The EU RR is on it's Way!

: o I did'nt list what I 've taken out and put in....I thought it could be more surprising and prevent disappointment for who comes after me .....

I can list... if it's still desirable... what I 've taken out, but I 'm not so sure any more what I 've put in...I have to squeeze my memory for that.
I 'm glad the RR makes another round !

I say eeekk too .....£15.00 for a blackberry ??????

My favourite supplier of fruit trees is Deacon's Nursery, Moor View, Godshill, Isle of Wight, PO38 3HW. Phone 01983 840750. The plants are healthy and vigorous and well packaged, and they have an amazing selection.

I bought a thornless blackberry once (not from them), called Loch Ness and the fruit was terribly sour, not a patch on the ones I allow to grow over my wall from the field (I still call it the field, but the council bought it and filled it full of flats and bungalows quite a few years ago now), but the blackberries are still going strong round the edges. These wild ones are big and juicy and very sweet, so I use those.

I've also had some good apple trees from S.E. Marshall & Co, Wisbech, PE13 2RF. Also Marshall's strawberry "Marshmello" is absolutely the best I have grown with lovely large fruit and the most delicious flavour. They have quite a good fruit selection.

Baa, I wasn't being critical about the selection of seeds, I did just wonder if there were fewer veg left because more of us have space to grow veg. I did try to put more veg than flowers seeds back to balance it up a bit.

I had an interesting trawl through the Gardening Encyclopaedia to identify quite a few of the names.

I'm growing an olive tree in a pot so I can bring it in in the winter. It is still quite small but has lots of flowers in spring and the olives it had on last year were elderberry size, so not of any use.

I've got two fig trees, a Bown Turkey which has had lots of fruit and a new, more tender one Bourjasotte Grise, both in pots. Sorry I'm starting to ramble again this has nothing to do with the subject!!!

I made a list of what I took out, and put in, but now I've sealed it all up, I can't find the list!!...

I can re-open the package if you want?

It's sitting here, ready to go in the post when I get the nod.

I've also put in some spares, mainly commercial packets of flowers seeds that I don't need, hopefully someone else will find a use for them.

Thanks for the recommendations about the fruit.It all looks very nice in the catalogues, but nothing beats first hand reports of people who have actually bought from them,service, state of plants etc.

I too bought a blackberry before, and had it growing in my garden, it was HUGE.......had to take it out in the end because it was just getting out of control, the thing grew arms that would grab you when ever you weren't looking, and I swear that they were growing around you still whilst you were trying to untangle yourself....
Shame, because it was a fantastic fruit, huge berries, sweet and juicy, tons on there, the neighbours used to come around to pick them, there was enough for the whole street virtually.

I bought a thornless years ago. Well it reverted to the most viscious beast ever. Then to add insult to injury it started creeping all round the garden - I was still fighting it when I left for France :(
Not planting one here LOL
Actually there are wild blackberries, but it's so hot and dry in the summertime that the fruits are worthless. Double :( :(

Well, I'm so glad I found the European Forum! Thanks Baa! This RR (I guess Round Robin) was the first string I saw so here I am. The chicken stories really drug me all the way through all missives. I myself have banties and standard sizes. Mille fleur and the albinistic form-Porcelain, Light and Dark Brahma, Black Silky (He's so cocky I had to put him in with the standard chickens.. he was beating up the banty hens and cocks too). He really struts his stuff, little warrior him. Silver Sebright, Red Brahma, Partridge and White Cochin. And on the standard side of the divided pen 7 Araucanas, 3 New Hampshires (the largest dark brown egg you ever saw!) and a Toulouse goose. Now, how did that happen? Well, she was thrust into that pen 3 years ago by my son when she was just smaller than a standard chicken and she learned to go into the small chicken door so she lived thru that winter and I've had her since. She lays a couple of times a year, but sooooo messy I use up twice the sawdust litter just for her. I hear they live 50 years or more, so I'll have to stock up on sawdust I guess. (Here in Alaska the norm for poultry waterers is to have an electric pan warmer under the water fount in case you were wondering.) We've had no snow this winter, just rain except the temp. just went down to 12 F. Brrrr Funny weather. Sorry to bust in on the RR, just so glad to be here, the enthusiasm just burst forth!... Carol

Good to see you here Carol! Thats some collection of birds you have there, addictive aren't they. I really like the Seabrights, I was so tempted to buy some Seabright eggs to put under the muscovey we had on the farm as she was sitting at the time but they were too small to take her weight. I like the Silkies a lot too but I'd not come across an assertive one before as we've only got the one hen now (I can't remember if I mentioned the white star passing on a week ago) we might go in for something more fancy or more traditional than the hybrids.

