figrat

What's the weather like in your area?

Overcast here in S Devon. Rain forecast for later, which the garden will appreciate. Lots of silly Jubilee stuff going on in town, so off for a wander.

Glad you're back Frank!

What is this plant at Exbury Gardens?

Can you spot it in this lot?


http://www.exbury.co.uk/website/current_flowering_conditions.aspx

Name the rose

Unfortunately your pictures aren't visible.

June in Your Garden!

Planted out butternut squash, 10 strawberry plants, a dozen beetroot, sunflowers and globe artichoke. Wandered round for ages with a tarragon and a Rosemary, couldn't decide, so dunked them in pot of seaweed solution to keep them happy. Just getting into swing of a full day's gardening when Bloke turned up with man flu. So that was an hour wasted! Have magnificent sentinels of foxgloves in flower, the peony is just on the brink. First pinks are out as well, will go back out to clear up and cut them for that heavenly scent. Rain forecast for tomorrow afternoon and through the night, so will finish planting up my mate's grave in the morning.

Can anyone tell me what this is please?

Geoff I think the green thing might be another ladybird egg just about to hatch.

Can anyone tell me what this is please?

Well, mixed news. The little black bugs look like blackfly. The bigger critters are ladybird larvae which are eating them. The difficult bit is that the larvae are harlequin ladybird larvae, which seem to be threatening our native population. You can get rid of the blackfly with organic or chemical sprays, - google blackfly for remedies - or leave the larvae to carry on cleaning them up. In which case there will be more harlequin ladybirds. There will be other postings I'm sure.

Fork Handles

Toe ho!

Fork Handles

Pig= pork, cow= beef, deer = venison sheep = mutton comes from the language changes dating from the Norman invasion. Porque, boeuf mouton and venaison (last French for edible meat of deer.) Chicken wasn't considered to be meat. Girly swot signing off and going back to her garden.

Can unsterilized compost ever be used for tomatoes?

Apparently you can sterilise home made compost in the microwave. But I think it's a bit of a smelly process.

Maggots in veg patch

This sounds like it might be vine weevil grubs which are nasty little b******s. Are the maggots creamy White with dark heads and c- shaped? You haven't done anything wrong I'm sure, but dealing with this sort of infestation on a veg patch is tricky. There are things called nematodes which little critters that attack the grubs, you buy packets of them, pop them in a watering can and apply to the area. Soil has to be a certain temp. The chemical solution - Provado - is used in pots and isn't suitable for food crops. Suggest you google vine weevil for ID, then wait for more experienced posters to respond.

Bay tree root eradication

Best way to do it! 

Plan bee

One of the more uplifting news stories... 

Overwintered runner bans

Left the roots in after clearing last year's crop, they've survived the winter and putting up new growth. 

Red rhubarb leaves

I've got a bad feeling about this... 

What can I use as green manure?

Landcress just about to go to seed