I've been finding gardening hard in the heat. A bit of watering and pruning, then I'm knackered, and the allotment resembles a blasted heath, with no shade. However, rain promised for Tuesday.
Weeding and watering - the weeds of course being big and lush-leafed and going like a train. Meanwhile the early summer bedding is withered, and the acer and now the Virginia creeper (it shouldn't even be out this early) have leaf scorch. And one of the watering cans has disappeared. Stolen by squirrels I expect.
Don't give up on your fuchsia too soon @Eigon. My Dad had one that looked totally dead and it took me months to realise it wasn't just a bit of stick in a pot. It then had some hit and miss watering when I was with him regularly. It looked as though it was completely gone a couple of times.
I have it at my place now and I'm trying to remember to cover it for frost protection. The leaves are looking a bit wilty at present, but I"m persisting.
I love the sound of your plantings @quetzalcoatl. Cheery husband's strawberries are looking a bit sad at present due to the frosts, but I think they will tough it out as only a couple of months now until spring.
Alas some frost has crept under the covering of the geraniums and one looks quite bad, we'll see how it goes in spring, but I'm not cutting it back until the warmer weather in the hope of some new growth.
Scratch the stem of the fuchsia - if it's green underneath it'll grow back as lovely as ever.
My front garden is utterly neglected. I growl at it every time I come home then forget it again.
The back garden is tended ceaselessly.
My art course has finished and I have a little money that I was paying for it monthly.
So - I've employed a gardener for 20 hours. Once it's sorted I'll be able to keep on top of it. She's a proper gardener, not the 'slash and hack' type we often see.
My plan for the weekend was to sort out a neglected, overgrown and ugly corner of the back garden. No sooner had I made a start on Saturday than I came across a toad; about the size of the palm of my hand. So I left well alone, to avoid disturbing him.
I re-started yesterday, but the toad was still in situ.
He's still there today. I have no idea how he got there but I assume he lives there, along with a large number of snails.
The only solution seems to be to re-name the overgrown and ugly corner and then leave it as it is. "The Nature Patch"? "The mini-wilderness"? "Toad Hall" ? Any suggestions?
How toadily unexpected. As long as the locals don't take it to be your Familiar.
A fair amount of rain today, and more promised tomorrow- though I think it would need a steady downpour for a week to irrigate properly. The Virginia creeper is following the acer into leaf wilt sadly.
Things quite frosty overnight here, but all plants appear to be OK. I had watered my pots earlier in the week, so I might hold off doing those again for a couple of days if it's going to get really cold.
Green bin gets collected tomorrow, so lots of raking and sweeping of leaves, ready for collection tomorrow. The place isn't totally bare as I know the parrots and wrens are coming for snacks, so a little bit of leaves with seeds left for them. Just keeping the stormwater clear. Good to see that all my bulbs are putting up new leaves. So I'll be ready for spring surprises. I forget what I plant where, and I move stuff around, so I am looking forward to Sept/Oct when they'll be in bloom.
Last night for dinner, I had fried green tomatoes, from my son's garden, cucumbers and onions from my neighbor, and squash from my own patio. I also had iced tea with lemon from my tree. There is something heartwarming about eating home-grown produce.
That sounds wonderful @Graven Image . I love the sound of the iced tea with lemon. Yes, home grown produce tastes better than the shop stuff, so much more flavour, which I suppose comes from it not having to be transported several km, or sit in storage before being used.
Not much gardening today, just a tiny bit of weeding and cleaning up some messy leaves to keep the place looking tidy. We are expecting a run of wet days so I might go out later in the day and drag out some of the pots which are sitting under the eaves so they can have a nice drink. It is so lovely outside this morning due to the fact that it's about 10 degrees warmer than the same time last week! Alas it is not to last ....
Our lotus pond has decided to flower all at once. We've got maybe seven buds ready to open tomorrow. It's the third year, and they finally look the way I wanted them to look when we planted them from seed in bags of cow manure...
I sure would like to see that. Lotus flowers and their seedpods after blooming are spectacular. I don't see many pictures on this thread. When I tried to post a couple just now I got a message that I could use BB code to do so but then another saying I couldn't use {IMG}. Confusing.
I’m pretty sure we aren’t allowed by the software. I’ll have to think about ways to post it somewhere else—recommendations? I don’t really do social media like Facebook or Instagram.
Well, crap. Without my telling it to, it exposed my real life data. Is there such a thing as a website you can post a photo to that WON'T do that? I've tried Instagram, it insists on doing so.
A bit of indoor gardening. I have a frankly crazed chilli plant taking up much of the bay window. Today I went around assassinating all the new flowers, with a view to getting it to concentrate on the 30 or so chillies it's already birthed.
Oh wow, the fruit this year are incredible, we are gorging on our plums, they've had plenty of sun to ripen them. I remember South African apples like this, almost honey flavoured. But all our fruit have been excellent, haven't tried the grapes yet. But the pea harvest is not great apparently, I mean on farms.
I've been told that there are ripe plums in our local Secret Garden - it's a semi-wild space open for anyone during the summer. So I think I'll go down later with a basket, and take the opportunity to use the swing that is fastened to the branch of one of the trees there.
