@Nollie ..thanks for explaining about the spray... I wasn't intending to try it but I found the translation rather amusing and wondered how anyone would even bother, although I do have plenty of horsetail in my garden.. as I haven't sprayed in 35 years I doubt I'll be doing so now, so clearly it's a French thing as you say.. certainly a right faff.. I think I'd rather see the black spot..
I think Jason is Canadian, that's where their nursery is.. one has to be aware that things are very different for them, and not all advice is appropriate for us.. he hasn't grown roses that long either, and he does spray.. a mix of sulphur and baking soda apparently..
I’ve got lots of herbs, salvias and alliums. I’m not sure how much of an effect they have on disease and aphids. But they look really pretty and I like the aromas produced.
Sacrificial plants definitely work - like our boys sunflower that was smothered by aphids (attracting lots of 🐞) while Lady of Shalott and the apple tree were largely untouched.
I think mixed planting is much nicer than “rose gardens” that just have roses planted and nothing else. When those inevitably get ravaged by fungus there’s nothing left but bare thorny sticks. Whereas although I get black spot it’s not that noticeable. Not sure if that’s because it’s only mild, or just the other planting conceals it.
I won’t be planting any other roses in the garden because it would mean I’d have to lose other planting. In my space I’d have too many roses then and lose the contrast in form, height, colour etc that you get with varied planting.
^ absolutely, roses need companions, they get lonely 😢 I plant combinations I like and that like my conditions, but if they happen to provide a benefit too, all well and good.
Oops, sorry Jason if your reading, deciphering accents from across the pond is clearly not my strong point! It’s easy enough to filter out any stuff that doesn’t apply though, I think we all need to do that regardless of the information source.
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
In case anyone buys Foxgloves, I've just been to B and Q and got some 4 for £12, plus 6 in a tray, they will all flower this year.. I no longer grow from seed so buy them in when I see them... all good plants.. some other places I've been to haven't got them in stock just yet.
Everything is coming on so fast now, snowdrops gone and crocus going over. So many daffodils and other bulbs are giving everything a lift. I was surprised by my tulips too @Fire but it has been a mild winter down south. Forsythia and flowering currant have started too.
This has been a really productive couple of days. As well as leveling a sunken area of lawn we've moved a water butt onto the patio, I've never enough water there in the summer, it collects from the balcony. Best of all we didn't need to buy a thing, an old dustbin is now collecting water off the shed where this butt was moved from.
Roses have been sprayed with sulphur, the salvia conversation reminded me! I'm not sure it does much but I have the product already. Picture taken before the spraying which makes everything blotchy. In front Chandos Beauty has very nice glossy foliage, the deep red leaves are Grafin Diana.But the thing that has thrilled me most is my husband has dug out old shrubs to free me the very best sunny bit of an existing border. I now have a 2m by 2m area which is not overhung by trees nor against a boundry hedge, it gets sun from dawn till early evening. He did this as a surprise after I idly commented a couple of weeks ago that this bit of old shrubbery was a waste of possibly the best bit of flower bed in the garden, and it is right next to a seating area. It was a lot of work so he is really in my good books. The planning begins.
That's the intent @Fire, I've seen it done on a decorative water feature and thought it would look nicer than plastic pipe (which we would need to buy). The bit at the top isn't pretty but in the winter we'll have to swivel the the elbow back into the main downpipe or the butt will overflow.
Posts
..thanks for explaining about the spray... I wasn't intending to try it but I found the translation rather amusing and wondered how anyone would even bother, although I do have plenty of horsetail in my garden.. as I haven't sprayed in 35 years I doubt I'll be doing so now, so clearly it's a French thing as you say.. certainly a right faff.. I think I'd rather see the black spot..
I think Jason is Canadian, that's where their nursery is.. one has to be aware that things are very different for them, and not all advice is appropriate for us.. he hasn't grown roses that long either, and he does spray.. a mix of sulphur and baking soda apparently..
Sacrificial plants definitely work - like our boys sunflower that was smothered by aphids (attracting lots of 🐞) while Lady of Shalott and the apple tree were largely untouched.
I think mixed planting is much nicer than “rose gardens” that just have roses planted and nothing else. When those inevitably get ravaged by fungus there’s nothing left but bare thorny sticks. Whereas although I get black spot it’s not that noticeable. Not sure if that’s because it’s only mild, or just the other planting conceals it.
I won’t be planting any other roses in the garden because it would mean I’d have to lose other planting. In my space I’d have too many roses then and lose the contrast in form, height, colour etc that you get with varied planting.
Oops, sorry Jason if your reading, deciphering accents from across the pond is clearly not my strong point! It’s easy enough to filter out any stuff that doesn’t apply though, I think we all need to do that regardless of the information source.
.interesting plumbing.. is that chain to stop the water overflowing? I've not seen this before..