THE NEW SEASON IN THE GARDEN - 2019

[Grandad]

When my daughter and her husband came round to trim the bank yesterday I switched on the camera for a bit of fun to record the event (without telling them )
When I checked all the 15 second clips I was appalled to hear my own voice. I had a fairly strong voice and often had to do presentations with my work. Many things wear out as we grow older but I can add voice to that list.
So cross referring with LLL's thread on phonetics, I can now understand why on occasion, I am not always understood.

[Grandad]

Most significant job pottering around on the patio today was to attack the Mediterranean palm. We have had this plant for well in excess of 20 years. It has always been a strong feature on our patio backyard. However, with a rather smallish patio it DID take up quite a lot of space. Some of the lower branches were looking a bit yellow so I got busy with the secs and trimmed it back.....a lot.
This is a last years picture when it was looking reasonable.

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And this is now after a 'short back and sides'

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We like the new look and it takes up far less space.

[Horus]

Nice big Palm Grandad and I doubt that the pruning has done it any harm

[LovelyLadyLux]

@Grandad - I think your trim job on the palm looks fine and actually gives it some definition and character to say nothing about the extra space bonus. It is amazing that it has lasted that long growing in a pot. Overall looks good. Cause you grew ferns in pots last year I got one. It grew wonderfully well and I brought it in and it was the main feature of the back room window. Was fantastic. I put it out back to harden it off so it could return to the front of the house and live in the planter by the stairs.

I put it out front and then we had a huge wind storm. I didn't see it but it literally got beat to death by the wind. It then got moved (pending I bring it back to the back to shelter it) and "Oopsie" it got forgot in the full hot sun soooo after making it 1 year wonderfully well it ended its days in the bin in a dried out crumpled leafless state. Fern were only $2.50 each so my plant was to purchase another one or two for this year however, to date, the stores have not carried any ferns at all this year other than the really big fully grown expensive ones sooooooo am waiting to find another. I've got the perfect pottery pots but am not too sure I'm going to get a palm to put into one of them Tempting seeing your palm but ??? (although I copied you on the fern).

[Horus]

All my ferns do well, they are planted in the garden and thoroughly neglected.

[LovelyLadyLux]

@H - I have lots of ferns that are growing out back that are the wild variety. Those never die and just keep going and going and going. I don't particularly water them or do anything to them or for them. Here they're called sword ferns - long straight dark green fronds that grow a few feet high. The ferns I'm NOT growing though are the ones I've planted. I guess they're smaller and more decorative and the one I managed to beat to death and allow to die was a boston fern. It grew super well and was huge and lush but ?? AND darn it all this year, so far, the store has not brought any back. They have one variety that doesn't look too terribly interesting is called "Japanese Fern" and there is another one called "Autumn Fern." I started one of those last year too. It did 'so so' and now I've got it out on the back deck in a shady corner but it isn't really looking lush hence in the "if you make it you can live" category but I have a DNR code on it

[Kiya]

Grandad your palm looks great after it's trim as do all your pot plants

[LovelyLadyLux]

The peony are almost ready to bloom...….Pink and red out front and out back. No whites but I truly love old fashioned peonies. Not quite blooming yet but they all should be out by next week.

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Few other flowers that are starting now:

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The hostas are also now fully out:

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[Horus]

All looking really nice

[Grandad]

Everything is look great LLL, especially the hostas, and lots of colour around.

My long awaited Canary Palms arrived today. They came with 10 strawberry 'runners' that may not do much this year but I will give them a chance for next year. The palms exceeded my expectations at £20 including carriage. They are really nice established plants about 90cm tall. I need to get some gravel and new soil/compost to plant them up into larger posts.

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Something else that arrived today is a large, no, very large pot for the existing palm. I would have liked a terracotta pot but at around £100 I settled for a good quality polypropylene one at £21 with carriage. Again I will do the re-potting when I have some gravel and new mix. The old, now frost damaged, pot is 40cm inside the top. The new one was described as 60cm but happy to say it is actually 52cm inside the top. I always think that irrespective of lips and rims, the inside diameter is the one that matters.

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Just need to get a willing helper to run me to the garden centre......any volunteers?

[Horus]

The palms look nice and that pot should be big enough, it will be like the south of France in your back garden.

[LovelyLadyLux]

That pot looks pretty good AND don't forget now that you've potted UP you've got another pot leftover to plant!

Your pot too is probably the perfect size for a next step up. Sometimes if you go too big the plant doesn't really know what to do with itself.

Am betting you're going to find just a circle of roots going 'round and 'round and 'round.

[Grandad]

That pot looks pretty good AND don't forget now that you've potted UP you've got another pot leftover to plant!

Nah LLL. When I have the gravel and new compost, I shall smash the old pot which is frost damaged and use it for pot bottom drainage.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Peony plants are now mostly in full bloom - at least the pink ones are. Where are my RED?

