# Gardens in flower



## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Our roses are magnificent this year, loaded with blooms

However our clematis, and we have several are not doing well, scarcely any flowers

Anyone else noticed the same pattern in their garden ?

Sandra


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Not really, Sandra. Our roses (two!) are rather poor. It has been so dry, here, in East Anglia that I am surprised anything has survived to be honest.
We planted a Weeping Willow to replace the one that was a casualty of the diggers and it has been a worry to keep it watered. It is right beside the pond but is too new to have deep roots yet.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

I’ll try a photo 

But something has changed so it’s not so easy


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Beautiful!


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## Glandwr (Jun 12, 2006)

The cornus florida have very few blooms (brackts) this year, loaded last year with fuits exactly like strawberries. The gooseberries have been a failure, but a prolific crop of red and black currents, rubarb was so so. First sowing of runner beans rooted in the ground, but the courgettes are going bonkers in this hot humid weather. Roes have been so so although the dog ones in the hedgerows have never been better. Every year is different thank goodness. What suits one genus doesn't suit another. I suppose it's the same with people,:smile2:


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Our gooseberries have no fruit although looking very healthy

I think that last year they had some infestation 

Our cucumbers have wilted and died

Raspberries and strawberries seem to have plenty although not yet ripe 

Tomatoes are just beginning to fruit 

Apple trees loaded, cherries are good but the birds always get there first, not ripe yet but I already see the birds eying them up, not a single plum so far the year 

Fig tree is well well loaded in the greenhouse, as is the vine 

Apart from the trees our veg are grown in pots

As are all our fushisas, hostas and geraniums 

Every year we say we must cut back as they are heavy to move into the greenhouse in winter and out in spring as we get older

If anything we just seem to get more 

I could start a small garden centre with miniature hostas, loads of varieties and this year we really need to split both them and the large hostas

It will be like the Sorcerers Apprentice when we start

Sandra


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## baldlygo (Sep 19, 2006)

We have had quite a bit of rain this last two weeks.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

East Anglia had the driest May on record and that is saying something for this region. Then we get to June and it rains. Didn't last long though. A local farmer told us that all the crops were really stressed before the rain so hope it helped him out.


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## shingi (Apr 18, 2008)

Our Alstromerias are magnificent this year.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

That’s what they are 

They were in the bouquet that I received today

Couldn’t for the Life of me remember what they were called Shingi 

They are beautiful, love the colour 

Sandra


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## shingi (Apr 18, 2008)

Thanks Sandra. They are called Indian Summer in case anyone interested.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

My wife has found this growing wild... Ray.


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## baldlygo (Sep 19, 2006)

I think wild orchids are amazing plants. The first I can remember seeing was in a Dordogne wood in the 80s. When I moved to Shropshire in 2001 I was delighted to find several varieties come up in my garden. I used to count and photograph them each year. There was a bee orchid in a nearby field and it was my favourite. I looked out for them every year when taking my dog for a walk. Just before moving away from Shropshire a nearby farmer sprayed his long fallow fields killing everything growing in them.
My orchids are online - https://orchids.pastcaring.com/bee-orchid.html


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## KeithChesterfield (Mar 12, 2010)

We've been eating our Strawberries for the last week or so with many more soon to be ready and the first potatoes should be ready to eat next week.

Our Cytisus Battandieri yellow tail (Pineapple tree) has been in gorgeous bloom this year but is now receding.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

We have a domestic water tank in the greenhouse and Albert puts any potatoes that have begun to shoot in my potato cupboard into it 

Different varieties of salad potatoes etc, 

Can’t call it a potato crop when we harvest , but it’s fun taking enough potatoes for a meal 

We’ve been enjoying the jersey season, bought not grown , I love it when the first jersey royals hit the shops and they are tiny 

I remember the fields of wild flowers including orchids when I was a child Paul, spent hours pressing and labelling them into books ,I Spy book firmly clutched in hand

Those were the days

Sandra


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

They are indeed lovely.

