Sunday 1st April

Morning all. I've snuck onto the computer while my hubby's not looking.

Louisa, were your comments yesterday aimed at me? Seeing as I was the only other person to have posted before you I take it it was me. I appologise if i offended you in anyway, Its not always easy to say bye, coz hubby gets anoyed with me for spending so much time on the computer and turns it off! I will try to let you know when i'm going to dissapear though.

Trina

Hello Daisy!! Got a weak and watery sun here!! I'm trying to will those clouds to go away!!! Had a quick saunter round the garden. Cold. I'm distracted when I work at the puter now cos I'm watching the birds. I've got blackbirds nesting in my Viburnum. I keep seeing them go in and out with great big mouthfuls of nesting material. The nest must be pretty deep inside my Viburnum - I can't see it. In the evening Mr and Mrs Blackie parade up and down the length of my garage before they go to bed. There are several cats around here and blackbirds aren't that great when it comes to cats. Looks like I'll have to go on cat patrol!!
I can't always work out my timing so I miss you guys sometimes, and I don't stay up as late as Alan either. And of course some evenings I'm out at my classes.
I've got my fences up. One section slants to one side. Admittedly my garden slopes. Can't say I'm too happy about it. I feel they should have discussed this with me. I was about all day and asked a number of times if there were any problems. I have asked them to improve the fastener on the gate though - only one side has a handle and I also have to bang the gate to shut it properly. Also asked them to put the hinge on the other side.
I'm dying to get some good stints in my garden. I've still got manure to work in, bulbs to plant and I'd like to get some perennials. Any ideas for plants to go near these fences? One bed is very narrow - about 1 ft and there's concrete posts in it as well. It's 12-16 ft long.
Think I'll make myself a cuppa. Bye for now.

I'll be back in a while to chat see ya

Mmmm the sun's coming out. Goodie!!!!

Morning Diane and Trina! Trina, I got a chuckle out of your post. I don't want Hubby to see me on the computer too much either! LOL! Lisa

This message was edited Sunday, Apr 1st 7:08 AM

Hello Lisa!!! We have a watery sun out here. I hear one or two people out with their lawnmowers so I'll poke my nose out again after lunch. It's good to have you online again. Welcome back.

Thanks Diane. It is still dark here. I am up early for church. I need to sign off so I can finish getting ready. Sunday is a busy day for us, so I'll not be here too much today. Wishing you folks all a great day and lots of sunshine. We are boiling crawfish after church, YA_HOOO! A cajun gals' delight!! Hope to chat later on. Hi and Bye Alan and the rest of the gang. Great day all! Lisa

Its bright, sunny, light winds and actually a little warm today, its great, i sat on the patio for ten minutes enjoying it, then i moved a pile of timber ready for my next project and it was to warm, lol, its makes a change though, whats that old saying about March, in like a lion out like a lamb, well it did just that really this year, the last few years the end of march has been windy and wet and nasty, so i hope that means a decent summer this year, i have come in for a coffee and a break, so i tought i would see whos about, who is still ?.

Hello there, I'm back from a family trip to Macdonalds.

Northerner, I love my ceanothus against my fence. It's called "Yankee Point", its got dark evergreen leaves and bright blue flowers in the spring, it's a real good allrounder. How tall are your fences?

I saw a Peacock butterfly yeasterday in my garden, i thought it's a little early for butterflies? Is it?

Hello Daisy or do you want us to call you Trina ?, i think it is early for butterflies, but its been a very long winter for them, with all the rain from september as well, maybe they are hungry, and taking advantage of this weather breather, perhaps its a good sighn of nice weather, but i wont hold my breath on that one.

Hello Diane, still haveing a few problems then, it would be a good idea to get your manure inas soon as you can now, so it has time to do some good before you want to start planting in it, i put mine down in january, durind the cold snap, i wanted it down in autumn, but it was too wet, but dont leave it to much longer if you can help it.

I used pelleted chicken manure in the autmmn under all the perennials i split and around the surface, and everythings going crazy now. But it is alot more expensive that horse manure.
AJC, where do you get your manure from? There are plenty of people around here that have stables and sell it on their fronts for 50p a bag, but i've been abit hesitant, do you have to store it untill its "well rotted"?

