Re: Gardening Thread.

[Sabot]

Will it be like these ones, Sabot?

Yes, yes. So bloody beautiful. Oh God, I do hope that this year it will be so. But the real point is that I have grown these things myself, from Seed. And never knowing if they would come to good in my life time. But then that is the other thing about Gardening. You don't always just do it for yourself. Sometimes you do it for the pleasure of other people, may be, one day. Or even for the plant itself.

Two years ago I bought a Plum Tree which so far hasn't produced any sort of Plum at all. But then that was never my reason for buying it. I just thought that it might be interesting if it ever does.

Really good gardens take so long to mature. And so much love and care when they don't appear to be doing very much at at all.

[bb1]

It looks gorgeous, Sabot - not a plant I have ever tried growing, so don't know much about it.

It's still SCORCHIO here - so much for the weather forecast.

[lily]

Will it be like these ones, Sabot?

Yes, yes. So bloody beautiful. Oh God, I do hope that this year it will be so. But the real point is that I have grown these things myself, from Seed. And never knowing if they would come to good in my life time. But then that is the other thing about Gardening. You don't always just do it for yourself. Sometimes you do it for the pleasure of other people, may be, one day. Or even for the plant itself.

Two years ago I bought a Plum Tree which so far hasn't produced any sort of Plum at all. But then that was never my reason for buying it. I just thought that it might be interesting if it ever does.

Really good gardens take so long to mature. And so much love and care when they don't appear to be doing very much at at all.

That is breathtaking. I've had one myself and it was gorgeous but not from seed. Well done, Sabot.

Bonny, just so long as you give them adequate support they are fine. Their weight can bring a flimsy support down to the ground.

So glad to hear about your fabulous weather.

[sadie]

Mine was about 3 times the size of that but not such a gorgeous specimen. It took about 18 years to grow so big, but sadly had to go after the flood. Was planted from a small sapling, not seed. That is clever. Be careful cos i think they are the same family as Laburnum and Laburnum seeds are very poisonous (so my Dad used to tell me) I think the whole tree is poisonous actually.

The house has never looked the same since the wisteria vanished. Sadly.


Now my plum trees. Two saplings that were bought at Aldi very cheaply. Zilch for three years then suddenly beautiful big Victorias. Delicious. No matter that the one tree was supposed to be an apple tree

This year they are covered with blossom, but doubt they will do any good after these frosts. A wretched pigeon was eating all the blossom anyhow

[sadie]

And now our bluetits.

Their nest is complete, beautifully lined with soft balls of sheep wool by the looks of it. Last year the nest was not as luxurious but the parent birds did their best by plucking baby feathers out of their own breasts to line it

Mummy bird has just taken residence. Haven't seen any eggs yet, but last year the birds kept us guessing by covering them all until the mummy was ready to sit, so maybe the same has happened again.

We both get the feeling that this pair are experienced parents and last years were first timers, so we are hoping for more success this time round.

Will keep you posted.

[Sabot]

You don't actually have to grow Wisteria from seed. It isn't obligatory. It was just something that I wanted to do, and at the time thinking that they wouldn't flower for twenty years. Well, I proved that one wrong. That was a glorious surprise. But they do need watching and quite drastic pruning. But that's all available on Google. And I must have got it right last Winter because they are all covered in buds. The best yet.

I started off with those metal arches which as Lily says, proved to be useless because they all fell over, and I had one hell of a job getting rid of those. Mine are now all anchored to the house with big brass hooks, and apart from some branches trailed along the wall, they are now confined to their main stems with just short off shoots.

Good luck with your birds nest, Sadie. Do let us know what happens.

[Sabot]

This year's growing season got off to an even more disappointing start than usual. I lost most of my seedlings to Frost, and had to start again. But the next lot of Beans and Tomatoes are now planted out.

Most of my Wisteria Buds seem to have survived, although some of them are dead. But my neighbour's bush which is a bit more advanced than mine is actually decimated. This seems to be to do with how advanced the buds were when the frost hit, but there isn't anything to be done about that. As it is, I seem to be more upset about his bush than he is.

No sign of The Sunflower seeds sprouting, so I might plant some more, just in case.

I sometimes wonder why I do this. I am either a fool or an optimist.

The Broad Beans are flourishing. Grow Broad Beans. Obviously as tough as old boots.

[bb1]

I haven't planted anything new yet, Sabot. After that bizarre hot spell, the weather went back to normal = horizontal rain and sleet.

[Sabot]

I got lulled into a false sense of security, Bonny. But my gardening has always been done on the back of disappointment. There is always something waiting to knock me back.

I nearly succumbed to buying Tomato Plants last week, but only because they were dying from lack of water. I felt sorry for them. But then I'm the sort of person who can't throw away an Avocado Pip without feeling like a murderer.
Anyway, I didn't buy the Tomato Plants because I do not want Tomato Blight again, but it was hard to walk away from them when they needed me.

[Sabot]

Some good news, sort of. Patience is occasionally rewarded.

For many moons I have been looking for a small Barbeque Table to stand beside The Barbeque. I have discarded the possibility of several metal and wooden contraptions because I need to leave it outside. But just when my patience was flagging I found a small, round marble topped table on a cast iron stand. Absolutely perfect. It cost a bit more than I had hoped to pay, but you can't have everything, and life can't always be just about Sell By Date Food. Sometimes you have to splash out on inconsequentals.

The fact that I rarely use The Barbeque is neither here nor there. The Table is aesthetically pleasing to look at, and matches The Barbeque which is caldron shaped, and also cast iron. The whole thing looks really good. Silly old me.

