Just a wee update

Looking good there Mouldy, look forward to more pics of them later in the year :-)

Thanks, Surreylad.
Oh, you might want to give my new avatar photo page a wide berth.
Seems there's about to be a bloodbath on it. Lol.

I have just planted sweet pea spencer but they are in my den and I now think it,s to cold for them to germinate so I will fetch them indoors if its not to late for them are yours indoors ?

If those all take mouldy it will be quite some show!

Let the show begin.......cue sun!

They were, right from the start, Kidsgran.
I nipped them out, having panicked, as they were extremely leggy, but it seems I did this too early. Oops.
One of the drawbacks of being a beginner. Lol.
As things stand it seems to be the general view that planting out is a bad idea, right now, at least while this rotten weather persists.
How is it where you are?
Topping up your tan? Lol.

You tell it, Sticki! :-)

Lol Mouldy could be mate :-))

Hmmmmm I expect it will be one word from me and we won't see sun for six weeks! Or am I confusing st swithins day?

St. Swithins is the 15th of...let me see, the square root of how many pints you can drink times your favourite colour & that adds up to June, give or take six months, Sticki.
'Course, I could be wrong. :-)
They'll be needing their beauty sleep, before they get around to replying, Surreylad. ;-)

Hope you chat to them as well, they'll like that Mouldy, yours are a lot further on than mine, in fact I'd about given up on them but they are shooting through now, in view of the weather thats a blessing in disguise, I've even resorted to using the bottom shelf in my airing cupboard to start my cucumbers, lol, now thats a first for me and might seem daft considering I have two g'houses but I can't find my propergators anywhere, haven't needed them for a long time and am determined not to buy new ones....

I'm a fully paid up member of the plant-talking & tree-hugging club, Lincs. Lol.
I'm a complete novice at gardening, but have a bit of experience in forestry.
Sadly, I never met another tree-hugger in that trade, as they only saw them as a cash crop.
I used to plant at least 1500 whips a day!
Talked to every last one, Lincs...told them to grow big & strong & to reach for the sun, same as I now tell my new babies.
Maybe it's the vibration of my voice, or the carbon dioxide I exhale, but I prefer to believe it's the love I have for them that makes them respond. Lol.
Losing so many to this rotten weather cuts deep, but the wheel has to turn...for & against us & ours.
And let's not forget stupidity. I lost a lot of annuals, because I had my heating too high. A crass mistake I won't repeat next year.
Your's might be slow, Lincs, but you've brought them all through, so give yourself a pat on the back, you've done a grand job!
On a happier note, I'm over the moon that so many perennials have decided to show themselves, as I'd not expected any to break the surface 'til next yr, epecially as I'd put them through the indignity of being born in buckets. =-O
I can't tell you how proud I am & I haven't been slow to tell them. LOL.
Cucumbers in the airing cupboards? Makes sense to me. Warm, dark, safe. Has to be better than outside. :-)

Glad you have had success with your sweet peas,Mouldy..and hope the Cucumbers respond with the same ....only my 'cut and come again' lettuce's have grown well so far..plus three measly Cosmos in the heated propagator,and the other tray of Anthirrinums..zilch ! I have now given up on them ,switched their ventilator off..after making an agonising decision,so it is now classed as their mortuary,till I can give them the burial they deserve,in the compost bin ! see how caring I am ? :o).
By the way,add a few pints to your calculations,to take you to the 15th July..St Swithen's day..and you should have a winning formula Lol....

love to see seedling popping up Mouldy...and i find the more you try the allowing for failures the more you get....last year the mice eat all my sweet peas but so far this year they have left them alone. have you got somewhere you can stand them outside in the daytime so they get maximum light? even if its only for a couple of hours....look forward to watching them grow..:-)

As they say 'you live and learn'or was it 'you're never too old to learn' lol. Happy growing on Mouldy, they are looking good. Good luck with them all. :O)

