BobTheGardener

Kaffir Lily

Hi Dove - snap!

Kaffir Lily

Hi Carol, Kaffir lilies can be propagated from 'offsets' which grow from the main tuber and can be easily separated.  However, Kaffirs resent being disturbed and like being pot-bound, so it could be risky.  Wait until after flowering, then try and release the rootball from the pot.  If you can see any offsets around the edges, it should be easy to pull them off and plant them in small pots without seriously damaging the main tuber.

Birds

Hi budlia63,  One reason for birds singing at night is from light pollution, if you live where there are lots of streetlamps which are on all night.  The effect gets worse in big towns when it is cloudy as the clouds reflect the light making it seem just like a dull day every night.  I live near a main road with huge lamps and some birds (particularly Robins) sing all night.  Unfortunately, it's not good for them:

http://www.britastro.org/dark-skies/wildlife.html

Another theory is that it's noise pollution and in areas where it is very noisy during the day (again, probably near busy roads), they prefer to sing at night as they can't compete with man-made noise during the day:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6591649.stm

Either way, it seems we humans are to blame.

Pruning rasperberry Canes

If you're not sure which variety they are, the easiest way to deal with them is to cut the canes to ground level immediately after fruiting, or as soon as possible after.  Many 'Autumn' varieties can be grown as either Summer or Autumn fruiting and as long as you only cut the canes that have fruited down, you'll get a crop from the remaining canes.  The thing to remember is that canes which have already fruited will rarely fruit again (and if they do, the crop from them will be small.)  Cutting fruited canes back encourages new shoots and the more of those you have which are strong and healthy, the more fruit you'll get.  If you leave unfruited but old "Autumn fruiting" canes alone, they will act like early Summer fruiting canes next year.

Talkback: Christmas traditions

Merry Christmas everyone!

I just had potatoes, carrots, parsnips, brussels, swede and winter squash with my Christmas dinner, all of which I picked from my garden this morning (apart from the squash, which was harvested in Oct.), so I'm very much with donutsmrs here!

I've done this for over 30 years and it's definitely my main Christmas tradition, as it was my fathers!  It was a very messy/muddy job to harvest everything, so my thoughts are on those who have been flooded recently, and (of course) those around the globe who rely on aid be be able to eat at all.

Best wishes to all, Bob

companions

Growing climbing beans with sweetcorn works well.  These are two of the "three sisters" growing method (google it), the 3rd being squashes.  The beans fix nitrogen with nodules on their roots which helps feed the sweetcorn (which loves any feed with high nitrogen.)  The beans can be trained to grow up a sweetcorn stem and across to others, helping to support them against wind damage, instead of using twine as you normally do when growing sweetcorn in a block.  I normally plant a couple of bean seeds next to each corn plant, once the maize plants are about 30cm tall (if you plant them when the corn is too short, the beans will grow too fast.)

Of course, we need a reasonably sunny summer to grow sweetcorn in the UK - this year was a disaster!

Talkback: Garden foxes

I've seen urban foxes go over my 6 foot fences with consumate ease, so although I'm sure barriers are not a deterrent, I wish I knew what was.. 

Why don't my birds love me any more....?

Hi Yvette,  Keep an eye on the tops of the tallest trees/buildings around your garden.  Exactly the same recently happened to me and I discovered it was because a Sparrowhawk had moved in!  I still get birds, but they are now extremely skittish and tend to feed on the ground under shrubs and avoid the hanging feeders.  I'm going to move one of the feeders to a position out of the line of sight of where the hawk often perches to see if it helps.  The sparrow population in my garden this year had only just recovered to what it used to be, too.  Oh well, that's nature for you - "red in tooth and claw" as the saying goes.  At least the cats aren't bothering them at the moment, with all this wet weather!

What's in flower this Christmas

The shortest day (December 21st, the Winter Solstice) is actually the first day of Winter.  Spring begins on the Vernal Equinox (meaning the length of the day and night are equal), which is on March 20th.  For completeness, Summer begins on June 21st, the Summer Solstice, when the Sun reaches it's highest point in the sky and Autumn begins on September 22nd (Autumnal Equinox) when day and night are again of equal length.  Lots of interesting stuff including folkore about seasons and scientific explanations of why the day/night aren't exactly equal on the Equinoxes here:

http://www.almanac.com/content/first-day-seasons

Seedling;s

If growing on a windowsill, you can help them get maximum light by cutting the top and one long side from a cardboard box and lining the inside of the box with aluminium foil.  Place the seed tray in the box and have the open side towards the window.  I start my tomatoes off every year by doing this with good results.  If the room is warm, once the seeds have germinated, move the box to the windowsill in another room which doesn't get above about 15C and not below 5C for best results.  As "A lad in" (new lamps for old, anyone?! ) says, if they are kept too warm, or don't get enough light, the result will be tall weak seedlings every time.

Bee spotting

New deliveries

Flower ID

Oh no, lily beetles are back!