Hobbies and Crafts

Looks as though I just about managed to get the garden ready for winter before the frosts came. We've had a couple of really cold, frosty nights, enough to ice up the bird bath.

I did have an azalea in a pot outside and it is just beginning to bloom again. The frosts have not done it any good at all. It was given to me last February, a big plant in a tiny pot, so I repotted it into a bigger glazed and decorated pot and it has been doing well in the garden. Trouble is there was no ticket or instructions or anything with it so I don't know if it was meant to be an indoors plant or a garden plant. I've put it in the conservatory now but we don't really see the beauty of it there so I am wondering if it will be OK if I put it in the living room or whether that will be too warm for it. Any ideas?

Went to a nice garden centre on Thursday and had a snack lunch and then bought a few bits and pieces. I got 30 really healthy looking pansies for £10 so that will brighten up the spot by the front door.

Got some stuff at the garden centre a couple of weeks or so ago. Have been rather busy 9some of the time in the garden).
will be back in a few days to tell you all about it!

Your conservatory sounds like our Vera

I’ve been managing to get into the garden for a short time each day recently and I think it is at last tidied up and got ready for winter. I just need to get something colourful to put in pots by the front door. The fuchsia that sits there from spring to autumn is now in the conservatory as it is not very hardy.

In fact you can hardly get in my conservatory at the moment. I had a dozen geraniums (pelargoniums) in a couple of troughs so I lifted those and potted them up separately so they are in the conservatory, together with a dozen cuttings I took from them. There are also fuchsia cuttings and a few penstemon cuttings and some other bits and bobs. I do miss my greenhouse but I don’t have room for one here.

I feel very virtuous now I have got the garden jobs done :-D

Unfortunately OH got rained off today. He is in the middle of sorting out two water features, the one which had a large jug had to be dismantled, it has been there for 16 years and the jug has cracked so he is working on a new design with the hall of a couple of frogs. Other than that the garden is more or less tidy for winter. :-)

I'm still trying to get out and bed the garden down for winter. There's a lot to tidy up still. How on earth did we manage when we had a large garden? This tiny one is still keeping us pretty busy.

I managed to tidy up all the hostas and I've cut down the heleniums but we seem to be so busy at the moment that I have no idea when I'll get out there again.

Tess, tulips are best planted November so you are spot on there. Dutch irises should be ok and Allium as well. If you want to grow potatoes best to wait until early next year and plant second earlies garden centres will have them labelled. If you go by the planting times on the packets of bulbs you can’t go far wrong. You can still plant daffy, some varieties are later than others.
Enjoy your visit. :-)

Thanks Ann, have made a note. My garden is small too. No room for a greenhouse, to be honest, I don't yet have the knowledge to make one worthwhile.\ Do have a garden shed (with windows), but it gets far too hot to use for plants, (windows don't open, so no ventilation, unless I keep the door open. Then things might "walk " never to me seen (by me) again.

I hadn't thought of using the small bedroom. What a good idea. It is used infrequently, so visitors would just have to put up with plants if need be. Would not have very many (visitors or plants) in there anyway.


:-)

Tess, Alliums and tulips should be fine planted now. I have several miniature tulips in pots and I lift the bulbs when they have finished so I can use the pots in the summer, then I replant them October-November. I haven't done mine yet.

With snowdrops, It might be just a little bit late if you are planting them as bulbs and they don't usually do very well the first year anyway. They normally do best if planted "in the green" i.e. after they have flowered but before they die back. Garden centres usually sell pots of them like this in the early spring.

I'm not sure about irises but I expect someone on here will know.

I've been making the most of the sun today to do some tidying up. I've cut some stuff back and also lifted a dozen geraniums and potted them up to overwinter. At the moment they are staying outside until there is risk of frost but then I don't know where to put them. This garden is so small that I don't have a greenhouse and our conservatory gets very warm if there is any sun, even in winter. I think I might have to put them in a spare bedroom and move them out when we have visitors to stay.

Lots more tidying and cutting back to do and the tiny pond to clean - a gardener's work is never done ;-)

Got some daffodil bulbs about ten days ago. haven't had chance to plant them out yet .
However been working in the garden a bit this week, have cut down some more of the undergrowth. Also cleared a patch ready for final dig, so that I can do some planting.

Will be going to a garden centre tomorrow,(Saturday). Getting a special bus, hope to have about two hours to have a good look. (I haven't been to this one before, but am told that it is quite large, has a good variety of plants, and has a cafe!)

Not sure what to look out for. Ot has to be smallish thongs, as not a lot of room on the minibus to bring things home.

Is this the right time of year to plant seed potatoes? Or would i look like a complete idiot if I ask ay the centre about them.

Is it too late to plant bulgs? (I'm thinking alliums, iris, snowdrops and tulips) ot is there a chance that it will be ok because the weather is so mild at the moment.

My garden is south(ish) facing and is quite sheltered.

Looking forward to actually growing something in the next twelve months. Then I'll be able to report back with good news!!

P.S. have ordered some risebushes from a catalogue. Then will be coming out to me in the New Year. Wish me luck.

I haven't even stopped to read this thread recently. :-(

Now I find that it was rather remiss of me not to make the time.

Had an apple tree for mothers day two or three years ago, not the self-propergating (???) type, and as I don't have any other fruit trees of any description, I wasn't expecting any fruit at all. Imagine my surprise when it came into flower earlier this year. Eventually I found about four very little apples on it. Unfortunately, all but one fell off while still very small. Remaining one stayed on and grew!1 I ate it last week. Wonderful. I will be keeping my fingers crossed for next year.

I have nettles in the garden, have cut a lot down, but the remaining ones attract the bees and butterflies big time. Perhaps that is why I got apple/s this year.