I've known a goose that was supposed to be over 20, she was looking a bit tatty when I last saw her.

Sueone, please don't worry LOL it'll probably be that you open the envelope again and then find the list 5 minutes later, I know thats been happening a lot to me lately.

Patbarr, I know you weren't being critical I was thinking it through out loud because at first I wondered why there would be more flower seed too *G*.

Hi Carol, Glad you like our hen talk. Yours sound to be characters. I started with pure breeds but my latest ones have all been hybrids. The two Warrens are very quiet and just go about their business, but the two Daisy Bells (the dancing one has changed the routine, but still does a little performance when she comes out in the morning) are little show-offs. One has decided to climb the plum tree today and I had to poke her down with a garden cane as she was on a level with the top of the fence and having a look what was on the other side. The other one escaped, I don't know how, and was strolling round my neighbour's garden accompanied by large black persian cat. I may have to clip their wings until they become more sedate! They are laying nearly every day now, so I can't be cross with them.

The water heaters sound a good idea for your climate. Alaska conjures up images of lots of snow and ice, so I suppose rain isn't too bad. We are having quite a dry winter with lots of frosts on cloudless nights and the reservoirs are quite empty for this time of the year.

I've just received my seed order from Real Seeds and they are very generous with their seeds, so I can put a few of them into the Round Robin when it comes round again. They look very good quality, nice fat seeds too, and most of them ones I've not tried before.

I've been trying to plan out where I'm going to put everything, and I'm either going to have to put small amounts in of everything, or leave quite a lot of my regular, old faithfuls, out. Oh dear.

Pat

Apologies for causing the hiatus in the Round Robin which was due to my hols, but I'm back now, and Sue - am ready for the seeds.

This is where I was only 24 hrs ago - Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens in Cape Town, in a temperature of 28C - what a small world it now is for travel...

Mike

Wow Mike, that looks fabulous!
Bet you had a great time, how long were you there?

I'm so green with envy birds are perching on me Mike!

I order seeds from Kirstenbosch (superb germination) but only dream of visiting there right now. Please tell us more :)

That looks wonderful Mike, South Africa is on my wish list of places to visit. I too would love to hear what you saw and anywhere special you can recommend, or are there too many to mention?

You'll be wanting to grow all the exotics in the Round Robin now.

FOR ROUND 2:

I am sending to Baa the following:

Acacia Farnesiana, 5 lots, the usual thorny tree with aromatic yellow small spheric flowers.
Bauhinia Purpurea, 4 lots, the big-pink/purple flowered orhid tree. It is said in the plant files that seeds d onot keep - I grew it from definitely old seeds - they need soaking overnight, in kitchen temepature.
Nerium Oleander, 4 lots, my pink aromatic oleanders, may have cross-bred with other colours, so the flower color is not certain.
Wisteria Sinensis alba, 5 lots, from my wonderful heavy, climbing, white, aromatic, idyllic wisteria.
Keratonia Siliqua, 2 lots, the favorite karob tree.
Albizia Julibrissin, 4 lots, the wonderful glowing acacia.
Styrax officinalis, 3 lots, the wild-growing styrax with hard, knotted wood and abundant white aromatic flowers in the Spring.

Anybody needing something else, feel free to nag - and nag well, as I am only too busy to concentrate on these seed matters

Patbarr and Philomel, I did not send individual envelopes for your requests, in the hope the seeds will reach you with round 2 of the RR.

As all my seeds are for trees, please take only those you need from the envelope (e.g. if oyu only need 2 trees, you can take 5 - 6 seeds and leave the rest for someone else). And nag me if you need something else or something more.

Apologies for the delay, and wishes first to Baa, and then to each and everyone of you - your seeds, Dmail, comments, news they make me relax after the hard day work.

Did I forget something I promised to anyone? - Say it, please !!!

Dimitri

Thanks so much Dimitri for sending these seeds for the RR!!
.......and all the descriptions and growing tips. It's all very much appreciated :)
Can't wait for the RR to back track, and it hasn't even been round once yet!

Dimitri..thank you ! I'm looking much forward to Round 2 from the RR !

Me too!
Maggi xxxx

Yes, I had a good time in South Africa - I was there for just over a week, around the Cape Town area. Very hot: 28C + on most days, even into the 30s.

Climbed Table Mountain, which was amazing for plants. Apparently there are more species of plants in the Table Mountain area than in the whole of the UK! It was too late for the proteas, but still plenty of plants to see.

