What are we doing in the garden 2025

Nothing today it's raining, yesterday i planted some more polyanthus.

 

My daily garden check revealed that this bloody young fox has digged out half the soil in the tree fern pot. I restored and saved what could be saved, and put bricks on top.

Do you want to have a young fox who digs through your garden? You can get him for free

 

I like gaura @wiseowl, it seems to like it in this garden and self seeds around which is a blessing. Sailed through the recent very hot and dry weather without a blink. A good 'doer' in my book.

 

I have gaura which has self seeded. Beware, it can begin to take over! They have been put in the same genus as evening primrose now which does the same. I tend to use the flowers for cutting now and that stops them seeding and getting too tall and flopping over. They branch out and carry on flowering until October at least here. I think there is a shorter variety now which could be worth trying and there are pink ones although I like the plain white.

 

I'd like to have Gaura, but I think it would struggle here. Too wet and windy, so it would need some help to stay upright. Never seen them in any garden in this general area either. Maybe think about it again, with the changing weather, as they're lovely plants. No idea where it would go, although it would be lovely by my pond, and it would only be the white one. Maybe that short variety you mention @Baalmaiden?
Yesterday, once it cleared up in the afternoon, I did a few general bits and pieces, and was wanting to do some more bulbs into their posher pots for next spring. Narc. Lieke is a favourite of mine, so I'd gathered all the pots and started getting them ready for the 'smart pot' on Tuesday. There didn't seem to be as many as I thought I'd had, but I just assumed I'd put some in a border, and added a few Minnow to fill out the pot. All finished with a layer of grit, and tucked near the house wall. Fast forward to yesterday - and I went round to the front garden, only to find another pot of them there with a few other pots. D'oh! Had to redo it.
Kept making sure there was food for mother pigeon, and thankfully the youngster was ok, and today he was tootling around the garden with Mum. I've named him Bob, after the late great Robert Redford, because he appeared the same day that Mr. R died. Not quite a 'one in, one out' but that made my daughter laugh when I said it!
This was him on Tuesday when I got him into the back garden. 'Face like a well skelped a*se' as we say here


This morning, Mum appeared as soon as I opened my curtains, so I went out with some food for her. Then Bob appeared with her, tootling around and getting fed. I took quite a few pix, but they were all blurry apart from this one. I just hope he can start flying soon, because he's pretty vulnerable. Doing my best to keep certain animals out though.

 

I've been collecting dried Bean seeds and hung them in the outside loo.
My thoughts behind this is that these beans have suffered a very hot dry
summer, so they may cope better next season if it's hot. If it's not hot
then it's plan B.

 

Planted more polyanthus around the path and dug up the crocuses to see how many i need to replace the ones that haven't survived the droughts.

 

Taking cuttings of salvia confertiflora, anisondontea El Royo and other things that need to be kept frost free.
Found that the bulbils from lilium lancifolium that I'd put into a tray of compost have made enormous contractile roots. So had to repot them all into a much deeper container.

 

Got to the Allotments today, appart from harvesting in general I picked the pears. I might even get some edible ones this year last year they all rotted as they ripened. Set the posts for the summer raspberries I'll do the wires another day. I still need to buy some more as less than half the row survived, lots of gaps.

 

I just pootered around doing odd jobs in the garden as I came across. I'd had a Carex Evergold stuck in a bucket for quite a while, awaiting a new home and inspiration struck when I saw it. I split into 4 0r 5 sections and replanted one bit by a broken slab which had had it's corner knocked off. That hid it quite successfully and I planted the rest of the divisions in my main bed where things had died off in the drought and left gaps.

I also remembered I'd got some of last year's daffs in a paper bag so found those and planted them around the various Carex, hoping they'd make a good show next Spring. Picked a (smaller) bowl of raspberries to have with a scoop of vanilla icecream for pud tonight.

 

Yesterday I sowed seeds of leafy herbs and veg and took cutting of salvia Belle de Nantes.

It was too hot to sow seeds of winter veg at the right time so we raided a GC on the way to do our weekly shop today and I have now planted the oak leaf lettuce, pointy and Savoy cabbages and potted up the pennisetum Black beauty and a pink gaura that followed me out of the shop. The beetroot, leeks and strawberries have to wait a day or two so I can prep their beds.

@wiseowl gaura are hardy to -10C but don't like wet feet and perishing winds. Your new bed is looking good and some floaty gaura will look lovely.

@fairygirl perhaps you could try on in a pot so it has good drainage?

 

An afternoon of rain was forecast today but the sky looked promising so I cut both lawns, and the edges, then removed a Black Eyed Susan that was on an obelisk in a pot which I had placed in a border. It was getting untidy and had ventured further afield up two clumps of grasses and was weighing down their flowers. You have to admire their determination but it had to go. I also planted up the pots I emptied of dahlias with some more grasses and violas. The violas bring cheer at this time of year, like Smarties .