in the garden at last

it'll soon look good again San, sounds like you have had a busy couple of hours, poured with rain here all night and part of the morning, far to cold for the garden,

thanx yorkshire, its so sunny here which is great but a couple of hours was enough after working this morning, hope you get it a bit warmer soon, mind you bet its raining again tomoz here lol :o)

sun shining here now san, but its cold, Brrr, rain forecast for us tomoorow.

oh dear, well we just have to enjoy it when its out then :o))

Well done, San, you have done well. You deserve 40 winks now, perhaps Baz will make you a nice cup of tea.

thanx cinders, not had my 40 winks yet lol baz working so will have to make my own haha

Thats a shame.

Ahhh feeling all contented with a job well done, lovely sensation isnt it San! Make sure you drink that tea before you drop off! lol!

lol Tetra thankyou, im going for now i cant keep eyes open, doesnt help not sleeping well at night, catch you later girlies :o) x

whose been a busy girl then? Dont you just hate the mushy feeling of dead plants? Good job you didnt fall in the pond. :o)

Glad you were able to get outside to tidy your garden...i did the same last week... its so nice to see the plants coming up again... like you my lawn is very wet weve had heavy rain showers today....

Shame about the Bottlebrush & Cordyline ... but good news on the perennials! Stinging nettles leave such a 'tingling' for ages don't they? Be careful near that pond ... the water's probably very cold ... lol! We had downpours and bright sunshine so garden is soaked yet again. : o ((

Pleased you got in the garden today, as that made two of us, my back is aching aswell, but tomorrow if its fine i'm going out in garden again, Tilly and Jack every time i did something the pair of them kept chasing each other where i'd tidy :o)

lol sea.. i have been good havent i. enjoyed being outside again after a long winter, i agree hate mushy plants :o))
holly i really want to get the raised border done but like you i dare not walk on the grass plus the fence needs replacing, my clems have started to sprout buds and its going to be hard to take the wire trellis off while the new panells are put in, glad you got something done to :o))
lol shirley, i did keep checking how close i was to slipping in, the fish were watching me to ,,, laughing i bet haha
you just think it may start to dry out and it rains again doesnt it shirley, at least we had some sunshine ;o))

its been lovely carol and so nice to get out there, also the cats love it dont they, you can see them perk up with the weather, we are going to southport tomoz, baz picking a car part up so will have a look round while there :o))

Hope you have a nice day at southport.

thanx carol and you in the garden :o) x

Cheers :o) x

Well done Sand, Shame about your plants :( ive had an exhausting week in the garden as well, dug up loads of dead stuff also cut loads back, been to GC today (woohoo).. our trellis finally collapsed, so replacing it with a raised bed, made out of decking which we found today (b&q), buy one get one free, get'n it tomorrow, my minds full of ideas at the min and im gett'n all excited, and to top it off, i heard birds singing yesterday, lifted my spirits that did lol.. Hope i haven't woke you up :))))

wont be long now Sandra ..we had a lovely day here today..windy but sunny...had a lovely couple of hours writting labels for the tomatoes in the poly out of the wind and it felt sooo nice...

Your garden will be even better this year San as it will all have matured and filled out even more! Not long until it all starts to spring into action now! :))

Yes Sanbaz our Cordyline is mush but still trying to grow Ivy up it anyway - I refuse to be beaten yet lol. Hope my bottlebrush comes out okay - bought it after the severe winter but cold weather back next week to a certain degree ): I must say a big dry spell maybe coming though :):):) -

It is great to be out there! Your garden looks great and very tidy - I thought for a second you had lupins grown already lol

hi Dee lovely to see you about, glad you have new ideas for your lovely garden and will look forward to seeing pics in summer, its so nice to be out there though and winter seemed so long,bet the raised bed will look great to :o))
hi sandra it was a little windy and my hat kept falling off when i bent down lol can you lose weight off your head haha, put it on cause just getting over flu and also my hair drives me mad blowing about, glad you got something done, bet it was lovely and warm in polly :o))
thanx karen i must get some surports for my taller perrenials, you know the cage type, but about £5 each i saw the other day :o(, but need something to stop them being beaten up if its windy ,still got my 2 palms to get out of pots as they are dead :o( also my pampus grass looks dead but is that normal, do they shoot new growth, i do hope so or thats all my new plants gone from last year, oh well i need to think of new plants for my large pots to :o))