I picked my patio crops this morning: two cucumbers, four peppers, four tomatoes, and one green bean. Good thing I live alone and don't have to share the bean. I wonder what I will do with it. Do dogs like green beans? Perhaps I will see.
Ooh @Boogie, that sounds wonderful! Good job on the patio gardening @Graven Image .
I've been very neglectful of my potted seedlings recently. As today has been quite warm I've been outside and watered everything, Doing both front and back pots took about half an hour. It was just lovely outside in the sunshine, daphne flowering, enjoying their beautiful scent. Whilst watering, I noticed some of the pots are looking a bit weedy, so perhaps a bit of weeding tomorrow. Today's watering will hopefully have softened the soil up a bit and the weeding will be quick and easy.
Heatwaves are difficult to manage @quetzalcoatl. Do you have to hand water your allotment and does that take long?
I'm really thrilled with how well the daphne are performing. The ones I planted are a newer variety, supposed to be good in sunnier positions and they do appear to like the current spot. In summer we will rig up our sunshade again, it's quite an exposed area, so I think they do need a bit of additional protection, particularly in January and February when the temperatures can be over 30 degrees celsius for several days running.
Hi, Cheery Gardener, we use a hose, so that is easy to manage, it's just that at the moment, it is almost daily. I think also many veg are sinking into an autumnal decline. No new ones now, although my wife is gamely planting leeks and lettuce.
Sorry to be so late replying @Cheery Gardener , but I ended up keeping most of the tree spinach. Its supposed to be edible, but I haven't really tried that yet.
I'm quite pleased at how our garden is coming on (it was very much a blank canvas when we moved here four years ago), but I do wish we'd have a bit of rain as dragging the hose pipe to the end of our fairly long garden is a pain. Of course if the garden floods again this winter I'll wish I hadn't said that.
I often think gardens are feast or famine @Sarasa, too much water, not enough, heaps of leaves to rake, or no leaves at all over winter. Bulbs flowering or finishing. There is always something to be done. It sounds as though you've put heaps of work into your garden and I know that will be a lot!! The garden here is very established, but some plants had been neglected and some had died and needed to be replaced. You have to like an ongoing job if you want to have a nice garden.
In my old hometown there was a lady I saw working in her garden every single day. She'd often be out first thing of a morning when I was driving to work, possibly planning her tasks for the day. She was a regular winner of the local garden competition. I almost weep when I drive past her home now, the new residents appear not to be garden lovers.
I'll say. Late summer can be a bit chaotic in any case, with a lot of planting getting to the untidy stage of post-flowering. Particularly so this year, with the hot Spring bringing on premature efflorescence, and the accompanying drought stressing some plants out entirely (will have to wait for next year to see if the acer and Virginia creeper will recover). I have a tap but no hose, so it means carting cans. In This Heat (yesterday was 28° - feels like 30° - which is well above my tolerance) that's not only exhausting but feels, so to speak, like a drop in the bucket when I see the greater part of the lawn yellow. Simultaneously the apple trees are bending under fruit, and the opportunists - weeds mainly - are rampaging through the beds.
Sounds like a bumper crop of apples @Firenze - that's really great.
@Boogie getting new stuff into the garden is always fun. Today Cheery husband has planted potatoes. He seems to love doing this, I think they must be his favourite veg to plant. I suppose they are not high maintenance and that could be the reason.
Our camellias are looking particularly lovely at present and I saw some beautiful ones at the garden centre yesterday, my problem is I don't really have room to plant any new ones! Such a shame ....
Sounds like a bumper crop of apples @Firenze - that's really great..
Up to a point. I have jam in the cupboard from 3 seasons ago. There's a limit to how much pie, tart, crumble, sauce etc this household can put away, or how much I can offload on friends.
I think spuds are an ace crop. I like the way they emerge from their underground lair, with profuse foliage, and then flower. Its true they are relatively easy.
We are quite sanguine now about heat and drought, partly because there are autumnal hues around, so the veg have run their course, also fruit have been very good, and veg like lettuce and chard seem bomb proof. My next book, "Gardening Without Rain". Oops, my wife is glaring at me, as she has been heroically watering.
Our mobile home park is hosting a potluck on Saturday, and with many more tomatoes in my garden than I can eat on my own, I decided to bring a tomato dish. I went to sign up today and saw two tomato dishes already listed. It is the season. Not to be outdone, I am taking home-made chips and salsa.
Sorry to read @Firenze that you can't use all your apples. It's difficult when there is a glut because you can't exactly force your produce onto people!!
Nothing done in the garden this morning as rain is due - I wanted to do some weed poisoning, but that will have to wait.
A fairly productive time on Sunday morning, a lot of weeds pulled and difficult weeds growing between the path and the house had their leaves burnt by Cheery husband with his burner. Just trying to keep on top of things.
Comments
I have it at my place now and I'm trying to remember to cover it for frost protection. The leaves are looking a bit wilty at present, but I"m persisting.
I love the sound of your plantings @quetzalcoatl. Cheery husband's strawberries are looking a bit sad at present due to the frosts, but I think they will tough it out as only a couple of months now until spring.