Oh and you can call me what you like??.....to a certain extent I won't be offended! lol

This message was edited Sunday, Apr 1st 7:53 AM

Well i'm of into the garden to plant some cornflower's,
ta ta

Trina then, we are all on first names here, i use chicken pellets as well, if you put those down in the autumn you might well need to put down more, its been so very very wet its most likey washed all the goodness out of your soil, i put a whole box of pellets down on top of the manure mulch, because its still been so wet after i put it down i get my manure from the side of the road, and yes you do need to leave it a while, the general rule is, if it smells dont use it untill it stops smelling, then its ok, i have a large area at the back of my shed to keep it, i had 22 bags of the stuff stashed there last autumn.

HELLO ALL, CHECK OUT DAVES REPORT, ITS SEEMS WE HAPPY FEW ON THIS UK THREAD HAVE BEEN VERY BUSY, JUST US, AND WE HAVE THE SECOND HIGHEST COUNT FOR POSTS, IMAGINE WHAT IT WOULD BE IF MORE PEOPLE WOULD JOIN US.

back to the garden, see you all later.

Daisy - Trina? All on first names here, did you say Alan? OK - Most of you know my real name is Margaret, but it's such a mouthful and I prefer Louisa. But if you must, then OK, you can call me Maggie or Marg - I don't mind. Good morning my friends. No Daisy, I was not referring to you earlier and please forget I ever said anything. I was just having a bad day. I really meant people in general!
No April fool jokes? Pelletted chicken manure - now there's a thing. Reminds me of dear old Geoff Hamilton, sadly gone, he was such a great person. He swore by the chicken stuff, remember? Ceanothus - lovely. I also grew them Trina, Autumnal Blue and repens. Why have I not seen them here in Virginia. Surely if we can grow them in England we should be able to grow them here? Gotta go, take a shower and like Lisa, off to church. LISA - THANKYOU, THANKYOU, THANKYOU. I loved my card. You are so sweet and thoughtful. Have a great day everyone, catch you later.

Just wanted to pop in and say good morning-so good morning!
yesterday after we got home from church we went to "dow gardens" they had a greenhouse full of butterfly's and some birds...PLANTS! It was really kewl! there were tons of butterflies fly all over almost running into us and landing on us. The birds were singing so beautifully and the plants-WOW! Then we walked around the dormant gardens....I picked up some seed pod off the ground-not sure what they are...and a yellow twig dogwood branch made itto my house.O:-] It was really kewl there!
Im going to ask dave to change my name here-what should I use? Dori, michigan-dori,justdori,dori1? there are a few more dori's here now! Ideas?
going to bounce around the forums now,
dori

Hey I like notmartha.

I understand though. Many years ago I used "plantlady". Try to get that one now you would be like #598 or something. I thought "puttyrat" was unique when I signed it up on ebay. My B'friend later tried looking me up ( as he named my cat) he spells it puddyrat and guess what that name was taken. I have to run soon. I work Sunday's.

Byeeeeeee

hiya everybody, just poped on before we go out for another walk, it has been beautiful here today, yesterday and today have sown thousands of seeds, cos my others are shooting away, even my morning glories were up in 3 days.

We have nearly had a revolution here,because of the foot and mouth we are unable to walk the canal footpaths,but as a few of us were feeding the ducks from the main busy bridge fighting with traffic as well, guess what comes along the canal but loads of boats, so we rung the waterways to be told oh yes you can hire a boat even travel around anywhere you want even travel 8 miles down the road to Chorley passed the farm that has f and m, but on no account go on the footpath,we asked if we hired a boat where could we go, the reply was anywhere as the canal is now open, this was ridiculous so everybody walked along it saying they can arrest us-do you think this is stupid or what.