lol paul its last years pic haha, i had my bottle brush two years and planted it last summer, they are hard to get through our winters though, wont get another, im going for good old hardy planting now, every year my boss says good summer but im still waiting, he is pretty good with weather though as far as knowing if its going to rain etc, just not good on telling us its going to be a long hot summer lol :o))

well on pressure maps it shows a mass high pressure by Monday - but that of course brings frosts too ): plus from the east by midweek - oh joy :/ - summer prob same as usual - but March looks sunny overall :):):)

Well done San, I`ve upended myself into our pond on many occasion over the years, it hurts because my first thought is always to do the least damage to the fish and the plants, my body comes last,lol, my fish are all doing well and the frogs are back in the bottom pond, doing what comes naturally.
Its very wet here as well and I no longer have a "lawn" its now patchy grass but its to be expected with dogs playing, can`t ban them from it completely it wouldn`t be fair.
My Agapanthus have both gone to mush, I was surprised when they reappeared last summer but I think I`ve lost both now......

San....you've been a busy lady today. Like you, the back garden is water-logged and muddy so nothing doing yet here.

I love to see the sunshine though...really perks me up :)

Sorry you've lost so many plants through the winter...one of the hazards that tries our patience (and our wallets). Hope you can find some others that will be more hardy.

sounds good paul im of a week in march woohoo ;o)
hi sue sorry you have lost plants to but i think we have to expect this now with such cold winters, had to giggle thinking of you falling in the pond, but like you i would worry about my fish, not myself, i use to have the same problem when i had my dog but they have to go out and have to have fun, it happens, but your garden still looks lovely patches and all ;o))

thanx jacquie it wont be long before you get out there and your dream garden comes together, i for one cant wait either to see it all done, i dare not tell baz i need new plants he will go scarlet in the face grrr, he will remind me i do art as well and both expensive hobbies, not that his cars arent expensive hobbies which i will remind him lol, i will sneak buy when he is working and plant very quickly haha ;o))

Thanks San.Yes if one wants a bowling green lawn, one doesn`t keep dogs, I will be spreading grass seed again soon,lol....

lol sue, i dont have a dog or a bowling green lawn haha, but im happy, well i would love a dog but its not going to happen im afraid, grrrr "baz" lol

Sounds like you've made a good start San...should be all down-hill from now on...Lol! That's what I tell myself each time I put my wellies on...the only thing going downhill is our concrete patch, looking more and more crumbly and tatty as spring approaches.....:o((
I found my pot of pink arum Lilies and they were just rotting slush....I'm sticking to real hardy stuff from now on. Its a pity we haven't got the plant swap anymore....tell you what I have lots of....Nepeta, your Casper would love it....looks a bit like Lavender.

i have made a good start janey and so glad i did start, its just getting out there that first time and boy i ache now lol, yes its lovely nepeta janey, spreads well doesnt it. yes plant swap was good to have janey, will you be getting the concrete done this year?

What a shame about your bottle plant and cordylines Sandra :o(( It's sad to loose plants you like. But it's been such a bad wonter hasn't it. I'm glad you didn't fall into the pond lol :D
Isn't it wonderful to get some fresh air and do something constructive !

Gosh you have been busy San , you put me to shame with all that hard work ! I've been setting seeds in trays and have some good tomato plants coming along , my cordyline looks to be dead we've cut the top out hoping it will shoot out again but I don't hold out much hope .......

