WHAT JOBS ARE WE DOING IN THE GARDEN TODAY - 2017

Gary, not a variety I grow.....there are now so many!....but it looks good. They can be tender in many places esp if the soil is heavy and wet over winter. My suggestion is to overwinter in the greenhouse and pot on two or three times from April to June before planting out as they grow fast then
Agastaches vary from over 180cm to less than 40 cm (in foliage fragrance too) so decide if you want a tall plant or a short stocky one for your planting spot

 

Despite having dealt with my ‘small’ crop of Celery all day I have failed miserably to finish the job. My kitchen is a disaster zone so I am refusing to make supper and insisting somebody goes and gets a carry out. This veg growing is loosing it’s appeal rapidly

 

I started to work on the new border in my back garden this afternoon. I've added top soil and compost to the area where the sink is sited and more gravel around back edge. Also, made a start on digging out the bits of Japanese Anemone roots that I missed. Even though I've had some really good choices suggested from Verdun and ARMANDII ( both ) I think I'm inclined to leave the planting until Spring and wait until I am sure about what I want to plant. Should I cover with tarpaulin or membrane or leave it open to the elements? It was too dark to take a pic on my Kindle, I'll take one tomorrow.

I've bought another Belfast sink . Its very similar to the one that is already there, so I'm thinking of using this new sink as the mini wildlife pond instead of the sink I had planned to use, which is different. Can anyone suggest a small marginal oxygenator that would be suitable for a sink sized pond please? ARMANDII ????

 

:rasp:@ARMANDII , my mood has improved greatly as had a lovely Chinese for supper washed down with a not bad bottle of vino collapse which has deadened the pain of my LONG day dealing with that vegetable beginning with C.......I really can’t even bring myself to mutter it’s name. I will have to return to the disaster zone of my kitchen in the morning, preferable to root canal treatment? Hmmmmm debatable. Can you guess which veg has been removed from my list of what to grow next season? I am thinking I might have to add a codicil to my will re what to do with the stockpile as I think I’ll be pushing up daisies long before it’s used up.

 

Sorry, I did just mean a small plant to grow in a pot. I remember you mentioned Marsh Marigold awhile ago, but I'm wondering if this might be too large for a small sink??

 

You have got the belfast sink bug lucius.....sounds good and you could make a nice theme I think
Yes, oxygenators mostly are plain looking, weedy looking even, for low down in the water so not really showy plants. Necessary if you have fish but not so sure you need them for a small sink without them! How about a miniature water lily? Some beautiful varieties available and will help with keeping water "clean" by creating plant cover over water surface. From late spring throughout summer a water lily is an eye catcher
You could continue this theme with other sinks by using houttynia chameleon; not something you would dare plant in the garden but superb contained in moist soil or water.....orange scented flowers atop a riot of red, orange, yellow foliage.
Other plants to consider are arum lily, acorus ogon and the maroon foliage and red flowers of lobelia cardinallis .

 

You can never have too many sinks . Also, have two cast iron, roll top baths, which look lovely full of flowers. With hindsight I should have put one of the baths in back or side garden as this is where most of the sinks are, but I suppose I could always get another bath .

I used my largest sink to make a mini wildlife pond a few years back, but I think I had it in the wrong position as it didn't do so well. I had Frogbit, a Water Soldier and Mares Tail in the sink, plus something else I can't recall. Going to try again, probably with different plants although they weren't the reason the pond failed . I would like to add a larger wildlife pond in the front garden too, so a Lily would look lovely there.

 

I’ve seen quite attractive plantings in loos too @luciusmaximus, you might at well get the whole set as you already have the ‘kitchen sinks’

 

Ha ha silu, Ive seen those loos too in the garden......good for veg? Garden peas maybe?

 

Couple of hours in the garden meant another lawn cut, more planting, more divisions and more transplanting.
A little experimentation too to see if leonotis leonurus will survive outside this winter; many tender plants do so 3 are left intact out there. Supposedly could flower in winter if mild enough....would be delighted to see that

 

This

And this

Today. The gravel garden hasn't had much attention for 4 years, so bit to do.

 

Nothing major.

It was lovely sunshine and mild in the garden when I got home from work, so I took a cup of tea onto the patio to just enjoy the end of the afternoon. Saw a blue tit investigating the bird box (which the bees dominated this year). So, cleaned out the bird box, put it back up, noticed my tea had gone cold, it was also clouding over, so went back indoors to get on with tea.