I have an Arthur Bell that seemed to have more flowers this year than normal. It has such a lovely perfume.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

That’s similar to our climber Jean, although I think ours is Old Gold 

Flowers early and profusely, often a second flush follows 

Sandra


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

aldra said:


> Flowers early and profusely, often a second flush follows
> 
> Sandra


Yes, that's a bonus cis I'm not usually here in May.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Well I’m not having that much joy with posting photos but I’ll try again 

This clematis is the only one to be profuse this year, although the Montana wasn’t too bad

On a gardening programme they said the poor clematis performance was due to the cold wet winter followed by the hot spell early summer 

I’ve just enjoyed my first home grown figs, the vine is full of grape clusters, strawberries have been good ,
Blueberries are loaded as are the tomatoes, neither as yet ripe enough to eat


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

I discovered why :frown2:

I had to click on done as I choose the photo from my album:grin2:

Sandra:nerd:


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Yay! You did it  Beautiful photos. I feel quite humble that I cannot do it. I must try to access mhf from my ipad as that is where the few photos that I have are located.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

You must Pat

I’d be delighted to see them

Sandra


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

A few more


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

We can’t find anyone to clip shadow

The one who did has left

I know long haired dogs shouldn’t be clipped 

But he has problems 

His bowels are not good, he’s very loose and long haired

Well you can guess the rest

Plus we are struggling to maintain his long coat

The last time we were told it can damage the coat of a long haired dog to clip it short

He’s 12 1/2 years old we no longer care about his coat, just his comfort 

And he made a delightful bear

Sandra


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

The plants look lovely Sandra - that's how I like them.... Someone else looking after them!!


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Well we would normally be away until the end of this month and off again come Sept Jean 

So the gardens are better tended this year, and I guess we will actually get to eat the tomatoes this year 

Every cloud and all that :grin2:

More or less all the pot plants are maintained from year to year, taken into the greenhouse to over winter which is why our promise to cut back on the number of pots never seems to materialise 

Hosta are brilliant choice for ease of care, no need to overwinter inside, they just flourish 
although this year some of the large troughs will need to be rebuilt come Autumn 

Since we introduced frogs to the top pond we no longer seem to have any slugs or snails 

I guess when it comes to plants in pots Albert just seems to be able to keep them flourishing year on year 

And those are just photos of the back garden >

Sandra


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

The water lilies are in flower 

Bought originally for the large pond they are a large leaf variety a bit too large for the small pond 

Had to move them as the fish kept grubbing out the stones and soil 

such a pretty flower , we’ve trimmed away a few leaves , but I guess the frogs and pond wild life prefer the surface covered 

Sandra


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

That looks a lovely shady corner Sandra.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

It is Jean

Well if you are an amphibian that is 

It gets late morning /early afternoon sun 

I suppose for many of us who don’t live in the country our gardens are more important than ever this year 

But they are not making up for my family

Sandra
Ol


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

We have now a couple of quotes to reduce the height of the front hedges by a couple of feet or so 

£400 , seemed a lot of money at first but there are a lot of hedges so it prob isn’t 

Just concerned if now is the best time to do it , worried about nesting birds but I’m no ornithologist, will they still be nesting at this time of the year ?

I know we have a couple of blackbirds that nest there but it’s a deep hedge so can really only tell from the chicks calling and later when they leave the nest 

The sparrows are mainly in the ivy at the front which we cut back much later , they don’t build nests but have resting places or stages inside the thick ivy and we trim back only this year’s growth 

Sandra


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

I would have thought if these are professional hedge trimmers Sandra they would know the best time is late winter early spring, before they start to grow, that's when Hans used to cut our Leylandii in England. 
When have they been cut other years?