Ive cut the grass today San, front and back using my petrol Lawnmower, Amazing eh lol... If your looking for a hardy plant for your pots, ive a couple of idea's for you.. my Variegated Adams needle (yucka) has came through this winter (first year) unprotected and unscathed, it looks amazing too and im going to buy more :) or Bay, i have 2 in pots (unprotected) and no matter what the weather, they survive, also, my Fan Palm (Washingtonia Robusta) has survived the last 2 winters unprotected! from now on im only going to buy really, really hardy plants, im sick of wasting money :) You'lle probably get better advice from other gardeners but the way i look at it is, if they survive up here, they'll survive anywhere in this country lol...
ps, above plants from B&Q + Wilkinsons...

thanx hywel yes especially sad when i only planted them all last summer :o( and im glad i didnt go in the pond to lol, but i did enjoy the fresh air and the fact i got something done :o))
hi amy and at least you have started, seeds take some patients and time so well worth it, hope your cordy makes it, mine was just mush all the way down to roots, but never mind, new plants come spring :o))
hi Dee your lucky to cut your grass mine is like a pond at the moment, i have a yucca and its fine to, my palm isnt, infact two palms, not sure what type i will check, but like you im going for more hardy plants now, love the sounds of a Bay though, thanx Dee :o))

wont be long now hun ...................... ;o)))

your so right cristina :o)

A bit late finding this.....sorry to hear you lost your bottlebrush, we lost a large one, my pride and joy......YDD is right about the Yucca though ours has come through with just a mulch, and also a Trachy will def put out our Washingtonia now as Newcastle should be a lot colder than the south, also our phormiums are doing very well.
Know what you mean about back ache lol

thanx Dotty, my yucca is good to thankfully, i lost my phormiums the year before and the one i had left has gone this year, i just think my garden is very open to cold winds and frost, i dont seem to have a nice warm closed corner to protect things over winter,. never mind i will get it right one day haha. newcastle does get it really cold so think your ok where you are Dotty :o))

Still playing "catch up" with people's blogs & have just come across yours. Sandra! Shame about your plants dying, like you I also lost a lot of plants so I have practically nothing for my balcony this summer. Like you, & others, I've also decided to get hardier plants as it's beginning to look like we will be having colder winters than we have been used to! :-((

Balcony then it will change back to warmer winters lol

hi Balcony dont worry its hard to keep up when we have so much to do, sorry to hear you lost all your lovely plants, they normally do so well, but your right think we should get use to having these cold winters now, dont think it will change in the near future,
look forward to seeing what you decide to grow on the balcony instead.:o))

Dd, that's what I'm afraid off! :-D LOL!

Thanks, Sandra, I still haven't decided what to use for my summer bedding. I may buy some Geraniums but discard them at the end of the autumn instead of trying to save them for another year.

I have some seeds of Busy Lizzies I intend to sow in the coming days. I will use those on my balcony this summer. I'll have a look through the packets of seeds my wife brought me back from Spain last September & see what I can sow to have flowers on the balcony all summer.

sounds lovely Balcony and we will all look forward to the display :o)

I do love your chatty blogs, San! I haven't done a lot in the garden yet, as everything is still way too wet here. As you know, my 2x 20ft plus Cordylines bit the dust this year, after 2 hard Winters...it was heartbreaking to see...but, as you know, ho hum...that's gardening for you....
Well done on making a start..Your garden is always such a treat to see, plus you have your new tree in to appreciate as well this year....Happy gardening my dear friend!! \0/xxx

aww thanx flori you are always so nice in your comments, i have made a start but not like some memebers on here, they put me to shame, but i cant bare the cold and sunshine motivates me, wish i could just get out there and get going a bit more, it will come im sure, my rowan tree has buds showing so im so pleased flori, it made it through its first winter, look forward to seeing your lovely garden to and so sorry about your cordys, such a shame, but keep going and have something new to make up for losing them :o)) x

"... but i cant bare the cold and sunshine motivates me, wish i could just get out there and get going a bit more, ..."

I'm the same, Sandra, I don't even go out onto the balcony when its cold! I have to wait till it warms up a bit as well!

Well I did at least sow the Busy Lizzie seeds. I sowed them a few days ago in a couple of pots I have in the GH on the allotment.

I planted some summer flowering bulbs as well. When They have grown a bit I'll bring them home & plant them in my long, white troughs on my balcony. If I get enough Busy Lizzie plants I'll put them in as well. Unfortunately bulbs only flower for a couple of weeks & I'll need something that will take their place until the frosts come.