[Tuppence2]

Hello everyone.

I've found that my pink plant (photo I posted above) is not a verbascum, but a sidalcea. So know I know! I saw them at the nursery this morning, labelled.

I've just used the motor mower I was given and cut the grass. Won't be long now before the builder is here to remove some grass and put down gravel, so I can keep my flower garden tidy, having it fenced to keep the dogs off it.

I got out the ladder this morning and deadheaded "Golden Showers, growing over the arch by the front door.It's beginning to grow through the guttering so I was able to sort some of that.

Just eaten some of my "Charlotte" potatoes, with a hom-grown onion and garlic. Must check whether there are any strawberries ready.

Hope your gardens are growing well.

Penny

[eggplant43]

Weeds, weeds everywhere. The price I pay for gardening in a new space. It rained substantially about 10 days ago, so now I get to harvest the free flowing result of that storm. Since I garden organically there will be no spray, and the beds won't accommodate even a small tiller, so it's character building hand work, the stuff you can't pay anyone to do. You either do it, or it doesn't get done, sigh.......

I wouldn't mind if my joints were a bit more flexible, but I suspect that won't happen. In any case, the results alway make it worthwhile for me. I also need to set up hooks so that I may hang netting for the winter squash, which is about to leap a foot a day this week. I will actually grow it over the roof of a storage shed.

One of the pleasant surprises for me is the spontaneous starts in my raised beds filled with growing soil from my window boxes, and previous raised beds. My favorite flowering plant for several years has been a beautiful apricot and pink agastache which has the most lovely fragrance, called Acapulco. It is perennial here, and gets quite large over a 3-4 year period. So far, I've found 3 starts, and I'm just thrilled. I'm also getting petunia, marigolds, and violets sprouting, but I expected them. For me, the agastache is the prize. The agastache is also known as licorice mint, if any of you may have heard of that.


Here's the plant, I wish you could smell it:

http://www.bodger.com/bot/13.jpg

[Tuppence2]

Hello Eggy.

Sorry to hear of your crop of weeds. People over here offer garden services, "no job too small", and we can usually find someone who will do any sort of work, even the difficult weeding. Slowly, does it, is the way, I think. If you try to clear them all at once, you'll hurt yourself. Good luck with it. What a good idea, to grow your squashes in hanging nets. I could do that with courgettes, to keep them off the ground.

I dug a few more potatoes this morning and turned over the plot their in, picked some strawberries and watered tomatoes, beans and mangetout. Sunshine today and plants are thirsty. Must water my flower tubs.

The licorice mint sounds interesting. I've think I've come across its name but I've not seen it in the "flesh".

Strawberries for tea.

[eggplant43]

I found it is also listed as Mexican Hyssop. In any case, I really think it requires a fairly warm climate to be happy. The combination of it's beautiful sage green foliage, unusual/lovely flowers, and it's fragrance, which is divine make it a spectacular plant, IMO. Since I know it will seed itself, I'll have to see if I can save some seed from it, to share.

I actually will place "grow" netting on the side of the shed, and to the roof line to allow the vines to spread. This maximizes my space. Many gardeners over here will train vining plants up, and then provide a "plastic sling" from a plastic shopping bag to hold the heavy "fruit".

[eggplant43]

Another beautiful day here with more weeding to be done. Today, I think I'll harvest the first eggplant (aubergine). I'm growing a very small variety, Ichiban, which is high yielding variety. I'm also about to get the first of the Dahlia's blooming. Can't wait, they are so pretty, or at least I expect them to be.

I was surprised yesterday when I picked up runner of the winter squash, I found that it had been putting down roots. I don't believe I've ever seen that in a squash before.