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

The farmers are all instructed not to cut until 1st August to save the wildlife so you should be fine Sandra. Is it Leylandii? Everything around here is very stressed due to the high temperatures and lack of rainfall so I cannot do anything drastic in our garden. Luckily we have a bore hole for watering so I can just leave the hose running on vulnerable plants.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Albert usual trims the hedges Jan

As I said they are very wide so trimming them doesn’t disturb the inner nesting places 

This is different ,it’s to reduce the height, early spring would be ideal as would now 

The nature of thick conifer hedges is a tendency to be without green in the centre so it would be ideal if some outer growth will still occur to cover bare areas which makes winter less than ideal aesthetically 

Also as the cutters will trim all the hedges at the same time it saves Albert the job as he’s getting a bit past balancing high on ladders and they really need a trim now 

If August is Ok For farmers it should be Ok for us Pat, thanks

Sandra


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

The gardens are slowly changing 

The hostas beginning to change from green to yellow

Autumn creeps in, season of mist and mellow fruitfulness 

Where did summer go?

A wet August, the flowers still in bloom, the roses wet with drooping blooms 

Another season past

Figs that will not ripen now, tomato’s that will possibly remain green , apples that need to be picked, plums that have been disappointing this year

But still another year when we have loved our garden and will slowly begin to put it to bed

It will be there next year and hopefully so will we

Sandra


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

Autumn is just around the corner, the fields we are walking round have a mixed hedge so rose hips, haws, sloes for gin, horse chestnuts and edible chestnuts on the ground, the leaves are still mostly green though. 

I watch a red squirrel dashing from one side to the other with what I think must be chestnuts still in there green cases in its mouth, he/she must have a really good stock by now, but I have noticed a pile of them in the middle of one of the paths through the trees, maybe it only wants a certain size.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

And I breakfast on blackberries every day. Love em.
I check the walnuts every morning as every year just when they are almost ready to pick they all vanish and we have never seen a squirrel in 20 years here.

Ray.

Ray.


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

Walnuts are picked up off the ground, if you are looking up it’s the wrong direction, you will be walk-in one them. Just though I had better tell you that.:laugh:


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

If I wait for them to fall Jan it will be too late as whatever takes them will have been and gone.

Ray.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

We have a recipe unripe fig chutney 

I may try it

Green tomatoes wrapped in paper and placed in a dark drawer, they’ve always ripened , although I like grilled green tomatoes 

But miniature hostas, £8 each at the garden show, we’ve hundreds which need to thinned to individual pots 
I recon we should just put them outside with an honesty box for Christie’s or a farmers market 

But first we need to plant them up

I get restless to put the garden to bed, but the flowers are still blooming especially the fushias 

Untidy, full of blooms, the geraniums going mad on their last flush, calla Lillys 
finished but thick with leaves 

Begonias dropping now 

But I love this season, the Virginia creeper will change Their leaves to violent red before they drop and we can clear them out of the gutters where they have crept 

The log fire will be lit again , the curtains drawn

But this year our loved ones will not gather, I won’t cook for them,

And I guess we will be lonely 

Sandra


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Still cutting roses, begonias that look like overblown roses

Fronds of beautiful drooping fushia 

Little vases throughout the house 

Detracts from the dust

And the every increasing undercoat that drops from shadow old now and looking moth eaten 

Looking for a groomer but most are full with regulars

Our regular has left the area

Young Albert tries but shadow is not really helpful , he gets fed up quickly and irritable 

As I guess I would too , his joints are probably tired, the stairs require a rest half way up for him as well as us 

This hound from hell is getting old, still a belligerent old git , some things never change 

I can’t really imagine the day when I no longer cook rice and chicken for him 

When he doesn’t control our lives , eats when he says he’ll eat, not before not later

My hound from hell, who has blighted our travels in the MH and no doubt kept us safe 

I wouldn’t challenge him and neither would any one else With an once of sense 

A hound who has loved every grandchild, and nipped all the boys at sometime or other 

Never the girls

Before corona is finished I’m guessing we will be saying goodbye to him 

I’m not sure he can make the leap into the garage if and when he would need to

I can’t imagine travelling without our hound from hell

Sandra


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Well the gardens are slowly going to sleep