Drove through some other areas in the Western and Eastern Cape provinces, and into the "Little Karoo" area - very arid there. Plenty of examples of the "fynbos" type of flora, which we seem to hear a lot about as the U.K. climate gets drier.

Here's a picture from one overnight stop near the Swartberg Mountains in the Western Cape:

The Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens were splendid - they are on the outskirts of Cape Town, just in the foothills of Table Mountain, which makes for a very naturalistic setting. I was surpised at how many common garden plants originate from South Africa - agapanthus (so common in all the towns, lining the streets in masses of blue and white blooms), pelargoniums, strelitzia - to name but a few I can remember.

The Gardens are very extensive, and appear to blend seamlessly into the surrounding countryside as they climb up the mountainside. Ericas are another speciality of the area - just so many different types, and planted in massive areas at Kirstenbosch. All of the planted beds just fit so well in the location that you need to remind yourself that it is a "garden" of sorts, and not just the normal countryside.

Kirstenbosch appeared very strong on information and education - the information boards in the different areas tell a lot about the plants and how to grow them - "water-wise gardening" is a recurring theme. There are sections on plants for fragrance, medicinal plants / native remedies, useful plants etc.

Whilst we are always cussing the grey squirrels for digging up our bulbs, Kirstenbosch has its own problems - with porcupines! There are little signs stuck over holes and disturbed soil in the plant beds reading: "A porcupine was here last night"...

Here's a shot of a lovely display of a dark blue agapanthus just coming into flower (Agapanthus inapertus ssp. pendulus 'Graskop', for the record):

What a lovely picture of the agapanthus Mike. I have a rather sorry looking one in a pot outside. I know they prefer to be pot bound, but the ones in your photo make me realise that I should at least give mine a good feed this year! The gardens look extremely natural like you say. I try to keep some areas of my garden natural looking, but they usually end up looking wild and unkempt after about June. I'll have to retire and be a full time gardener to keep them in check.

Thanks Dimitri for the information on your lovely selection of seeds. I'm just waiting for the weather to warm up a bit before I start anything off as I don't want to heat the whole greenhouse, just the propagation end. I'm trying to be economical. Once I get all my seeds growing I quickly run out of frost free space, even though the greenhouse is 25ft x 12ft. I've sectioned off a third of it and just have a heater in there to keep it above freezing for all my tender plants.

Someone said that it would be cheaper to not bother heating the greenhouse at all and just replace the plants which don't survive each spring. I would feel really cruel if I did that.

Looking forward to the next Round Robin.
Where do you get the little plastic bags with seals Baa?
I should think the small white papery ones are what stamp collectors use, so I could get some of those too.

I think the small white papery ones were mine Pat?
If so, they came from the Alpine Garden Society :)

Thanks very much for the beautiful photos Mike
I would love to get to that area and see it in flower.
I was very lucky to go to Namibia very soon after their first rain in the desert for 7 years and it was absolutely wonderful. Lots of interesting flowers and the flowering/seeding grasses looked as if the moonlight had painted the land in the middle of the day - a waving, silvery sea........
I didn't have a digital camera then, so the photos are all transparencies.Will have to get the scanner out some time

The package has now reached me - too big for the letter-box (!) so required a visit to the local sorting office this morning.

I'd agree with what everyone else has said - so much to choose from! But hope to make the choices and get it on its way back to Baa during the week.

Mike

Ooooh what a lovely sight Mike...beautifull...it makes my heart jump..must have been a unforgetable trip you've made.

Pat..I 've just ordered 2000 small zippbags for the costs of E 6,- I 've used bought and handmade paperbags untill now and refused to use the plastic zippbags... I 've always thought that living things like the tiny seeds cannot breath enough in those plastic bags and ...I don't want to add, as much as possible, more plastic in this world..But now I must confess..they are the easiest in use. No seedspilling anymore...open and take out what you need and close again without using tape.. Of course you can only use them if the seeds have dried enough. I 've chosen non-writable baggies..so I can easy re-use the empty baggies.

Saya, where did you order the zip bags from? I'm rapidly reaching the same conclusion as you that they are the easiest things to use, but I can't find any here.
Maggi xxxx

Hi Maggi.. I 've ordered them here http://www.verstedenpapier.nl/winkel/enter.html

I think they 'll deliver abroad also. The website is in Dutch though..if you have problems with reading...just let me know. The prices are for a box of thousand. I 've searched the internet for it too and they came out as the cheapest overhere. Of course you have to add delivery costs and taxes to the prices.

