Gardening: Hints and Help!
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I have now snipped the offending sucker, which had turned into 4 shoots since I looked earlier in the week.
The allotment will be fine. I have most things planted out now, having had the plot since the lockdown, and spent the time weedi g, digging over and weeding...! I have investigated my non appearing runner bean seedlings today ( having sown 3 separate lots). I think I have overwatered them, they have turned to mush. I have sown more, donated by a friend to try a different variety...
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Bindweed is awful stuff. I have the odd shoot of the minor variety spring up in one bed, deal with it ruthlessly, otherwise it will just get worse. Next door’s garden is full of the major, white flowering stuff, and it’s taken over everything, starting to get into our hedges now. ☹️ It’s going to be a big task to keep it at bay.
Another day, Another Rose here. This time a stunning Alberic Barbiere climber. It rambles through our fencing, and is better than razor wire for deterring unwanted visitors. Looks and smells fabulous. Got a President Clematis growing in there as well....
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Took a couple of photos of our Echiums this morning, the bumble bees love them. We've started to grow them in recent years, these two are well over 10 feet tall and the hot weather is good for them. Hoping they'll seed this year as they don't last long.
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They look fabulous brue. Never tried them up here, although we have seen them thriving in the wonderful walled garden at Burton Agnes. They are in a very sheltered spot mind😂.
I lost all our more tender stuff, Musa’s, Dracaenas, Etc.... back in 2010 Winter. Toughest Winter in decades round here. I had brought back lots of stuff over the years from our Cornish holidays, and had some really nice stuff, but some had got too big for house and greenhouse, so I had planted out, well wrapped up. Six solid weeks of frost decimated most gardens up here☹️
Buying a new Musa is high on my list of things to do ASAP. I know just the nursery as well, not far from Ludgven near Penzance!
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I wonder if that is Hardy Exotics?!
A couple of years ago we were on a CL near Gara Rock (Salcombe area, must go back!) and the walk down to the estuary was full of interesting plants, near the ferry there was a huge bank of Echiums, never seen so many, a great feature of warmer SW climes.
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It is indeed Hardy Exotics😁 Have you ever been round St Michaels Mount gardens? Very interesting, most of the seafacing side is terraced gardens, full of echiums and lots of other wonderful plants you can’t see from Marazion shore. Needs nimble walking and climbing skills though👍
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Looking for some advice from rose growers. I'm not keen myself but I have a few for sentimental reasons in pots at the mo.
Are these new shoots ok to keep? They appear to be coming from above the ground not from under the soil.
The rose is to my mind too tall so I'll be looking to cut it back hard so more shoots would be good.
Not easy to photograph it either 😲
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From your photo, at first I thought it might be a standard Rose. But after magnifying it, it looks like two very tall stems coming up from the bottom, so not a standard. In which case, those could indeed be new growth. If it was me, for this year, I would be tempted to let the shoots grow, and see if they produce flowers. If the flowers are the same as those on the two tall stems, then great, you have new growth. If they are different, then they will need cutting off. In the Autumn, depending on how it flowers, you can then cut back the tall stems, and you should get more stems next year.
It looks a very old Rose given the size of that woody base, so guessing it’s precious to you. I dug up my Grandfathers roses when Mum sold his house, and we transplanted them into Mum’s garden. I decided kill or cure and with Mums permission gave these overgrown and rather neglected blooms a very drastic prune. It was a bit of an “oh god, let it work” moment, but many years on, I can now report that they are all doing really well, and blooming away merrily. Very disease resistant as well. We know they were originally planted into what was Nan and Pop’s new home in 1950, so this year, they are 70 years old😲 No idea what they are, but they are a precious family heirloom, such memories.
I have a beauty out today. Label long gone, but it’s stunning. Smells as good as it looks as well....
Edit, please post photos if it flowers Bakers, will be very interested to see it😁👍
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Thanks brue and takethedogalong you're both echoing my thoughts.
It is an old rose the one mum and dad bought in Woolworths donkey years ago. No label when purchased but cheap for that I expect 😉. It is red and has flowers on both dad 21 June and mum 7 October birthdays, well it did! Dad's been gone 19 years and I don't think he'd done 'town' for decades before 🤣. The ground stock is very moss covered. Mum loved her garden and pottered but found bending difficult so everything got taller, roses a nightmare to dig, transport and plant 😱. I've lost one, highly likely another and have an iffy one. The move was kill or cure - at least I tried type thing. She used to cut back for the winter and half up your calves were attacked by dead sharp stalks 😂
Takethedogalong that red rose you've posted looks much like I hope this will do 🤔. Yours is lovely. So much of my garden is memories too, its lively to wander and recall 😀.
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Maybe you could put a photo on here when a flower appears and someone might recognise it. I've got a tea rose with a similar name to our son, in this hot weather its come out earlier than his birthday next month. It's similar to the rose TDA posted, good scent but straggly!