Thanks guys.
I'm still not counting my chickens, though, Bloomer, as I've been told that pruning sweetpeas that early & harshly (Harsh? Mouldy?Oh, please, say it's not so!) will probably kill them & the 4 little'uns are hiding behind their canes, all a-tremble but I have to say the 'victims' seem to be simply radiant with good health!
(Mouldy removes his tophat in a gesture of respect) & may I extend my heartfelt condolences at your losses. (At which point Bloomer, being nudged by the others, makes a token effort to look guilty, but fails).
July, you say? Well, that's more beer & purple by my reckoning. Lol.
The mice have probably given you a reprieve 'til the weather improves, Sandra, then it's gloves off. Lol.
The back court was a suntrap, at least when the old building was there with an 80ft wall. You might be able to see what's left of it, behind my trellis.
It was west facing & the other wall is south facing, so they'll be okay.
They also say there's no fool like an old fool, Olive & I'm the living proof. Lol.
Well, the sweetpeas, a couple of convolvus, giant sunflowers, a clematis, the red & a white climbing roses & seven hanging baskets & if there's any room left I might hang a few weather reporters. ;-)

You can pretend all you like,but I know you are gutted at my recent loss..but is it really a loss? they were never alive in the first place! Lol...I suggest a bronzed Adonis look ..from the sun we will have in July,Mouldy..it will colour co-ordinate with the beer much better than purple..:o)

Schrodinger's anthirrinums? Lol.
Just have a look in my weeping glass, there, & you'll see, oh, hullo, they must have evaporated.
My suntan lotion consists equal parts chip-pan oil & brown boot polish. Malt vinegar with vegemite after-sun lotion. I have to look after my delicate skin, after all!
Did Adonis have a 6pack? He did?
Well you can tell him Mouldy has a barrel & that'll soon sort HIM out!
(Mouldy struts away displaying his lustreous locks & chiselled square jaw). &:-]

Hope they're all ok Mouldy.So little sunshine and low light levels this year, makes it difficult for the seedlings to bulk up.Tink you'll have to pinch the tips out of those Sweet Peas when they've got 3 or 4 sets of leaves.....sorry to be boring!!!!,

Lol,Mouldy..you cheer me up on days like these..:o) Oh,what a vision you conjure up !..do you have a lot of followers with your alluring aroma's.. eg,dogs,cats etc,?

Too late, Paul. Lol.
The photo of the 10 'debs' shows them after I did the pinching out, leaving them with only one of the two sets of leaves they each had, poor darlings.
Still, contrary to what I expected, they seem to not only to be surviving, but to actually be thriving.
The four smaller ones, who didn't undergo decapitation, appear to have stayed much the same size.
Probably sheer terror, after witnessing the fate of their bigger sisters. Lol.
I'm gonna sow some more, tomorrow, and put what I've learnt to good use...at least that's the theory! ;-)

Flies, fleas & rats happen to have good taste, Bloomer!
(Mouldy, now shorn of his gorgeous curls, slips on his shades & stylishly saunters away) ]-|

Poser! :o)

Pinching out tops should encourage new shoots from low down! Good luck!just hope the weather soon warms up.It's so difficult stopping plants from going spindly if they're indoors for ages!Like last year!!!!

How many pints I can drink? Does it matter what's in the pint?

I reckon we had a st swithins day every month last year!

Like my new goatee? ]-|}
Yeah, I've done it with basil & parsley before, Paul, but they didn't have to be planted outside, where everyone could witness my abject failure. x-(

Well I don't want you to think we're encouraging you to become a raging alcofrolic, Sticki...Lol.

Really?

Maybe if I had some tequila sunrise I could dream of sun?

Mouldy wonders just how risque this will turn out to be & if Goy has filters to protect those of a more genteel disposition. =-O

Um? Don't know?

;-) Lol.

:-))

So busy reading through the comments, I forgotten what I was going to say!
Great blog Mouldy!
Hurrah, the memory returns....I likes a pretty Jackmanii!

I liked your blog, Mouldy! You have a real sense of humour! :-D)

I hope your seedlings make it! It's a good idea to sow some more Sweetpeas now just keep them in a cool, frost free place once they start to germinate. They mustn't be kept indoors for long once they have germinated - you've already seen the result of too much warmth & too little light!

