Bookertoo

Hops

Also do be aware that 8 feet high will not contain them, my yellow leafed one regularly reaches the upper storey of the house every year - and is laden with flowers just now.  It dies down completely in the winter, removing the old stems is not difficult, then regrows the whole lot again come Spring.  It does spread out from the original root site,  I cut the stems I don't want as low into the ground as possible, but it is still gentlly spreading - now about 3 foot across and probably 20 foot high - it's gorgeous and the bees etc. love it oo. 

Talkback: Speedwell

There are several very good, 'tame' speedwells, which willnot take over your garden.   What does the label say?  If it is 'Georgia Blue' that is a real early spring gem, formng nice low hummocks of blue flowers with reddish stems and leaves when there is little else in the garden.   While it is not unknown for people to sell ferocious plants, such as Russian Vine, sold as fallopia - it is not as common as we might think.  If you are really worried about it, plant it in a pot for this winter and see what it does.

Talkback: Bats

Actually it's not that innoffensive - we had huge numbers of large bats in the roof of our house in Zambia, and their  droppings were anything but innoffensive!!  However, I guess that particular species, and the sheer numbers, are not likly to occur here! 

Talkback: Bats

There aes ome old buildings near us and we often see bats in the evenings.  I have put out bat boxes in the hope they might like to live with us, but so far they are - probably wisely - happier where they are.

Deformed beans

Nothing to worry about, as you know they taste normal and that is all that matters.  A touch of cold to make them grow quicker on one side than the other, a tiny knoock or bit in their extreme youth and this happens - the supermarkets make the growers throw these out as the little ignorant darlings, kept that way by the companies,  who buy them might not like the look of them - I won't say the words I think about that, this is an open site!!

Hydrangea Macrophylla.

Now you know why it is advised to cut back a third of the old shoots, if you do it all the bush thinks it is in danger and responds by sending up as many shoots as it possibly can - in the hope it can flower and set seed to survive.

Is this an ash tree?

Be careful if you buy this, it is indeed frisia robinia - the golden version.  I bought a grafted one, high graft, which did fine for a while, but after 3 - 4 years and a very wet cold winter, it separated at the graft and died.   I'm not sure if they are bought on their own roots, if so that would be better, or with a low graft if possible.   Does look stunning though, it does have long, very sharp thorns after a while, not numerous but very sharp.  

Gw subscription

Cake is excellent, no denial of that!  I had been having the magazine for many years, so it was hardly surprising that it repeated - it will always need new readers and as yet unexperienced gardeners to help.  i did like it alot until a couple of years ago when I found I just was not reading it any more - time to stop I thought. 

Unknown Fuchsia

There are literally hundreds of different fuchsia plant hybrids and cultivars about - I would agree with Paul N, take some very close ups of the flowers as well, and ask the good folk at Sutton. 

Gauntlets

A machete is a thing of wonder, but you've still got to pick up the darned branches afterwards, and the thorns are no less prickly for being detached from the shrubs!!  You can buy genuinly thornproof, virtually chainmail, workgloves from an industrial type store or on line, but they are incredibly expensive.  I find a good pair of leather gloves, really sharp secatures and a grippy thing to pick the branches up with to put them in the bin or in a load for the skip the best.  The grippy thing ia a cheap (£5) item  for people who can't bend well to pick up newspapers and smaller things that fall to the floor - it does work. I don't compost roses as the thorns just do not disappear in my experience. 

Solomon's seal

For whom do we garden .............

frosted lilies

out of season plants

bird feeders

Hazel nut queries

Flippin' pigeons