Gardening Resources & Tips

[scullion]

The home of gardening queries, tips and resources.

Blight Watch - really useful to check the likelihood of blight, where you are, during the year.
free to join met office service.

and if you didn't already know about him - Charles Dowding.

[Sakkarin]

My pear tree blew over in the storms

Garden looks a lot bigger now though, but it was hell getting rid of the old tree without paying enormous amounts of money to waste disposal gardening companies, especially as I no longer have a car...

I was very lucky that the tree blew over in a direction that it did no damage, especially as the neighbours have spent enormous amounts of money turning their garden into a mini theme park...

[slimpersoninside]

As I rarely post on this thread I feel a bit of a fraud being one of the early posters .

Nevermind all that, here goes. Can anyone put a name to this plant please? I really like the look of it and would like one...if we ever sort the garden out.

Thank you.

[Suffs]

That's Salvia 'Hotlips' https://www.crocus.co.uk/plants/_/salvi ... gKjjvD_BwE

It's pretty widely available but I've posted this link cos it's fairly informative

[slimpersoninside]

Cheers Suffs . It has been bookmarked .

[Sloe-Gin]

Thanks scully, for the blight bookmark and suffs for the Hot lips!!

[Lusciouslush]

Hot Lips is really easy to strike cuttings from too - I now have four plants!

[Suffs]

Sometimes Hotlips can produce flowers of all one colour ... sometimes red, and sometimes white ... I understand informed opinion believes that this occurs with variations in temperature.

[Lusciouslush]

Yes I've had that - one bush turned mostly all red at the end of last year but back to red & white this year so far, then again I have one at the front garden ( facing south & very hot) that's half red & half white........

[herbidacious]

I think all salvias, including culinary ones, are quite easy to take cuttings from. I have a Hotlips, too. I (perhaps) foolishly sent off for one of those offers - about 10 salvias for very little money - egged on by my mother. Of course you need quite a bit of garden to home 10 salivias!

I have a lovely blackcurrant one in my front garden where the soil quality is attrocious. (Improving it is on my list of things to do,.) It has flourished there, adn the leaves really do smell of baclcurrants (and sage, at the same time). It has rather bright, deep pink flowers.

My favourite, which I don't seem to be able to keep (over winter), is probably Amistad.

[Lusciouslush]

Oooo yes - lovely inky Amistad - one of my favs too - it does come back here - maybe more sheltered.

I'm a bit of a salvia nut - I do seem to have a lot & a lot of bees too.....

[Uschi]

My sweet peas overwintered and are now in full swing. I let them produce about five ripe seed pods. i know I can sow them in winter, but I wonder ... could I sow some now to take over from mine when they fold?

[herbidacious]

A quick google suggests 12-14 weeks from sowing to flowering for sweet peas. I suppose it might work, but you might only get a couple of weeks of flowers, assuming mid-later October is not too cold. I also assume there is not genetic programming that would prevent them flowering so late in the season...

I just ate tomato number two. Good flavour, but, again, quite thick skin. This one was a Maskotka.
Not sure if the thick skins are my fault of the variety. Really oddly I did have blossom end rot on a tomato in the greenhouse that's sitting on a tank of watern

[Uschi]

Thank you! I have five pods, so will try one out for summer sowing. No harm in trying. They are a gorgeous pale pink and their scent is fabulous.
In early evening the balcony is superb at the moment. The first whiff one gets is off the nicotiana sylvestris, then small carnations, then stocks and the sweet peas. Very heady.

[scullion]

that sounds divine.

[herbidacious]

Yes indeed, you might as well give it a go, Uschi.

I need to go and pick some more - I have been having a small bouquet next to me for the last month. Mine are now producing shorter stalked flowers. Probably need feeding?

Your balcony sounds wonderful!

[Uschi]

Thank you! It looks a Bit higgledy, piggeldy, but fun.

[herbidacious]

Not really a quote - just trying to get your attention, SG! The (notification) wonders of the new forum... hopefully

Do you have and have you set up the holiday watering system for your Quadgrows? I am having difficulty with mine... Will try ringing them tomorrow. (No phone number now on the web site but maybe the one on the so-called instructions will work.) But I thought I would ask just in case.

https://www.greenhousesensation.co.uk/h ... alve.html/

[Sloe-Gin]

Colour from the summer house
No holiday kit, Herbi.
My courgettes hate the quad grow. I'm going to transfer them tomorrow.

[Lusciouslush]

Wonderful colour combo SG.....!