The same goes for the great majority of your plants. Warmth for germination then a cool, light frost free place till they can go into their final planting places.

Glad you approve & fanx, Lulu.
I'll pass on your regards to Clemmie. Lol.
I go down a bomb at funerals, Balconey. :-)
Am about to sow a 2nd lot of stuff, so will bear your advice in mind.

Sticki my Primula Tequila Sunrise keeled over and died, no apparent reason, so stay off that.
Here is the expert advice given by the Sweet Pea Society Mouldy, well worth a read through. http://www.sweetpeas.org.uk/how.htm

ok, thanks scotsgran......i think i had in mind the drink?! more than the plant?

Thanks, Scotsgran, will have a gander later.
Hi Sticki!
What you up to?

hello
nothing much ~ rained too much for gardening today

The temp has picked up here, but we're still getting early frost & quite viscious winds, so I'm still just potting on. :-(
You're up early. Lol.

No I was up late last night!

Or early this morning. :-)

it was about 1 in the morning!!!

So, that's early this morning, then...LOL.

i cant even remember which day it was now!!! yes true it was either early this morning or late last night or was it the day before???

All I know is that...
One dark day in the middle of the night two dead men got up to fight.
Back to back they faced each other, drew their swords and shot one another.
What I don't know is who composed it. :-)

the same one that wrote this??

Ladies and Gentlemen, skinny and stout,
I'll tell you a tale I know nothing about;
The Admission is free, so pay at the door,
Now pull up a chair and sit on the floor.

Yeah, that's the one...
Fiends, ladles & jellyspoons, I come before you to stand behind you to tell you of a meeting in the church...tent.
Admission...blah, blah, electric light, lit by candle...don't stand up or you'll bump the gas mantle...
More, which I can't recall, but finishing...bring your own cup & saucer & your own penny bun.
Blimey, it's been decades since I heard that one.
Same with the skipping & ball game rhymes...sadly not carried on with the 'computer generation'. :-(
They've missed an opportunity to carry all that folklore, knowledge & nonsense around in their tiny craniums. Lol.

meeting in a church tent? i remember those!!

havent heard the jellyspoons one ~ i like that!

skipping rhymes.......um.............

'I had a little bubble car number 68
i drove it round the
co...or,,,or... ner [at this point you had to run around one of the people turning the rope and get back in .....]
and slammed on the brakes'

looked that one up ~ i could only remember the bubble car line.

Three sisters & amateur boxing made me par exellence at skipping. Lol.

its very good for you! did you try french skipping too?

Multi-skipper, me.
Honestly? Don't know what that is. Lol.
Was able to move at treble, then quad speed, backwards sidewards, crossarm, you name it.
Funny how boxers are never called sissies. Lol.

no one would dare!!

it was the one race that girls could normally do better at when they are younger because at around 6 years old some girls can skip but very few boys!

i cant do that double treble stuff ~ went to see a display of it once ~ amazing!!! think i would have ended up completely tied up!

french skipping was probably not for the boxers ~ it was done with elastic ~ tied around 4 chair legs [or 4 human legs!!] you had to do a type of cats cradle with it by jumping over, looping the elastic over etc and jumping out.

Lol!
Yes, I've done that. Didn't know it was called that.
The things I forget.

Its more worrying that those are the things I remember!

I used to like the 'higher and higher' skipping game best which was effectively high jump!

Hated it...short legs y'see. :-\

Good for balance though, useful in boxing!

Fast fists & being able to dodge, too.
That's where the footwork came into it's own. Lol.

ah yes! float like a butterfly, sting like a bee?!!

Tippy or twinkle was the name, knockout the game.
My step-father, seeing problems brewing, called an end to that. Lol.

;-)..........sensible!

Simple self-preservation drove him.
His reign of terror was already coming to an end, had he but known it. Lol.

ah.....not sure that all sounds good?

'Nuff said, oh, gentle reader.