In the Garden

I used to find lupins got infested with blackfly, which incidentally seem to be really bad this year, broad beans wrecked.
Do any of you experts have any ideas on getting rid of spider mite on my polytunnel cucumbers? :(
 
I now keep thinking of plants I can't grow. Nepeta! Good grief. I've had to stop myself from buying it, no point.

Lillies are out, one is so dark a red it looks black. 50p bargain bin at Wilco's. 🙂 The others in the front are about to bloom as well, after that one lilybeetle I never saw another, it must have been a scout! :D

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@Dxxoo You have to focus on the successes not the failures and that lily is definitely a success! My garden is shoulder high with weeds but my apricot tree against the side of the house is my pride and joy. It doesn't seem to suffer with pests and produces amazingly huge juicy apricots! And I got it for under a fiver from Lidl or Aldi or somewhere like that and put it in, fully expecting it not to survive let alone produce fruit. The biggest challenge is the pruning and training. I must be a bit more ruthless this year with the secateurs/loppers, as soon as we get some settled dry weather, as it is growing through my guttering and 2 foot beyond now but only gets fruit on the lower branches, so need the top cut right back.
I'm not very good with flowers but I like easy to grow veggies, like courgettes which are ridiculously expensive in the shops.
 
At last our veg is starting to grow. The courgettes are going wild as usual, French beans have shot up more than a foot in this last week. Onions doing well, need a bit longer as not quite big enough but I used one the other day anyways. We’ve had a handful of new potatoes, Arran Pilots, and they are still small but very tasty. Carrot, parsnips and turnips are coming on. Lettuce forever more, like the courgettes! Leeks need thinned out this week, and a first for us, a sweet pepper under the cloche, a friend gave us it, hopefully we may get one or two. It was touch and go a few weeks ago but a couple of weeks of warm weather and some sunshine has done the trick. Oh and we have a water lily at last, two years after we put the ponds in. It’s not exactly Monet’s gardens in Giverny but we’re happy.
 

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Fabulous, what is that plant in with the waterlily? 🙂

I now want an apricot tree...
 
Y
Dxxoo said:
Fabulous, what is that plant in with the waterlily? 🙂

I now want an apricot tree...
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You probably need a large, south facing substantial stone/brick wall if you want it to produce fruits. They need the residual heat from the wall during the cold Feb/March nights to protect the setting blossoms from frost and allow them to develop into fruit. Mine only produces fruit on stems actually touching the wall which unfortunately means that the fruits usually get slightly blemished from rubbing against the wall when the wind blows. Still perfectly edible but rare that I get a "perfect" fruit.
 
I don’t know @Dxxoo what the plants called, Mr Eggy can’t remember either. What we do know is it’s supposed to be there! It’s spread really well this year.
 
We nearly killed our hydrangeas because they'd leafed up and had flower buds (tiny ones) when the lat frost struck and boy oh boy, did it strike. They've perked up since, and now covered in albeit small, blooms which have pinked up during the last week. We also thought we'd lost the hardy fuchsias for the same reason - but they're in flower too now, just about half the height they were!
 
I have a garden, or rather, of course, it is difficult to call it a garden. In my backyard there is a large lawn that I take care of, and another tree. The tree is very old, but I like everything. However, there are places with voids on the lawn and I plan to fill them with grass seeds from one website. I have a swimming pool that I made last year. We recently built a treehouse with our son, in which we like to spend time and make all sorts of crafts out of paper. I also plan to plant roses, I have always dreamed of having roses in my garden.





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this site https://www.growgardener.com/the-5-best-kentucky-bluegrass-seeds-for-your-lawn/
 
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trophywench said:
We nearly killed our hydrangeas because they'd leafed up and had flower buds (tiny ones) when the lat frost struck and boy oh boy, did it strike. They've perked up since, and now covered in albeit small, blooms which have pinked up during the last week. We also thought we'd lost the hardy fuchsias for the same reason - but they're in flower too now, just about half the height they were!
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Hello to my darling friend of old! How the hell are you? Still lusting after 46 xxx
 
Hiya Helzie! - I had wondered if you were one and the same - @Pattidevans is on here too. Nothing's dropped off or completely stopped functioning so far anyway, thanks for asking. Can't say everything that's left is in A1 condition these days at 70+ though - but who the heck can? How the hell are you these days?

(Oh and PS - I do know my memory ain't as good as it once was - but don't actually recall us discussing lust in the past!)
 
Yayy how lovely to bump into you again!!
Life has been hectic and messy as always but I am continuing to smile xx glad to hear you are well!
The lust was most likely on my part I mentioned 46 because I knew that would trigger a memory of old me!! Xx be great to catch up!
 
Hello from me too Helz.

One of our Hydrengeas is in glorious bloom, but has turned pink instead of blue, anyone know what to put on it to turn it blue again?
 
Pattidevans said:
Hello from me too Helz.

One of our Hydrengeas is in glorious bloom, but has turned pink instead of blue, anyone know what to put on it to turn it blue again?
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You need an acid soil to produce blue ones. So either fork in some ericacious compost, or water it with left over cold tea, (or you can buy stuff, sequestered iron, I think) This is assuming your soil is chalky or limestone, or something else naturally alkaline. (Can you grow rhododendrons in your area? That’s a good test, they will only grow well in acidic soil). If your soil is already acidic, then I’m stumped!
 
Robin said:
Deffo raspberries, as @Contused says.
The plants themselves look healthy, so I doubt they've 'got anything' It could just be the strange weather, cold when they needed pollinating to 'set' the fruit, then excess warm and wet causing what fruit did form to swell up.
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I tasted one - it tasted like a raspberry! :D Disappointing if they're not going to grow any bigger! 😱 :(
 
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