Love the photos @AnniD as usual to bring a smile to my face. The weather was pretty horrendous here today with such strong winds and rain. No chance of doing any gardening. Just managed to fill the bird feeders. The grass area is covered in cooking apples mostly having been pecked at by birds. The tree is laden with them so must be hundreds still to fall. I might be able to find some decent ones in a week or two. You can tell how heavy they are as I used to be able to see the bird feeders from the shed but the branches are now much lower with the weight and hide everything. No cat today I was pleased to see which would suggest she has somewhere to be out of the rain. Had what I think was a moth in the shed flying around and managed to catch it and set it free. It went straight into the apple tree. When rested it was brown but when wings opened it was quite colourful. Lots of work to be done when the weather improves and I think there will be a lot of empty spaces by the time I have finished. The hydrangeas I sent for which were offered for £8.99 for one plus two free and also free postage are really worth having. I was really pleased with them. They are about eight inches high and look very healthy and well established. The question is do I plant them out now? Here's hoping tomorrow will be suitable for gardening. It feels as though we are just preparing everything for the autumn/winter at the moment unless we get some more summer weather. Hope you all had a good day. Goodnight.
Good afternoon all. Loved the hogadvisor pics Anni, and glad that your hydrangeas are healthy plants Fran. I just got back from the coast and a visit to the Ayr flower show yesterday and it was wet wet wet.
It was ok, with some veg and plant displays, various nurseries selling their wares and some craft stands. Here are a few pics:
The size of the begonias had to be seen to be believed.
Glad you had a good if damp time @Purplerain Buying just one hosta was very restrained. Don't think l would be so good 😁 Those heucheras look healthy, and the begonias look as though they are made of tissue paper. Amazing colours. Much as l love that hedgehog, l don't think l'd pay £20 for it 😯
I must be honest, it's very rare that my name and the word "restraint" turn up in the same sentence @Valley Gardener 😁. It's a shame you missed the show @Joyce21, especially with it being so close to you. I think it's only on for the 2 days. Unless you nipped up the road this afternoon?
@Fran IOM while l remember, l think your hydrangeas may be a bit small to plant out just yet, but that's just my opinion. Personally l would pot them on into slightly bigger pots and then plant 2 out early October and hang onto the other one until Spring as insurance if you can.
Got a bargain this morning, a penstemon "Picotee red" for £1.50. It hadn't been dead headed and was starting to form seed heads. Cut those off and left them to dry off, potted it on, cut off a few dead leaves and took some cuttings from it. Could be a pretty good bargain 🤞
That's a shame @Joyce21 but I think the weather was keeping people away. The group I travelled with requested the coach to return sooner than arranged, but I stayed on for a family visit in Prestwick. We went out for dinner at what was Elliots (now Vic's) when the torrential rain storm happened. Did you see it?
Sounds like you got a bargain with the penstemon @AnniD and will make many plants from one. I always like to snip a piece off a new plant and it's a great feeling when they root. My Hydrangea cuttings are looking fine so far @Fran IOM and I would second Anni's advice too.
Still got a few things to catch up with @Valley Gardener so will read back.
Will try and catch up with you all now. Lovely day so was able to go to the allotment. A few butterflies and a few bees but not as many as usual. Have started on cutting the tall fuchsia hedge which is going to take some time so just doing a little at a time and tidying the heucheras that grow underneath. They seem to have spread quite a bit with only one not doing so well. Also trying to tidy up some of the eyesores. What do you do with loads of unwanted stones? Anything that looks like a pebble gets thrown on the pathway. Will have to cut the grass again soon. That usually takes an hour. @Purplerain Shame it was so wet for the Ayr show. I thought my begonias were quite good until I saw those. They don't look real. Can you imagine me walking past the heucheras? Think I would have bought one of the lime green ones. Don't have one that colour. £20 does seem a lot to spend on the hedgehog but when you think what work has gone into it, it's not a lot really. Does your purchase of a Hosta eventually turn blue like the one I have (which hasn't turned blue yet) or is that just the name given to it? @AnniD Thanks for your advice re the hydrangeas. I had thought that if I planted them out now there wouldn't be any frost to worry about. I shall heed your advice and will put them in slightly bigger pots but if I plant them out in October will they be susceptible to any frosts then? Would keep one back as insurance. I have some Penstemon on the allotment and I have never been impressed by them. Just one has really spread and the others are a bit pitiful. Probably haven't given them enough tlc. My 5p clematis is doing well. One of my rose bushes from the pound shop is really weird. I think I mentioned that it was a white single petal rose that was first to come out but part of the bush is producing yellow roses which are packed with petals not looking like roses at all. May have time to get a photo before my daughter goes on holiday. I think most of the dropped petals have been blown away so don't have that job to do. Pity the wind doesn't blow the apples away. @Valley Gardener Have you been out in the garden today or still busy painting? Think tomorrow's weather is going to be similar to today so should be able to carry on where I left off. Enjoy your evening.
