WHAT ARE WE DOING IN THE GARDEN TODAY 2023

Thank you. The Boy got some in last time he was here, which was good, and he'll come again soon. If it gets cold, I will have to have a think. It's not far to the log shed, I chuck the firewood towards the kitchen door, catch up with it, and repeat to get it in... what a palaver! Probably got enough for 5 days evening use now, plus a jigsaw and some pallet boards for kindling, and a chopping block, and a billhook to cut it with... all mod cons in my sitting room! I can do it all sitting on the floor. It's not too bad, just v-e-r-y b-o-r-i-n-g. Here:

 

I always use the botanical names.

 

Sometimes it can make you come over as a "Know all", if you get my meaning, so tend to use what ever the OP uses, unless a clear definition has to be made.

Looks like you have some decent logs there.

 

I've always used latin names over common ones, that way there is no confusion about how to treat the plant in question.
Yes, it makes me appear like a know it all but when you know it all, you don't care what other people think!
The exception being is when the powers that be keep changing the bloomin' latin classifications

 

Thanks for proving my point.

 

OP, original poster.

Logs for the fire, aimed at Drahcir.

 

I'm afraid I must come over as common as muck then as I rarely use the Latin names.

My plants are my extended family and so I prefer the friendly sounding common names rather that the boringly sounding official ones.
It's like with our brood if hubs or I use their full names...then it's official...they're in trouble!!!

 

The rain finally eased to just a few spits and spots after lunchtime. So I donned my old tatty but faithful waterproof jacket and enjoyed two hours of ..yet again leaf clearing, much easier with soggy leaves as they don't annoyingly take off in flight when a nice pile has been accumulated.

Made a start at cutting back the really big Dahlias as they had become very tatty looking and had begun to obstruct the pathways by bending over on to them due to all the heavy rain of late. I still plan to leave the majority to have a hit of the first frost if I can possibly bear looking at their sorry looking states.

Chopped back the fading foliage on the Day Liiies.

Watered the cuttings in the greenhouse.

By 4 pm the light is too faded now to begin on a new task.

 

Hi,

WOW no heavy rain today; what's going on.

Yesterday afternoon sick of constant rain I donned my wellies; heavy site coat; waterproof Beanie hat and waterproof gloves and ignored the rain although I could hear it on the extension roof nearby; with my friend the little robin I got stuck into two hours hard graft widening a border.

What it looked like badly overgrown with ivy & hollies etc.


What it now looks like; everything was soaking wet with soil clinging to my wellies and tools but I stuck with it; I need to order plants now to complete the transformation.

This morning at 9 o'clock I visited the tip AGAIN with another full load; at home it was dry but at the tip at the top of the world it was drizzling; the tip was indeed a tip; heavy wagons had been in and out of the adjoining field depositing wet mud on the roadway which I had to drive and walk through; it couldn't be helped because I had my own problems with wet clinging soil on my wellies meaning I couldn't walk on our patio or pathways wearing the wellies.

Later this morning I washed and dried the car; it was incredibly dirty looking like it had been off-roading; it's the first time I've seen the car dry for ages but living here it will soon be wet again.

Now with all the hard heavy work behind me I can start planning what plants to buy; this has been a big job working on my own but I'm pleased I decided to do it and next springtime hopefully it will be a picture with the new plants in full bloom. A bit of hard graft is good exercise.

I feel a violin practice coming on after teatime.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

In a wild fit of enthusiasm, I dug up one of the sweet potato plants this afternoon. I don't know how much the biggest one weighs 'cos I'm too 'tatered to lift it onto the scales now

 

I've only been out doing a little bit of tidying. Everything is pretty much dead or hibernating and I've already cleared out any dead stuff that doesn't have seeds to share with the birds. I did sort out some wiring from my solar powered battery array to the fans in the little greenhouses. And I did manage to find and fix a loose wire on one that is partially buried. I sure did not want to have to dig that one up

@Upsydaisy I am like you. I sorta know some of the latin names but most of our garden center plants have tags with only the common name for them over here. Even some of our seed catalogues do not have the latin names. I suppose I could look them up but most of my friends and family are impressed when I know even just the common names. That said, I am now sipping tea while resting on my gluteus maximus...

 

Ahhh but Lori whilst sipping your tea is your digitus minimus manus striking THE pose ??

 

Hi,

A rare dry day yesterday so I washed and dried the car; I should have taken a picture of it dry; it was soaking wet again after overnight rain when I went shopping at 7 o'clock this morning; rather chilly too at 5C.

I've put so much hard work into creating new flower beds/borders so at last I'm now into planting; 18 assorted plants already in bought from J Parker's now I've just ordered more from Parker's as follows;

Achillea Collection pack of 12
Astilbe Collection pack of 12
Centranthus collection pack of 10
Aquilegia Maxi yellow star pack of 10
Anemone multifidia major pack of 3
Aster white beauty pack of 15
Cerastium snow in summer pack of 15
Potentilla mixed pack of 3
Eragrostis spectabilis pack of 3

40 daffodils free gift

Grand total £121.83

Having put in so much time and hard labour I'm not penny pinching at this stage; I'll see how all these can be arranged and will buy more if needed. My wonderful wife being long term ill sees little of our pretty front garden and when the meadow is in bloom I drive her along the lane adjacent to the meadow allowing her to view it.

I've worked flat out clearing the overgrown garden area to the bungalow rear now I'm creating a special garden for my wife to enjoy; I can't make her well but I can do my best to make her life better if at all possible; I love her to bits.

WOW no heavy grafting; I must be at last getting on top.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Colin I'm sure that it will look pretty next year for your wife to enjoy.