I had to google Jofra and he looks very......athletic 🥰. I'm still not watching the cricket though.
Thanks for the info re pestemon Heavenly Blue (which is more pinky blue for me) but yes it is untidy and sprawling so I will not cut it back and heavily mulch this years. If they fail again, that's it.
Managed to plant out a clematis on the new arch but not much else done as the showers are still hanging around. Hope you are all having a good day.
Well is been good weatherwise here,if a bit windy,but managed to get lots done in the garden,about half an hour deadheading,moved a Salvia,got rid of Nemesias,they hated the rain,planted some crocosmia that accidentally got pulled up with the Japonica,in a better place. I am having trouble with some bird food that is loaded with raisins......big ones. The birds don't like them but the wasps do,they are so big they block up the feeding entrance! So be warned,read the ingredients. Back to Home Bargains for the one they sell! In fact anything with berry flavour the wasps are loving,suet pellets being one.
The whole truth is an instrument that can only be played by an expert.
Good Morning all, Looks like the perfect day for gardening. Managed to get to the allotment yesterday and am still cutting back the fuchsia hedge. Have not quite got halfway yet but what has been done looks much tidier. The wind was cold but at least it stayed dry whilst I was there. Goldfinches are back in charge again. There seem to be far more spiders this year. Have one web with a rather gruesome looking one who was happily munching on something. Wouldn't like it in the house but he can stay where he is outside. After my fight with the builder's dust yesterday I was too tired to post on here. Sounds as though you got lots done @Valley Gardener. Never had a problem with any wasps. In fact I very rarely see one. They obviously don't like sunflower hearts. @Purplerain How far ahead was your clematis you planted? Mine is doing well so I hope it is well established before the bad weather arrives. My honeysuckle for the second year has not produced any flowers so I think it's for the chop. Must get on with other things now or else I won't have the time to tackle the fuchsia. Have a good day all. Any news on hedgehog and mouse @AnniD?
@Fran IOM, still at least one hedgehog visiting every night, sometimes two. They seem able to avoid each other. Hedgehog is arriving around midnight at the moment and then comes back around 2-3 am. Hope l'm not tempting fate but he doesn't seem to have taken much of a break this year, just one or nights at the most. Some years it's been over a week between hedgehog visits, then just as l start to get really worried, hey presto ! He returns! Still no sign of Mouse, and Mr B seems to have vanished as well. I'm hoping he's just moulting as there are very few birds around at the moment, with the exception of the pigeons . I hope to look up one day and see him perched on the window box or the lean to, looking at me 🤞 Hope you have made good progress with the fuschia .
@Valley Gardener, l have never seen wasps going for the fruit based bird food, but thinking about it, l have only put that out in the winter, so l wouldn't, would l 🙄😁 I haven't put bird food out for some weeks since Mr B stopped hassling me. As l say, it's very quiet here bird wise, although there are still loads of sparrows in MIL's garden.
Good Evening @AnniD Can you tell the hedgehogs apart? Sure it's not Hedgehog coming back for second helpings? They would all look the same to me. It seems sad that Mr B hasn't been around. I hope nothing has happened to him. He was such a regular visitor. Carried on with the fuchsia hedge again this afternoon and am actually over half way now. Did some dead heading as well. Doesn't look as though I shall get photos of my weird roses just yet. Daughter has gone away and today would have been perfect but maybe when she gets back there will be the two roses elsewhere to take a pic of. Must admit the pound shop roses are strange. Some are ok, others produce lovely roses but no leaves and others leaves but no roses. You think that once summer is over you won't be doing any more gardening but looking in my diary I was weeding etc. in January so it can't be that bad. Tomorrow's weather forecast isn't so good with gale force winds so we shall just have to wait and see. Will look forward to hearing what @Valley Gardener and @Purplerain have achieved today. Enjoy the rest of your evening.
@Fran IOM , a lot of the hedgehogs do look very similar in colouring. Earlier in the year when someone had been marking them (which they shouldn't do), I confess that it did make it easier to tell them apart. Over the weeks the markings have faded, but I would hazard a guess that there are at least 3 different ones over the year so far. A couple of photos below, as you can see, one has really dark colouring around his face and underneath, compared to the other one.
Hi folks. Please excuse me for butting in (I'm a regular reader here and love all your chat and the pictures), but I just have to post a warning. Please don't feed birds with a mix containing raisins - if you have a dog then raisins are deadly poisonous to them should they pick up one or two fallen to ground level, Nearly lost my JR to this several years ago. Thanks for reading and my best wishes to you all.