Good morning all, Lots of interesting news from you @Fran IOM I just have a quick question, just come back from a stroll down the lane,and saw these, Quite tall,about 3 ft. Are they weeds? Not worth starting a new thread for,but curious. Very pretty though.
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The weather was pretty horrendous here today with such strong winds and rain. No chance of doing any gardening. Just managed to fill the bird feeders. The grass area is covered in cooking apples mostly having been pecked at by birds. The tree is laden with them so must be hundreds still to fall. I might be able to find some decent ones in a week or two. You can tell how heavy they are as I used to be able to see the bird feeders from the shed but the branches are now much lower with the weight and hide everything. No cat today I was pleased to see which would suggest she has somewhere to be out of the rain. Had what I think was a moth in the shed flying around and managed to catch it and set it free. It went straight into the apple tree. When rested it was brown but when wings opened it was quite colourful. Lots of work to be done when the weather improves and I think there will be a lot of empty spaces by the time I have finished. The hydrangeas I sent for which were offered for £8.99 for one plus two free and also free postage are really worth having. I was really pleased with them. They are about eight inches high and look very healthy and well established. The question is do I plant them out now?
Here's hoping tomorrow will be suitable for gardening. It feels as though we are just preparing everything for the autumn/winter at the moment unless we get some more summer weather.
Hope you all had a good day.
Goodnight.
It was ok, with some veg and plant displays, various nurseries selling their wares and some craft stands. Here are a few pics:
Buying just one hosta was very restrained. Don't think l would be so good 😁
Those heucheras look healthy, and the begonias look as though they are made of tissue paper. Amazing colours.
Much as l love that hedgehog, l don't think l'd pay £20 for it 😯
Oh dear! That was very remiss of you...😁😁
I would have loved it,and probably been like Anni,unrestrained!
It's a shame you missed the show @Joyce21, especially with it being so close to you. I think it's only on for the 2 days. Unless you nipped up the road this afternoon?
@Fran IOM while l remember, l think your hydrangeas may be a bit small to plant out just yet, but that's just my opinion. Personally l would pot them on into slightly bigger pots and then plant 2 out early October and hang onto the other one until Spring as insurance if you can.
Got a bargain this morning, a penstemon "Picotee red" for £1.50. It hadn't been dead headed and was starting to form seed heads. Cut those off and left them to dry off, potted it on, cut off a few dead leaves and took some cuttings from it. Could be a pretty good bargain 🤞
Sounds like you got a bargain with the penstemon @AnniD and will make many plants from one. I always like to snip a piece off a new plant and it's a great feeling when they root. My Hydrangea cuttings are looking fine so far @Fran IOM and I would second Anni's advice too.
Still got a few things to catch up with @Valley Gardener so will read back.
I haven't been in what was Elliot's for a few years.
@Purplerain Shame it was so wet for the Ayr show. I thought my begonias were quite good until I saw those. They don't look real. Can you imagine me walking past the heucheras? Think I would have bought one of the lime green ones. Don't have one that colour. £20 does seem a lot to spend on the hedgehog but when you think what work has gone into it, it's not a lot really. Does your purchase of a Hosta eventually turn blue like the one I have (which hasn't turned blue yet) or is that just the name given to it?
@AnniD Thanks for your advice re the hydrangeas. I had thought that if I planted them out now there wouldn't be any frost to worry about. I shall heed your advice and will put them in slightly bigger pots but if I plant them out in October will they be susceptible to any frosts then? Would keep one back as insurance. I have some Penstemon on the allotment and I have never been impressed by them. Just one has really spread and the others are a bit pitiful. Probably haven't given them enough tlc. My 5p clematis is doing well. One of my rose bushes from the pound shop is really weird. I think I mentioned that it was a white single petal rose that was first to come out but part of the bush is producing yellow roses which are packed with petals not looking like roses at all. May have time to get a photo before my daughter goes on holiday. I think most of the dropped petals have been blown away so don't have that job to do. Pity the wind doesn't blow the apples away.
@Valley Gardener Have you been out in the garden today or still busy painting?
Think tomorrow's weather is going to be similar to today so should be able to carry on where I left off.
Enjoy your evening.
Lots of interesting news from you @Fran IOM
I just have a quick question, just come back from a stroll down the lane,and saw these,
Quite tall,about 3 ft.
Are they weeds? Not worth starting a new thread for,but curious.
Very pretty though.