Happy gardening everyone

[telecom69]

Hiya Folks, out of all of us it looks like eggplant is having the best time at the moment,good to see you enjoying your gardening you look as if you are having good weather too...over here its more like Autumn most days,very grey and overcast,with just an occasional sunny period (very occasional) like one per day so things are not quite growing as they should as they are missing the Sun my Runner Beans are flowering but have hardly any leaves,they have reached the top of the 8ft poles but they do look strange with flower spikes but hardly any leaves ....the Tomatoes too need some sun badly,and the Cucumbers are just standing still almost .....my hanging baskets suffered dreadfully in the two weeks we had prolonged rain and winds,they really do look a mess and I cant see them recovering now ...its not all bad news though at least the bedding plants are going ok,I would post a few pics of them but my hosting site is having problems today for some reason,I will try again later and if its working I can always tack some on ....(I can hear you all groaning now not more pics )

My Dahlias that were going to be my main interest this year,have suffered I think by being submerged on two different occasions,looks to me as if some of them are struggling,but of course the lack of Sun might also be a problem,watching them with interest daily and saying silent prayers for them too

Lots of weeds of course,they are growing great guns,and the grass has never looked greener,cutting that twice weekly at the moment, one thing Ive noticed is that Ive not seen many Blue Tits around this year for some reason,plenty of Sparrows,Starlings and Wood Pigeons though

A few pics below I hosted yesterday ....

Fuchsia Thalia looking good I think

No-stop Begonia still in pot at the moment

No need to tell you what this is of course

Bee paying a visit

Beding plants just starting to show some flowers

[eggplant43]

Looks like things are going pretty well for you, despite your fall weather.

My Okra is just coming up, and I expect it to start blossoming in about 6 weeks. Now I love Okra in cooking, but I'd grow it just for it's flowers alone. It is a member of the hibiscus family, and has lovely, large, pale yellow flowers, with a beautiful red stamen. I'll post pictures when the time comes.

It is warming up today, and will go to 3 digits by early next week, so I should really start seeing peppers, tomatoes, and eggplants bursting forth.

Happy gardening everyone?

[telecom69]

Hi eggplant, must admit that I had to look up what Okra was I know now, I dont think its so well known over here but you can buy the seedpods pre-packed in supermarkets etc,couldnt find a decent pic of the Hibiscus like flowers so will look forward to seeing your pics when you post them ...its not been a complete disaster weatherwise but plants are just not what they should be in the middle of July for instance we had another 12 hours of non-stop rain again yesterday ...apart from me all the flowers look so miserable ...I dont want baking temperatures or anything,just some prolonged periods of sunshine and temps something like in the mid seventies will do so if you have any to spare would be glad to receive some....I dont know if you know anything about Hydrangeas or not,but the one pictured below started of life as a cutting about 5 years ago as a Lacecap Hydrangea and its puzzling me as it seems to be evolving into a conventional one anyone know if this is the norm or not ? do they revert ?



This of course is a Conifer, its name is Thuja Occidentalis Rheingold,this one is used as a centrepiece in my front garden...grown from a cutting taken 6 years ago....

More soon,happy gardening all ...

[MightyQueenC]

Hi everyone It's been interesting reading and catching up with your gardening surprises, successes and as per gardeners' usual lament ... a few woes.

My garden is growing well and I'd have to say, is looking better than it was before the un-handimen did their dirty deeds. I still haven't attacked the other side of the yard, but just can't with my hip the way it is. I'll do bits and pieces through the summer and get it sorted sooner or later.

The Castor Bean, after having been eaten down to the ground by some brave creature of the night, has come back and doing nicely. The bestest news of all, is that I've found many more Moonflowers cropping up and I couldn't be happier. I know, it's silly, but I really love these plants. The 1st one finally flowered last night. I only wish they'd come up on the other side of the birdbath so that I could see them from my bedroom window at night, and not have to sneak out in my PJs to peek.
They last until morning then are gone, but a new flower will open tonight or tomorrow and keep going through fall. Tres cool.
The cream Yarrow that I split every which way but loose is doing great in all it's locations. I hate the smell on my fingers after handling them, but they are a nice plant.
The Bee Balm is just opening now and there are a nice neat bunch, all contained within the ferns, and at varying heights, so once all open will be quite a pretty showing. The Correopsis "hedge" (nearly) looks very nice, I think, as well as the rest of the butterfly attracting flowers I've placed in the new bed around the new birdpath ... the Delphinium should open in the next few days ... if the sun comes out for more that a day.
Here's Angel drinking from her "outdoor bowl"

[MightyQueenC]

Moon Flower deserved her own post.


Enjoy the weekend, everyone and happy gardening.

