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Gardening resources and tips, etc.

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby herbidacious » Fri Apr 10, 2020 12:08 pm

Most of them came from her, and very lovely they are too. Some are new to me this year. Others are from last year's lot. The fringed one is Louvre Orange.

I also used Farmer Gracy, but mainly for narcissi and aliums and a few other bits and bobs, such as:

49743661802_6f72bac860_c (1).jpg
49756262711_53702b1bc5_c.jpg


So far so good.

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby scullion » Fri Apr 10, 2020 12:13 pm

did you take those photos today? ours died back ages ago and we're well into bluebell and primrose time now.

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Stokey Sue » Fri Apr 10, 2020 6:30 pm

The leucojum are still going strong in the cemetery park over the road - they have gone wild there. A lot of them are in fairly deep shade

The bluebells have come out to pretty much full strength today, we have a lot of white ones in among the blue.

Daffy are pretty much gone

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby herbidacious » Fri Apr 10, 2020 7:26 pm

I took the narcissus on the 6th ut stll looking nice. I only have three of then! Aand the 'snowdrop' last week. Technically I suppose they are not snowdrops? Leucojum aestivum. They came out around the 26th March. Getting a little past it now.

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Pampy » Sat Apr 11, 2020 12:08 am

Up here in the frozen north, daffodils and snowdrops are still looking lovely in some places.

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Luca » Sat Apr 11, 2020 11:10 am

Lovely photos herbi. I must remember to plant some bulbs this year. September isn’t it?

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Lusciouslush » Sat Apr 11, 2020 11:31 am

A massive Leucojum lover here! I have two large clumps in the garden which I planted years ago & have spread wonderfully - one clump always starts flowering at the end of Jan before they have even reached full height & are still going strong now, I always look forward to seeing them - stunning plant.

Daffs went over weeks ago here, except for a potfull of tiny weeny ones ( about 6" tall) - can't remember what they're called - they're very sweet mass planted, the tulips are all out enjoying the sun & some have already gone over - I thought with the wet winter we've had it might have been a bad year for bulbs, but not so!

The salvias are in for a chop this afternoon so I shall be wafting strongly of sage.....!

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Luca » Sat Apr 11, 2020 11:41 am

Lusciouslush wrote:The salvias are in for a chop this afternoon so I shall be wafting strongly of sage.....!


When used in aromatherapy it’s said to clarify the mind, to have a calming and strengthening effect. Can’t be bad during these horrible times Lush.

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Lusciouslush » Sat Apr 11, 2020 11:52 am

Lol! good thing I love the smell then Luca - my mind needs all the help it can get right now...….! :roll:

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby herbidacious » Sat Apr 11, 2020 12:29 pm

Thanks, Luca. September for daffodils, October for aliums, November for tulips I think, but I have planted things on Christmas day with some success.

They are lovely, aren't they, Lusciouslush. Mine are in a pot. They might go in the garden next year.

My bog standard daffs now need deadheading, but others are still going strong and some new ones (white) came out yesterday. 'Stainless' variety I think. I also have these: https://www.farmergracy.co.uk/products/ ... o-bulbs-uk
They don't look quite like this. Hard to photograph without lying on the ground... (I should do it.)
But I think a few types I bought have not come up.

My seedlings don't seem to be growing much, after germinating (mostly) quite quickly. I have no idea how long things take. Need to research pricking out. Also pinching out sweet peas. They are all getting a bit straggly now and starting to attach themselves to one another. Young plants sent as plugs don't seem to be growing much either. It's just too early? Sorry. I have concentrated on veg for years, so growing flowers is a new thing to me.

Meanwhile I asked to have two 'weeds' identified on GWF this morning. They are honesty (of course they are...) which is funny because I wanted to grow some. But not necessarily where these ones are. They are getting very slugged. I could move them but I think best not to...? One of them is huge.

Also wondering whether to weed out wild geranium that's sprung up around a spot where there are alliums and tulips. If I dig it up it might disturb the blubs. If I leave it it might be harder to get up later?

I should go and do things. Now!

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Lusciouslush » Sat Apr 11, 2020 1:33 pm

herbidacious wrote:Mine are in a pot. They might go in the garden next year.


