Gardening 2021

[FrankCrank]

Never been green fingered myself, but back in the day when I was living in the UK I was partial to watching Gardener's World (Twitmarsh et al) and Ground Force. Great to watch others doing the graft and having something to show at the end, those JCB's come in handy eh. Anyhow's, recently downloaded a 4 part thing on Kew Gardens, aired on CH5. Managed to get through 2 episodes then gave up, the show was ruined by constant reminders of what's coming up next, and after the break what was covered in the previous part. One hour episodes are in effect less than half an hour of content when you remove the ads and all the other repeated bits. Shame, as it could have been a rare piece of horticultural bliss. Guess this has been a slow decline over the years with UK TV - dumbing things down and catering to viewers with the attention span of goldfish. OK - glad I got that all off my chest - rant over

 

[Tail End Charlie]

Gardening gurus....my roses have what seems like whitefly and aphids. I’m reluctant to use anything as there’s plenty of songbirds etc so I hope they have a feast or am I better off using a soap solution sprayed on?

Encourage predators, the birds, ladybirds, beetles etc. Plant lavender nearby, provide food for blue tits, that sort of thing. In the meantime squash a few with your fingers.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

My Lupins have been magnificent the last few weeks, but they are going over now and I've started to deadhead, last night I'd snipped of this flower spike, gone to half seed half flower, and before I could put it in the garden waste a Bee came over to investigate the remaining flowers, I stood there with the flower spike in my hand for several minutes while this Bee investigated every remaining flower on the spike.

 

[Mr Celine]

Gardening gurus....my roses have what seems like whitefly and aphids. I’m reluctant to use anything as there’s plenty of songbirds etc so I hope they have a feast or am I better off using a soap solution sprayed on?

Every year my roses get covered with greenfly at this time of year. I think they get blown from a neighbour's sycamore tree along with a constant drizzle of sap which cakes the cars etc.
The roses were here when we moved in in 1993. Every year there is fine display of blooms from July to October which appear to be completely unaffected by the aphids. They are outside my dining room window which is currently my workstation and watching the daily visit of a flock of sparrows plus numerous other visits from individual blue and coal tits cheers me up no end.

So my advice is to leave them.

 

[jowwy]

Amazing how quick things grow with a bit of warmth and water

 

[postman]

My bit of extra garden looking well,painted the gate and fence today.

 

[Milzy]

Without starting another thread I have a new 3x2x2 planter box. What unusual shrubs or plants should I put in?

 

[Tail End Charlie]

Without starting another thread I have a new 3x2x2 planter box. What unusual shrubs or plants should I put in?

Need to know what aspect it'll have, how much sun, shade protection from winds that sort of thing.

 

[Milzy]

Need to know what aspect it'll have, how much sun, shade protection from winds that sort of thing.

Shielded from winds & quite a lot of sun.

 

[Tail End Charlie]

Shielded from winds & quite a lot of sun.

Ok, sounds a good spot.

If you want a red, white display, how about escallonia. It ranges in colour from red, through pink to white. Evergreen, will take some pruning and bees and butterflies love it.

For a yellow, blue display, how about Choisya ternata (Mexican Orange blossom). Evergreen, I particularly like "Sundance" which is bright yellow, lovely scent; will take some pruning. For the blue try ceanothus, evergreen, bees and butterflies love it.

The escallonia, choisya and ceanothus are common, any garden centre/ nursery will have them. In a container the size you have you could underplant with other perennials or annuals and ring the changes every so often.

For something out of the ordinary, a personal favorite of mine is lagerstroemia. Deciduous, but when the leaves are coming in spring it looks beautiful, then autumn colours are super and the bark has a sort of papery like feel to it. Another favourite for me is rhaphiolepsis (Indian Hawthorn). Just a good shape, interesting texture (no thorns). You'll have to look around for these two.

Hope this helps, I'm sure others will have their own personal recommendations.

 

[mudsticks]

First carrots

Slightly cheating , cos grown in a polytunnel.

Sown in mid Jan.

But worth the effort just for the scent on lifting

 

[jowwy]

View attachment 593417

First carrots

Slightly cheating , cos grown in a polytunnel.

Sown in mid Jan.

But worth the effort just for the scent on lifting

Thats a long growing time for stumpy carrots……

 

[VelvetUnderpants]

View attachment 593417

First carrots

Slightly cheating , cos grown in a polytunnel.

Sown in mid Jan.

But worth the effort just for the scent on lifting

I have to net my carrots on the allotment, otherwise the fly has a field day with them.

 

[mudsticks]

I have to net my carrots on the allotment, otherwise the fly has a field day with them.

Yes all the field grown carrots are netted against the fly here too..

The fly doesn't come into the tunnels so much, or at least it's still too early for them.

Sowing main crop carrot (and parsnip) this week coming 🥕🥕🥕

 

[Poacher]

Without starting another thread I have a new 3x2x2 planter box. What unusual shrubs or plants should I put in?

Ok, sounds a good spot.

If you want a red, white display, how about escallonia. It ranges in colour from red, through pink to white. Evergreen, will take some pruning and bees and butterflies love it.

For a yellow, blue display, how about Choisya ternata (Mexican Orange blossom). Evergreen, I particularly like "Sundance" which is bright yellow, lovely scent; will take some pruning. For the blue try ceanothus, evergreen, bees and butterflies love it.

The escallonia, choisya and ceanothus are common, any garden centre/ nursery will have them. In a container the size you have you could underplant with other perennials or annuals and ring the changes every so often.

For something out of the ordinary, a personal favorite of mine is lagerstroemia. Deciduous, but when the leaves are coming in spring it looks beautiful, then autumn colours are super and the bark has a sort of papery like feel to it. Another favourite for me is rhaphiolepsis (Indian Hawthorn). Just a good shape, interesting texture (no thorns). You'll have to look around for these two.

Hope this helps, I'm sure others will have their own personal recommendations.

Worth considering for late winter fragrance is Daphne bholua.
We have Jacqueline Postill, but Perfume Ponce Princess may be even better.

PS I don't know / remember whereabouts you are, but Planthunters Fairs have some interesting specialist nurseries attending.
Often they're very small operations whose home site isn't open for visits, i.e. they exist on mail order and fairs like these.
In particular, Jurassic plants have things you won't find anywhere else, usually as tiny specimens (which keeps them relatively cheap).
Please note that I don't always agree with their definitions of hardiness!