Well i am of to feed the horse down the road, giving him the stuff that should go on the compost heap, i am allowed to pick his poo up, to me good exchange.Today saw my first butterfly and after seeing my first bee yesterday i have seen loads today,where will they be getting their food from. Say cherio and will pop onto the Internet later. Bye Sheila

Dori, I can just see all those butterflys. How wonderful! I saw on TV once, re somewhere in America, where there is a nursery with such an abundance of them. They were all over the place, landing on people. One guy was literally covered with them. I wonder if it's the same place you visited. Are you serious about changing your name? If so, then I'm sure we can come up with something. For instance, what are your favourite things to do, flowers, shrubs, animals etc. You get the picture! Shiela, sounds lovely on the canal. We used to go punting on the River Cam in Cambridge of course and also on the Norfolk Broads. Sally, talk later, sorry I missed you! Alan, you there? No Patty today? Lisa I guess is still tucking into her feast!!

Hello All
I have had a perfect day, its been great, bright sunshine, no wind and very warm this afternoon, and Trina, the butterflies have been out here too, and honey bees even seen a couple of bumbles, it really has been nice, it 7.00pm here now and i have only been inside for 20 minutes or so, i have had 8 hours outside, now i am cream crackerd, and hungry, so i will put some food on took and have shower, see you all later.

How nice Alan - sounds like you had a glorious and productive day. You can't beat England when the weather is lovely. Catch you later!

I've had a lovely day enjoying my garden. It warms the cockles of my heart to see all my perennials sprouting and other things budding.

I had rather a nice supprise whilst out there. While I was turning my borders over a couple of weeks ago I kept comming accross little gatherings of seedlings. Not knowing what they were I weeded them out thinking they were weeds. Anyway while I was out today I had a closer inspection of a clump of them, and well and be told they were clematis seedlings. Thousands of them. It's from a yellow bell clematis that has those lovely fluffy seed heads which the wind distributes around the garden.

Mind you having now planted loads of them in pots, if they all continue to grow I haven't a clue what I'm going to do with them. I don't have room for anything else.

Free to a good home if any of you want them!?

How wonderful Daisy/Trina - What DO we call you now, any preference? Lucky you finding all the clematis babies. The montana varieties do that also. Wish I could offload them for you, but you know the rule, can't ship plant material over here, just seeds I believe. I remember how excited I used to be when I discovered something like that. I am just as excited now when I see how all my plants have come through the winter and when I think a particular plant has kicked the bucket, there is that little glimpse of new life beginning to emerge. Great feeling!! I know, I'm easily pleased......lol.

Are you still after the montana Rubens? If so i'll keep a look out for seed heads.

I actually bought one from the Martha Stewart collection but it's not doing very well. Loads of new leaf and then the leaf just curls up, goes black at the edges. So I cut this off and new stuff comes again,only to repeat the unsatisfactory condition. Because the plant was indoors, I have been getting it used to conditions outside during the day but bringing it in at night. I hope the nights warm up a little, so that I can leave it outdoors all the time. I honestly don't think it likes the warmth of the house. What do you think?

Daisy, I have to go. The roast chicken is almost done and I have to cook the veg. Talk later :-)

Louisa, I don't have long I also have to save the roast chicken from being cremated in a minute.
Do you think your clematis has "CLEMATIS WILT"?
I seem to have a real problem with it in my garden. Which is why I only have small flowering clematis, they're less suseptible to it apparently. If I were you (ignor my advice if you wish) I'd risk it and plant it out. Here we are told to plant it 4inches below the surface of it's existing pot. That way it has even less chance of getting wilt. And if it dies back due to cold, it should come back when it starts to warm up.

Right gotta go save the chicken......

Quite right Trina, clematis wilt, if you bury the plant up to the first bud joint that prevent it most of the time, the plant will also grow roots from the stem and that help stop the wilt also, i have a load of clematis seedlings too, they are the yellow C orientalis, i get a load of them every spring, they become a paim after a while, like a weed, and thats how i treat them now, food time, see you all later.

Hey, you are both missing something here......:-) Remember - I can't plant anything in the ground - I don't have a garden till I move!!!!

Was anyone else impressed by or post totals on this fourum, didnt we do well, see who spends most time at daves i think.

And on the subject of names, its what ever you feel comfortable with.

