Gardening: Hints and Help!
Comments
-
Our barrels are very near empty, I'm very sparing in their use I rarely treat garden planted plants to any of it - tap water from the hosepipe is good enough for them!
However I'm wondering whether to fill up the water butts and allow it to stand - that'll make it rain quicker than you can say knife!
We've not had a hosepipe ban for some years, thankfully, they increased the capacity at some resoviours, probably topped them up with other folk's water 😱, buy I fear this dry spell and the amount of new house building, over 3,000 on just one site on the outskirts of town 😱😱, they will return before long.
A few years back folk were offered free water butts by Essex and Suffolk Water, can't remember full details, but you had to sign to say you'd empty your waterbutts into your garden when rain was forecast so they'd be empty to save run off and floods. All seemed bizarre to me so didn't apply, anyway hard pushed to put another in neatly!
0 -
We’ve had no rain here for a while , I’ve got 7 waterbutts and all of them are empty ! , hoping for some rain soon ( but only over night)
1 -
Delighted to see the red poppy seeds given by a neighbour are beginning to flower. Rather different, I'd not seen them, she offered them in exchange for seeds of my pink ones which escaped into a tub in the front garden.
I love them with the pink, totally accident of seed scatter.
1 -
Takethedogalong and brue there are buds on that rose. Fingers crossed it is mum and dad's birthday rose 😀. I will post photo regardless. Timing seems right dads birthday would have been 21 June.
It appears the lovely lady rose is alive, but suffered a shock - surprise surprise 😉. I'm 99.9999% certain my daughters rose has died, heyho, the survival rate still exceeds 50%.
1 -
Bargain basement news! This was a £2 sell off from Lidl a couple of years ago, neglected and unwanted etc. Saved by OH it's an olive tree and it's flowering, wondering with this early warm weather if we'll see any fruit later?
1 -
Yes a true bargain buy, they usually cost a fortune. Our water butts are half full now from last two days. Not been bad today, plenty of sunshine, but a couple of sharp showers as well. OH says I am grumpy because it’s raining on the roses......
Good news about those roses Bakers. I have one that’s struggling at the moment, put into ground after a couple of years in a pot, and doubt it’s going to do much this year, a couple of small buds have come out. Fingers crossed🤞
0 -
Waterbutts full again 😀. Not particularly noticeable on the pond level still about 5 inches down.
Awaiting germination of my runner beans.
I have several fruits on my cherry tomatoes, outside grown from seeds from supermarket tomato 😀. My brother also passed on, as well as cherry tomatoes, 2 beefsteak tomato plants same source for seeds. He also bought over a butternut squash plant, that turned out to be 4 😱 so gave 2 away. They're all looking good.
Might have to cut the grass again 😱 but it needs to recover a bit!
0 -
Another dull day here, but at least it is dry. We have another big outdoor project on at the moment. Ivy is invading my greenhouse, so we are going to take all glass out, get to the ivy through the frame and try and cut it back so it doesn’t invade again. Suspect we shall lose some panes doing it, and just emptying it will take some time, but got to be done.
(Hope this post makes it out there, never known website as bad as this.)😡
0 -
Gee how hard is it to get here??
The rose I took from mum's garden - that they got years and years ago from Woolworths without a label has survived being dug out, transported to my house and potted is blooming
. Photo maybe attached. It has always flowered on dad's birthday 21 June and mum's 7 October. It was also flowering on the day they each died, in September and November.0 -
Just crawled through the tunnel to CT and have my Peter Beales Rose catalogue in front of me B2. Did you say it was a 1950s Woolworths rose? There are two red roses that might fit the bill. Ena Harkness from 1946 and Josephine Bruce from 1952. I daren't go back and try to find your posts due to the web site issues. But if you've got more info I might be able to help or if you look at their catalogue on line you might spot it? You must be pleased to see it flower!
ps My Mum took Woolworth's fruit trees home on the bus in the 50's, she wasn't a gardener but knew what was needed!
1 -
Brue isn't that tunnel dark and difficult??
How kind to take such trouble. I have no idea when they bought it but would say late 1970's though to early 1990's. Dad died 2001 and wasn't a shopper by nature lol so possibly not as late as the 90's! I expect it was bare rooted and the lack of a label would mean it was a good, nod nod wink wink, price!
In real life I'd say it was a little less orange looking but pretty good likeness. Very little if any smell, if that helps.
Even I, as a non rose lover, think it's rather neat and attractive - although it's been in their garden for years and I've acknowledged its blooming but not really looked at it.
Yes it's very special to me heddlo and may , just may be allowed to be planted in my garden! Mum didn't prune low for years so it's rather leggy, my next challenge will be to prune it and for it to survive.........
