stuff in the fall so I'm just sitting back waiting for spring.won't be long now.. can't wait.. very frosty here this morning, sunny forcast for later.. .........re cant ever remember cutting the grass in December........I remember when we lived in England I once was out on New-Years day cutting ours...

Good luck with your pond cleaning...ttyl take care.....and don't forget........ Keep getting those hands dirty......

Heres wishing you a Very Happy New Year and succesful gardening season for 2007 also......

[Tuppence2]

Hello Frank - did you see my post just before "Telecom's"?

Hello Telecom.

It was like Spring yesterday, mild and sunny. Today, the rain is pouring down (Friday at 9.20 a.m.)

I've put the pot of hyacinths out for a drink - they are all right indoors, aren't they? They're all outside at the garden centre.

I've just stripped some of the diseased leaves from two of the climbers, the ones in pots, and will finish that later.

Wish I'd been able to cut my grass! It's still too muddy.

I brought home "Sheila's Perfume" (rose) to plant when I get round to it, along with "Guinee" that still waiting to get it's root in the soil. "Sheila's Perfume" is an orange blend and the photo on the label is attractive.

I spent a couple of hours at the garden centre yesterday tidying primulas (removed rotted and damaged leaves) and putting them out for sale. It was warm enough in the unheated polytunnel to take off my coat and hat - usually it's cold in there in the winter.

My schisandra-rubra has big buds, the wisteria has lost all its leaves (which is what it should do) and the climbing roses I planted this year waiting to perform again. I treated them with a dormant spray, which kills and helps prevent further disease and feeds them, too.

I've a wrought-iron garden obalisk to put together and find a place for in the front garden. I'm going to grow one of the new roses against it, one that's a shrub which can be used as a short climber, probably "Graham Thomas".

That's a good job completed, Telecom - the fencing to confine the bow-wow. I'm very pleased that I was able to do the same.

Good gardening, everyone.

Bye

[franca]

[QUOTE=Tuppence2]Hello Frank - did you see my post just before "Telecom's"?



I sure did my Penny rose........and Carole gave me your message... as for your hyacinths.mentioned in your e-mail..... yes they will be Ok........ can't wait to see pic's of all your roses next year... bye for now, take care,pats for all the gang....... and don't forget, keep getting those hands dirty...

[eggplant43]

Caught a bit of a Martha Stewart show today. She had a French designer, Valinteno sp?, who owns an estate outside Paris with 12 full time gardeners. He tries to get there monthly.

It was full of fields of lavender, and a large enough rose garden that he claims 1,000,000 rose blooms at a time.

He also has 5 pugs there, to offset the beauty I assume

[Sooky 47]

It has been so mild for about a month now ....... mid 30's to mid 40's F that my poor lillies have shot through the soil thinking it is spring and are about 4 inch high now ...... poor things will get a shock it is getting colder/freezing weather again.

[Tuppence2]

Hello Lu, Frank, Eggy.

The bulbs are doing the same here, Lu. Crocus and daffs appearing everywhere. It's so mild today, damp though.

The French lavender fields sound wonderful, Eggy. Dear little pugs, too.

Thanks for the information about the hyacinths, Frank.

I thought I might plant the two new roses today but I've not the energy. I did put together the new garden obelisk last night and will send a photo of it later. I trimmed one of the bonsai this morning, a juniper. I'm sure it's not stopped growing.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone.

[Tuppence2]

Managed to get the new plant obelisk out on the front garden today, pushed it into place in the wet soil and started to dig a hole for the climber that's going to grow up it, "Guinee". Hope to finish the job tomorrow. It's raining again and everything is growing apace - daffodils are 12 inches high!

I spread the farmyard manure (nice crumbly, well-rotted stuff) on the onion and potato beds, and around the strawberries that are aiming to take over the garden. I planted three originally and now there are dozens. Hope to get my first strawberries this year - they're a large variety.

To celebrate my retirement at the end of March, I'm hoping to go with a friend to stay for a weekend in London and visit Kew Gardens, especially the new alpine house they have opened recently. I've been checking on kennels for the dogs.

Penny
(Sunday)

[telecom69]

Hi all, I just wish this rain would take a hike its rained now every day for a week and another week forecast so everything is soaking as you can imagine,so even if I wanted too I couldnt do anything in the garden, at least its mild ....Ive got a couple of hardy Fuschias in containers that still have leaves on and also 4 or 5 Pelargoniums still bravely struggling on,they too are in containers and in a sheltered position,Im going to try and keep them going right through,just to see how they go this year,never done that before,always started afresh,its just an experiment really ....Went to the garden centre Sunday,they had some Polyanthus in 3 inch pots at 99p each and although they were a mass of flowers,went instead for some that were £1.99 for 6 in trays,with just the odd flowers on....I wanted them for my old dog Tina's grave,they are now in containers on the grave and looking forward to seeing them flourish hopefully .

One thing I want to get done as soon as possible is to clean out the small wildlife pond,as I just know from last year its going to be choked with reeds,etc, before the frogs arrive in number,every year I get between 30 and 40 pairs breeding in there,and if this weather stays mild who knows when they might appear,it also has newts though they are a bit more difficult to see than frogs of course ...

Best thing I ever did was to put that Buster fence up,so far he hasnt tried jumping it,(though Im sure he could no problem if he wanted too) as the bottom is recovering no end from his Summer exploits,and Im pretty sure now the lawn will recover ok .....Glad to see that you are still having a go Penny

For now thats about it,take care all, and for those of us who are still having a go happy gardening