Herbi - you're best off planting Leucojums in the ground around now, in the green - they take much better than bulbs alone :thumbsup & have time to establish themselves with feeding over the summer.

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby herbidacious » Sat Apr 11, 2020 2:55 pm

ok. Can I wait until they've stopped flowering? Not sure where to put them. Will do some research.

I potted on three artichoke plants and a sadly neglected fig, this morning. Also some strawberries and put some more out - they came as bare rooted plant over a week ago. I hope they will be ok. Worth a try though.

need to order a new expanding hose. Mine has sprung a leak. They don't seem to last long but they are useful.

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Lusciouslush » Sat Apr 11, 2020 7:27 pm

Definitely leave until after flowering Herbi - don't want to waste those gorgeous nodding heads - as long as there are green leaves left you can plant them whenever - as for a spot, I have one clump in full sunshine for the best part of the day ( well as sunny as it gets in Jan/feb/March ) but is sheltered on one side by the birdbath, and the other clump in shade under conifers - both do well but the one in less shade flowers earlier & for a longer time.

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby herbidacious » Sat Apr 11, 2020 8:05 pm

Great. I have a possible spot at the foot of a shrub (if I dig up some geraniums - they are taking over).

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Renee » Sat Apr 11, 2020 8:17 pm

Herbi, I had an expanding hose which leaked and I vowed never to get one again, but I've just seen this one on Amazon, so might buy it.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/TedGem-Expanda ... NrPXRydWU=

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby herbidacious » Sat Apr 11, 2020 9:17 pm

This is number two. Number one exploded (in the face of my cat feeders while they were watering my plants :oops: ) I have been doing a bit of research, and apparently they all tend to leak. I need to weigh up whether the money is worth the convenience of something that may not last. But there are environmental issues too of buying essentailly disposable hoses :o

I have a 100ish foot garden and in the growing season, I usually trail a long conventional hose down through the top half to the bottom, and have a splitter to enable me to have a shorter hose (the expandable one) for the top half (plus a really short bit to enable me to put water in a can.) It is convenient. I don't want to have to keep winding things up to get them out of my (er my husband's) way.

I am really beginning to not just be circumspect about amazon reviews, but entirely not trust them. There seem to be lots of 5 stars, then quite a few one stars... however the one you linked to does at least have a good distribution of 1-5 stars :) I like the look of it. Very tempted.

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Stokey Sue » Sun Apr 12, 2020 6:09 pm

Good James Wong article about not getting too carried away with veg growing - but keeping doing it

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyl ... 1586704246

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby herbidacious » Sun Apr 12, 2020 9:57 pm

Yes I agree with all that. I suspect a lot of these pea, bean and courgette seed bulk buyers will end up with much less food than they think, possibly less quickly than they expect it.

They had a little section on Gardener's World the week before last with nod to C-q9 gardening. He sowed carrot seeds in a tiny box and rocket in an even smaller one. Not really going to give you that much.

I am growing a lot more from seed this year than usual, and worrying about having enough room in the house before it's all big enough to go out. And then there is the slug issue. This will apply to all these novice gardeners too I imagine. I am afraid I think I heard a cockeral this afternoon. Never heard one before... seems a bit like getting a puppy for Christmas. I hope they have a secure coup. There are a lot of foxes round here. There's a den in the field I think.

Anyway I sowed some basil, thyme, rocket and raddishes today. Potted up some (free) begonias), potted on a supermarket coriander which is really past it, but worth a try, put some manure down (I could do with some more), weeded the strawberry patches.

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Luca » Mon Apr 13, 2020 10:11 am

herbidacious wrote:I am growing a lot more from seed this year than usual, and worrying about having enough room in the house before it's all big enough to go out. And then there is the slug issue

Me too. The kitchen table now doubles as a ‘greenhouse’ ! I shall be adding to it with various veg but cannot get hold of tomato seeds. I have read elsewhere that I can dry out fresh tomato seeds and, apparently even just bury some squished cherry tomatoes under compost.....

Any pointers anybody?

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Badger's Mate » Mon Apr 13, 2020 11:43 am

Yes, seeds from tomatoes will grow. There's one consideration.

Most commercial tomatoes are F1 hybrid varieties. Their seeds will grow into tomato plants and they will have tomatoes on them, but they will be quite variable and not the same as the tomato they came from.

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