Some not all the plants are slowly coming to an end

The fusias still going strong, the geraniums suddenly putting out more flowers Just as we thought they were finished

The Passion flower is climbing to the roof, still producing those fabulous three d flowers, the hostas turning yellow as they slowly come to the end

Soon the Virginia creeper will turn bright red and we will forget it’s climbed into the gutters As we admire the colour and forget we will need to clear it from the gutters

But we are worried as alberts scan indicates a spread of cancer, an autumn rather than a spring

But who knows maybe yet a spring to come

Sandra


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Chris has a mortal fear of climbing plants  If he sees anything spreading he wants to kill it. I think it must have come from when he lived in a council flat and they had an allotment style garden. His, widowed, mother would send him down to keep it in order so he would kill everything in sight. 
We have a native hedge at the front of our property and some lovely periwinkle was growing through it. It gave me joy every time I saw it. Lo and behold he spotted it and ripped it all out! It was doing no harm at all but it was spreading so had to be removed. I can lend him to you, Sandra, for the Virginia Creeper if you like?


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Not if he’s going to rip it down Pat

We will just trim it back from the gutters as we do with the ivy

It’s magnificent in its autumn hues, fiery red and oranges 

Just beginning to change now

Sandra


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

I love to see it but I wouldn't want to own it! I'm like my mother - a soon as I see greenery around windows I automatically think of all the spiders n creepy crawlies that will be in there!


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Like this?

Ray.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Have you been photographing my house Ray?

It’s totally ivy clad at the front , just like that one 

Sandra


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

Yes, just like that Ray, tho I see no windows on the side wall.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

No we have no windows on the side gable

But eight on the front, Ivy’s clipped around them 

The Virginia creeper is on the gable amongst the ivy and has crept to the back across our bedroom window and our bathroom and is meeting up with the Passion flower

Me, I just love it as do the sparrows 

When we sell buyers may not

But then again we are not living for the buyers if and when we sell

I’ll send a picture as the Virginia creeper changes to brilliant hues 

Spiders bugs?

Why would they leave the comfort of their homes to enter mine 

Bees buz outside my window but rarely enter

Sandra


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

aldra said:


> Spiders bugs?
> 
> Why would they leave the comfort of their homes to enter mine
> 
> Sandra


I've often wondered that myself Sandra - but they do!!


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Spiders do, rarely see any bugs

At the moment fruit flies are the pain, but always are in the autumn, I imagine we swallow a fair few of the little blighters 

Spiders are welcome I even wait for them to leave their web before hoovering the webs knowing they will make another 

Most of ours are the long legged beasties :grin2:

The big ones I do put outside 

Sandra


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Don't talk to me about flies! Norfolk is full of them at the moment  Lots of pig farms and chicken sheds so I suppose we should expect a few though not millions!


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Watched a large dragonfly today

Winging his way though the garden

Eventually shut the patio door as lovely as a he was didn’t really want him in the kitchen

Iridescent blue , he eventually left 

Sandra


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

It seems a good year for them this year.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

The vagina creeper is rapidly turning vibrant shades of crimson, soon it’s leaves will fall and we will need to remove those vines that have gained the gutter as we do each year

The hostas are now brilliant shades of yellow and gold, the roses still in bloom , the geraniums and fushias still think it’s summer

But the temperature is falling quickly now, soon it will be time for log fires and drawn curtains, a time I normally love but this year it will be strange with the lockdown, no family gatherings, no Christmas to look forward too, no grandkids to open presents, 

Now I am depressing myself so I’ll pick some roses to brighten up the house :grin2:

Sandra


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

Read the 1st line of your post again Sandra - that should cheer you up no end!!

Thanks for the laugh!


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Yes Jean 

No comment, I blame it on predictive text

Sandra>


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

I was just going to tell you to have a word with your predictive text


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