Saya, I visited the website and even managed to find the baggies,(gripzakken, for those, like me, who know no Dutch!), but there doesn't seem to be any way of paying by credit card, so I had to give up. Thanks for posting the link though - they sell some nice stuff. (Yes, I did look through a lot of the website before I found gripzakken!).
Maggi xxxx

Baa

Seed package should now be speeding its way, like a well-travelled boomerang, back towards your letter-box. Hope it doesn't go astray on its last leg!

It's still quite full. My give and take was:

In:
Alcea rosa nigra (Black Hollyhock)
Aquilegia fragrans
Campanula incurva
Cerastium alpinum
Clianthus puniceus ("Lobster Claw" or "Glory Pea")
Eryngium bourgatii
Eryngium maritimum
Erysimum hungaricum
Geranium phaeum
Hemerocallis 'Stafford'
Ipomoea purpurea ?'Crimson Rambler'
Malva silvestris
Nectaroscordum siculum
Schizanthus porrigens


Out:
Broad bean
Campanula cashmeriana
Clematis spooneri
Eccremocarpus scaber
Haloragis erecta
Italian bean
Lathyrus vernus
Runner bean
Stipa tenuissima
Sweet Pea matucana
Tomato
Vestia foetida


Sorry that I took out more veg than I put in (i.e. none) - but this is something I'd really like to get into growing - and they all looked so tempting!

(I've put the Dave's Garden ID numbers on a couple of the packs I put in where there are pictures in my Garden Journal of what the seeds should turn out like.)

If I may be so bold, can I thank you, on behalf of Europe, for setting all of this up and making it a great success. Just the expectation, and hearing what others have taken out and put in, has been great fun - and receiving the package itself was no let-down!

Many thanks,

Mike

I'd like to second that Mike - thankyou Baa!
Maggi xxxx

Hear hear, Baa, hope you got some nice seeds back too for all your efforts.

I'm hoping to get some more seeds sown today (if I've any compost left that is...) i see the omes i sowed before Christmas are coming through thick and string.

Shame on me, i hadn't been out to check my greenhouse for about 4 weeks, then ventured out yesterday (Hubby decided to have a day tidying garden?) It's a wonder they were still alive.But then i think sometimes I lose more seeds from winter sowing being over generous with watering, and that maybe they're better left on the dryish side.

Yes, I'd like to join in with the thanks to Baa - and echo Sue in hoping you get seeds you like :)

I'm off tomorrow on my first trip away from my new home since getting here. Visiting a gardening friend in Ireland (she has since bought a house near me in France but hasn't sold her plant nursery in Ireland yet) and also staying with my son and family (2 grandchildren there :) in Kent.
I'll be away 2 weeks, so won't be on DG

I owe you all a big apology for not keeping up with this thread the past couple of weeks, I have been reading but have been putting off a reply until time allows, it hasn't so I'll devote a little more time later on.

I'm also keenly aware that I've been grossly neglegent in my answering of emails ...... again please accept my apologies I will be answering, I hope, next week.

In the meantime, a BBBBBBBBBBBBBIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG and bold thank you to you all for joining in and making the RR a great success, there is a huge mass of wonderful seeds in there for the next round and I've already earmarked a few for myself, details later.

Another big, personal thank you also to our good friend in Crete, Dimitri, who sent in a large envelope of wonderful extras to be included in the next round. Mother has already removed two packets to grow herself, one Nerium and one Albizia before notifying me so in a few years we hope to have a small but evocative piece of Dimitris beautiful island on the patio among other beautiful plants we have exchanged over the years.

Mike, I've just received Kirstenboschs seed list so it's great to see a little of the actual place, thank you so much for sharing and if you go again can I tag along in a suitcase please :)

Edited to remove paragraph

Right, it's back to the daily grind, with potential Sunday elderly relative invasions, I'm more than happy to have the excuse that I'm working ;)

This message was edited Feb 25, 2006 11:32 AM

Thanks for that Baa, I'd love to have a look at that seed list
Gotta go - writing from my son's laptop and the cat is about to sit on me :)

Good luck with the sunday crowd...........

Philomel, sorry for the delay Kirstenbosch have just posted their links to a PDF version on their site so for you and anyone else who wants to take a peek at the seed catalogue here it is

http://www.nbi.ac.za/products/seeds.htm

Edited by Baa

This message was edited Feb 25, 2006 11:34 AM

Thanks for getting back Baa
I'm still in Blighty til monday, so will have a look after I get home as it's all a bit hectic at the moment (not complaining ;)

I realise I probably qualify as part of the elderly relative invasion myself LOLOL.........