Edit brue more like Ena Harkness at a first look but not a large flower bloom, just about the size of a tight ladies fist looking down on the thumb , if that makes sense. I'll feret some more, but thanks for the pointers.
0 -
I also think David Austin Thomas A Becket looks very similar. But that says smell medium, I'd say no to little for smell. Thomas Á Beckett I've done it to open in another window to make comparison easier!
Sir John Betjeman looks likely too especially on the fragrance and date! Link sir-john-betjeman
0 -
Hi😁 Bakers. You have got me pondering as well. I have the RHS Rose Encyclopaedia, which is my usual go to source for trying to find something.
Can I ask a few questions?
How large is flower in inches, across bloom?
How many buds per stalk?
Are the stems stiff with flower heads upright, or weak and blooms tending to droop a bit?
Do the leaves start off green as new growth, or are they reddish at first?
A photograph of whole plant, a close up of leaves and stems would be good. You can get a bit of help from looking at thorns sometimes, so a close up might be good as well.
How tall is it at moment from root stock point to uppermost tip?
I love a good rose mystery. I still have a few in my garden though, despite best efforts😂
0 -
Can anyone recommend a nice contained Climbing Rose?
0 -
I found this https://www.rosesuk.com/roses/glad-tidings
dated from 1989, and was rose of the year, scent (hardly any😂) and says it’s really healthy, which yours looks to be. A possibility?🤔
0 -
Do you have a colour preference, and is it to go in full sun or part shade? Up against a wall/fence or climbing up a support like an arch or obelisk?
They all need a bit of looking after, but some go wild while others are easier. I am guessing you will want something that repeat flowers, rather than one big flush of flowers?😁
0 -
Hosta, this is a beauty, lovely colour, repeats, doesn’t get too wild, good scent.
https://www.davidaustinroses.co.uk/bathsheba
Look for English Climbing Roses, rather than ramblers or climbers, as they are bred (David Austin) to be more compact. Bathsheba can get up to 3 metres, which seems a lot, until you look at others that can easily do 7-10 metres! Austin roses are expensive, but you might find same rose cheaper if it’s sold under license.
Do a search for English Climbing Roses, lots of colours👍
0 -
Hosta, if there's any chance you can visit a garden centre you'd be able to see climbers in flower just now and maybe pick out one that you like, look out for the disease resistant ones and the height you want.
I don't grow many but I have a lovely rambler called Wedding Day which only flowers once and I have a pretty little rambler that keeps on flowering, called Blush Noisette (lots of little pale pink double flowers.) Both scented.
Have a look around at neighbours gardens, often the roses doing well will do well with you. I'm in a village and some of the roses on the cottage walls are stunning but we don't have big enough wall space!
I've just been outside, dead heading roses, picking up leathery magnolia leaves, having a general poke around before the rain arrives, we need more. Everything smells of fox, I know when he's visited! 🦊
1 -
Photos coming up - fingers crossed. I hope they answer all your questions, I'm doing this a cooking dinner!
It seems to be about 4 foot tall. Please don't think this is where it lives! I've started shifted pots off the block paving ready for its clean Thursday and Friday, starting with the vicious ones, as you will note by the old thorns. It was a spiteful devil to get out of the ground into the car at full-length then into a pot!
0 -
Second attempt!
Photos first
0 -
Right I won't blow it's brain with 5 at once photos. Sever errors! Bear with me!
0 -
Well what a contrary forum it appears my server error post has appeared. I'll leave it to settle for a bit and then check.
Dinner really does need attention but I'm loving the garden
Takethedogalong I'm really grateful for your efforts but don't neglect your own tasks. We've lived with the mystery for probably 40 years a few more won't make any difference. Not done much research myself but so far I reckon Sir John Betjamin is my front runner.
0 -
Brue you could be right, but not every stem has multiple blooms, there are singles, 2, 3 and 4 buds. The bloom stems do tend to arch over with the weight of the bloom but not as heavy as I have seen other rose blooms drop more than curve.
I'll try for more photos in a bit.
Read more on the David Austin rose Sir John Betjeman and discovered bloom named in 2008, it was 1984 when he died - so won't be that one!
I'll post whilst I'm able and do photos etc a bit later, who knows with this site?
0 -
Takethedogalong more photos, I see the puppy managed an appearance in them! She tones in well with the patio furniture. I hope this helps but as I said no worries. I dragged it out 9f it's temporary home and it went back in at a slightly different angle and I spotted the buds but wasn't going to drag it out again
0 -
Thanks everyone for your help, my wife really likes this one. But still looking at the other recommended ones. Funny went to two garden centres yesterday , neither had any climbers in stock , one stated it would be December before they would have any.
0