Have also got a rose bush "Hot Chocolate" didn't get many flowers this year. However had a lovely one recently. Cut it and had it in a little slender vase last week. Is this normal??

Re lavender, I have a French Lavender plant (just one) that I planted a year or so ago. It has now spread out A LOT. Reading this thread it seems that I should give it a trim (not a crewcut). Expecting a visitor soon. Will wait till he gets here, befor I pop out into the garden again.

Last weekend I dug up a small patch of overgrown lawn. I planned to buy some bulbs and plant them. however, couldn't find bulbs (of any description) in the supermarket. But they were selling primroses in a small pot at 50pence a ago. Have bought three and planted them. Have no idea if it is the right time of year but am keeping my fingers crossed.


Any advice on
Bulbs
Pruning rose bushes
Pruning small apple trees (Jon something)
Taming French Lavender.

Any advice would be very welcome.

Made up a long trough/window box yesterday to go on the shelf outside our lounge window, the shelf is about 3-4 inches above the pation, it is a tallish window although not very wide so the trough sits there nicely. I put in a limegreen/yellow sedum, a miniature cedar tree, a heather, a grass, one other I can't remember that has yesllow flowers in spring and a few violas. Hopefully it will look good through the autumn and the heather and grass will go through the winter. I also moved up a few pots and put them across by the windown and put in a few more violas.

We have almost picked in all our apples, we don't get many these days as the tree is quite old but those we do get are very nice, we didn't plant it so not sure of the variey but it is a golden delicious type.

Just catching up. Gwynn the local church has lots of autumn crocus, they are pretty. Glad your cuttings rooted Vera, I am very lazy about taking cuttings, probably because I have never seemed to have much luck with them..
OH has got the garden under control, even planted some bulbs today mainly Dutch iris but a few alliums as well. It is looking quite pretty still.

The autumn crocus sound lovely Gwyn.

We got back late last night so our first sight of the garden was this morning. In the week before going away we had a good tidy up but two weeks later it is looking very tatty again. The weeds are flourishing, some of the flowers have gone over and there is a lot of deadheading needed.

On the plus side, I am pleased that the cuttings of fuschia, geranium and penstemon I took a little while ago seem mostly to have rooted. I had them in the conservatory but was afraid they might wilt so I moved them to a cooler room while we were away and they seem to be doing well.

Some lovely big clumps of asters have come into bloom while we were away as well.

I had a nice surprise this afternoon. The doorbell rang and there was a delivery man with some lovely flowers and a welcome back note from the travel agents who arranged our holiday. I know it is good marketing, but it was still a nice gesture :-D

Not my garden news, but thought I'd mention the wonderful sight of autumn crocus I saw in a nearby town today.
I've noticed a few under the trees there in previous years, but this year's display is spectacular. The parks department have done a good job. The rich mauve flower colour amidst the bright green grass is echoed by the Michaelmas Daisies in the flower beds.
Do other areas use these in autumn displays?

Wouldn't dare do that with a broom handle Ann.... what happens if some mice appear?

Last year I set sunflower seeds and had 7-8 beauties. I used the same make again but have been really disappointed with the result this year,I'll see what next year brings

Kandj, I planted 5 or 6 sunflower seeds and not one came up!!!

Go and rustle the nettles a bit with a long broom and that will maybe send the mice away.

I planted sunflower seeds (just 4) and gave each lots of TLC, but two died on me but the other two were coming along nicely. I do like sunflowers but this morning they both look very sorry for themselves and I have no idea why? I will keep my eyes on them.

The border at the bottom of the garden is looking wild again with weeds and nettles. This is where I first spotted a mouse and have caught 3 mice in traps since then.
I am not wanting to go and spend time weeding in that place again but I don't like
how overgrown it is looking. Hmmmm, I will have to sort it out at some point though!

Vera I hope that you have kind neighbours who will take care of your plants while you and OH are in Russia. Enjoy it all and share your time there with us later please

Thanks for that Ann. I have looked at a lot of sites and books and they give conflicting advice but, as far as I can make out, the hardier the variety, the more likely it is to stand drastic pruning. With luck they will survive.

I am over the migraine thanks, though they always leave me feeling drained for a few days. Having had them since my teens and being formally diagnosed with "severe chronic migraine" at 23, I know all the triggers and try to avoid them but sometimes they seem to arrive for no reason. I've been on permanent medication for many years since one caused a mini stroke and complete loss of memory and put me in hospital for 5 days. I have 2 lots of daily medication for prevention and two lots to take when I do get one.

Russia classes my tablets as strong drugs and I have had to jump through hoops to be allowed to take them in to the country. I had to get a copy of my prescription with a note from my doctor to say what everything is for. This had to be translated into Russian and then had to be signed by a notary. Then I have to declare the meds at customs.

Enough about me. When are you off to Tenerife Ann? Do you have anyone to water your garden when you are away. We don't usually but I am thinking of asking my neighbour if he would water some pots for us if we don't get a lot of rain while we are away.

RHS advice re Lavender Vera
Pruning

Lavenders should be pruned every year to keep them compact. On established plants use secateurs to remove flower stalks and about 2.5cm (1in) of the current year’s growth, making sure that some green growth remains. At Wisley, pruning is undertaken in late summer after flowering, although spring pruning is sometimes recommended in books. Lavender does not break readily from old wood and neglected specimens are best replaced.

But I also found the following on another site so you may be ok.

Pruning English lavender. You prune English lavender by cutting it back by two thirds in the second half of August and you can cut into the bare wood, if needed. New shoots will quickly appear at the base of the bush and these will have enough time to grow and harden up before winter comes.4 May 2017

Hope your migraine improves. Do you know what starts it off and can you avoid it on holiday?