LOL You couldn't possibly be in that group Philomel you are far too young! My aunt was born 43 or so you'd think, I think feeling old is catching so I pay my respects politely and clear off ASAP ;)

Enjoy your time with your family!

Thanks Baa for all your hard work with the R.R. and for the link to the Kirstenboch seed list. I never thought there were so many Ericas. The computer froze so I couldn't look at the whole list. Perhaps as well, I've far more seeds to sow than I have space for, not to say that I can't be tempted by the next R.R..

Hope you had a good holiday Philomel. If you have time I've posted a few details from a book I've been reading under the Chipmunk in the compost thread which may be of interest to you and Sorgina in particular. Nothing to do with chipmunks really, but the author spent some time touring the south of France for ways of growing crops all year round as he lives in Maine and is on the same latitude as the south of France. Lots of good ideas. You have probably got the book already.

No I haven't got a book like that. I'll go and have a look for the chipmunk thread right now, thanks for the info Pat.
I'm having a great holiday thanks :)
Will be travelling back on Monday, so have to pack a few more things in yet. Going to watch my grandson (11) play rugby tomorrow. We ahd a pleasant walk in the country this morning and went to a couple of museums in Canterbury yesterday - they were very good :)

Philomel or Sorgina or anyone with the knowledge... What is the purpose of painting white paint from waist to head high on tree trunks in urban settings? Many people in Alaska wonder about this phenomena seen on television and other media. Is it aesthetic, medicinal, for visibility? Not important, but just a curiousity in this neck of the woods.
Carol

Carol,

here in Greece people for many years (at least 100, maybe more) make a thick emulsion by mixing lime (calcium hydroxide and calcium carbonate) and water and with this they paint all trees for about 1m high from the ground up. This has proved very effective against all kinds of pests that climb up from the ground, including ants, caterpillars (they can destroy the pines in one summer) snails and many others. The same emulsion is also used to paint around ground flagstones, along the base of walls etc, traditionally every Spring in the Aegean, two weeks before Easter. It is the factor that gives the white wash color of all Aegean Island pictures. A cheap and biodegradable disinfection.

Dimitri

Hello to all european RR-enthusiasts!
May I still join your seed-exchange?
I read through the whole thread and - allthough I´ve got no hens yet (!) - i´m very impressed! That´s just what I expected, when I first got into the www three years ago ...
I´m from Hamburg but I´m living in Greece now since 2000. My kids grow up here and I still get established.... The first winters (without internet) were really hard - we live far away from every bigger town - in the meantime, I feel quite comfortable and enjoy the "winter"-mounth as much as the rest of the year.
Here my gardening ambitions (which were more or less low) grew to shere enthusiasm and in only two/three years I learnt more about gardening than in the 40+something before ... not so astonishing when you realize, that I used to live in the most northern part of Germany ... there it was the temperature - here it´s "only" the water, wich puts you to limits. Lucky as we are, we have got a little river flowing next to our garden all year round, so we just pump it up to water our plants.
I found some other plant-maniacs here in Greece, but there is still room for a lot more!!!!
We grow veggies as well as flowers. Two years ago we grew 17 different tomatoes and about 10 hot peppers. Every year, we try some new ones, because I always fail in taking the too sensitive out ... I love bananas and PLUMERIAS (!!!) but they do not stand our few cold nights, so I have to bring them in -and forget about it too often!
Brugmansia is doing very well, I just started to get my own hybrids (have seed for you, if you like!). Also (of course) all Oleanders, Euphorbia and Passiflora.

Hope, you will allowe me to take place at your Round Robin and the "Round table" wich goes with it , as well!

Greetings from Greece!
Lixi

Hello Lixi

Welcome to the European forum! I'll be posting up a new thread about the next round of the EURR shortly, well a week or so when I can sort myself out :) You would be more than welcome to join in.

Its always interesting to read about all the different gardening that we do across Europe, I'd always imagined Greece to be so much warmer than here, perhaps the cold doesn't last so long? Sounds like you grow an exotic mix too.

I'll post a link here when I make the new thread so please keep a look out for that and let me know you still want to join in and that goes for everyone else too :)

Hi Lixi, lovely to hear from you and about your garden in Greece. A big welcome to DG and the European forum. The weather seems to have taken a dip in temperature this year and we've had lots of frost here in SW France, despite being relatively close to the Atlantic. White frost here this morning, but it sounds as if the UK is expecting snow, so hope it is warmer with you?
Your plants sound great. I hope you'll have some fun searching through the packets in the RR when it gets to you.

Thanks Baa - I'll keep an eye out for the new thread as I'd like to join in again :)