Re: Gardening Thread.

[sadie]

Our bluetit box.

There is an infra red light in there so we can see the goings on day or night.

For three weeks there have been 11 perfect little eggs with Mummy bird perched on top.

Last night late I noticed Mummy bird eating. Eating one of the eggs it seemed , then another , but she kept having a peep below her.

This morning only three eggs left



.... but also a mass of little sqiggly things. Babies! Yippee.


Poppa bird is being very good; he comes and has a wonderous looksee but also brings food to momma. She is still sitting and chews the food up then pops a bit into several parts of the wriggling mass.


By tomorrow these ant like objects will have big demanding yellow beaks and look like tiny birds, hopefully


Fingers crossed, we shall have at least 8 fledglings.
Last years family didn't appear to have a poppa. Maybe it was all too much for Momma and that is why they all died?

[bb1]

Superb, Sadie, hope they thrive!

[Sabot]

Fascinating, Sadie. I briefly thought of getting one myself, but then I decided that I wouldn't be able to cope with agony if they died.
But do let us know what happens.

[sadie]

Thanks. Will do

[Lamplighter]

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

No sadie, they came with the house! My friend, who I bought it from, says that they were here when she originally purchased it. We have super weather here and the toolips just lurve it! LL

[Sabot]

I was given some genuine Dutch Tulip Bulbs by a Dutch person. They all flowered the first year, and then disappeared for ever despite being planted in pots. I don't actually like Tulips because they fall over too easily and then just look a mess.
I prefer miniature Narcissus because they obey the rules of my garden, and stay upright until they die, which is what I have got every intention of doing, although my garden is far from regimented.

I bought some Lily of the Valley plants today, already in flower. These will be planted out shortly. Lily of the Valley are much more difficult to grow than one might think, but mine have taken off this year after 18 painful years of rien de tout. But I want to plant these new ones somewhere else.
In France on the first of May everyone gives Lily of the Valley to their friends. God knows why. I keep mine, and my house is full of them at the moment. And at least they have a scent.

Incidentally, I also bought a really nice green glass vase with some Lillies of the Valley and one yellow Rose. The bonus is that the Rose actually has a scent. So rare in shop bought Roses.

[bb1]

I tried Lily of the Valley once, I think they were eaten, because they just vanished...

[Sabot]

There's no happy medium with Lilies of the Valley, Bonny. Either nothing at all, or they are everywhere. I haven't had time to get fed up with mine yet, I have waited so long.

[bb1]

Yes, they look as if they should be simple, but they seem to be rather temperamental..

[Sabot]

I tend to buy such things in the green these days, Bonny. They cost a little bit more but at least you know they are capable of flowering. I've lost count of how many Snowdrop bulbs I have bought, and never a Snowdrop to be seen. I sometimes wonder if the field mice find them better to eat if they have never flowered.

Did you know that you can eat Tulip Bulbs?

[bb1]

I did, vaguely - didn't the Dutch people have to eat them at the end of the War? It was one of the things that Audrey Hepburn never really got over?

[Sabot]

Here is a small tip for all Weeders. I have just tried it again with total success. This works best on Dandelion type weeds, anything that tends to have leaves that lie flat to the ground like Thistles. But it actually works on any weeds.
The absolute rule is that you must catch in hand ALL of the leaves at ground level, and then pull straight up, and then the whole root will come out easily. If you miss just one leaf it won't work, and you will leave the root in the ground to grow again.

[bb1]

Or you can console yourself with the thought that, if dandelions were as rare as orchids, you would be cherishing each one...

[Sabot]

Or you can console yourself with the thought that, if dandelions were as rare as orchids, you would be cherishing each one...

They eat them here, you know. But I have never quite fancied them myself. Although I do make the odd cup of Nettle Tea when my knees are playing up.

[Sabot]

I have just been listening to Gardener's Question Time, and I hope that one of my lawn owners was listening too, although I doubt it. The message was, "Don't cut your grass too short."
He is really picky about his lawn and comes here three times a year and cuts it himself within an inch of it's life. And inevitably it is slowly dying. Moss now covers at least half of it. I have repeatedly told him that this would happen, but he knows best, so I have given up trying to stop him.
I cut it yesterday and I truly could have cried at the devastation that has accelerated over this last Winter. It looks bloody awful, when it used to look so good before he started poking his nose in. I have now lost all pride in the job.
Inevitably, the weeds and ferns continue to flourish, so it takes me just as long to do it as it did before. I just don't enjoy it any more.
And I hope he is really upset when he sees it.
The damage can be repaired, but it is a lengthy and expensive process.

[Sabot]

Okay. Just a quick update.