[margaret zanoni]

Hello to all the Potting Shed People........I have just caught up on all the jobs you have been doing and admiring all the beautiful photos you have posted. It was just the tonic I needed today........we were coming back from a few days in France last Friday and a car shot out of a side road and wham......!!!!!xxxxx!!!! We were lucky to have escaped with a few cuts and bruises but our new car is still in France - it was not so lucky! Being a true Potting Shed Person I grabbed the new plants along with the luggage to put on the tow truck only to forget my shoes!
In the five days we were away the flowers have been busy and we have a lovely show of sweet peas which fill the air with their perfume...and are one of the few plants which I can dead head because it doesn't involve bending down. Those that are less than 2 feet high will have to wait until I can bend again....which I hope won't be too long - the bruises are beautiful shades of violet/purple mixed with yellow exactly like some of the petunias under the window!
I hope everyone has had a good weekend in the garden although over here today we have had a lot of heavy storms and particularly in the north flooding has occurred again - hope your garden isn't under water again Bob.
regards to you all.......Margaret

[Tuppence2]

Oh dear, Margaret! I'm so pleased you came out of the accident with relatively minor injuries, I expect they don't feel minor....but you know what I mean. Hope you are soon able to move around more freely. Such a shock for you. You made me laugh, when you said you grabbed the plants and forgot your shoes! Your sweetpeas sound lovely. They are such a beautiful plant.

I worked hard on the hedges today, clipping them and cutting one right back, making it thinner. I might take it right downh to ground level and let it grow again. It means using a branch saw as my loppers have broken.

I'm a Sustrans Ranger and we manage the cycleways in this area, along the Kennet & Avon Canal mostly. Had a get together today of worthies and us volunteers, to "christen" a bench we've set on the canal bank, for cyclists to rest on. It's a 16 foot lenth of oak (not sawn straight), which looks like a tree trunk split in two lengthways. Sir Alec Moulton, inventor of the Moulton folder bike, was there as he lives in Bradford-on-Avon. We put up baloons and posters, etc., then cycled to BoA to collect cyclists gathering there, cycled back to the bench (which is right at the beginning of my local walk with the dogs), there were speeches and wine and lots of photos.

I've a plant that appeared in the garden which looks like a hibiscus....I do have two hibiscus which I planted....this is less woody but has big leaves like a mallow or hibiscus, with little white flowers with a dark centre. It could be a mallow - perhaps birds dropped the seeds, originally.

I deadheaded roses and did some weeding. It's 8.05 p.m. now on Monday and I've got my feet up. The grass will need cutting in the next few days, if it stays dry.

I was talking to a lady about my beetroot not growing this year and was told that hers didn't grow, either. Has anyone had any luck with growing it this season?

[eggplant43]

Margaret, we all have our priorities, and I'm glad you have yours straight

I'm glad to hear that things went as easily for you as they did.

I love the mallow family.

[telecom69]

Hiya Margaret, sorry to hear about your accident, hope that you are getting over your injuiries, bet that has presented a few problems for you,not to mention the inconvenience...so what will happen to the car now? will it be repaired in France and shipped back to you or will you have to fetch it , maybe it will be sent back here for repair ? sorry for being nosey but just wondered what happens in situations like this ...and no I didnt get flooded this time twice has been enough,Im wondering if this rain is ever going to go away,cant ever remember having this much rain at this time of the year.

[telecom69]

Hey MQC,( wish I knew your real name) It was back on about May 6th that you stated your intentions on getting started to undo the unhandymens damage and just two months later look what you have achieved you are posting pics now of flowers and thriving plants galore,and despite what everyone else says I think you deserve a medal,I seriously mean that,I think you have worked wonders,considering the way it was a couple of months back ...that picture of Angel drinking from that bird bath? funny thing about dogs they will drink from anything that contains water I think,in Busters case he drinks from the pond and you can bet everytime I fill up a watering can he's there having a drink from it ...anywhere in fact except from his water bowl,wonder if Penny's and Franks dogs are the same? I hope that hip of yours gets better soon,I take it that it will? or is it one of those things you have to live with? its a penalty of getting old sorry let me rephrase that as one gets older these things tend to show themselves a bit more...loved the pics by the way please post more as things progress,see you later