Welshonion

What screening plant to block out brick building?

Leylandii is an ugly thug.  Evergreen has advantages, but it is depressing as you never get the wonderful burst of spring foliage, it is just the same green all year.

Can you plant something in the garden nearer the house to take your focus away from the brick building?

POTATO SEEDS

If you wanted to hold these seed potatoes back until June they should have been in cold store rather than in the dark in the garage.  Some experiments work, some don't.

Plant them now and certainly don't remove the shoots.

RHUBARB

Pull a stem backwards from the plant and it should come away easily at the bottom.  Only remove a few stalks at a time from each plant; the remaining stalks will develop over the Spring/Summer.  Stop pulling stalks in July to let the plant gain strength.

Remove any flower heads, they will be obvious.

To prepare for cooking; cut off the leaf at the top of the stalk, the leaves are poisonous, put them on the compost.  Cut off the bottom of the stem so you get a nice straight stem for cooking.  Cut into chunks, discarding any strings which come away when you chop the stems.  Very nice cooked with the zest of an orange.  No liquid required if you do it in the microwave.  Do not overcook or it will go to a mush. Pie, crumble, fool.  Yum, yum.  

Daffodils and Tulips - what to do as they fade?

Gladioli will certainly flower this summer for you.

Swifts

I'm a bit excited.  I've just watched a pair of swifts go under the fascia boards.  Resident sparrow made a noisy exit.

Daffodils and Tulips - what to do as they fade?

The tulips may not flower next year. Species tulips are more reliable for flowering year after year.  The daffs will flower next year especially if you feed them and allow them to die down naturally.

How to plant this water lily? Nymphaea Aurora.

Green shoots up, usually.  If in doubt, put it in a bucket of water until it's obvious.

Planning for ground frosts

Here in West Wales the latest ground frost I can remember was the night of 4 June.  Lots of people lost their beans.  I was really lucky and saw the late weather forecast and put sheets of newspaper over the potato shoots.

The first frost of Autumn is usually in half-term week.

Planning for ground frosts

I use xcweather.co.uk.  You can input a place very near you and get a detailed prediction for the next few days. You will be able to make an educated guess.

Remember, you will not get a ground frost at this time of year if there is any wind.

Acer tree coral bark

It may be a blessing in disguise as the tree was far too near the fence and would have had to be removed quite soon anyway.

Fig Tree Care

Swifts