I have twenty Tomato Plants in various stages of development, in pots and all looking healthy at the moment.
Six English Runner Bean Plants have survived so far, but the number is disappointing.
The French Beans are looking like a complete waste of time and pot space.

One of The Wisterias is in flower and looking very pretty, but more of the buds than I first thought were killed off by the frost. The other two are still not in full bloom, but are looking okay.

I am now into my nightly forage at dusk for slugs and snails for which next door's Hedgehog is hopefully grateful. I just can't bring myself to kill them, but I don't mind them being eaten, which is why I never use slug pellets.

Most of my pot grown bulbs are more or less past it, so next week I shall have to plant them all out.
I will be cutting off all of the dead leaves because there is a limit to how long I am prepared to put up with them looking a mess.

Off out in a minute to cut a lawn before it gets totally out of hand after three weeks of nearly non stop rain.

Back to Moss for a minute. If you have Moss and are prepared to treat it, don't forget to clean The Mower, otherwise you will just reinfect the grass.

[bb1]

I am considering abandoning gardening and building an Ark; we've had so much rain, the royals are giving weather warnings....

[Sabot]

It hasn't rained today, Bonny, and I have cut the grass. Someone else's grass, that is, but I get paid for doing that. It was, as usual, long and wet. My own grass will have to whistle for a minute.
The bloody weeds were awful. A different species of weed this year. But this happens. You think you've cracked one species, and another one appears. But you can't use weed killer on lawns, and I for certain sure ain't pulling this lot up by hand. I just hope to cut the heads off before they reseed.

Fortunately, I live on the top of a very steep hill with Rivers on both sides, and I keep a Nuclear Store Cupboard in case of emergencies.

I think I probably went mad years ago. I just didn't notice when it happened.

[bb1]

This is a good pic, from Sky:



Cropston Reservoir, in Leicestershire, on February 20 (L) and May 10 (R)

You can see how much has fallen there in a couple of months; I don't think it's stopped since the government announced a hosepipe ban in the south east.

Which is good news for the south east, but some of us weren't short of the wet stuff to begin with.....

[Sabot]

It's all a bit Global Warming, isn't it. Mother Nature taking the piss. I have set up a very basic Rain Water Saving System. Just a couple of black plastic dustbins, and four vaguely ornamental plastic buckets under the down pipes on my front step. I did this mainly for The Hydrangeas and the dog. Young Hydrangeas need a lot of water. And the dog won't drink tap water. I also water my many Cactii with rain water.

[bb1]

It's not raining and there is a big yellow thing in the sky....

[Lamplighter]

It's not raining and there is a big yellow thing in the sky....

Dry as a bone here and we got one of them yellow fings too! LL

[bb1]

I don't know what it is, but I hope it stays, it's sort of nice...it seems to give off heat, too.

[Lamplighter]

I don't know what it is, but I hope it stays, it's sort of nice...it seems to give off heat, too.

You gotta speak nice to it, blow it an occasional kiss and tell it it that it.s always welcome in your garden. Kinda make it feel better, cos a lotta people are sometimes rude to it and then it goes off for a holiday in Morocco and forgets to come back. LL

[Sabot]

Just to break the monotony of never ending Gardening. Briefly on the House front.

Washed down all of the paintwork, inside and out. Thank God for expensive paint. It is all holding up very well after four years, although I have repainted all of the rotten windowsills. Hopefully they will go on for a bit yet. Finding replacement, matching windows for a house that was built 120 years ago is not easy. But I am determined to keep the houses in their original state.
We do have a network of Charity Second Hand Warehouses in France called Emmaus which support ex prisoners, giving them a Hostel and a Job in repairing stuff that is donated. And I did note some time ago that they have old windows which match mine. I just need measurements, when I can find the time to go to my nearest Depot. And when I can face the mess that will ensue in replacing the old ones.

I have also recently found some specialist paint which purports to deal with Salpetre in the old stonework. This Salpetre results in nasty brown patches which reappear almost as soon as you paint over them with ordinary paint, making the exercise a complete waste of time.
I do not know if this new paint will work but I am currently psyching myself up into moving the very large amount of very old, very heavy furniture that I have somehow managed to acquire. God knows how I managed this, but I never was able to leave other people's old junk lying abandoned, or to refuse said old junk when offered it free.
I haven't quite reached the stage where I can't get in the door, but people are becoming more aware of what their old junk is worth, so hopefully this won't happen.
And of course, I could spend a lifetime renovating this old junk, so there is never any lack of something to do around here.

I sometimes wish I had never got involved with Madeleine Forums, but only briefly. All of my much loved junk will survive for a bit yet.

[Sponsored content]