[Tuppence2]

Good morning Bob. Sunday started cool and damp, it rained in the night as the patio was damp earlier, but the sun's just appeared.

I think I'll pick my green tomatoes and put them in a drawer, where they might ripen. I picked seven weedy looking runner beans yesterday, all that have been produced so far! I'm pleased you managed to get some things to eat from your vegetables.

Good luck with clearing out for the boiler. A good thing to have fitted now, ready for the winter.

I listened to the Test Match on Radio4Live Sports Extra as I don't have Sky at present. Apparenly, Frank has a new football channel and is in "seventh heaven", getting up really early to watch matches! I watched some of the rugby (Union) but didn't enjoy the match I saw, hope England's match today will be better.

Must water some roses today and the leeks. Do you grow leeks?

[Bush Lady]

Hi all.
I am watering the cucumbers vigorously. My mother always said that cucumbers need a lot of water, and she was riight. I have been eating a few of them already. I have the type that can be used for making dill pickles. But if you let them grow bigger, you can eat them in a salad, or with salt and pepper.

I plan on making hot dill pickles this year. I have everything I need. Hot peppers, dill in the garden, vinegar, sugar, and salt.

I have a few red tomatoes on the vine this year, which is nice. I just hate the store bought tomatoes. They just don't taste the same.

[Tuppence2]

I'm pleased you're getting things to eat from your garden, Bushlady. Yes, cucumbers containing a lot of moisture, as they do, need to be kept wet to grow properly.

I ate my few runner beans for lunch, they were nice, but there aren't many more growing, yet.

The sun did come out but there's quite a cool breeze. I didn't have the energy to cut the grass today and will do that tomorrow, if it doesn't rain.

[margaret zanoni]

Hello everyone - I have been keeping up to date with all of your gardens and admiring the improvements you are all making - the new fence and paving slabs look super Tuppence and without so much grass life will be easier for you I'm sure; MQC you keep going from strength to strength in your garden - all those moon flowers make me really envious and I am trying to find a catalogue with them in to copy you! Nice to know that the weather has dried out your garden and you have managed to crop some beans Bob - with luck we shall have an Indian Summer and you will end up with lots of vegetables just the same - nature has a way of rectifying the effect of the weather doesn't it?

At long last I can begin to bend again and so get back to my little garden. Up until now I have had to just look out and watch as my husband 'dead heads' etc. He has tried so hard to do things so I won't be tempted to go out myself when he isn't here that I haven't had the heart to tell him that he keeps dead heading the new buds on the petunias and leaving those that are dying off........but he has done a smashing job of the weeding - not one in sight - and all the plants which needed support have nice new stakes! In fact he has started a trend in this staking business as he puts corks on the top to avoid the sticks accidentally poking you in the eye if you bend down - he used the corks which he found in the drawer - which were the ones from champagne bottles I had kept from celebrations we have had over the years.......consequently my neighbours thought they had missed a party recently!!! There is a little girl who is enchanted with the 'mushroom cork garden' and so it is rapidly catching on.......

I wonder if any of you have had the same colour change in your Dahlias as I have? I posted the pretty creamy coloured one some time ago but I have watched a new bud open on the same little bush which is a completely different colour - I thought it was a trick of the light but even with the sun behind the bloom it still is not the original colour - any suggestions..... My Phox are opening now and I can't remember the name of the white variety I have (bits of it have followed me around since I had my first garden and it originally came from a division of my mothers plant) anyway it has the most intense honey smell and it drifts in through the kitchen window making our morning 'cuppa' extra special - long may it stay in bloom.

Well I think I had better finish this post before you all get fed up with me........regards to everyone and 'happy pottering' .....Margaret

[MightyQueenC]

Margaret, I could never get fed up reading your posts or looking at your garden photos.

I have been going at the sweet peas this morning with my handy dandy machette hacking away to the ground, as they are getting a bit gangly-looking and have mildew. It always happens this time of year and I suspect it's because they're so tightly wrapped in and among themselves and the dog lilys, and because they only get good sun part of the day. There's still the odd new flower, but not worth keeping it in tact, so down he comes.
I set aside the pods and will spread them back into the ground where originally planted.

You've talked about your white phlox and now I want some scented ones. *stamps feet*
I can't detect very much scent on my unknown variety pink phlox, nor do my sweet peas have scent (as Penny's said, I think, her's do), so would like some of those.
I've also hacked down the Soloman's Seal as it was looking a bit ragged, from snails and the hail we had a while back ... some unsighly damage, so rather than trim around and select good from bad, I took him down , too. I had a rather large space to fill now that it was gone, so popped in my big Castor Bean plant (grown in the side yard in a large metal cooking pot) and placed a couple of houseplants at it's feet and now that corner looks splendid, again.

