What's looking good APRIL 2024

Discussion in 'General Gardening Discussion' started by shiney, Apr 1, 2024.

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  1. Punkdoc

    Punkdoc Super Gardener

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    • ViewAhead

      ViewAhead Head Gardener

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      Still nibble-free! :hapydancsmil:

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      • Bluejayway

        Bluejayway Plantaholic

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        Congrats @ViewAhead , that’s some achievement :yes:
         
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        • ViewAhead

          ViewAhead Head Gardener

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          Thanks, @Bluejayway. Am chuffed! It's doing better in a pot than it did in the ground, where the leaves would get shredded in a damp spring like the one we are having, even with egg shell and copper mesh defences.
           
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          • Nutcracker South Somerset

            Nutcracker South Somerset Gardener

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            Lovely Hosta @ViewAhead, I’ve got copper tape round my hosta pots, gave up trying to grow them in the ground. They still get a few nibbles, but much later in the season. I have one called Grand Marquee that’s never touched, has quite thick bluish leaves, probably tougher for the slugs than the other varieties I grow.


            Tulips coming along “Copper Image” and “Slawa”, peony type ones are “Orange Princess with “Red Princess” poking through. Normally buy from Peter Nyssen, usually very reliable, but mixed results this year. “Abu Hassan” was nothing like what I’ve had before, very bright red instead of deep maroon colour sand “Havran” failed completely, one flower from 12 bulbs. :sad:

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            • wiseowl

              wiseowl Admin Staff Member

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              Flowering Cherry this morning:smile:

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              • fairygirl

                fairygirl Total Gardener

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                Hostas are a waste of time here too @Nutcracker South Somerset , and even the one I kept because it seemed to repel slugs quite well, is becoming less useful.
                Been playing around with the new camera. The little Erythronium is flowering, and a few other offshoots of it are just about there too
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                The slug damage to the foliage is worth than ever unfortunately.
                 
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                • shiney

                  shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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                  I love the delicate nature of Erythronium but ours have finished already. :noidea:
                   
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                  • fairygirl

                    fairygirl Total Gardener

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                    I got that one from a poster on the previous forum @shiney , who lived about half an hour away from me. She died a few years ago, so it's a nice reminder when they flower.
                    I have some at the back fence which I can see from the kitchen, and a pot of them which will get planted somewhere - probably in the same border, or perhaps nearer the house.
                    There's a house about a mile away which has some nice white ones in a border at the front of the house. I passed them a few days ago and they're looking very nice. :smile:
                     
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                    • ViewAhead

                      ViewAhead Head Gardener

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                      I've nearly given up on this hosta a number of times. I had it in the ground, trying not to grow anything else touching it or supplying ground cover nearby where slugs could hide. It was quite stressful, but I couldn't discard it because I read somewhere hostas can live 25 yrs and I felt too guilty shortening its span (though, TBF, without my constant fretting over it, it would have been nibbled to a stalk and died anyway :) ). It was an inch tall thing when I got it, back in 2001. So ... I feel 23 yrs (so far) is a good effort and I have stopped worrying and am just enjoying it. :yay:
                       
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                      • shiney

                        shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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                        Although we don't open our garden for charity we still sell plants and Hostas are always popular.

                        These are some of our stock plants and all four tubs were solid with Hostas and given to us to use. They were so solid with roots that the person that gave them to us couldn't get any out of the pots. For me to start getting them out I had to use a sharp pointed serrated blade knife and then Push the knife in and start sawing through the roots. We sold about 100 Hosta plants last year.
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                        We have lots of them potted up and dotted through our nursery areas ready for sale. We don't sell them until they have had at least two years in the pots. Here are a few that are ready
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                        And some of our own. Others aren't yet showing enough
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                        It is early in the year for this bed and a lot of the plants in it grow quite tall each year. some years ago the bed was full with 22 Leylandii
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                        This heather is still in full bloom and has been flowering for three months
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                        I was out just after sunrise and the flies were sunbathing
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                        Euphorbia mellifera is just starting to flower and the flowers will smell of honey
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                        Perennial geraniums just starting to open and they spread like weeds but brighten up the beds
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                        Bronze fennel also spreads like mad
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                        • shiney

                          shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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                          English bluebells are always a bit late in our garden
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                          Honesty (Lunaria) pop up everywhere but, as with most plants, anything that self seeds (or planted by birds) and is not in the way, can stay
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                          We lost dozens of Hebes after the bigger freeze the previous winter. The only ones that survived were the smaller leafed ones. Some of the survivors are in the previous post
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                          Our front verge by the footpath is coming along now
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                          Hemerocalis
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                          and lots of Irises as well as other plants. It's a very dry bed and the Irises love it
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                          Arum italicum is all over the back garden and Mrs Shiney uses it a lot in flower arrangements
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                          Solomon's Seal is starting to flower
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                          • shiney

                            shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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                            Cytisus battandieri (Pineapple tree) has now got its flower buds out. When in full flower they are orange and look a bit like pineapple - and smells of it.
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                            The tree is quite big but not so easy to see here
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                            This silver birch is about 70 years old and we lost its twin in the hurricane of '87
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                            Our golden 'Gage' tree is close to 100 years old and still gives lots of fruit each year. We happily share them with the wasps who have had their nest in the ground for many years.
                            The fruit is only just beginning to show
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                            Stachys have suddenly shot up
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                            The last of this year's Bergenia flowers
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                            Our late flowering Magnolia just starting. We thought we had lost it last year after the big feeze but it is coming back - sort of
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                            spotted some more Hostas -these are being picked up today so are ready in a barrow :)
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                            • ViewAhead

                              ViewAhead Head Gardener

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                              Looks like hosta heaven, @shiney! :dbgrtmb: Do you know the names of them all?

                              Is gardening something you have taught yourself or did you do it as a career?
                               
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                              • shiney

                                shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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                                Thanks @ViewAhead ,

                                I haven't the faintest idea of the names :noidea: and I don't think Mrs Shiney knows many of them apart from the ones we have elsewhere in the garden. Most of them were originally gifts to us for use to propagate for sale. I don't have a plant App on a mobile for two reasons:- Mrs Shiney is my plant App - and I don't have a mobile :roflol:

                                No, neither of us had careers anywhere near gardening but have taught ourselves over many years. Mrs Shiney now gives talks and demonstrations on flower arranging and has lectured on 'Healing Plants' - as a hobby. We find gardening therapeutic and it helps to keep our more and more decrepit bodies moving :old: :heehee:
                                 
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