[teengeekgrrl]

Originally Posted by trekguy

TGG, how's the garden plot coming along??

There's a forest next to it?? You will need full sun... hopefully the forest is to the north of the garden.

It's on the northeastern side... Some of the plot gets sun and some of it doesn't. I'll have to take that into account when I decide what to grow.

[telecom69]

Telecome - Do you find the frogs make a lot of noise? I knew someone with a small pond which became jam-packed with frogs and the croaking kept her awake at night. They were loaded into buckets, eventually, and taken to the river. There are herons across the river nearby who would love to know where you are for a free meal - do you have problems like that?

Hi Penny, Yes they do make a lot of noise,but dont hear them from the house as the pond is towards the bottom of the garden,a good 40 yards away,except that is for the odd few that decide to visit my top fish pond for some reason,and they get into the rockery that surrounds that....after spawning those that do get into the fish pond are forever having to be fished out,because with the top half being raised they cannot get out and taken back to the other pond ....as for the herons occasionally we do get the odd one landing on the surrounding ridge tiles looking enviously at the fish pond,but because I have a sort of canopy over it,landing and taking off would be impossible for them ....I have about 24 of the carp variety of fish in there some as big as 18 inches,hence the canopy the weather is now slowly improving and heres hoping you can soon get that lawn mowed,take care, Bob

[telecom69]

Originally Posted by franca

We have so many we have to give lots of them away to friends.......

I dig them when they finish, wash them off, split them, spread them out on newspaper to dry off, then wrap them like '' fish & chips '' in newspaper, put them in a cardboard box and put them in a cool dry place to over winter, it always works for us..

Here are some of last years, the tale one is called '' Queen '' grows very tall as you can see.....

cu Frank..

Well I always did similar to you but I never had the sucess that you seem to have,maybe because I always grew them in the ground so to speak,maybe its just me who knows you have whetted my appetite however and I might just try groing a few this year in containers ....I can think of no other flower than can beat them for showiness,and so many varieties and colour,my particular favourites were the cactus varieties ...thanks for posting the pics

[franca]

Originally Posted by telecom69

Well I always did similar to you but I never had the sucess that you seem to have,maybe because I always grew them in the ground so to speak,maybe its just me who knows you have whetted my appetite however and I might just try groing a few this year in containers ....I can think of no other flower than can beat them for showiness,and so many varieties and colour,my particular favourites were the cactus varieties ...thanks for posting the pics

Glad to hear you're going to give it another go t69..... good luck,

cu Frank.

[Tuppence2]

Hello Bob.

Thanks for the answer to my question about the noisy frogs! The tadpoles in my ponds didn't hatch last year - they do that if temperature conditions aren't to their liking. There must be a frog or two around so I hope they spawn this year.

Hello Frank

I've cut the grass! That's a load off my mind. I've taken photos of the path that was cleared for me round the wood-pile, nettles, etc., at the bottom of the garden, and the columnar yew I have there (I can see it now the old,dead forsythia has been cleared), and a holly. Will post them later. The cowslips in the front garden are in bud.

Bought a periwinkle yesterday (Vinca) as I want some ground cover for the front garden. It's not the usual blue by a lovely purple - "Vinca minor Atropurpurea", the "purea" part of the name being Latin for purple, if I recall correctly.

I've yellow water buttercups coming into flower. Bought a lovely lilttle prunus (cherry) named "incisa Kojo-no-mai". It has double flowers (i.e. two on each little flower stalk), red buds and pale pink/white flowers. The leaves come after the flowers and are pale green, changing to darker green later. I want to use it as a bonsai. It would grow to around 5 feet if planted out. I'll post a photo later as I'm very late for work!

A sunny but cold morning. We had frost yesterday and the birds' water is iced today.

Enjoy your gardens, everyone.

Bye,
Penny.

[Tuppence2]

Here's the little cherry I got from the garden centre to keep as a bonsai. I might get another to put in the garden.

[Steppinstone]

It's cute!! so small and lovely with the flowers!

I have baby tomatoes plants popping up with plans for starting some more this weekend to share with my co workers!

Take care!

[franca]

Originally Posted by Tuppence2

Here's the little cherry I got from the garden centre to keep as a bonsai. I might get another to put in the garden.

Hi Penny, love the new plant thanks for sending me the pic, was getting worried, hadn't heard from you all week then I got your e-mail just now, hope your feeling better now, what did the doctor say was wrong ?.