Moon flower madness has struck again. I've been a daft one, trying to record the opening of the flowers at night for Eggy, but one thing after another ... street noise, silly cow from downstairs distractions, not enough light, camera (and Queen) ) jiggle, mosquito attack ... you name it has foiled my earnest and multiple attempts to camera-video, but I managed a small clip. Not very good, I'm afraid but it gives people the idea.



Each flower opens in under a minute and one cluster in particular, which had 6 flowers on it, opened in succession within 5 minutes. Quite a site to behold.
The moon flowers are in small bunches now, with 3 to a dozen flowers opening every evening. I don't get tired of the magic and I play at trying to guess which flower will open before the others, because I'm a garden dork.



I love phlox but it does make the garden bed messy with the fallen blossoms. No point in trying to take them up as it's pretty much impossible sifting through tiny pieces of bark mulch.

Bushlady: I just bought some cucumbers at the market and opened them up to find them as dry as old Harry inside. What a disappointment as I had been craving cucumber and butter sandwiches. Perhaps I'll grow my own next year.


AND I am not giving up the Moon flower camera video thing: I will get it done (I'm on a mission) and I want to set it to music, too. Perhaps Van Morrison's "Dancing in the Moonlight" or Billie Holiday's "What a little Moonlight Can Do" . Yes, I'm a nutter.

Margaret: it's great that your hubby has been able to keep up the garden for you, and I hope you're feeling better very soon.

Franca: your Mop Head's are indeed and much showy-er than my PG.

I've decided to have a go at a climbing rose next year. There's a great corner that gets sun most of the day and is semi-sheltered from wind. I'd like a yellow or pink, scented, EASY variety so if anyone has suggestions, I'd be grateful.

Have a great week gardening everyone and take care.

[eggplant43]

I think most sweet peas are scentless these days, just as roses are, because they've been hybridized away. But if you can find some "old fashioned" or "heirloom seeds, you can get the scent. Most things I've read on sweet peas say not to keep the seed, probably because they are so hybridized and won't come back true to form, but perhaps they'll have scent

I love what you did with the moonflowers, I got it. Reminds me of some old Disney work from many years ago called the "painted desert", guess that ages me.

[Steppinstone]

Looking great everyone!

Penny, if you place green tomatoes in a brown paper bag they will ripen fast, you just put them in the bag and fold the top down a couple of times, and check on them every day or so.

Bushlady, I don't mind the birds getting the blackberries, hubby did get some to munch on!
I really wasn't expected any berries and I am still learning how to get the plants to produce, apparently they like a good pruning as that is all I did different this year.

I get more annoyed because the berries plants grew so well that they are covering other flowers and I am always pulling runners out of my lawn area. My plan is to move the huge plants back ten feet or so and when it grows next year it will help block the neighbors view!

Loved the Moon flower vid Mq!

Margeret, sure hope that you are feeling well soon and that your hubby doesn't continue to dead head the wrong blooms.

Hi Frank & Eggy!

Take care
Chari

[eggplant43]

I just found this place, and thought it might interest some of you folks:

http://www.guerrillagardening.org/index.html


In 1999 I bought a corner lot with a duplex on it that was a neglected wasteland on the main thoroughfare in town. Over the next 5 years I transformed the buildings, and the garden into an oasis of serenity, because that is what I've always done. I don't do it for others, but simply as a meditation, hobby, and creative outlet that connects me more spiritually than any other activity in my life.

But I learned that it does touch other lives, while living there many people just stopped by to thank me and visit, I'd see people drive by, do a double take, and then go around the block to get another look. One day a lady walked to my front door which was open, to tell me that she came to town once a month to visit her son who was profoundly retarded, and that a high point of her travels was seeing the garden. Another time, a lady who had returned to town for a visit after losing her husband wrote a long letter to tell us how much the garden meant to her in her healing. I'd have had no idea.

I sold the house last year, and one of the main reasons they bought the house was for the garden. But they've done nothing. When I return to Thermopolis people don't tell me how much they miss me, or miss me doing my business (which I did for nearly 30 years) their only concern is the loss of the garden.

So the idea of Guerrilla Gardening appeals to me, because I now know it matters.

[MightyQueenC]

Great link, Eggy and thank you.

Community urban gardeners in Kingston have a similar thing to what you've done single-handedly, Eggy. Bill Robb had a dream. He took a lot of heat from nay sayers and silly people worrying about flower lovers falling off the cliff during their walks, but he eventually got it done, with the community's continued support. He was doing this by himself until someone finally took notice. There has been the odd bit of vandalism, but for the most part, has stayed true and continues to be protected and enjoyed by green lovers everywhere.