Oh Louisa I'm laughing at myself for being so dim. Whats there weather like wher you are, are you still at risk from frosts?
Have you thought about planting it in a large pot which is deep enough to bury it 4 inches below, and putting it somewhere sheltered?

Mind you, if i did that i'd probably put it somewhere out of the way and forget to take it with me!! lol

Hello! My you've all been busy!!! I've had a good stint out in the garden. Put in 400-500 bulbs. They're in the green, snowdrops, winter aconites, and a few others such as anemones and oxalis and bluebells. I managed to get one bag of manure down. I put down loads in the autumn. This one calls itself a soil conditioner too. I'm aiming to get the rest down next session. I was getting anxious to get these bulbs in. They looked fine, still moist. That shrub sounds nice Daisy. Yes, I am looking for ideas, even if I plant in the autumn, for these fences. The fences are 4ft 6. I don't want to plant things which are really difficult to dig out. I've a tree mallow which I want to get rid off as it's old and deteriorating. It looks a toughie. Any ideas? Choose any name you like Dori. I'm northerner because I live in the north of England. One of my student friends solemnly told us that her name was babybunny. I thought it was hilarious. The names we choose for ourselves are very revealing. Hi Louisa, hi alan, hi Lisa.
My puter's still playing up. Now the monitor is flickering on and off... Goes in for repair tomorrow. Will be offline a few days. Will try and look in on another computer if I get a chance. Bye for now!!!

Just popped in to say hi there. Have'nt done much gardening today, just cleared some iris sibirica foliage from the pond and put a thin net round the frogspawn to stop all the newts from eating it. Then cleaned out the guinea pig . What lovely compost that will be in 6 months time! Although it was dull and overcast and drizzled , it was very hot today which means the slugs will be on the warpath tonight. Rob

Northener, I had decided to dig up my tree mallow last year, it was a real bruit. Ended up sawing it off at gound level and leaving it! I didn't want to plant anything else near it, and fingers crossed, it hasn't shown any sign of life since! Probably lulling me into a fulse sence of achievement!

Rob, its been sunny all day here, but nice and warm, i have found a bucket full of slugs today, my Koi had a good meal, lol, like you said they will be out tonight.

Daisy, it possible that it will grow again, its best to treat the top of the trunk after sawing.

Rob and Alan,

Do you have to mention slugs? I've had a good gardening day, too, potting up seedlings and repotting things in the conservatory in bigger pots. Isn't it nice to find so many things you thought were dead and gone beginning to show a bit of green again?

My son got me some tree seedlings with his sugar packets last year, in one of those millennium offers, and they came in a plastic tube (which I was supposed to use to protect the seedling, but I prefer to look at a plant, not a green plastic tube, so I didn't), and they came with a label saying 'This tree is not dead. It is deciduous.'

Alan,

Yes, I'm pleased we have the highest number of posts, apart from the Photo Forum. Now, if only we made more sense, some of those eavesdroppers might be persuaded to drop in and have their say too.

Rob,

I got some lovely compost yesterday. At last I swept up the pine needles from the drive - looked almost like peat - three wheelbarrow loads of it.

Alan, I think if it dares to sprout I may paint it with weed killer or something.
Afraid I've got to luv ya and leave ya all coz I gotta get some sleep, got the electrician coming at 8.30 in the morning and thats early for me!
Happy chatting
Night night

Night Daisy, see you tomorrow.

Mary, seems that weather has everyone out, but hasnt it been great, its been a very long time comeing, you managed to find one you liked then(compost) you said before about john innes that wasnt any good.

Mary, Don't quite know what you mean about :-

"Now, if only we made more sense, some of those eavesdroppers might be persuaded to drop in and have their say too".

Do you mean that we dont talk the talk all the time re gardening? This is, I thought, a catch-all forum, sort of like the general discussion forum. I'm sure most of us will be swapping our garden stories as the weather warms up and we can actually get to do some garden work. As for me, I don't have a garden right now but will do come end of May. So idle chatter, to while away the prolonged winter was fine with me and enabled me to get to know more about the people and friends I have met and come to love on this great forum :-) If I have misunderstood you then I am so sorry. I'm always putting my foot in it!