@Mr. Vine Eye, inspired by you, I have bought two Astrantias. I have lost some previously to slugs/snails/not sure how they vanished, but I am giving it a try again this year. If this time I loose them, I will buy some plastic ones
..yes agree with newbie, it's not a problem. I think most of us probably bury the graft, most of the time, I usually advise it, but sometimes I just don't, like this one below.. If I was to plant this in the ground, I would bury it a bit.. @floraltips .. delighted you're enjoying the rose threads, and that you've found roses at last.. Never too late..Â
My Gabriel Oak has been doing ok, despite a spring pruning by my dog, but now the unmistakeable leaves of two bear's breeches plants have appeared more or less right under the rose (my neighbour grows them just over the fence, so they've spread from there). I assume they'll affect the rose, with which I have a love/hate relationship (hideous plant but oh what a fragrance!), so how would you go about removing the invaders? And if I do manage to hack them out without damaging the rose's roots (if...), that won't hurt the mother plant over the fence, will it?
Still no rose blooms.
Good luck with your astrantias, newbie. Mine have not changed since I planted them a fortnight ago. Perhaps they are plastic!
@newbie77 - all of mine are coming back. But my foxgloves have been left in tatters by slugs. I just had bad luck with that one I planted a few years ago dying, the rest have just been misidentified. Hope yours do well.
I must get out and water in the morning. Some potted plants are starting to look very crispy.
First posy of the year: mostly Etoile d'H with a touch of Crimson Glory. They are looking here more pink than in the flesh. The scent is very much stronger when just opening than a few days later. A bouquet for my neighbour's 60th birthday.Â
@newbie77 My foxgloves get mollocked if I put them in as tall plants and they can never self seed as the shoots are nommed off. I so I generally grow mine in pots. I'm thinking of trying to grow them tall (3 ft) and try in the ground this year. Again. It's never worked before but I might be a bit more on top of the slug onslaught this year. She said.
I'll be trying snap dragons and penstemon too this summer. In the ground. If they get chewed, Ill pull them out and put them back in pots.. My hollyhocks seems ok so far.
.nice red basals on 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'.. ..just to show I have a good collection of aphids.. ..first bud on 'Indigo'..
@WhereAreMySecateurs .. I would pull those up promptly, and probably use a spade by the fence, to try and remove roots coming through to your side..  something like that..
Foxgloves - The ones I grew from seed last year, potted on and planted out in autumn. They’ve all been gobbled since start of Spring.
The ones that just popped up in random places, self seeded, they’re big and relatively untouched.
I was confused, I assumed that the foxgloves would drop their seeds, and the seedlings would start to grow the next spring. So when I got none coming up I thought they’d been unsuccessful. However they all started popping up the following year. So grow from seed - flower - year off - new seedlings - flower.
So if I wanted continuous foxgloves each year I’d need to sow them myself for at least three years in a row.
Posts
If I was to plant this in the ground, I would bury it a bit..
@floraltips
.. delighted you're enjoying the rose threads, and that you've found roses at last.. Never too late..Â
I must get out and water in the morning. Some potted plants are starting to look very crispy.
@Fire, you have lots of early flowers. Then yes you would miss them in May when you are away.Â
..just to show I have a good collection of aphids..
..first bud on 'Indigo'..
@WhereAreMySecateurs
.. I would pull those up promptly, and probably use a spade by the fence, to try and remove roots coming through to your side..  something like that..
The ones that just popped up in random places, self seeded, they’re big and relatively untouched.
I was confused, I assumed that the foxgloves would drop their seeds, and the seedlings would start to grow the next spring. So when I got none coming up I thought they’d been unsuccessful. However they all started popping up the following year. So grow from seed - flower - year off - new seedlings - flower.
So if I wanted continuous foxgloves each year I’d need to sow them myself for at least three years in a row.