What Jobs Are We Doing In The Garden Today 2020

Okay @Aldo I had to rate your post a "like" but I wished I could also have gone for the funny.

Packaged poultry placed at planter! Maybe the package date will shed light on the timing of said deposit. Will it feed a fami,y of four or only two? A little colonel mustard in the library mystery Thanks for the giggle!

 

Expiry date is the 24th.
One explanation I can think of is that a neighbour I gifted a jerry can to a while ago wanted to say thanks. But there is no note or card, and personally I would have perhaps left it at the door..

The only other explanation is that it has something to do with my violin playing, which everybody in the neighbourhood is exposed to quite often. But it does not seem to smell like strychnine or cyanide.

 

Ooooh..I so love a good mystery...you should've posted photos so we could examine the 'scene' of the incident for clues @Aldo

 

22.5.20

I had an email from a friend on the RHS Lily group, saying that due to Chelsea being cancelled this year. The BBC were showing some previous shows. He'd got the tip off that the 'North Lilies were being shewn' I missed that part.

However I have to admit, I enjoyed the rest of the program. It included some great Irises, loads of roses and a lady's garden with many clematis in. Recently Armardii kindly provided me with some rhizomes, two have just flowered. I had also purchased som Dutch Irises from Parkers. All have grown well and many buds are at breaking point. Some years back, I borrowed a seed pod from a front garden. The seeds germinated and I have since had a thick border of what I call Flags. The flowers open up flat and the closest I can identify them is. Iris forestii. When I was working at Rushgrove House. Woolwich. There was a very long border of Bearded Iris. That was back in the 70's. I must be honest, I knew very little about them at the time and feared for them as the rhizomes were all up and out of the ground. I now know that they like to have their roots sunburned.

 

The soil blocks in the greenhouses are doing ok.



But two trays have been colonized by ants..
Don't get me wrong, it's not like I do not like ants, I just hate them with a passion.
When they are not busy being up to no good, they apparently kill innocent hoverflies camouflaged as wasps and carry their corpse around playing tugs of war with it. Everybody needs a hobby..



But then I went reading about the hoverfly diet:
"apart from the no-stinging quality of their personality their larvae eat greenfly and can chomp through 50 aphids a day."

I think somebody was trying to protect their little aphid friends..

Tomorrow is "Play contructions with our garden minibeasts", so I am making a five stars hotel for hoverflies and a nice swimming pool for the ants.

 

This is all I can offer, I am afraid. It is medium sized, it looks like chicken but does not smell like cyanide.

 

@Jasmine star I don't know where the "bad" squirrel gang lived, but I believe city squirrels are worse behaved than rural squirrels. Certainly my cousin says their local squirrels (Peckham) right brats to go along with the thuggish pigeons or she calls them "tree rats" and "flying rats" .
I wonder with city squirrels are more accustomed to people and therefore happier going into close proximity.
Of course having sung the praises of my local squirrels they will be into everything this year.

 

As to today given the stiff breeze I shall be doing digging planting holes, preparing new beds etc and probably ducking into the greenhouse if the showers materialise.

 

Aha!!!!!........a Sainsbury's shopper.....that's a start....sneakily and Oh so casually ask your neighbours where they shop.

We need regular updates @Aldo please....it's a gripping case!!

 

We have loads of squirrels,deer, rabbits and foxes and agree with @NigelJ being rural we all get along well, rarely do our paths cross in a disruptive manner. We all seen to know how to respect each others environments.

 

@NigelJ @Upsydaisy I completely agree. Our last house was more inner city. They definitely didn't have confidence issues. Next doors cat used to run like lightning when they turned up

We are a little more rural now and enjoy the wildlife here. There is more open land. There seems to be a happy balance. I'm more than happy to share my garden with most and accept there will be crossed paths. So squirrel jail has closed (for now)

 

Not been on all week again as we've been busier than ever. I thought lockdown meant we'd be kicking our heels - how wrong was I ?

This morning Ive cut the grass, made metal supports to hold some plants up and some plants in clumps. Staked up a euphorbia that had fallen foul of the wind. Moved some of the tender plants in pots into position. Next on the list is to lift a huge clump of day lillies that are obscuring a specimen plant and lift the canopy on a bay tree. Then set to with another round of weeding

 

Well if theres anything worth salvaging in the greenhouse by the time this wind has stopped I'll be lucky it's being jolted all over.
Oh well......I'll have to start again. I'm off to clean the oven

 

Dashing in and out to move pots around and sheltering what I can, the winds are ripping every living thing off their roots.

More pleasantly, sitting by the kitchen table planning a new water feature. My solar powered fountain pump arrived yesterday. Initially I wanted to have it in my tiny wildlife pond, but as the water spray might disturb the birds who love to bathe in it I'm getting creative. (At this point people near me usually duck under their desks or disappear into their rooms )

The wind is slightly easing now so I will trek down to the garage to get my pot, bucket, chicken wire and stones for my lovely new water feature. What could possibly go wrong?