Very lovely @celcius_kkw. My lasagnes were not so successful, colours were not what I expected and the succession didn't really work out. Now everything is dying back I'll have to break the bulbs apart to plant out instead of dumping the lot as is in the ground.
@Marlorena I think pear rust is a more prevalent problem than it used to be. Not had maggots in the pear, in the plums and mulberries unfortunately we do.
@Mr. Vine Eye It will be great for us to follow your allotment progress, will you finish that promising pond? I do hope you all get a lot of pleasure from it this year.
My damn deer can still get in the garden. I was planting a clematis at 4pm in full sun and looked up to a crashing sound to see a Muntjac sail over a low bit of fence through a leylandii only 20ft away. We had wired a bamboo screen up but by jumping diagonally it could force through a thin bit of our neighbour's hedge. More chickenwire is looking less than lovely there now. Both me and the deer were stunned and it turned and jumped back from a standing start. Oh and I've sprayed the roses with sulphur, I hope they taste as bad as they smell (and look).
@pitter-patter ooh, isn't that strange, both Alohas being blighted thus... I'll keep an eye on your progress... gave it a good watering (and talking to) today... let's see if it perks up...
Pleased to say I had a good inspection of my roses today and couldn't see any aphids. I've only watered the three in pots and three newly planted ones but am beginning to wonder whether the other well established ones should be watered as well. We've had no rain since 12th April. Are you all watering yours?
Thanks all. It’s still not a perfect picture, he’s still there (two polytunnels on his plot now!) so it’s not going to be quite the same. We've just decided that there’s more to lose from leaving than gained. The boys have been desperate to do some digging with their “long handled tools”. There’s just a lot we can do there that we can’t at home.
Theres already a lot of life in the pond @Tack - although the water level is very low.
We’ll aim to go at times when it’s busier, and just leave nothing in the polytunnel that could be taken.
@celcius_kkw Thank you. This is my pot (31/3 and today).
Used bulbs (and supposed height and flowering time) (vs. reality): N. Replete (40cm, early April, late April) (45-50cm, late March, early April) N. Bellsong (25cm, early April, late April) (25cm, late April, early May) T. Ronaldo (35cm, early April, late April) (30cm, late April, early May) Muscari Siberian Tiger (15cm, late March, early April) (10-15cm, late April)
Main problems: - expected overlap of all daffs and tulips - no overlap at all... Replete started much earlier and is already over - too many bulbs, Replete is too tall, too much foliage - expected Muscari to flower at the same time like the usual blue one, while the rest of the foliage was still small... nope, they flowered much later and completely disappeared, even though they are around the edges only
But it will look good, eventually... in a week or so. N. Bellsong and T. Ronaldo are only just starting.
@Mr. Vine Eye Remember the tadpoles in the pond. Let go of the polytunnel and start a new. Let the boys create their paradise and they will be happy.
@edhelka probably the weather is to blame? things rarely grow as predicted, but you can enjoy the blooms for longer rather.
@pitter-patter even my bareroot Gabriel oak has got smaller leaves, inspite of leafing out since March, wonder if its the climate or the plant has small leaves as such.
@Lizzie27 I started watering my established roses last weekend apart from 4 I have on a 'fend for yourself' list but there hasn't been rain here for many weeks. The soil is starting to solidify with the clay content and I had to hack into the ground yesterday to plant something. I did have a few thousand litres collected in butts though (much less now I've started feeding the daffs!) and thought there is no point saving it when the garden is already dry. I think it must assist the other plants around the roses too, which don't get watered.
Spotted a few new buds on Goldbusch and Rhapsody in Blue in the past week. Tied in a couple of climbers yesterday and stupidly snapped a new 8" bit off Summer Wine trying to stretch it too far. It'll be fine though, looks like a good doer (starting its second year) plus it has the choicest spot in the garden.
A feeble frost this AM, that's got to be it now surely.
I have the same problem with my Aloha, @Janie B, I was just going to ask the same question. It’s been like this for weeks now, very small leaves that don’t seem to develop any further. Sorry about the hand, just to give you an idea of the scale.
pitter-patter, plants can have much smaller leaves in response to drought, which can happen in cold and windy weather as well as during hot summers or any kind of stress really. Hopefully a good drink will do the trick! You could try a foliar spray of seaweed too.
I was amazed by the transformation of my LoS, having rescued it from the sunny, hot border, which it clearly hated. Repotting and a cooler location and the leaves have tripled in size and are far healthier. Before it always had really sickly, tiny leaves and bad blackspot. I have been doing some research into the morphological, physiological and biochemical responses of plants to drought-induced stress - fascinating stuff!
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
Really interesting, @Nollie. It has been quite dry and I probably haven’t watered the garden enough. I’ll try to water more often, hopefully we’ll have some rain in May.
Posts
I've only watered the three in pots and three newly planted ones but am beginning to wonder whether the other well established ones should be watered as well. We've had no rain since 12th April. Are you all watering yours?
Theres already a lot of life in the pond @Tack - although the water level is very low.
We’ll aim to go at times when it’s busier, and just leave nothing in the polytunnel that could be taken.
Used bulbs (and supposed height and flowering time) (vs. reality):
N. Replete (40cm, early April, late April) (45-50cm, late March, early April)
N. Bellsong (25cm, early April, late April) (25cm, late April, early May)
T. Ronaldo (35cm, early April, late April) (30cm, late April, early May)
Muscari Siberian Tiger (15cm, late March, early April) (10-15cm, late April)
Main problems:
- expected overlap of all daffs and tulips - no overlap at all... Replete started much earlier and is already over
- too many bulbs, Replete is too tall, too much foliage
- expected Muscari to flower at the same time like the usual blue one, while the rest of the foliage was still small... nope, they flowered much later and completely disappeared, even though they are around the edges only
But it will look good, eventually... in a week or so. N. Bellsong and T. Ronaldo are only just starting.
Spotted a few new buds on Goldbusch and Rhapsody in Blue in the past week. Tied in a couple of climbers yesterday and stupidly snapped a new 8" bit off Summer Wine trying to stretch it too far. It'll be fine though, looks like a good doer (starting its second year) plus it has the choicest spot in the garden.
A feeble frost this AM, that's got to be it now surely.
I was amazed by the transformation of my LoS, having rescued it from the sunny, hot border, which it clearly hated. Repotting and a cooler location and the leaves have tripled in size and are far healthier. Before it always had really sickly, tiny leaves and bad blackspot. I have been doing some research into the morphological, physiological and biochemical responses of plants to drought-induced stress - fascinating stuff!