Glad to hear you finally managed to get your grass cut, we got all ours done to-day

Will e-mail you back right now.

cu later, take care,

Frank...

[Tuppence2]

Hello everyone.

Pleased you like the little cherry, Steppinstone. I've put some compost on it and fed it chicken manure pellets (which the dogs gobble up as fast I as put them out!). The same with the Chaenomeles (Japanese Quince) I planted the other day, to climb up and over an arch. I do love the peachy/salmon colour of its flowers. Can't recall if I sent a photo of it. Will do so if not.

The Doctor's appointment, Frank, was just to let him know if the medication is helping and to get repeat prescriptions, though I've had a flare-up and my insides are sore. I ate chocolate profiteroles - I ought to have known better. It will soon be the end of Lent and people can go back to chocolate, wine, etc.

The grass will need cutting again once it's dry - it's been damp for a couple of days.

The primroses and cowslips in the front garden are so pretty. And I love the blue and pink flowers and spotty leaves of the pulmonary (lungwort). The Valerian has fresh green leaves and is beginning to grow strongly. It's flowers' perfume is so lovely - really looking forward to it flowering later in the summer.
Poirot" is on TV and I need a cuppa after a hard four hours of clearing and cleaning at Christina's.

Looking forward to all the news about everyone's garden.

Bye.



..

[franca]

Hi Penny, Glad to hear everything is AOK with you, it was a beautiful sunny day here in paradise spent all afternoon out in the gardens weeding, It must be spring weeds galore Jaki helped we may cut the grass tomorow as they say we may get some rain on Thru's, all the rhodo's are starting to open......

Thanks for the great pic's, think I guessed them all right

Just off to bed, cu later, take care,

Frank.

[Steppinstone]

Penny, I live in Cherry country so of course I like the beauty of the flowering cherry trees... I know the little tree is in great hands with you!!

Frank I bought a couple Dahlias the other day, I am going to try my hand at growing them so I may be asking lots of questions soon. I saw them when I was at Walmart and felt they needed a home so they came home with me!

We are getting some much needed rain here so it looks like I'll be working inside today..

Take care

Chari

[franca]

Originally Posted by Steppinstone

Penny, I live in Cherry country so of course I like the beauty of the flowering cherry trees... I know the little tree is in great hands with you!!

Frank I bought a couple Dahlias the other day, I am going to try my hand at growing them so I may be asking lots of questions soon. I saw them when I was at Walmart and felt they needed a home so they came home with me!

We are getting some much needed rain here so it looks like I'll be working inside today..

Take care

Chari

Just keep an eye out for the " SLUGS " they love the young shoots,they will be OK once they get bigger, we find it safer to grow then in pots.

What kind did you get ?

Good luck, cu Frank

[Steppinstone]

Thats for the slug tip, I try to stay on top of them anyways since they chew so many types of plants...

As for the dahlias, apparenty I only kept one of the empty packages, It's a jewel scarlet, (red) the other one is a purple color. They had lot's of tubers on them so I guess it's a wait and see game!

Time to finish getting ready for work!

See ya!

[telecom69]

Hi Folks,Things are still not going well weatherwise over here in the UK,nothing is growing as it should owing to it being so cold and dreary, none of my plug seedlings have hardly moved,and Ive had a lot damp off owing to the temperatures being so low,what wouldnt I give for a few days of prolonged sunshine to give them a boost,I have usually got my tomatoes out in gro-bags by now in the greenhouse but the seedlings are just one and a half inches high,the only things that seem to be performing as expected are the Geraniums,they are doing quite well and about to go into 3 inch pots...even the fish in the ponds do not show any signs of eating at the moment,so it looks like its going to be a late season this year....Oh well I suppose all these things are sent to try us....best wishes everyone,and happy gardening,hope your weather is better than ours ....

[Tuppence2]

Things in the garden seem to be moving faster here than with you, telecom!

Here's a photo of the "Kilmarnock Willow" (a small, standard weeping variety) I've just put in the garden, and a beautiful blue pulmonaria, "Blue Ensign", I planted today. Also got a pretty Dianthus, "Sunflor". Don't think there's been enough sunshine for tomatos to grow but the flowers and trees seem to be happy. My magnolia is in bloom, along with all the lovely "Stellata" variety I see in the area.

My pretty cowslips and flowering and all the bonsai have either leaves or buds. The dwarf cherry I bought is covered in pale pink blossom.

Hope your soil warms soon and your plants start moving.

Bye