[bb1]

Sounds very stylish, Sabot

[Sabot]

Sounds very stylish, Sabot

It is a bit stylish, Bonny, and I am really pleased.
I am a great lover of old things. Most of my furniture and possessions are not frightfully good antiques, but better than any of the rubbish that is available today. Most of it was abandoned forty or fifty years ago when no one wanted it. And I could tell you exactly where everything I own came from. I see myself as a rescuer of middle of the road old things that were worth saving. And I love it all. Some of these things nearly went to Tip, and would have done if I hadn't given them house room. Not least my beautiful stuffed Barn Owl. He has pride of place. Some Moron killed him, and briefly he was worthless. But never in my house.

But melding the new with the old is sometimes difficult. I managed that today.
Solid Marble and Cast Iron is timeless. It fits in anywhere.

I do wish that The Fireplace had been real marble, but it wasn't. And it looks really good now that it has been painted. I am currently looking for gold paint because that photo you posted of a green and gold fireplace looked lovely. I shall contain my soul in patience until I do. And then this awful old aspiration of people gone by will have the love it deserves. Just French peasants, but I expect that they liked it, and it was probably more than they could afford at the time.
The family still live around here, and I probably know more about them than they might like me to because I spent some time looking after the Village Gossip when she was really ill. And I didn't half miss her when she died.
But then that is rural French life for you. You get sucked into the real thing.

[bb1]

Not only is it more interesting, it tends to look better, Sabot. It certainly doesn't look the same as everything else.

[Sabot]

Perhaps that's it, Bonny. Nothing I own looks the same as everything else. I suspect that most of my furniture was gleaned from the servant's quarters who were certainly not given the best.
I have six matching dinning chairs, except that they were obviously individually carved and don't actually match because the carving is infinitesimally different. They are not particularly good chairs beyond the fact that they have survived. They were left in a leaky barn along with my not awfully good round dinning table. But I thought that I had found the epitomey of good chairs. And I had, of course. They are all quite beautiful because they are different.
Bloody pain in in the arse to clean, though. I take a tooth brush to them on rare occasion when I haven't got anything better to do. This is not often.

[Lamplighter]

My humble efforts - or to be exact them toolips grows themselves!! LL

[sadie]

They are lovely LL.

This years display of bulbs was my worst ever. I usually have a dazzling display, thanks to having planted thousands of them.

Methinks I must feed them this year. Blood and bonemeal isn't it? ... but when in the life cycle of the bulb?

[Lamplighter]

They are lovely LL.

This years display of bulbs was my worst ever. I usually have a dazzling display, thanks to having planted thousands of them.

Methinks I must feed them this year. Blood and bonemeal isn't it? ... but when in the life cycle of the bulb?

I have no idea, sadie, I just leave them to their own devices; they come up when the weather gets warmer, they 'die' once it gets too hot, then next year there they are again. I know nothing of gardening, I do weed sometimes .... LL

[bb1]

Very pretty, LL

Dunno, Sadie, I tend to leave them to look after themselves, too.

[sadie]

For fifteen years I have had this lovely display. Peeps stop to look and comment. Then this spring it was decodedly less impressive.

There you Go!

Have wondered if bulbs benefit from a hard winter?

[Sabot]

Thanks for the pictures, LL. Nice to see other posters participating.

We had a raging gale last night and I laid in bed listening to pelting rain and howling winds and imagined the devastation in my garden.
One tree branch down across the road, but my garden escaped relatively unscathed. Some of the Tomato plants look a bit bedraggled but will hopefully dry out. They are now covered in case we have any more rain. Which we no doubt will. Once it starts raining here it can go on for weeks.

I buy bulbs in the green these days and then plant them out after they have died off. They cost a bit more, but at least you know that they are capable of flowering.
This year I bought three rather classy glass jars of Narcissus planted on top of moss, so next year I shall use these jars for planting Crocus. Doing it this way I can fill gaps.

At the moment I am debating covering the new Marble Table because rain can damage Marble. But then what is the point of having a good looking table if you can't see it? So I might just cover it in Winter.

[bb1]

I don't suppose you need any RAIN do you, Sabot? Mind you, everything is looking lush and green, from what I can see through the downpour.

[Sabot]

No thank you, Bonny. We have quite enough. But still the bloody grass goes on growing, and that will be my next problem if it doesn't stop soon. I leave it for as long as I can to keep the bills within reason, and then we get three weeks of rain so I have to cut it twice.

[Sabot]

I have just cut a rather large Lawn, if you can call it a Lawn. The French aren't frightfully into Lawns, just into keeping grass under control. This is fine by me.
It was very long and very wet and very hard work, and I shall have to do it again tomorrow. If it doesn't rain again.
Sadly, Jobbing Gardeners are always seen as Casual Labour, and never get any real acclamation despite having to know a fair amount about what they are doing. If you don't catch the weeds before they seed then you get more weeds, obviously, although this is not so obvious to absent owners who usually think that you are trying to rip them off if you cut their rotten grass more often than once a month.
Actually, at this time of year leaving it for more than a week is pushing your luck. Grass Grows. You might think that people would know this, but they don't.
They also don't appreciate that my Lawn Mower cost knocking on £500. Add Petrol and Oil and Servicing to that, and you are not talking cheap. It costs me £10 before I even leave my house.

But, hey ho. It keeps the dog in Sardines.

[Lamplighter]

Some more of my 'go-it-alone cos LL knows zilch about gardening' flowers. LL

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[sadie]

Lovely tulips LL. Are you sure you are not from holland?

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