Wintersong

Gardeners World - not back for 4 weeks!

It's outrageous and I am thoroughly disgusted in the BBC. They have four channels and a red button and our half hour of telly per week gets ditched every time!

Really BBC, it's NOT funny. Sort it out.

What's the weather like in your area?

Kent is whoooooooooooosh bang!

June in Your Garden!

@Rob Stevens, its better to pack them in tight.

The Cosmos need pinching out regularly and I planted mine at 10 inchs apart but you could probably do even less since mine still flopped, especially in all this rain. They really need tall plant support or twiggy sticks.

The Cornflowers stood up unsupported and don't mind competing for space. I didn't thin mine out or even feed them and I still got hundreds of flowers.

The pic below shows Cosmos, cornflowers and Candula from late summer 2011. All plants were packed cheek by jowl.

 and here you can see the roots of the cornflower clump, I just let them mat together, the Achillia in front helped a bit. But I don't over winter any of them, I just collect seed or let them self seed.

What's the weather like in your area?

Gorgeous sunshine in Kent today and yesterday. Felt like summer, rain is forecast for tomorrow 

June in Your Garden!

@gardeningfantic, I hope those hedges grow soonish, maybe all this rain and sun might speed up the process. I am still dabbling with the idea of hedging to enclose the rooms of my garden, I much prefer the elegance of a neat green backdrop to that of trellis, but  trellis is instant!

It's a bit mean that hubby gets all of the back garden but then I suppose whatever piece of land we gardening folk acquire, its never going to be big enough

I feel lucky to have my not-so-little little patch even if I wish some parts were more established, overall I am happy with the design improvements I've made this year and the process will bring even greater satisfaction next year and that's the difference between ornamental and veg growing in my opinion.

Home grown veg is a treat at meal times but the ornamental garden is a passion to the senses that lasts from dawn to dusk!  I just can't get enough of that

Is everyone else's plants very late this year?

I have kept a photographic diary from month to month for the last three years which helps with planning in the winter (because I forget how big things grow) and cheers me up with happy memories.

I can say without a doubt that my very sunny Kentish garden is at least 10 days behind last year, obviously due to the weather. Somethings also did extremely well out of all that rain including sedums, sempervivums, my Alpine Phlox, wildflower seedlings and self-seedlings and I think the Roses and Clematis kept their colour much better due to lack of harsh sunlight.

On the down side, my French beans are a million miles behind last year and my first batch of lettuce were ruined by slugs but luckily, my sweetcorn survived and my onions didn't go to seed! 

I also had a small miracle when I dug up a mature flowering current in full leaf and left it hanging around for a week in wet weather before deciding to replant it and it went on to flower and fruit without batting an eyelid!

Where have all the birds gone?

I'm not feeding the birds this spring or summer as I wanted more nesting in my garden and concentrated more on providing a good habitat for their foraging, plus I worry that the baby birds will not learn to fend for themselves so well if there is a constant supply of lazy food.

The blackbirds have had no problems providing for their chicks this year and the ring-neck doves would have been the same except the male blackbird wouldn't let them succeed in building a nest.

A couple of weeks back I saw mother and daughter blackbirds picking worms out my patio troughs and last week I watched a male Sparrow catch its bug in flight just a few steps away. I never saw this behaviour while I had bird tables, but I always supply water and the whole neighbourhood seems to stop by for a drink.

June in Your Garden!

@Pam, good luck with your open day! (whenever that is) Have been thinking about how much hard work you must be doing and hoping you will miss the terrible weather.

I have a double yellow rose although I don't know its name and also Rhapsody in Blue which is currently going bananas in my garden  and the scent is divine.

 And my Eremurus just beginning to flower, 19 spikes in total.

June in Your Garden!

@curlyone, lovely garden  Could you identify the plant cuddling the lion right in the bottom left hand corner? I've been coveting a neighbour's since early spring (it hasn't stopped flowering!) and I love the silver foliage.

My lambs ears are being pecked to death by sparrows every time I stick them outdoors to harden off. I think they are using the foliage as nesting material, so I am after a silver foliage plant at low level that doesn't get dessimated from spring to autumn and the white flowers are perfect as well.

best shrub rose for an east fence

I have a climbing white rose, Winter White growing on an enclosed east facing fence as well as a shrub rose, Rhapsody in Blue facing east on trellis, both of which love the aspect and although neither is a white shrub rose as specify, at least you know east facing is no problem for roses.

June in Your Garden!

Chelsea!

Chelsea Chop

What's it like in your garden?

Ooh ooh so excited!

Talkback: Informal planting

Why Miss Bateman?

Phormium newbie