Launched in 2006, the Communities in Bloom Kingston Bill Robb Visionary Award for volunteers and businesses recognizes citizens of Kingston for their contributions to the community through municipal beautification and sense of civic pride.

This year's nomination deadline is April 27, 2007.

The award is named for Bill Robb, the champion of the Barriefield Rock Garden and the Hansen Parking Garage Murals.

Envisioned by Robb as a "grand entrance" into the city, the Barriefield Rock Garden is like no other, combining breathtaking views of the lake, river, Fort Henry and the historic waterfront.

The rock garden has flourished through community support, from monetary gifts to donations of labour, plants and construction materials.

http://www.cityofkingston.ca/residen...robb_award.asp

http://www.cityofkingston.ca/images/...ieldgarden.jpg

http://www.cityofkingston.ca/busines...2001/index.asp


Schools in Bloom is another project that has been running (or one similar), since my children were in elementary school. At one public school, the children and parent volunteers gussied up the school's front entry and surrounding parking area with beautiful shrubs and flowering perennials and right next to the paved play area, put in some raised beds to grow sunflowers, vegetables and herbs. Both the kids and adults kept it maintained through the school year and there was always a couple of people who lived nearby to tend it when school was out for the summer. It's a neat learning experience for the children and adults alike, and a wonderful way to build communities, not to mention, bringing a bit of colour back into the school yard.

http://www.kingstonblooms.com/schools.html

During my last few years living in Toronto, before I moved here, there was a great move towards Guerilla Gardening: gardening (community gardens and flower beds) in vacant parking lots, abandoned gas stations, empty lots, roof tops ... you get the idea, and in the downtown core of Toronto, there's nothing better than to walk through a patch of green grass, breathing in the scent of flowers after hoofing it on the hard pavement on a hot summer's day.

Thanks for bringing that back to mind, with your post. I imagine you brought joy to many more than you'll ever know, with your corner lot's beauty. I know I get a lot of pleasure from my neigbour's garden, kitty-corner to me, that I can see and enjoy from my balcony.

Here's my newly placed "filler": Mr. Castor Bean plant.

Caution: Do not touch. Do not eat pods. Do not brush up against accidentally, because it will bite you.

I love how the ferns support the less than sturdy Bee Balm plants. Not planned, just a happy end result.

Take care all

[eggplant43]

Is she touching that plant?

I just love hearing about these communities, tucked in here and there. I had a friend in Thermopolis whose daughter who lived in Modesto, CA had set up community gardens and got lots of corporate support for her efforts, eventually. Since Modesto, CA is the home of Gallo Wines, I suspect she got lots of mullah. I got to meet her once, a neat gal.

I've only seen one Bee Balm plant, but loved it instantly.

[franca]

Originally Posted by margaret zanoni

Hello everyone -
I wonder if any of you have had the same colour change in your Dahlias as I have? I posted the pretty creamy coloured one some time ago but I have watched a new bud open on the same little bush which is a completely different colour - I thought it was a trick of the light but even with the sun behind the bloom it still is not the original colour - any suggestions.....

Well I think I had better finish this post before you all get fed up with me........regards to everyone and 'happy pottering' .....Margaret

It may have something to do with hybridizing. or soil conditions, we have it happen here also...makes a nice change to see a new color......

[franca]

Originally Posted by Steppinstone

Looking great everyone!


Hi Frank & Eggy!

Take care
Chari

Hi ya back Chari, hope all is well in your garden.....

[franca]

Great stuff MQ loved it all.........

[margaret zanoni]

MQC - I loved the video and I really MUST get some moon flowers........the new arrangement with the Fatsia looks great too.

Franca.....you may be right about the change of temperature - our weather is so topsy turvey at the moment - up in the 90's one minute and then in the 50's the next. It just looks so daft with some of the flowers cream and others orange both on the same plant! Still at last I have something different to photograph!

regards to all at the potting shed......Margaret

[Tuppence2]

Good to read all your posts and see the photos and the little video, very clever to post that!

Thanks for the tip about the tomatoes, Chari. I'll do that.

I'm pleased you like the new garden, Margaret, and I'm glad you are able to get out into the garden and work again.

I picked my first ever mangetout today and cooked them in butter and ate them by themselves. They were delicious. It rained in the night and the wind is getting up, but the plants will have enjoyed the water, especially the little leeks.

A big piece of a rose broke off in the wind this morning so I cut it into smaller pieces and have planted them along the fence at the side of the bottom part of the garden, to see whether any grows. I see that a piece I planted earlier in the year, or late last year, (a pink rose, possibly "Felicia", but I'm not sure) has grown and is in flower.

Thanks for the gardening link, Eggy. Very nice to be remembered for having made a garden.