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Full of memories ours Bakers. We were trying to recall what it looked like when we first moved in 36 years ago. Remember two bland lawns with an ashphalt straight path. A few straggly roses and I can’t recall any flower beds or borders. The beech trees at the bottom end of the garden were much smaller as well. We kept it as tidy as we could while both working, and our main hobby was our horse and showing, so we had little time or inclination to do much for a good while. But I come from a long line of gardening enthusiasts, so the genes eventually kicked in. We brought lots of stuff back from holidays, still do, so many memories are there. Then family and friends bought us treasured plants, most of our roses were bought as presents. Mum is still around, but I hope one day to have Pop’s roses, and keep them going. After us, there’s no one direct in line, so I shall have to leave them in our Will😁
I have just had a look at some very dark red roses online. I recall my sister saying she had bought the two she gave me as “black” roses, so it might be Black Baccara, rings a bell, and looks very similar. Definitely a Hybrid Tea.
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Can't seem to get a photo to show rambling rector in all his glory so these will give a flavour! Contrasting colour trees are 'borrowed' from neighbouring gardens 😉
Pretty pleased with my first show of opium poppies too. The slightly different colour one at the back on the right came from my sister in law just before she moved, that's it's 2nd flower 1st was single with darker mauve centre today's is mauve double.
Edit did find photos of 1st flower not quite a double or single but rather pretty.
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Lovely garden, lots of contrasting colours and interest. Love poppies, I usually ask for a seed head if we visit an interesting garden and spot a new colour. Once you have one though, you are set for life😂
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If only there was a way of not making our details public on here, we'd be set 😂
Mum had lots of Californian/Welsh poppies but I can't get them to grow here 😤
I'm indulging in enjoying the garden its scorching here, jobs can wait. However I keep getting dragged into posting on threads on here 😱
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Bakers, ask Ro for my email address if you want to, I would be happy to swop some seeds and a chat with you away from here😁
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You're both welcome to use me ,as an intermediary if you wish. Email address is in my profile.
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On the subject of roses, some years ago, just after we lost George we were looking for some way to mark where his ashes were buried in the garden and a former member of CT suggested a red/orange rose called "Remember Me" which we thought appropriate. It hasn't done spectacularly well until this year when it has 4 brilliant blooms - I like to think one for each of the Setters we've lost over the years.
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Our poppies are stunted due to the dry weather, grass is drying out now too.
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Got to move the length of our garden now, natural shade has disappeared, well head is still in the shade but legs are burny burny 😱 from this area.
Brue our poppies like yours are budding at the mo, thought we'd lost them can't recall seeing them last year 😱, but then it was an odd one! It too is very stunted with the dryness and heat. Our grass looked great after the treatments, must be due some more shortly but showing signs of parched now. Grass man said I should water grass 😱😱. I don't like watering flowers, but we've not had a hosepipe ban for several years now thankfully. I'll do veg if necessary but generally think plants should stand up for themselves. This year I have made an exception but not for the grass. Expecting brown patches before long regardless thanks to new housemate. (Various dogs, some local in gardens others on open space behind, kicking off but miss laidback hasn't even opened an eye!)
I'm wondering how Beth Chatto's dry garden is standing up in this exceptionally dry spring.
Totally agree it feels like mid August not late May at present. Still good excuse to chill. Taken the opportunity to check interest rates 🤣🤣🤣 so can't judge myself as lazy and idle 😉. Gosh I must shift before I melt 😱
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It looks beautiful.
My mum bought one called lovely lady when our 1st granddaughter, her 1st great grandchild, was born and I'm nursing that one too. When she died she had 3 great granddaughters so it became lovely ladies. Sadly she didnt see the NZ girls in the flesh, but did get to cuddle my niece's daughter. I think the only one she bought for her grandchildren, my daughter was the 1st, ballerina is now beyond help 😢. Not sure whether to celebrate or commiserate as it was pretty but it's one less to have to find a home for 😉
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Just counted the spikes on my bears britches, proper name continually escapes me! Want to call it agapanthus but know it isn't endless check of name refuses to stick 😱.Acanthus Leaves are completely drooping so it's easy to count, theres 21. I do wish I'd heeded the lady I worked with when she said I'd regret having a piece of hers!
It's far too big for its spot, digging and burning don't kill it and I don't want to go too mad now as she passed away last year very suddenly 😢.
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You got me looking it up B2 because OH and I looked at a seedling of the same and could only remember agapanthus...acanthus if you've got your teeth in...
edit also forgot to mention when you mentioned Echium seeds that I'll try to remember to keep some for you later.
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Don’t mention bears breeches to me😡 I bought the wrong one and have spent 15 years trying to eradicate the bl**dy thing!
I don’t fret over dry grass, as it always comes back, but I do water my plants. Our barrels have been empty for weeks. After the Winter we had, I swore I would curse anyone that said drought or hosepipe ban to me. But it doesn’t happen in Yorkshire nowadays thankfully.
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