Alas some frost has crept under the covering of the geraniums and one looks quite bad, we'll see how it goes in spring, but I'm not cutting it back until the warmer weather in the hope of some new growth.
My front garden is utterly neglected. I growl at it every time I come home then forget it again.
The back garden is tended ceaselessly.
My art course has finished and I have a little money that I was paying for it monthly.
So - I've employed a gardener for 20 hours. Once it's sorted I'll be able to keep on top of it. She's a proper gardener, not the 'slash and hack' type we often see.
I re-started yesterday, but the toad was still in situ.
He's still there today. I have no idea how he got there but I assume he lives there, along with a large number of snails.
The only solution seems to be to re-name the overgrown and ugly corner and then leave it as it is. "The Nature Patch"? "The mini-wilderness"? "Toad Hall" ? Any suggestions?
A fair amount of rain today, and more promised tomorrow- though I think it would need a steady downpour for a week to irrigate properly. The Virginia creeper is following the acer into leaf wilt sadly.
I was going to suggest "Toad Away", but that tops mine by some way!
Green bin gets collected tomorrow, so lots of raking and sweeping of leaves, ready for collection tomorrow. The place isn't totally bare as I know the parrots and wrens are coming for snacks, so a little bit of leaves with seeds left for them. Just keeping the stormwater clear. Good to see that all my bulbs are putting up new leaves. So I'll be ready for spring surprises. I forget what I plant where, and I move stuff around, so I am looking forward to Sept/Oct when they'll be in bloom.
Not much gardening today, just a tiny bit of weeding and cleaning up some messy leaves to keep the place looking tidy. We are expecting a run of wet days so I might go out later in the day and drag out some of the pots which are sitting under the eaves so they can have a nice drink. It is so lovely outside this morning due to the fact that it's about 10 degrees warmer than the same time last week! Alas it is not to last ....
You can share a link to just one photo.
My water feature, just finished - https://photos.app.goo.gl/HkrN5wyEhnegiziW7
Let’s see if this works.
The site says we don't have permission to view the photos.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/18kOhQ5ZehqHBkq6kKmqZarvlUx84suUJ/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BMdoOLQ9UhrZuczn0ZecnisQmmpKY-Tm/view?usp=sharing
Both were successful. Maybe I'll experiment some more too.
https://flic.kr/p/2iHLYX
I like those little .... pitcher plants? the kind that eat bugs?
I've been very neglectful of my potted seedlings recently. As today has been quite warm I've been outside and watered everything, Doing both front and back pots took about half an hour. It was just lovely outside in the sunshine, daphne flowering, enjoying their beautiful scent. Whilst watering, I noticed some of the pots are looking a bit weedy, so perhaps a bit of weeding tomorrow. Today's watering will hopefully have softened the soil up a bit and the weeding will be quick and easy.
I'm really thrilled with how well the daphne are performing. The ones I planted are a newer variety, supposed to be good in sunnier positions and they do appear to like the current spot. In summer we will rig up our sunshade again, it's quite an exposed area, so I think they do need a bit of additional protection, particularly in January and February when the temperatures can be over 30 degrees celsius for several days running.
I'm quite pleased at how our garden is coming on (it was very much a blank canvas when we moved here four years ago), but I do wish we'd have a bit of rain as dragging the hose pipe to the end of our fairly long garden is a pain. Of course if the garden floods again this winter I'll wish I hadn't said that.
In my old hometown there was a lady I saw working in her garden every single day. She'd often be out first thing of a morning when I was driving to work, possibly planning her tasks for the day. She was a regular winner of the local garden competition. I almost weep when I drive past her home now, the new residents appear not to be garden lovers.
I'll say. Late summer can be a bit chaotic in any case, with a lot of planting getting to the untidy stage of post-flowering. Particularly so this year, with the hot Spring bringing on premature efflorescence, and the accompanying drought stressing some plants out entirely (will have to wait for next year to see if the acer and Virginia creeper will recover). I have a tap but no hose, so it means carting cans. In This Heat (yesterday was 28° - feels like 30° - which is well above my tolerance) that's not only exhausting but feels, so to speak, like a drop in the bucket when I see the greater part of the lawn yellow. Simultaneously the apple trees are bending under fruit, and the opportunists - weeds mainly - are rampaging through the beds.
Kale and chard first.
@Boogie getting new stuff into the garden is always fun. Today Cheery husband has planted potatoes. He seems to love doing this, I think they must be his favourite veg to plant. I suppose they are not high maintenance and that could be the reason.
Our camellias are looking particularly lovely at present and I saw some beautiful ones at the garden centre yesterday, my problem is I don't really have room to plant any new ones! Such a shame ....
Up to a point. I have jam in the cupboard from 3 seasons ago. There's a limit to how much pie, tart, crumble, sauce etc this household can put away, or how much I can offload on friends.
Most will end up as apple compost.
Nothing done in the garden this morning as rain is due - I wanted to do some weed poisoning, but that will have to wait.
A fairly productive time on Sunday morning, a lot of weeds pulled and difficult weeds growing between the path and the house had their leaves burnt by Cheery husband with his burner. Just trying to keep on top of things.