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Am wondering if the red has crossed with the light pink and is now dark pink vs the deep red?

[Grandad]

Well we have a willing helper this morning. Our son who was on holiday in France all last week has to come into the city for an eye appointment this afternoon (Yes more eye conditions in the family but this is routine checks related to his job as a Eurotunnel train driver) will take us to the garden centre for some necessary bits and pieces.
I am having second thoughts about the very large pot I purchased for the palm. I have now ordered a smaller one on Amazon and will decide which one to use when I have both available.
One of the items on this mornings shopping list is some gravel. Reading the notes for the Canary Palms they recommend well drained potting and not over watering because these are Mediterranean plants. They are however hardy so with frost protection they should survive any cold winter.
Another item on my list is cheap trellis. I want something to attach to the fence so that I can secure the tomato plants against any wind. It is quite late but I shall put 6 plants on the south facing fence that runs up the bank. I still have 12 more plants, all grown from seed, in smaller pots so they are a bit behind my selected 6. I will give them to family if they fancy trying to produce tomatoes. It is not rocket science

[Horus]

Sounds like a good plan Grandad, very often people tend to forget where a particular plant originates from and fail to give it the right growing conditions.

[Grandad]

We had a useful trip to the garden centre, I was surprised that the hot houses were still completely full of stock, but I suppose it is still early in the season. There are pictures, of Paul the owner, all around saying 'do not plant out delicate plants until end of May to avoid the risk of frost'. We are safe from frost in the south east but other parts of the country have had frost until quite recently.
Just a few pictures in the nursery. I only include this one because I didn't notice the tumbled over geranium. I would have stood it up if I had

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This is a pano of the enclosed hot house where the more tender plants are displayed. They can come out now.

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And this is the open sided greenhouse for more established and hardy plants.

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My son accepted the offer of a half dozen of my tomato plants so just another 6 to dispose of. I was prompted to ask myself the question 'Is it really worth the bother of growing tomato plants from seed'? Good mature plants at the nursery were £1 each so I guess the answer is NO! But it is quite good fun........

[LovelyLadyLux]

@Grandad - your Greenhouses are definitely still full however, that being said, I love Greenhouses. Wish I had room for a large one as I'd be planting and growing stuff year round. My first job at 12 yrs old was in a Greenhouse for a fellow who grew potted chrysanthemums and other plants to sell to stores. His Greenhouses were beautiful in winter and he had a huge lemon tree growing at one end. Was hard work but basically lovely inside.

I do not grow much from seed as I sometimes forget to water and seedlings can be so persnickety sometimes too getting all manner of fungus and/or grow way too high stretch for the sun. I always opt to buy tomato plants already grown. Even though lettuce is an easy sow in the garden and it'll grow plant I buy starts. They're about $3 Canadian for 20 plants which is well worth it to me.

Did a wander about the yard and have some more photos.

This clematis was grown against a post on the house so it got transplanted to the backyard, then moved when the fence went up then moved again when the new block went around to shore up the wall so having been transplanted 3 times in 3 yrs didn't kill it. I have no idea what it is but I'm getting two distinct flower types. I don't know if there are two plants OR if this is a male/female flower or??

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The blueberries are doing well with lots of berries for later eating

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Sage and thyme will be dried out later

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Rhubarb needs to be picked for the freezer and *Note to self - call daughter to get over her to pick what she wants for the year

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Lastly for now and this is for Grandad - This is my Rosemary growing in a largish plastic pot. Transplanted it up last spring. At the time of transplanting I've also added some sedums (I don't know their name but they're perennial, trailing and flower yellow) around the bottom in part to hide the plastic pot and just cause there was space and it adds visual appeal to the scruffy looking Rosemary. Just a thought for what you could do when you pot up your palm. Take a year or two for all to fill in but it is a nice visual once everything is growing and the colour is a bonus.

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***OK I did figure out how to edit!

[LovelyLadyLux]

Ok - I DID figure out how to edit so I've deleted the photo of the Rosemary (as posted above) and since I've started this post will now show the trail that goes behind my house (since I've taken a photo of it )

This trail goes directly behind the house. Beyond it is wilderness and the marsh which is why I get the wild kingdom.

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I've planted this rose bush (transplanted from the daughter's house) on the outside of the fence. It grew rampantly wild with a total profusion of red flowers amongst big thorns. I've got it growing on the outside of the fence for the colour of red roses but also for the huge thorns which should deter anything (bears mostly) that will just smash down a fence IF they decide they want to come in I transplanted two but when the wind storm took out the fence the other one got smashed and up rooted then frozen into the snow. It was hardy but didn't make it. This one however is doing well and am even getting a few flowers.

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[Horus]

Get those flower heads pinched out of your Rhubarb