Lokelani

Climbing Roses

I have a Madame Alfred Carriere on a north facing fence & it's travelling miles along it. I needed to move some of the longer stems last year so I pruned it hard & have fanned out the enormous amount of new stems it's put on. 

Great scent, very good at repeating. Just off white & medium sized blooms I'd say. A great one for part shade I'd say.

I planted Gertrude Jekyll, Tess of the D'urbevilles & Generous Gardener as climbers on the sunny side. They're not that quick to get started I wouldn't say & Tess isn't showing much disease resistance. I would say the other two would meet your scent , bloom size & repeat flowering criteria well though., if you like their colours. They're not ever going to be as big as Madame AC though.

I saw James Galway as a climber at the David Austin gardens last year & thought it was beautiful. It's the next one I'm going to get. A Shropshire Lad had similar blooms but in a different colour. Crown Princess Margarita looked good too, if you like the colour.

Of course it all depends how much height or width you have for the climber & what colours you want. 

watering garden with water from a shower

I've read it's a good idea to use more natural soaps/detergents & to not store grey water but use it straight away.

Also I think the advice is to use bath/shower water around flowers etc. not edibles, due to probably miniscule risks of bacteria, micro organisms or whatever. 

With a hose pipe ban & our water butts running out all the time it's something lots of us will have to start doing I guess.

Maskotka tomato seeds

I was very surprised when I first grew Maskotka, I was expecting compact neat little plants like Tumbling Toms. 

Whilst mine don't get as long as you describe & still tend to have very strong stems, they do get much, much longer than tumblers. I was sure I had the wrong seed in the packet, but they eventually flopped over the side of the basket & miraculously the stem did support a very good crop. 

I'm using the rest of the seed up for the 3rd year, but probably won't buy more, because of this. I didn't pinch out any growth, but if your are very long & weak it does sound like your only option. 

Gardens to visit in Cornwall

Trebah is amazing, very hilly but worth it! Wooded, jungle, water gardens down to a cove on the river (ice cream available before the climb back up!)

Caerhays was amazing in the spring (magnolias, camellias, rhodes etc.) when we went, not sure exactly which month, maybe earlier than now.

The Japanese bonsai garden Mawgan Porth is much smaller, only a few acres but absolutely amazing for maples etc.

Lost gardens of Heligan is of course amazing. 

Eden Project, well worth a visit. 

Last time we were down out of season & had just taken out National Trust membership, so mainly tried these as they were amongst the few open. Trelissick, nice enough gardens did have good views.  Cotehele, small but nice garden, some interesting bits.

monty don

I love watching Monty & his garden. I find his laid back approach practical & easy to watch, also very inspiring.

I found the Toby version stilted & awkward in presentation & mostly silly if not cringe-worthy in content. The cool wall & how ever many minute projects?!  I always like Joe & Alys wasn't too bad, but they all seemed so awkward together.

I'd like to see Monty given an hour. He's my favourite presenter except for Alan Titchmarsh.

Rooting Rose cuttings?

Monty's clip suggests that they will be the same rose as the original variety.

As most roses are grafted I didn't think this was the case? Or maybe I remember reading that they will be the same but maybe not as vigorous or hardy etc. I read so much I've confused myself! 

I tried to propagate some that had grown shoots in a vase, but they never produced roots sadly. I'd like to try some of the bushes in the garden though. 

pinning down weed control fabric

I've put it under bark & gravel & in each case the weight of those was all that pinned it down as such. I taped the joins. So unless it's very slopey in which case your shingle may have problems anyway, you may not need to peg it down as such.

help to identify and how to grow more?

Ah great, I have a while to practice taking cuttings off them then! Thanks.

Tulips

This might explain why all the Queen of the Night & other tall tulips I planted last autumn are about half the height they should be. 

That article suggests the hot dry spell made them bloom before their stems had lengthened. 

help to identify and how to grow more?

I've just planted some of these, are they reliably hardy (West Sussex), or should I be taking lots of cuttings instead?

They're flowering beautifully already. 

Young perennials/seedtrays in or out of greenhouse?

Mites in seeds

Taking cuttings with a heel?

How & when erisimum & scabious cuttings?

Beans not germinating/being eaten

Tiny garlic, what to feed?