General Chat

AnninGlos, now in the Lake District. You are making me positvely jealous with your posting of your adventures up there. It is making me feel rather nausious. I want to be there. (Stamps feet in fit of rage)
Hope you all enjoy yourselves
All The Best
Julia in Derbyshire

My early, adventurous start with tomatoes is a bit wobbly today!

Size and height, about four inches is good but colour slightly yellowing. I think it's the cold at night in the unheated greenhouse despite my wrapping them up in several layers of horticultural fleece. Previously, I heated the greenhouse. I have brought them back on to the windowsill, I swear they are breathing a sigh of relief. They look cosy anyway! :-)

Lavender - I usually keep mine on the kitchen windowsill, until such times that frosts have done. Also that they are sturdy enough to be put in the greenhouse.
What varieties are you growing.

Julia in Derbyshire

Hi Sheila.
Generally prune right after the plant is through flowering. Light maintenance pruning will not affect flowering for the following year if done as directed. Cutting back a rhododendron heavily can stop the plant from flowering for a year or two. The information was taken from this web site http://www.flounder.ca I found it very interesting and has a lot more reading.
Ivy is normally pretty tough and I would cut it back any time of the year.

Talking about tomatoes has anyone tried the black cherry tomato? Saw some plants in the g centre yesterday although didn't buy any.

Today have been to craft shop and Sizurgh castle where the gardens which are rockeries were not looking spring like at all, very disappointing with very few daffodils and one helebore. (N.Trust).

Only yesterday fellow allotment holder spoke to OH about black tomatoes and said they were delicious - a flavour all their own.

Never heard of them or noticed them in seed catalogues.

i bougjht a very rare tomato plant last year it was so rare it never did anything.

ive got some seeds in tray on my bedroom windowsill, bits and bobs coming in greenhouse, couple of days and i will be planting some more xx :-D

Lesley

Thanks a lot for the info of to take a look at the site you mentioned :-)
Ann your walk sounds wonderful , I love the lake district so many lovely areas :O) hope you daughter is doing well and sending her my best wishes.

Off out to do the shopping this morning ,finishing at the local B & Q .to get me weed killers and bug controls ,so i will have a look as i buy some Turnip and Pak Choi seed to see if they have these black tomato seed ,not too late to start them up here .Fred. :-D

Fred, no it is not too late to set seeds. I don't start mine until this next week. Good look in your hunting down the black tomatoes. I have never seen them as a cherry tomato, as I think AnninGlos suggested, but there is a variety of seed called Black Russian, which is a large tomatoe.

Julia in Derbyshire

I grew Black Cherry and Black Russian tomatoes a couple of years ago. The Black Cherry were OK, but I found the Black Russian rather tasteless. A friend said we needed hotter temperatures and although I grew them inside maybe the summer was rather cool. You can get both online from Thompson and Morgan.

I still can't find anything to beat Sungold, but do also grow a beef steak variety like Marmande and like to try another new one each year. Just started growing the seeds in heat inside. I don't expect they will go out in our unheated greenhouse until late April.

K, I was trying to rack my brain as to who sold the seeds when I mentioned Black Russian.
I did not havre a great deal of success with them either, and they were not particularly black.
I try to grow a new one every year. also. I will be setting my seeds this weekend, if possible, but will keep them in the kitchen for a few weeks.

Julia in Derbyshire

The black cherry tomato we saw was a plant (small) in the garden centre. We too like sungold and also last yearw e grew a small pear drop shaped yellow which was very sweet.

The black cherry tomato we saw was a plant (small) in the garden centre. We too like sungold and also last yearw e grew a small pear drop shaped yellow which was very sweet.

Can anyone give any help in how to look after a small pear bush and a small plum bush. I say bush because they dont seem to have trunks they have branches that are vurtually touching the ground. They also both seem to fruit okay.

Thankyou x

brillo, are they what is called Ballarina's, which one would normanlly grow on a Patio in a pot.

Julia in Derbyshire

No there not in pots in the ground. I inheritated them when I moved to this cottage 4 years ago. They do produce fruit but I am sure they must need some sort of pruning. They are about 5ft tall they dont seem to have grown taller either in the last 4 years. I want to be able to use the fruit this year I havent bothered before but I just dont want to waste it.

P.S. Not very good with plants tho.

Thankyou

You neeb some of the men folks, with either large gardens or allotments. Perhaps someone like badger.

Hope you are successful

Julia in Derbyshire

Thanks Julia x

P m'd you brillo while i was doing a puter update ,apologies to all ,Fred is a veggie gardener ,with a little fruit knowledge ,mailly because i have a few dwarf trees on my patio ,in large urns .
Please ask no questions on flowers lol ,if i can't eat 'em i don't grow 'em ,i leave that to the wife :-)
The only thing i grew with regular flowers were Wild garlic [lovely ] and Polish Horse radish [belting] .Fred.
:-D