Hi @AnnaB You can butt in any time! Thanks for the warning. I am always careful that our lab doesn't manage to get hold of anything with raisins in it. Also chocolate and grapes. Could be devastating as you nearly found out. Very kind of you to point this out. Expect you enjoy the photos of Hedgehog and @AnniD's witty remarks! Always make me smile.
Had a lovely day out in Mt Stuart. The gardens are going over now but here are a few pics of the garden opposite the house and a couple of inside:
Lovely planting around the pond
Another view
The private Chapel in the house. Very cold due to the amount if marble used
View from the bedroom window
Part of a huge wall tapestry
The bedroom of the Marquis of Bute. On the bedhead is a carved rooster at one side for morning, and an owl on the other for nighttime. Unfortunately the camera doesn't show them but they did look good.
Posts
Thanks for the info re pestemon Heavenly Blue (which is more pinky blue for me) but yes it is untidy and sprawling so I will not cut it back and heavily mulch this years. If they fail again, that's it.
Managed to plant out a clematis on the new arch but not much else done as the showers are still hanging around. Hope you are all having a good day.
I am having trouble with some bird food that is loaded with raisins......big ones. The birds don't like them but the wasps do,they are so big they block up the feeding entrance! So be warned,read the ingredients. Back to Home Bargains for the one they sell! In fact anything with berry flavour the wasps are loving,suet pellets being one.
Looks like the perfect day for gardening. Managed to get to the allotment yesterday and am still cutting back the fuchsia hedge. Have not quite got halfway yet but what has been done looks much tidier. The wind was cold but at least it stayed dry whilst I was there. Goldfinches are back in charge again.
There seem to be far more spiders this year. Have one web with a rather gruesome looking one who was happily munching on something. Wouldn't like it in the house but he can stay where he is outside.
After my fight with the builder's dust yesterday I was too tired to post on here. Sounds as though you got lots done @Valley Gardener. Never had a problem with any wasps. In fact I very rarely see one. They obviously don't like sunflower hearts.
@Purplerain How far ahead was your clematis you planted? Mine is doing well so I hope it is well established before the bad weather arrives. My honeysuckle for the second year has not produced any flowers so I think it's for the chop.
Must get on with other things now or else I won't have the time to tackle the fuchsia.
Have a good day all. Any news on hedgehog and mouse @AnniD?
Hope l'm not tempting fate but he doesn't seem to have taken much of a break this year, just one or nights at the most. Some years it's been over a week between hedgehog visits, then just as l start to get really worried, hey presto ! He returns!
Still no sign of Mouse, and Mr B seems to have vanished as well. I'm hoping he's just moulting as there are very few birds around at the moment, with the exception of the pigeons . I hope to look up one day and see him perched on the window box or the lean to, looking at me 🤞
Hope you have made good progress with the fuschia .
@Valley Gardener, l have never seen wasps going for the fruit based bird food, but thinking about it, l have only put that out in the winter, so l wouldn't, would l 🙄😁
I haven't put bird food out for some weeks since Mr B stopped hassling me. As l say, it's very quiet here bird wise, although there are still loads of sparrows in MIL's garden.
@AnniD Can you tell the hedgehogs apart? Sure it's not Hedgehog coming back for second helpings? They would all look the same to me. It seems sad that Mr B hasn't been around. I hope nothing has happened to him. He was such a regular visitor.
Carried on with the fuchsia hedge again this afternoon and am actually over half way now. Did some dead heading as well. Doesn't look as though I shall get photos of my weird roses just yet. Daughter has gone away and today would have been perfect but maybe when she gets back there will be the two roses elsewhere to take a pic of. Must admit the pound shop roses are strange. Some are ok, others produce lovely roses but no leaves and others leaves but no roses. You think that once summer is over you won't be doing any more gardening but looking in my diary I was weeding etc. in January so it can't be that bad. Tomorrow's weather forecast isn't so good with gale force winds so we shall just have to wait and see.
Will look forward to hearing what @Valley Gardener and @Purplerain have achieved today.
Enjoy the rest of your evening.
Lighter coloured
Much darker
Very kind of you to point this out. Expect you enjoy the photos of Hedgehog and @AnniD's witty remarks! Always make me smile.
View from the bedroom window